Sweet Cherries
Also listed as: Cherries, sweet, raw
Sweet Cherries are low in purines and generally safe for people with gout in normal portions. A typical 140 g serving has about 24 mg of purines, about 6% of a ~400 mg working daily target.
General information, not a substitute for advice from your doctor or dietitian.
PURINE NOTE: This figure comes from German consumer purine tables, which cite no original measurement. It matches their uric-acid column, which runs about 2.4 times the purine content.
This purine value is inferred, not measured directly for this food. See the sources note below for how it was derived.
How much can I eat?
Whole fruit is not treated like added sugar here, but the reason is portion, not chemistry: in the one trial that matched the dose, fruit fructose raised uric acid about as much as a drink did. A fruit serving simply delivers less fructose than a glass of juice does. The 2020 ACR guideline does not advise limiting fresh fruit.
How we count fructose
This is the fructose, not the total sugar: it counts free fructose plus half of sucrose, so a sucrose-sweetened product carries roughly twice this much sugar overall.
Evidence: Ayoub-Charette et al., J Nutr 2021 (fructose by food source) · White et al., Am J Clin Nutr 2018 (whole apple vs. a fructose drink, matched dose)
Even a large serving stays well under a day's purines.
These are plant purines, which research links far more weakly to flares: the 24 mg here counts as roughly 7 mg toward your gout risk.
Sweet Cherries are an easy choice to keep on hand.
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Why grade B
Cherry and tart-cherry intake is associated with a markedly lower risk of recurrent gout flares.
Per 100 g and processing
Per 100 g (for comparison)
Low for gout (< 50 mg/100g).
Moderate for gout (3–8 g/100g).
Processing: NOVA 1 of 4 (unprocessed or minimally processed). How processing affects the grade.
Diet is part of the picture, not all of it
For most people the body makes the majority of its own uric acid. Food contributes the smaller share. Eating well lowers your risk and helps you feel in control, but for many people diet alone does not bring uric acid down enough to stop flares. Medication often does the heavy lifting. Use these grades to make easier daily choices, and work with your doctor on the full plan.
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Apple
Apple, raw, with skin
How did sweet cherries go for you?
Reader experiences, not medical advice. The grade above comes from published data.