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Foods Containing Tannins

Avoiding these foods may help reduce migraines and other health issues.
Foods NOT containing Tannins – pgs. 2 & 3

Common beverages Fruits

Apple cider Apricot 600-1000 ppm
Apple juices Banana
Beer (hops) 20,000-40,000 ppm Berries (see below)
Coffee bean 90,000 ppm Cherries (red)
Grape juices Currants, red and black
Guarana 85,000-120,000 ppm Dates 200-18,000 ppm
Mate 40,000-160,000 ppm Eggplant 2000 ppm
Red wines Grapes
White wines aged in oak Kiwi 9,000 ppm
Rose hip tea Nectarine
Tea 33,000-270,000 ppm Peach 8,000 ppm
Persimmon
Beans Pomegranate (juice) 17,000 ppm
Black beans
Red beans Berries
(White beans have few if any tannins) Blackberry
Blueberry
Spices Cranberry
Allspice Gooseberry
Cinnamon Raspberry 6,200 ppm
Clove Strawberry
Coriander
Cumin Nuts
Oregano Black walnut 147,000 ppm
Tarragon Cashew
Thyme English walnut 122,300 ppm
Turmeric Pecan
Vanilla Pistachio
Probably many more spices have tannins (Peanuts without skins have few if any tannins)

Products with phenolic additives
Food dyes (including annatto - often used in
yellow cheeses, margarines)
Vitamin pills; prescription and
non-prescription drugs with food dyes, acacia,
herbs, phenolic fillers and binders
Most herbal products contain tannins
Misc.
Alfalfa (herbal supplement base) 27,000 ppm
Barley
Breads with barley flour (check ingredients!)
Chocolate (Cacao bean) 75,400 ppm
Carob 12,000 ppm (& carob bean gum)
Chicory
Many herbs & herbal teas
Smoked foods (Oak, mesquite, etc.)
Cigarette smoke

Phenolic fumes such as perfumes, paint

fumes, "fragrances" as in ingredient in
soaps, shampoos, skin creams, hand creams, etc.;
petroleum-based cleaning products, etc.
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Foods NOT Containing Tannins

Common beverages Misc.

Juices: Breads: Home-made bread with wheat flour (NOT

grapefruit "bread flour" as it contains malted barley flour which
lemonade without additives (hard to find unless you is high in tannins).
make your own!) ***A bread without barley is Millbrook bread.
orange juice without additives (also rare!)
pineapple juices (usually fine, but check for additives.) Candies: Butterscotches without additives or dyes
(Callard & Bowser is good!) - Most candies have
Teas: chocolate and/or additives and many dyes, so forget
green tea (though highly phenolic, seems to be okay. them.
The tannins/phenols are different from
black-tea tannins, and do not seem to be too bad. Cheeses: White cheeses without stabilizers,
Many green teas in the supermarkets are cut with black preservatives or food dyes (annatto) are okay.
teas or herbal teas, and some have additives like "natural
flavours." You only want green tea -- nothing else. And Chinese food: Many Chinese foods have very few
don't let it sit around too long after you brew tannins.
it -- tannins form as it sits (noticeable by its
changing, deepening color). Japanese and other Asian foods most likely are
also low in tannins.
Wines:
White wines (not aged in oak) Desserts: Homemade white and yellow cakes are
(the lighter the color of a white wine, the fewer the fine (but watch the frosting for dyes).
tannins. Avoid yellow-colored wines.
Clear, light greenish-colored or very light yellow white Eggs: Fresh eggs are fine.
wines are good.
Most Pinot Grigio (a.k.a. Pinot Gris) are fine. Ice creams: Although vanilla has tannins, the
Avoid most California Chardonnays) following have no other tannins besides
Avoid all red and rose wines. vanilla. (Carob bean gum, a.k.a. locust bean gum, is
in most ice creams and contains tannins).
Beans
White beans (have few if any tannins) Meats: All meats that DO NOT have additives are
***Great Northern and White Kidney beans tannin-free except perhaps sweetbreads.
Smoked meats have tannins (the smoke contains
Fruits tannins from the wood used in the smoking).
Cantaloupe Meats in pre-processed foods may not themselves
grapefruits have tannins, but many if not most processed foods
guava have additives of some sort -- dyes, stabilizers,
honeydew melon preservatives, etc.
lemons
limes
Oatmeal is fine. (Check pre-packaged oatmeal for
oranges
tannin-containing flavourings and other additives.)
green pears
pineapple
Pasta is fine as long as the sauce used on it doesn't
watermelon
have tannins.
apricots and peaches (have some tannins,
when ripe, their tannin content is negligible.)
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Red pears and red apples (have tannins in their skins.

The lighter-coloured the apple, the fewer tannins in the
skin.)
***Apples are listed here as okay to eat, and apple
juice is listed on the page of tannin-containing foods,
is because the cells in the apples contain two
chemicals that, when combined, produce tannins.
When you bite into an apple, or juice it, the
cell is broken and the two chemicals come together.
Tannins are then formed.
The juice of a fresh apple is clear;
the juice in bottles is brown from the tannins.
Also, many juice manufacturers add tannins
to juices for clarification, for "mouth feel" and for
coloring.
Nuts
Peanuts (without skins)
blanched almonds
macadamia nuts
Rice, both white and brown (watch sauce used –
may contain tannins)
(Check prepackaged rice for tannin-containing
additives and dyes.)
Seafood (that does not have additives is tannin-free)
(Seafood in pre-processed foods may not have
tannins, but many if not most processed foods have
additives of some sort -- dyes, stabilizers,
preservatives, etc.)
Sherbets (without dyes - natural or artificial)
Yogurts without carob bean gum, guar gum, dyes
(natural or artificial), Aspertame, etc.
Although the gums are not phenolic, it's best to avoid
any unnecessary additives.
Avoid yogurts with berries and/or nuts added.

Spices
Black Pepper (the spiciness of black pepper comes from
piperine, which is non-phenolic).
(red) Red pepper
cayenne
paprika
(all 3 get their spiciness from capsaicin)

Vegetables
artichokes asparagus
bok choy beets
broccoli brussel sprouts
cabbage carrots
cauliflower celery
chard collard greens
kale lettuce
mushrooms mustard greens
okra olives
parsley parsnips
peas potatoes
pumpkin spinach
squashes zucchini

Onions, cucumbers and tomatoes (are phenolic, but do

not contain condensed tannins. You may want to limit
these (especially onions), but unless you're very
sensitive, you may not need to cut them out entirely.)