How Are Peanuts High in Uric Acid and What You Should Know

Are peanuts high in uric acid? Well, Peanuts are tasty, affordable and contain healthy nutrients, but they can cause high levels of uric acid, too. If you have gout or other uric acid-related conditions, or if you want to prevent them from occurring, it's important to know how uric acid affects your body, what foods increase its levels and what you can do to keep your body in balance. Here's what you need to know about uric acid and peanuts before enjoying this tasty snack food again.

Peanuts High in Uric Acid: Learn the Risks

During the breakdown of protein, uric acid is produced as waste in this process. However, excessive consumption of high-purine foods can significantly increase the uric acid index in the body's blood. Uric acid is a biomarker for gout, but it's also linked to Alzheimer's. Elevated levels of uric acid may cause it to build up in your blood vessels and result in cardiovascular problems like a heart attack. Eating peanuts can also increase your risk of heart attack, as high levels of uric acid could be caused by other medical conditions.

Avoid Certain Brands of Peanuts

If your uric acid in your urine is significantly higher than average, you need to consider whether there is a problem with your kidneys. When you have old kidneys, they don't cleanse uric acid as well from your blood, so the uric acid level in your blood starts to increase. Symptoms of hyperuricemia may include joint pain and attacks of gout. If you want to reduce your risk of developing kidney disease, then limit your consumption of foods with high levels of purines, which are a component of uric acid. 

Though all nuts are high in purines, peanuts are especially so. If you are at risk for kidney disease or gout, then it's advisable to abstain from eating large amounts of peanuts or peanut butter. Other foods with high levels of purines include anchovies, herring, mackerel, and other organ meats such as liver and kidneys.

Try Substitutions

Are peanuts high in uric acid? If you don't know, they contain uric acid. If it is not pleasant for you, then it's time to start a different type of allergy treatment. If you're like many people with gout, you'll need to avoid the high-uric acid foods. You may wish to think about substitutes like lower-uric acid foods.

The National Institutes of Health suggests making some simple swaps to improve your diet, including swapping lima beans for corn. in place of kidney beans, add lentils, and for black-eyed peas, replace them with split peas. instead of beef, go for sardines; chicken or turkey is a healthier substitute for ham or bacon.

Track Your Peanut Intake

For someone with gout, it's probably best to avoid all peanut-related products, as they are quite high in uric acid. Uric acid levels can vary wildly among people. Some people can tolerate moderate amounts of peanuts while others will react regardless of how small their intake. That said, the best option for anyone who isn't sure about how he or she will react to nuts is to avoid them. However, doing a 24-hour uric acid test beforehand may be a good idea.

Peanuts High in Uric Acid: Know How Much Peanut Is Too Much

If you're on a low-purine diet, or if you have gout or kidney disease, avoid six raw unsalted peanuts. One serving of these nuts has 21 milligrams of purines--that's about one-fifth of your daily allowance.

You may want to stay away from peanuts, as they contain higher levels of uric acid, in addition to being high in fat and calories-approximately 190 calories per ounce (28 grams). When there is too much fat in the body, weight gain is common-the last thing you want if you are trying to lose weight.

Listen to Your Body

That being said, peanuts are a nutritious, high-protein snack that can give you energy. If you have an elevated uric acid level, try eating another type of nut instead. Food items that are high in purines like peanuts, organ meats, and seafood will make your uric acid levels higher. Uric acid is made from breaking down purines in your urine. purine-rich foods make it much easier for uric acid to accumulate and cause discomfort and pain in joints such as your ankles or knees.

Uses of Uric Acid

Uric acid is present in many medications, especially drugs for arthritis, gout, kidney stones, hyperuricemia (high uric acid), and other medical conditions. It can be found in many different foods, but meats, seafood, and especially red meat, contain large amounts of purines. For example, 3 ounces of skinless chicken will have around 40mg of uric acid while a medium-sized steak has more than 500mg.

Consuming high levels of these foods will result in increased blood uric acid levels, which may cause issues with fluid balance in your body by increasing water retention.