Herring
Seafood — purine content 233mg per 100g
High Purine
233
mg/100g
Avoid — very high purine content.
Diet Advice
Herring is one of the highest-purine fish at about 233mg per 100g. Seafood intake shows the strongest food-level link to gout attacks, and the oily fish group — herring, sardines, anchovies — carries the most purine. No cooking method lowers it.
Recommended Preparation
Best avoided. Swap to a lower-purine fish instead — cod (75mg) or tilapia (70mg) — and keep oily fish for special occasions only, if at all.
Low Purine Alternatives
Data source: USDA FoodData Central; Choi HK, NEJM 2004; FitzGerald JD, 2020 ACR Guideline for the Management of Gout. Purine value: 233mg per 100g of Herring (High purine, red zone).
See the full purine food classification table for all 142 foods, or read the low purine diet guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Herring: is it high in purines?
Herring: 233mg of purines per 100g, above the 150mg/100g cut-off used on this site. High-purine foods are the ones most consistently linked to higher uric acid, so this is usually a small, occasional serving, and left out during a flare.
Can I eat Herring during a gout flare?
During a flare most guidance is to leave Herring out. At 233mg per 100g it sits well above the low-purine cut-off, and flares are when purine intake is kept lowest. Small amounts can return once symptoms settle.
What are the best low-purine alternatives to Herring?
Lower-purine options to use in place of Herring include: Salmon, Tofu. They offer comparable nutrition at a much lower purine content, which makes a balanced diet easier to hold together.