Is tuna bad for gout?

Total purines (adenine, guanine, hypoxanthine and xanthine) measured by HPLC in foods bought in Japan, Kaneko K et al. Total purine and purine base content of common foodstuffs. Biol Pharm Bull 2014;37(5):709-721. Groups: very low under 50 mg, low 50 to 100 mg, moderate 100 to 200 mg, high 200 to 300 mg, very high over 300 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g).

The Japanese guideline for hyperuricemia and gout recommends keeping dietary purines under 400 mg a day, and advises people with gout not to overeat foods with more than 200 mg of purines per 3.5 oz (100 g). US guidance from NIAMS (NIH) names food groups instead of numbers.

Japanese Society of Gout and Nucleic Acid Metabolism, Japanese guideline for the management of hyperuricemia and gout, 2nd edition (2011), as reported in Kaneko et al. 2014.

• Level E NIAMS (NIH): Having an unhealthy diet and eating foods that are rich in purines (usually from animal sources), a substance that breaks down into urate. NIAMS, Gout, accessed 2026-10-12

Word-for-word quotes. Level E means the position of an expert body. How we grade evidence.

Same table, same method. Kaneko K et al. Total purine and purine base content of common foodstuffs. Biol Pharm Bull 2014;37(5):709-721.

Purine-rich animal foods and purine-rich vegetables do not behave the same way in studies.

• Level B In an RCT in 90 gout patients, a 42-day low-purine, energy-restricted diet lowered serum uric acid by 112.4 µmol/L more than in the control group. Nutrients, 2026
• Level C Observational data from 8 studies of 47,879 people with gout link high purine intake, especially from animal sources, with more gout flares. J Health Popul Nutr, 2025
• Level C Vegetables high in purines showed no link at all with blood urate, which is the number gout advice is built on. PLoS One, 2012

Tuna is in the moderate group, below the 200 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g) that the Japanese guideline flags as foods not to overeat. A 4 oz serving of fresh tuna has about 178 mg of purines. Canned tuna measured lower, at about 133 mg.

That still takes close to half of a 400 mg day in one serving. Salmon and mackerel have a little less, at about 120 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g). Sardines are higher at 210 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g).

NIAMS lists a diet rich in purines, which come mostly from animal sources, among the things that raise the risk of gout. One 4 oz serving of fresh tuna leaves about 220 mg of that 400 mg day for everything else you eat.

Written from the agency positions and data on this page, reviewed by the Bioma editorial system. How we verify.

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