Low-purine foods: the list with mg values per 100 g

Low-purine means staying at 50 mg of uric acid or less per 100 g: milk, yoghurt, quark, eggs, almost all vegetables, fruit, rice, white bread and small amounts of cheese. High-purine are offal, sardines, sprats and yeast products, where the figures run to three or four digits. In between, the portion decides, and hardly anyone counts it, even though a 100 g piece of cod at 120 mg fills your daily allowance far less than a spoonful of nutritional yeast flakes from the health-food shop, which many people consider harmless because it is plant-based and looks wholesome. Below you will find the values sorted by content, plus one day on the plate, worked out in full.

What the numbers mean: purine, uric acid and the 130 mg mark

Purines are building blocks of genetic material. They sit in every cell you eat, and your body breaks them down into uric acid. Most tables give this end value in milligrams per 100 g. The values below come from the complete table by MedizInfo (rheumatology section), which uses 1 mg of purine = 2.4 mg of uric acid. Other tables use a factor of 3. Even for spinach or peas the figures differ noticeably from source to source, because variety, cooking state, harvest time and measuring method all play a part and no laboratory in the world finds the same number for every apple. Read each value as an order of magnitude, not as a measurement accurate to the digit.

As a daily frame, the German Gout League names around 130 mg of purine. Depending on the conversion, that is roughly 310 to 390 mg of uric acid. You divide this budget like money: if you have yoghurt and oats in the morning, you have room for a piece of fish in the evening. Raised uric acid levels and gout belong in a doctor’s hands. This list shows you the kitchen, not the treatment.

Low-purine up to 50 mg: the everyday base

Here you reach for food without counting. All values in mg of uric acid per 100 g.

• Milk, plain yoghurt, quark: 0 mg
• Eggs (whole): 5 mg
• Cheese: Emmental 10 mg, aged Gouda 16 mg, Camembert 30 mg
• Potatoes: 15 mg
• Vegetables, lower range: cucumber 6 mg, lettuce 10 mg, tomato 10 mg, radish 10 mg, carrot 15 mg, red pepper 15 mg, courgette 20 mg, aubergine 20 mg, asparagus 25 mg
• Vegetables, upper range: kohlrabi 30 mg, red cabbage 40 mg, cauliflower 45 mg, broccoli 50 mg, spinach 50 mg
• Fruit: apple 15 mg, pear 15 mg, sweet cherry 15 mg, orange 20 mg, blueberry 20 mg, strawberry 25 mg, banana 25 mg
• Bread and rice: white bread 15 mg, wheat flour 20 mg, rice (white, cooked) 25 mg, mixed rye bread 45 mg
• Nuts: walnut 25 mg, almond 30 mg, hazelnut 30 mg
• Drinks: coffee, black tea, wine and spirits 0 mg (more on alcohol in a moment)

The middle ground from 50 to 150 mg: grams instead of bans

Here the plate counts, not the column. 100 g of cod fillet brings 120 mg, an egg at breakfast 3 mg. If you keep meat and fish to portions of 100 to 150 g, you stay within the frame.

• Pasta and grains: cooked pasta 52 mg, millet 85 mg, rolled oats 100 mg, buckwheat 149 mg
• Mushrooms and soy: button mushroom 60 mg, tofu 70 mg, porcini 80 mg
• Meat and sausage: Vienna sausage 110 mg, raw turkey escalope 120 mg, veal chop 125 mg, bratwurst 130 mg, beef 140 mg, rabbit 145 mg, pork 150 mg
• Fish: pikeperch 110 mg, cod fillet 120 mg, haddock 130 mg, plaice 140 mg, North Sea prawn 147 mg

From 150 mg: a small portion, or better none

The table has outliers, and they are not only at the butcher’s. Meat extract reaches 3,500 mg. Dried baker’s yeast 1,810 mg, yeast flakes 1,620 mg. Those flakes sit on many vegan tables as a cheese substitute. Just 10 g of them is around 162 mg of uric acid, which is a good half of the daily frame.

• Offal: calf sweetbread 1,260 mg, beef liver 554 mg, calf liver 460 mg, pork kidney 334 mg, pork liver 300 mg
• Fish and seafood: smoked sprat 535 mg, sardines in oil 480 mg, raw mackerel with skin 400 mg, mussels 370 mg, tuna in oil 290 mg, anchovies 260 mg, herring fillet 210 mg, brook trout 200 mg, salmon 170 mg
• Poultry and ham: roast chicken with skin 300 mg, roast chicken leg 235 mg, boiled ham 198 mg, goose 165 mg, duck 153 mg
• Pulses (measured dry): soybeans 220 mg, lentils 200 mg, white beans 180 mg, peas 168 mg

With pulses the column is misleading. The Pharmazeutische Zeitung lists cooked lentils at 75 mg, because they absorb water while cooking. So if you eat lentils, you count with the cooked value and not with the dry goods.

Plant purines: why vegetables forgive more than meat

A patient leaflet from a GP practice notes: vegetarians who eat a lot of purine-rich plant food are extremely rarely affected by gout. The conclusion is close at hand that purines from plants weigh less than those from meat, because anyone who eats lentils, beans and spinach in larger amounts for years without trouble speaks in favour of it. Spinach, mushrooms and cauliflower therefore do not have to leave your plate. The same practice still advises caution with pulses and spinach. Together that gives a calm line that works in everyday life without scales: plenty of vegetables, pulses as a side portion, meat as a side instead of the lead role.

Cheese, rice, bread: the most common everyday questions

Cheese is low in purines. Emmental: 10 mg. Camembert: 30 mg. On top comes protein that you would otherwise get from meat. White cooked rice has 25 mg, the natural variety 35 mg. Cooked pasta brings 52 mg, wholemeal pasta 50 mg. With rolled oats the second look pays off: 100 mg per 100 g, but you eat 40 to 50 g, not 100.

Alcohol-free beer has purines, wine does not

Alcohol puts the brakes on the kidney. Its breakdown produces lactate, and that inhibits the excretion of uric acid. With beer the purine content comes on top: lager 13 mg, wheat beer 15 mg per 100 ml, which is about 65 mg in half a litre. Alcohol-free types range from 3 to 30 mg per 100 ml and are no free pass, even if the bottle advertises relaxation. Wine contains no purines. It slows the kidney through its alcohol all the same.

What is left? Water, unsweetened tea, coffee. The Gout League counts coffee, milk and dairy products among the favourable foods and warns against soft drinks and juices with a lot of fructose. If you sweat during sport, you need minerals but no sugar in the glass. Our Electrolyte Complex delivers magnesium, potassium, calcium, sodium and chloride as a tablet, with no added sugar.

Cooking, soaking, removing the skin

Purines partly pass into the cooking water. Boiled food contains less per 100 g than fried food, and you are better off not drinking stock or cooking water. With poultry, take the skin off beforehand: roast chicken with skin comes to 300 mg. A mild vegetable stock replaces meat stock, and anyone who still boils soup meat on Sundays pours the water away instead of serving it as stock, in which a good part of the purines has collected.

One day on the plate: about 270 mg of uric acid

The calculation comes from the table values above. Breakfast: 50 g rolled oats (50 mg) with 250 g yoghurt (0 mg) and a 150 g apple (22 mg). At lunch 200 g potatoes (30 mg), 150 g courgette (30 mg) and two eggs (6 mg) with quark. In the evening 200 g pasta (104 mg) with 150 g tomato sauce (15 mg) and 30 g Gouda (5 mg). Add 30 g walnuts (8 mg). That makes about 270 mg.

That leaves room of roughly 40 to 120 mg: 100 g cod fillet at 120 mg just fits at the upper edge. You drink water, plus tea. Sport that day? Then the electrolyte tablets go with the meals, with a big glass of water.

Fasting, crash diets, fructose: three brakes people overlook

Strict fasting drives uric acid up, because the body breaks down cells and ketone bodies form. If you want to lose weight, plan months and not weeks, because a slow route gives the metabolism time to rebuild its cells in peace. Radical is not an option. Large amounts of fructose from juice and lemonade also turn up in the guidance of the Gout League and the Pharmazeutische Zeitung. Whole fruit may still go on the table: cherries, berries and apples all stay at 25 mg or less.

Matching Products from Scheunengut

We do not carry a uric acid product of our own. Two things from our range fit an everyday routine of plenty to drink and little sugar.

The Electrolyte Complex bundles magnesium, potassium, calcium, sodium and chloride in one tablet, with no added sugar and no unnecessary additives or anti-caking agents. Three tablets a day with meals and liquid. The tub lasts 120 days. Magnesium contributes to electrolyte balance. Potassium contributes to normal muscle function. Calcium contributes to normal muscle function.

Both come from Germany, and every batch goes to an independent laboratory. Behind them stands Scheunengut: on the market since 2012, with no investors, focused on pure raw-material quality.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Which foods are low in purines?

Low in purines are milk, yoghurt, quark, eggs, most vegetables, fruit, potatoes, rice, white bread and small amounts of cheese. Their values are 50 mg of uric acid or less per 100 g, and zero for dairy.

Which foods contain a lot of purine?

The most is in meat extract, yeast, offal, sprats, sardines, mackerel, mussels and poultry with skin. Values run from about 150 to over 3,000 mg of uric acid per 100 g.

What is a low-purine diet?

A low-purine diet relies on dairy, eggs, vegetables, fruit and grains and keeps meat, fish and pulses small. Alcohol and sugary drinks stay the exception, and you drink plenty of water and unsweetened tea.

How much purine can I eat per day?

The German Gout League names around 130 mg of purine a day, roughly 310 to 390 mg of uric acid. What suits you is something to settle with your doctor.

Are cheese, rice and pasta low in purines?

Yes, all three belong to the lower range. Emmental has 10 mg, Gouda 16 mg, Camembert 30 mg, white cooked rice 25 mg, natural rice 35 mg, cooked pasta 52 mg of uric acid per 100 g. With pasta, the portion regulates the rest.

Does alcohol-free beer have purines?

Yes, alcohol-free beers range in the table from 3 to 30 mg of uric acid per 100 ml. They contain no alcohol to slow excretion, but they are not purine-free.

Are pulses and spinach low in purines?

No, they sit in the middle to high range: spinach at about 50 to 70 mg, dry lentils at 200 mg, cooked at 75 mg. Plant purines are considered less burdensome, but small portions are still advised.