Purines are a class of organic molecules often found in food. They are produced by many processes, but most importantly in the biosynthesis of pyrimidines. Purine-containing substances are found in a wide variety of foods, especially meat and fish, fruits and vegetables. Healthcare consultants often recommend a low-purine diet for people who have gout, kidney stones, or a similar disorder. Here we will go through a purine rich foods list so you can know what to try and limit in your diet.
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Low Purine Diets On The Rise
The low-purine diet is typically recommended for people with gout, kidney stones, or similar disorders like uric acid nephropathy. A low-purine diet restricts certain foodstuffs that are high in purines. Purines form the nucleic acids in every cell’s nucleus and are often excreted via urine.
Foods high in these purines include meat (especially beef), seafood, poultry, game (e.g., venison), canned tuna, anchovies, squid and anything else processed with salt water; dairy; mushrooms; avocados; figs; peas; beans; spinach and most vegetables except for those from the nightshade family like eggplants and tomatoes.
Who Benefits From Low Purine Diets?
People with gout, kidney stones or other disorders like uric acid nephropathy can benefit from limiting purine containing foods in their diet. Using this purine rich foods list will allow your body to flush excess uric crystals and begin to heal inflammation fast.
A List Of Foods High In Purine
Seafood: ocean food like anchovies, anchovy sauces, caviar, salmon caviar, sardines, tuna and other cold-water fish are high on purine rich foods list.
Poultry: chicken, duck, turkey and other poultry meats are high in purines
Meat: beef, ham, lamb, pork and veal are all high in purines
Dairy: cheese, eggs and milk products are a source of purine
Game Meats: venison, elk, caribou and rabbit contain purines
Nightshade Vegetables: eggplant, tomatoes etc are high in purines
Legumes & Nuts: dried beans, lentils, peanuts, almonds are high in purines
Spinach: Spinach leaves are high in purine
Soy products: Tofu and soybean curd are rich in purine.
Foods To Focus On With A Low Purine Diet
Vegetables And Fruits: Fruits and vegetables that are low in purines can be found in a wide variety of colors, shapes, sizes and tastes. These include fruits like apricots, avocados, bananas, berries such as blueberries and cranberries, cherries, grapefruit and strawberries. Fruits high in purines include plums (but not prunes), raisins (and other dried fruits), walnuts. Vegetables low in purine include apples, celery; cucumbers; green beans; peas; potatoes; sweet potatoes; zucchini.
Filtered Water: There is good evidence to suggest that drinking water can help to reduce nephritis and gout and other painful kidney stones. Filtered waters are the best choice as the nephritis-causing solutes such as pesticides, hormones, antibiotics and drugs can be removed. Focusing on removing foods from the purine rich foods list and introducing filtered water can work wonders alone.
Whole Eggs: Eggs are rich in protein and phosphorus. Many of the amino acids they contain can raise the level of purines in the kidneys, although not by much. Eggs are also important for healthy skin and body tissue.
Wholegrains: These include foods such as bread, pasta and rice. Favor sourdough varieties for the best gut health benefits or at minimum wholemeal varieties.
Baking Soda For Uric Acid Breakdown
Uric acid is a byproduct of digesting purines, which are found in foods like shellfish, organ meats, anchovies, mackerel and sardines. Uric acid is naturally formed in the human body and can also be produced by overconsumption of these high-purine foods. A common treatment for this condition is to drink baking soda mixed with water.
It’s unclear exactly how this does the trick but it may have something to do with alkaline properties or pH buffering because research has shown that those with gout who drank baking soda water had lower uric acid levels than those who didn’t.
Adding 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to one quart of filtered water and drinking it once daily can benefit uric acid symptoms.1
Introducing The Mediterranean Diet
This diet is high in not only fruits and vegetables, but also whole grains, olives and olive oil. While a single meal of Mediterranean food may contain as much as 12 servings of vegetables, it’s the salads that make the diet so healthful. They’re low-purine foods with a variety of colors and textures so they fill you up, while providing you with long-term benefits for your heart.2
It’s best to use extra virgin olive oil instead of other fats that are high in both saturated fat and omega 6 polyunsaturated fat.
Concluding Rich Purine Foods
In summary if you’re experiencing gout, arthritis or any other inflammatory conditions from rising uric acid levels its best to avoid high purine. Our purine rich foods list will help to decipher what you should focus on eating and adding baking soda to your water daily will help the body to flush extra uric acid. Using the mediterranean diet can help to introduce different colour vegetables and fruits to the diet with tasty meal ideas. Combining all these practices will lead you on the path to health and vitality.
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