It’s mainly vegetables that are low in purines such as broccoli, spinach, potatoes, carrots, etc. And it’s mainly fish and organ meats (especially red) that are high in purines. Such as:

• Liver
• Heart
• Sardines
• kidneys, etc.

Consuming low purine foods which undoubtedly reduce uric acid blood levels should, and there are some anecdotal reports to support this, help relieve some and perhaps many gout symptoms.

Comment:

I like the site. I've been reading gout sites for a while and yours is informative and nicely designed. Gout crippled me a while ago, but it’s under control now especially via diet and specifically through reducing purines. I use some medicines to control it and it works well. Surprisingly, it really affected my family more than me I. Some nice work here – book reviews, news info, stories – well done! A. Polly

Consuming various high-purine foods in known to cause elevated uric acid and potentially bring on a gout attack. Numerous studies have noted a subtle link between diet and gout.

Reducing purine consumption may help lower uric acid and therefore improve symptoms. There are many anecdotal stories in support of this, so if your gout is bad – try it!

Comment:

Good information and nice site design. Personally, I've had gout for many years but leanred to put up with it. Day to day activities certainly make it worse for me. I suppose it’s a good excuse not to go to work sometimes – when it starts. Recently, I learned about how diet – purines – can elevate uric acid levels and cause gout, this seems to fit well with me. Like yours, there’s some great posts over at another blog, I can email you the URL if you wish; it’s not my site! Nice articles, well thought through! Mr Simmons

Dr. Halevi's website contain a list of foods high in purines. The list is extensive!

Some examples include:

The list of foods high in purines is worth noting! It must of taken the doctor a while to compile such a detailed list - it's definitely worth printing out!

Low purine diets have worked for some people, so if your gout is bad, they are certainly work trying.

As advised by my nutritionist, I cut back on all high-purine foods – which didn’t leave a lot I liked. So I questioned her if I needed to stop eating some vegetables too, and she said they may ok because, even though high in purines, they may not contribute to high uric acids in my bloodstream.

My diet now controls my gout!

Steve.

Effects of long-term beer ingestion on plasma concentrations and urinary excretion of purine bases.

Ka T, Moriwaki Y, Takahashi S, Yamamoto A, Tsutsumi Z, Inokuchi T, Yamamoto T.

Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan.

To investigate the long-term effects of beer ingestion on plasma concentrations of purine bases (hypoxanthine, xanthine, and uric acid), ten healthy males ingested beer (15 ml/kg body weight) every evening for three months. Blood and 24-hour urine samples were collected in the morning on one day before and one, two, and three months after starting the experiment to determine the plasma concentrations and urinary excretion of uric acid, hypoxanthine, and xanthine. Plasma concentrations and urinary excretion of uric acid, hypoxanthine, and xanthine in five of the participants that did not regularly ingest beer at a quantity of more than 15 ml/kg body weight in a single day prior to the experiment were not increased during the experimental period. In contrast, plasma concentrations and urinary excretion of uric acid were increased in five participants who regularly ingested more than 15 ml/kg body weight of beer in a single day prior to the experiment, although hypoxanthine and xanthine levels were not significantly increased during the experimental period. In both groups, uric acid clearance and purine ingestion were not significantly different throughout the study. Our results suggest that the production of uric acid caused by ethanol ingestion from beer is a significant contributor to the increase in plasma uric acid concentration in patients that regularly consume more than 15 ml/kg body weight of beer each day. Therefore, patients with gout should be encouraged to refrain from drinking large amounts of beer on a daily basis.

Study link: purines and drink study.