Where Are Purines Found?

Where are Purines found?

Lets start off with the overview:
Purines are found in high concentration in meat and meat products, especially internal organs such as liver and kidney. In general, plant-based diets are low in purines. Examples of high-purine sources include: sweetbreads, anchovies, sardines, liver, beef kidneys, brains, meat extracts (e.g., Oxo, Bovril), herring, mackerel, scallops, game meats, beer (from the yeast) and gravy.



A moderate amount of purine is also contained in beef, pork, poultry, other fish and seafood, asparagus, cauliflower, spinach, mushrooms, green peas, lentils, dried peas, beans, oatmeal, wheat bran, wheat germ, and hawthorn.

Higher levels of meat and seafood consumption are associated with an increased risk of gout, whereas a higher level of consumption of dairy products is associated with a decreased risk. Moderate intake of purine-rich vegetables or protein is not associated with an increased risk of gout.

Please note that the intake of plant based sources of purines are not associated with an increased risk. This is a bit odd, as you will see from the data below that some of these plant sources are every bit as high as the meats:

Relative Purine Levels

Food	mg/100g
liver, boiled	237
liver, broiled	236.1
Liver, chicken	236.1
Shrimp	234
Kidney	230.8
Blackeye peas	230
Chicken heart	223
Lentils	222
Beef kidney	213
Great northern bean	213
Liver, raw	202.2

The above is just a portion of the list compiled for the next post which has a pretty extensive list of purine containing foods and you will no doubt find it very valuable in your fight against gout.

As you can see, black-eyed peas, lentils and great northern beans are on the very high list, where anything over 100mg per 100g of food is considered high. Personally, I eat lentils on a regular basis, (with ham of course!) and have never had a reaction to it. I have eaten calf liver with no problems but I have a suspicion that dessicated liver (pill form) has given me flare ups, but I can't confirm that yet. I actually plan to test that soon but I am currently partaking of my primary trigger food right now (soda), so it will have to wait (besides, its dessicated liver. Trust me when I say it can wait! lol)

Next up: The best list of foods that contain purines