Purine intake in normal people can be as much as 600 to 1000 mg/day, while gout patients should not exceed 100 to 150 mg/day during an arthritis attack. Patients with hyperuricemia, especially gout, should adopt a low purine diet. So, what do doctors often mean by a low purine diet? Let’s find out together.
A low purine diet means to reduce the synthesis of purines. Purine is a component of nuclear protein and a source of uric acid. According to the content of purine in food, we can divide food into three categories: low purine food (less than 25 mg of purine per 100 grams of food), medium purine food (25-150 mg of purine per 100 grams of food) and high purine food (150-1000 mg of purine per 100 grams of food).
1.Common low purine foods
(1) Staple foods: rice, wheat, pasta products, starch, sorghum, macaroni, potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, etc.
(2) Milk: milk, cheese, ice cream, etc.
(3) Meat: eggs and pig blood, chicken and duck blood, etc.
(4) Vegetables: Most vegetables are low purine foods.
(5) Fruits: Fruits are basically low purine foods and can be eaten with no worries.
(6) Beverages: soda, cola, soft drinks, mineral water, tea, juice, coffee, cream of wheat, chocolate, cocoa, jelly, etc.
(7) Other: sauces, honey. Oil and fat (melon seeds, vegetable oil, butter, cream, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts), coix seeds, dried fruits, sugar, honey, jellyfish, seaweed, snacks and condiments made of animal glue or agar.
2.Common medium purine food
(1) Beans and their products: bean products (tofu, dried tofu, dairy tofu, soy milk, soy milk), dried beans (mung beans, red beans, black beans, broad beans), bean seedlings, soybean sprouts.
(2) Meat: poultry and livestock meat.
(3) Aquatic products: grass carp, carp, cod, flounder, sea bass, crab, eel, eel, snail, abalone, fish ball, shark fin.
(4) Vegetables: spinach, bamboo shoots (asparagus, asparagus, dried bamboo shoots), beans (string beans, green beans, beans, cowpeas, peas), kelp, golden needles, silver fungus, mushrooms, cauliflower.
(5) Fats and oils and others: peanuts, cashew nuts, sesame seeds, chestnuts, lotus seeds, almonds.
3.Common high purine food
(1) Legumes and vegetables: soybeans, lentils, purple cabbage, shiitake mushrooms.
(2) Meat: liver, intestine, heart, stomach, kidney, lung, brain, pancreas and other offal of poultry and livestock, dried meat, thick gravy, meat pies, etc.
(3) Aquatic products: fish (fish skin, fish eggs, dried fish and sea fish such as sardines and anchovies), shellfish, shrimp, sea cucumbers.
(4) Others: yeast powder, various kinds of alcohol, especially beer.
Low purine food can be safely consumed, medium purine food should be limited, and purine food should be prohibited. Generally, alkaline foods contain low purines, such as mustard, cauliflower, kelp, cabbage, radish, tomato, cucumber, eggplant, onion, potato, bamboo shoot, peach, apricot, pear, banana, apple, etc., should be eaten more. And high purine foods can contribute to high amounts of uric acid. Therefore, they should be avoided as much as possible.
Principles of low purine diet
1. Sufficient amount of carbohydrates and fats should be supplied, and the amount of protein and salt should be controlled. Rice, corn, flour and its products (such as steamed buns, noodles, bread, etc.) can be used. If there is no adverse effect on the heart and kidneys, more water should be consumed, and the daily water intake should be maintained at 2000-3000 ml to increase the urine volume (preferably about 1500 ml per day) to promote uric acid excretion and stone formation of. Protein daily intake of 0.8-1.0g/kg body weight is appropriate, the daily supply of protein up to about 60g. Milk and eggs are the mainstay. River fish can be consumed in moderation, as well as lean meat and poultry in moderation, but it is best to cut into pieces and boil them so that purines dissolve in water, then go to soup before eating. Daily salt does not exceed 6g is appropriate, generally controlled at about 2 to 5 grams.
2, cooking methods more braised, boiled, boiled, steamed, boiled, etc., less frying, frying methods. Food should be as easy to digest.
3, more use of food rich in vitamin B1 and vitamin C. Available foods: rice, noodles, milk, eggs, fruits and various vegetable oils. Vegetables can be eaten except lobelia, celery, cauliflower, spinach.
4, prohibited liver, kidney, brain, clams, crab, fish, broth, chicken soup, peas, lentils, mushrooms, etc., a variety of strong condiments and strengthen the nervous excitement of food such as wine, tea, coffee, spicy products. Bean products should be limited. Gout patients must also prohibit alcohol, especially beer is most likely to cause gout attacks, should be absolutely prohibited.