Is Pork High in Purines?

You ask if pork is high in purines. But there is no official recommendation. Because you have to know which personal factors set your pork intake limits for uric acid control. So learn those factors here. Then you will know if pork is OK for your uric acid diet.

Who needs to know about Pork and Purines?

I wrote this as part of the GoutPal Plan for Gout Dieters. So it helps you to discuss pork and uric acid with the professionals who are advising you. As every plan needs to fit individual sufferers, there is no single answer to the main question. Because every gout sufferer:

Eats different cuts of pork.
Has different percentages of pork in their diet.
Creates different amounts of uric acid from pork purines.
Excretes different amounts of uric acid after digesting pork purines.

Please note that GoutPal Dieters have established a Gout Foundation Diet and regularly check uric acid changes. If you don’t have those, you should follow the GoutPal Plan for Gout Foodies. But please note that I have not yet completed the corresponding article on gout and pork. So if you want to get an email when I publish that…

This article will identify the porky factors that affect your uric acid. Allowing you to discuss those factors with your health advisers. Because that supports the Purpose of GoutPal.com. Then I’ll finish with a summary of your next steps. Also, with links to related information that helps with your uric acid diet.

Except where shown (^[1] and ^[3]) purine values are from ^[2]. Also, the Canadian study (^[1]) is the only study to show purine values for cooked pork.
Cut	Adenine	Guanine	Hypo-xanthine	Xanthine	Total Purines
Low Purine Pork (50 to 100 mg per 100g)
Neck	14.9	12.1	43.6	0.0	70.6
Ribs	13.5	10.6	51.7	0.0	75.8
Shoulder	16.2	12.1	53.1	0.0	81.4
Shoulder Ribs	16.2	10.6	64.0	0.0	90.8
Sirloin	17.6	12.1	61.2	0.0	90.9
Shoulder Sirloin	18.9	13.6	62.6	0.0	95.1
Medium Purine Pork (100 to 200 mg per 100g)
Tongue	24.3	21.2	58.5	0.0	104.0
Shoulder Knee	21.6	16.6	69.4	0.0	107.6
Rump	20.3	15.1	77.6	0.0	113.0
Heart	39.2	24.2	55.8	0.0	119.2
Roast and Chops^[1]	13.2	16.2	90.4	0.0	119.8
Tenderloin	23.0	15.1	81.7	0.0	119.8
LTL Muscle^[3]	25.1	13.2	96.0	0.0	134.3
Kidney	64.8	77.1	53.1	0.0	195.0
High Purine Pork (200 to 300 mg per 100g)
Liver	81.1	102.7	34.0	66.9	284.7

Note that this is a brief summary of the purine content of pork. But there is fascinating information in the detail. In particular, the third study is focused on taste. We often lose sight of the importance of taste if we only consider uric acid numbers. So consider their highlights:

Lower contents of hypoxanthine and adenine in pork are associated with increased tenderness and juiciness.

The guanine content enhances the umami taste of meat.

Can Pork Reduce Uric Acid?

Since proteins encourage uric acid excretion^[4], your health adviser might set protein targets for you. Unfortunately, the purine studies don’t include protein values. So I’ve selected some values from the USDA database.

Most gout sufferers should be concerned with calorie intake. Also, some will adopt an alkalizing diet to promote uric acid excretion. So I’ve included calorie and PRAL values in this pork protein list:

Data is sorted in descending protein content.
Cut	Calories	Protein	PRAL
Pork, fresh, loin, top loin (chops), boneless, separable lean only, raw	127	22.4	10.7
Pork, fresh, loin, whole, separable lean only, raw	143	21.4	9.3
Pork, fresh, composite of trimmed retail cuts (leg, loin, shoulder), separable lean only, raw	134	21.2	10.0
Pork, fresh, loin, tenderloin, separable lean only, raw	109	21.0	10.3
Pork, fresh, shoulder, (Boston butt), blade (steaks), separable lean only, raw	132	18.7	8.8
Pork, fresh, shoulder, whole, separable lean and fat, raw	236	17.2	8.2
Pork, fresh, variety meats and by-products, stomach, raw	159	16.9	9.7
Pork, fresh, spareribs, separable lean and fat, raw	277	15.5	7.1

If you are interested in making pork meals alkalizing, see the full pork PRAL list.

Does Pork Increase Your Uric Acid?

This has explained how purines and proteins in pork might affect your uric acid. Though much depends on the third principle of uric acid diet. Now, you have facts to support the discussions with your health advisers. So you can decide together, how much pork is right for you.

Remember that pork is only a small part of the Gout Foundation Diet. So any changes you make will have limited influence on uric acid. Assuming that you are already following the Gout Foundation Diet. But, as with all meats, the best approach is to choose cuts of pork from the low purine group with the highest protein content.

Leave Is Pork High in Purines to read GoutPal’s Gout Blog.

Please remember: to find more related pages that are relevant to you, use the search box near the top of every page.

Common Terms: Most Helpful Gout Pages, pork