• Drinking lots of coffee can cause uric acid levels to increase."coffee" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: Jennie Faber (Jennie Faber) under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
  
  

Significance

• Most Americans consume between 600 and 1,000mg of purine per day through their diet. If you've been diagnosed with high levels of uric acid---typically by means of a simple blood test---your doctor may encourage you to reduce your consumption to as little as 100mg of purine per day.
  
  

Foods High in Purine

• Foods with very the highest purine levels---as much as 1,000mg in a 3.5-ounce serving, include anchovies, sardines and organ meats, such as kidneys, sweetbreads and liver. Asparagus, crab, lobster, cauliflower, lentils, spinach and veal also contain large quantities of purine.
  
  

Foods That Lower Uric Acid

• A 2004 study published in the "New England Journal of Medicine," found that people who consumed low-fat dairy products significantly lowered the levels of uric acid in the blood. The study also found that people whose diets were dairy-free tended in general to have higher blood levels of uric acid.
  
  

Other Factors

• Factors other than diet can contribute to high uric acid levels. Lifestyle factors, including consuming large quantities of caffeine and alcohol, also increase uric acid in the blood. A family history of high uric acid increases your risk of developing uric acid. Medications, including some blood pressure and immune-suppressant medications, can raise uric acid levels.
  
  

Warning

• In some cases, high uric acid levels in the blood can signal a more serious health condition, such as Hodgkin's lymphoma (Hodgkin's disease), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, leukemia and hypothyroidism. High levels of uric acid in the blood can also lead to more serious health conditions, including gout, kidney disease and heart disease.