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…

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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.

Is Pork High in Purines?

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.

Which Pork is Best for Uric Acid?
Which Pork is Best for Uric Acid?

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.


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Is Pork High in Purines References

  1. Brulé, Danielle, Ghulam Sarwar, and Laurent Savoiet. “Purine content of selected Canadian food products.” Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 1, no. 2 (1988): 130-138.
  2. Kaneko, Kiyoko, Yasuo Aoyagi, Tomoko Fukuuchi, Katsunori Inazawa, and Noriko Yamaoka. “Total purine and purine base content of common foodstuffs for facilitating nutritional therapy for gout and hyperuricemia.” Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin (2014): b13-00967.
  3. Huang, Cong, Min Zheng, Yizhong Huang, Xianxian Liu, Liepeng Zhong, Jiuxiu Ji, Lisheng Zhou, Qingjie Zeng, Junwu Ma, and Lusheng Huang. “The effect of purine content on sensory quality of pork.” Meat Science 172 (2021): 108346.
  4. Löffler, W., W. Gröbner, and N. Zöllner. “Influence of dietary protein on serum and urinary uric acid.” In Purine Metabolism in Man-III, pp. 209-213. Springer, Boston, MA, 1980.

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