Acid- and Alkaline-Forming Foods

That fact that a food or food product is acidic or alkaline in and of itself, doesn't mean it creates acid or alkalinity in the body. It depends on how it is chemically metabolized in the body. The lists below illustrate which common foods are acid-forming and which are alkaline-forming. Acid Forming Foods All meat (beef, pork, lamb, chicken) and fish Rice (white, brown, or basmati) Cornmeal, oats, rye, spelt, wheat, bran Popcorn Pastas Breads and most other grain products like cereals (hot or cold), crackers, pastries The following beans (unless sprouted in which case they become alkaline-producing): pinto, navy, mung, lentils, black, garbanzo, red, white, adzuki, and broad Cheese (parmesan is the worst, followed by other sharper cheeses) Sunflower and pumpkin seeds Wheat germ The following nuts: walnuts, pecans, cashews, dried coconut, (fresh coconut is alkaline producing), pistachios, macadamias, filberts, Brazil nuts and peanuts. Colas and carbonated drinks Alcoholic drinks Coffee and other caffeinated drinks Sweetened yogurt Most forms of sweeteners (artificial sweeteners, cane sugar, beet sugar, barley syrup, processed honey, maple syrup, molasses, fructose, lactose) Refine table salt Soy sauce Mustard (dried powder and processed) Ketchup (unless natural and homemade) Mayonnaise (unless natural and homemade) White vinegar (apple cider and sweet brown rice vinegar are less acid-producing and preferred) Nutmeg Tobacco Practically all drugs Alkalizing Foods Almost all vegetables (except peppers, beets) Practically all fruits with the exception of blueberries, plums, prunes, and cranberries. Even citrus fruits such as lemons, which we think of as being acidic, are alkaline-producing in the body. They are rich in organic salts, like citrates, which are being converted into bicarbonates. Beans such as string, soy, lima, green and snap Peas Potatoes Arrowroot flour Grains such as flax, millet, quinoa, and amaranth Nuts like almonds, pignoli, fresh coconut and chestnuts Sprouted seeds of alfalfa, radish and chia Unsprouted sesame Fresh unsalted butter Milk Cream Goat's milk Eggs Whey Plain yogurt Sweeteners like raw, unpasterized honey, dried sugar cane juice (Sucanat), brown rice syrup Fruit juices All vegetable juices Most herbal teas Garlic Cayenne Pepper Gelatin Most herbs Miso Most vegetable and unprocessed sea salt Most spices Vanilla extract Brewer's yeast Most unprocessed, cold-pressed oils are neutral or alkaline-forming

(Sourced from "Alternatives - For the Health Conscious Individual", Vol 9, No. 11, May 2002)

Approximate pH of Foods and Food products

The approximate ranges of food product pH values are shown below, as compiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Considerable variation exists between varieties, condition of growing and processing methods, etc. Data is presented for the edible portion of foods in their normal and natural state, unless otherwise designated.

Item

Approximate pH

Abalone Abalone mushroom Ackees Aloe vera Aloe Juice Anchovies Anchovies, stuffed w/capers, in olive oil Antipesto Apple, baked with sugar Apple, eating Apples Delicious Golden Delicious Jonathan McIntosh Juice Sauce Winesap Apricots Canned Dried, stewed Nectar Pureed, Strained Arrowroot Crackers Arrowroot Cruel Artichokes Artichokes, canned, acidified Artichokes, French, cooked Artichokes, Jerusalem, cooked Asparagus Buds Stalks Asparagus, cooked Asparagus, canned Asparagus, frozen, cooked Asparagus, green, canned

6.10 - 6.50 5.00 5.50 6.10 6.00 - 6.80 6.50 5.58 5.60 3.20 - 3.55 3.30 - 4.00

3.90 3.60 3.33 3.34 3.35 - 4.00 3.10 - 3.60 3.47 3.30 - 4.80 3.40 - 3.78 3.30 - 3.51 3.78 3.42 - 3.83 3.72 - 3.95 6.63 - 6.80 6.37 - 6.87 5.50 - 6.00 4.30 - 4.60 5.60 - 6.00 5.93 - 6.00 6.00 - 6.70 6.70 6.10 6.03 - 6.16 5.00 - 6.00 6.35 - 6.48 5.20 - 5.32

References: Anon. 1962. pH values of food products. Food Eng. 34(3): 98-99. Bridges, M. A., and Mattice, M.R. 1939. Over two thousand estimations of the pH of representative foods, American J. Digestive Diseases, 9:440-449. Warren L. Landry and et al. 1995. Examination of canned foods. FDA Bacteriological Analytical Manual, 8th Ed. Chapter 21, Table 11, AOAC International, Gaithersburg, MD 20877 Grahn M.A. 1984. Acidified and low acid foods from Southeast Asia. FDA-LIB