Is Beef Jerky Bad for Gout? Purines, Salt and Portions

TL;DR

• Beef jerky is a high-purine snack: listed at about 160 mg per 100 g, or roughly 45 mg per ounce. It hasn’t been lab-tested for the USDA purine database, and drying concentrates meat, so the real figure may be higher.
• One ounce is a modest dose. A whole 3-ounce bag carries about 135 mg, about the same as a 4-ounce sirloin steak.
• Salt doesn’t raise uric acid, but it does raise blood pressure, which most people with gout also have to manage.

Beef jerky isn’t off-limits with gout, but it is concentrated meat. An ounce carries roughly 45 mg of purines, and because jerky is easy to keep eating, a whole bag can match a steak dinner.

The salt is the other half of the story, though not for the reason most people assume.

How many purines are in beef jerky?

The USDA and ODS-NIH Database for the Purine Content of Foods (Release 2, 2025) has 462 food entries, and jerky isn’t one of them. Older purine tables list beef jerky at about 160 mg per 100 g, and that’s the value Urica uses. It sits in the High band.

Beef jerky serving	Weight	Purines (approx.)
1 large piece	20 g	~32 mg
1 ounce	28 g	~45 mg
3-ounce bag	85 g	~135 mg

Our bands: Low under 50 mg per 100 g, Moderate 50–100, High 100–200, Very high over 200.

Treat 160 as a rough guide, and probably not a ceiling. Purines are part of the DNA and RNA in cells, so in meat they sit in the lean muscle. Jerky is lean muscle with most of the water removed. USDA FoodData Central lists beef jerky at about 23% water and 33 g of protein per 100 g. Raw lean beef is about 72% water and 21 to 22 g of protein. Gram for gram, jerky packs about one and a half times the protein of fresh lean beef, and its purines concentrate along with it.

The purine database shows how much drying can matter in other foods:

• Dried bonito (katsuobushi) measures about 490 mg per 100 g, against about 210 for raw bonito.
• Dried shiitake mushrooms measure about 310 mg, against about 25 for fresh.
• Salami, a cured and dried sausage, measures about 215 mg per 100 g (published analyses range from about 120 to 245).

None of these is jerky. But they’re a good reason not to assume jerky is lower in purines than the beef it was made from.

Is jerky worse than a steak for gout?

Per gram, jerky is at least as concentrated as fresh beef. Per serving, it depends entirely on how much you eat:

Food	Typical portion	Purines (approx.)
Beef jerky	1 oz (28 g)	~45 mg
Salami	1 oz (28 g)	~60 mg
Beef jerky	3-oz bag (85 g)	~135 mg
Beef sirloin, raw	4 oz (113 g)	~125 mg
Ground beef 80/20, raw	4 oz (113 g)	~180 mg
Lean ground beef 93/7, raw	4 oz (113 g)	~215 mg

A single ounce is a small amount. The trouble is that jerky is a snack, so it usually comes on top of meat at lunch and dinner rather than instead of it. A bag in the afternoon and a burger at night adds up to more than 300 mg of purines from meat in a day.

That pattern matters. The American College of Rheumatology’s 2020 gout guideline conditionally recommends limiting purine intake for everyone with gout, whether or not they’re having flares. It doesn’t set a daily number or ban single foods, which leaves portions as the lever you control. For how other cuts compare, see is beef bad for gout.

Does the salt in jerky matter for gout?

Jerky is salty. USDA’s entry for beef jerky has about 1,785 mg of sodium per 100 g:

• 1 ounce: about 506 mg, roughly a fifth of the 2,300 mg daily limit in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
• 3-ounce bag: about 1,500 mg, around two-thirds of that limit.
• Smoked beef sticks: about 434 mg per ounce.

Here’s the part that surprises people: salt doesn’t raise uric acid. In the DASH-Sodium feeding trial, 103 adults ate low, medium and high sodium levels for 30 days each. Compared with the low-sodium period, serum uric acid was 0.3 to 0.4 mg/dL lower at the medium and high levels.

So why care? Blood pressure. The FDA notes that diets higher in sodium are associated with a higher risk of developing high blood pressure. In a national US survey (NHANES 2007–2008), 74% of adults with gout had high blood pressure. Some blood pressure medicines matter for gout too: the ACR guideline conditionally recommends switching from hydrochlorothiazide, a diuretic, to another blood pressure medicine when feasible, and choosing losartan when it fits. Talk to your doctor before changing anything you take.

Two smaller label points:

• Sugar: USDA’s jerky entry has about 9 g of sugar per 100 g, about 2.6 g per ounce. Sweet flavors can carry more, so check the label. Fructose is the sugar tied to uric acid.
• Brands vary. USDA’s entry is a chopped-and-formed jerky. Whole-muscle brands differ in fat, sodium and sugar, so your label is the best guide.

How much jerky is reasonable with gout?

Most people with gout can fit jerky in occasionally. A practical approach:

• One ounce at a time. Portion it out instead of eating from the bag.
• Count it as meat. On a jerky day, keep lunch or dinner lighter on meat.
• Not during a flare. Skip red meat, jerky included, until it settles.
• Water, not beer. Jerky and beer is a common pairing at games and on the road. Beer adds purines and alcohol, which raises uric acid on its own.
• Drink enough. The Arthritis Foundation suggests at least 8 glasses of nonalcoholic fluids a day, and more during a flare. If your doctor has told you to limit fluids, follow that advice. See dehydration and gout flares.

If jerky is a regular part of your week, log it. An app like Urica can track your snacks alongside meals and show whether flares follow heavier meat days.

What are better snacks than jerky for gout?

If you reach for jerky because it’s portable protein, these carry far fewer purines:

Snack	Serving	Purines (approx.)	Protein
Beef jerky	1 oz	~45 mg	9 g
Hard-boiled egg	1 large	under 2 mg	6 g
String cheese (part-skim mozzarella)	1 oz	~3 mg	7 g
Plain low-fat yogurt	6 oz	~9 mg	9 g
Walnuts	1 oz	~6 mg	4 g
Almonds	1 oz	~9 mg	6 g

Protein from USDA FoodData Central.

Eggs, cheese and yogurt come close to jerky’s protein with a small fraction of the purines. Nuts carry less protein but almost no purines; see are walnuts bad for gout. Bison and venison jerky aren’t a lower-purine alternative, because those meats are listed as high or higher than beef before drying; see is bison bad for gout.

The Bottom Line

Beef jerky is a high-purine meat snack, listed at about 160 mg per 100 g, or roughly 45 mg an ounce. It hasn’t been lab-tested, and drying concentrates meat, so the real figure could be higher. An ounce now and then is fine for most people with gout. A daily bag on top of regular meat meals is the pattern to avoid. Its salt doesn’t raise uric acid, but it matters for blood pressure, which most people with gout also have. Portion it out, drink water with it, skip it during flares, and swap in eggs, cheese, yogurt or nuts when you just want protein.

Sources

• USDA and ODS-NIH. Database for the Purine Content of Foods, Release 2 (2025).
• USDA FoodData Central. Snacks, beef jerky, chopped and formed.
• Juraschek SP, et al. Effects of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Diet and Sodium Intake on Serum Uric Acid. Arthritis & Rheumatology, 2016.
• Zhu Y, Pandya BJ, Choi HK. Comorbidities of gout and hyperuricemia in the US general population: NHANES 2007-2008. American Journal of Medicine, 2012.
• FitzGerald JD, et al. 2020 American College of Rheumatology Guideline for the Management of Gout. Arthritis Care & Research, 2020.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Talk to your rheumatologist or healthcare provider about your specific situation.