List of Foods High in Purines

When you're trying to avoid gout it is helpful to have a list of foods high in purines to guide you. These are the foods that you need to avoid or drastically cut down on. Most gout sufferers find the safe level of these foods that they can eat and "get away with". Now that we have my husband's gout more or less "cured" - thanks to this diet he can now eat many of the foods on the list below. It's all about balance.

List of foods high in purines
mg of purine per 100 grams of food

Anchovies(fresh)411
Sardines(canned)399
Herring (canned)378
Sardines(fresh) 345
Anchovies(canned321
Pork liver 289
Salmon(fresh) 250
Mackerel(canned)246
Chicken liver 243
Shrimp (canned) 234
Chicken heart 223
Beef kidney 213
Beef liver 197
Mackerel(fresh) 194
Beef heart 171
Lamb heart 171
Beef brain 162
Lamb liver 147
Lamb chop 127
Steak grilled 121
Pork chop 119

You need to keep in mind the natural quantity of a food you might eat. For instance, most people would eat more of a grilled steak than of liver so that while the quantity of purine per 100 grams is less, the actual quantity that you eat is probably more.

There are vegetables that are also high in purine but the latest medical research indicates that these do not lead to increased uric acid levels in the blood the way that meat and sea foods do.