Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Acid vs. Alkaline foods

As I described in my recipe post above for Vegetable Tea, eliminating acidic foods, and acid-producing foods, will help heal and prevent a host of illnesses, including candida, arthritis, digestive problems, and cancer. Below I will list foods that are acidic or produce acid, plus alkaline foods, and also healing foods which counteract acidity in the body.

ACID/PRODUCING FOODS (avoid like the plague)
~ all animal protein
(beef, veal, pork, milk, cheese, shellfish)
~ wheat and spelt
~ corn
~ tomatoes
~ oranges, grapefruit, pineapple
~ liquor/alcohol
~ sugar
~ coffee, black tea
~ fried and especially deep-fried foods

SLIGHTLY ACID/PRODUCING FOODS (consume in moderation)
~ lamb, fish, fowl and poultry
~ eggs
~ beans, tofu
~ barley, buckwheat, kamut, oats, rye
~ white rice
~ mushrooms
~ prunes, raisins, tangerines
~ yogurt and butter are neutral foods

ALKALINE FOODS (should become dietary staples)
~ most fruits
(ie. melons, mangoes, papaya, peach, berries...)
~ all vegetables
(ie. spinach, sweet peppers, parsnips, greens...)
~ brown rice, arrowroot, millet, quinoa, almonds
~ high-alkaline vegetables including artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, garlic, all dark leafy greens, potatoes, pumpkins, squash...

HEALING FOODS (neutralize acids in the body)
lemons and limes
asparagus
seaweeds
parsley
garlic
ginger


This can be summed up as a few new dietary habits: avoid acid foods, add lemon juice and parsley to your lunch and dinner everyday, eat a wide variety of vegetables, and replace all wheat in your diet with amaranth, millet and quinoa (as whole grains and/or as flour), and switch from white rice to brown rice. Easy!

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thankyou! I have been looking for a list of alkaline foods.

Anonymous said...

While this is a nice list, it seems from my research that EVERY single list I have seen is different. No one can quite agree on whether certain foods are actually acidic or alkaline. On the points where they disagree I suggest trying it out and seeing how your body reacts. It's not too hard to tell whether you are eating something that helps your body, or hinders it. :)

Anonymous said...

After looking over several pages to find the right alkaline list I found yours!!. Thank you for doing the work for me!!!

Helen McCaffrey Birney said...

Tomatoes and grapefruits are actually alkaline; they may seem like "acidic" foods, but after you digest them, they become alkaline. Defining a food as "alkaline" for good health means the pH balance it has after digestion when it is ready to be eliminated is 7.0 or higher (human blood is 7.365, and we should consume foods equal or of higher amount of alkalinity). Also, with the exception of grapefruit, most fruit turns acidic when eaten. Fruit should be eaten sparingly as it spikes your energy level and then quickly brings it down.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Laydabi in her observation that EVERY list is different. While people would clearly benefit from an "Alkaline only" diet, most traditional and naturopathic specialists state that a diet of 65-80% alkaline foods, the % range dependent on individual health and dietary needs, is more realistic for most. To claim that following a strictly Alkaline diet is "easy" is, at best, optimistic, and at worst, ridiculous. At least for those who do not abide by the "Food Nazi" pyramid.

Anonymous said...

speaking as a scientist and edicated man, this list a a laughable pile of shit.
To call a lemon an 'acid reducing food' truly boggles and amazes my mind.
not enen noting that one should 'avoid all animal protein' then one is told fish, poultry, lamb etc is to be consumed in moderation.
use you brains, learn, study, and use common sense but dont listen to morons with no education teaching hippy tree hugging falsehoods.

Claudia Davila (Fran) said...

Thank you to the last anonymous comment, though it's unfortunate your tone and language were offensive. I apologize to other readers for coarse language but will keep this comment as I welcome opposing views and perspectives.

Anonymous said...

I have done alot of research and yes most lists do indeed have differences, but the best thing i can suggest is try to cut out all processed foods you can, eat plenty of leafy greens hopefully purchased from a farmers markets or home grown and everything in moderation.
As for the comment left by Anonymous, "speaking as a scientist and edicated man" if this were indeed correct you would have the intelligence to see another point of view and indecently spell correctly.

Alex said...

Oh dear - I hope readers aren't led astray by your lists.

Grapefruit, for example, is very alkalyzing.

Yes, there are different items in different lists online, but all the decent research tells you that grapefruit are alkalyzing. Notably, some people seem to think that examining food ash tells us what the food does in our bodies, which is clearly nonsense.

And to tell people to avoid all acidifying foods is totally irresponsible. Everyone needs protein!

What we need is a *balance* of foods that together give a slightly alkalyzing effect.

Anonymous said...

How about honey & maple syrup?

Claudia said...

Sorry I don't have information about natural sweeteners...! If you find out feel free to come back and share.

Dogeen said...

I'd like to emphasize the fact that it is the ash or a residue that ingested food leaves in our bodies is the major factor in determining acid/base ph of that food. Having said that I would therefore stand by the actual studies of the PH, which numerous and easy to understand by a lay person. I have also been experimenting with myself and the conclusions of my test quite the same as the results of most of respected studies.I have found that my Ph had become significantly alkaline after dieting exlusively on oranges with some small exceptions such as kiwi for a prolonged period of time, it jumped to about 8.3- 8.5, which is you all have to admitt quite base. To cut the story short thank you Fran for your info on this subject but you might want to look a bit further into it by analizing not the actual predigestion Ph,which is I have to say quite misleading; but to look at the effect the particular type of food has the Ph of saliva,urine and blood or lymph. It is quite interesting your generalizing of animal products as a plaque and than calling fish,butter etc. sort of OK in moderation...well let me ask you if you dont mind; is the fish or ghee or yoghurt a not/non animal? With all due respect to Ayurvedic medicine these foods that are used say for Vat dosh are mostly acid forming and and being mostly cooked are quite addictive in nature as they contain lesser nutrients than raw foods, therefore is very easy for such a person to slip into diet/detox mode becoming diet/detox addict. Ayurveda can be quite uneffective in a real crisis situation when a lay person isn't able to addapt all of the healing principles, on the contrary natural approaches with the use of fruit mainly with leafy greens and juicing work true wonders and are quite simple to follow and effective in every single case no matter how advanced, however I went a bit of topic here...concluding I consider all raw fruits and veggies apart from cruciferous with understanding of your constitution and importance of healthy colon an optimal base for a right Ph and lifestyle. Peace&Love.

Anonymous said...

You are an idiot. Really. Or, at the very minimum, your comments are idiotic. Ironically you preface them by the arrogant assertion that you're a scientist and educated. HaHaHa.

Anonymous said...

The list is incorrect - whether something is considered acidic or alkaline has nothing to do with whether it is acid or alkali in its whole form. It is to do with the balance of certain minerals, such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, sulfur and phosphorus. When too much sulfur, phosphorus, and sodium are consumed, the body has to mine its mineral reservoirs (such as the bones) in order to neutralise it and prevent it becoming acidic - the human body must remain at 7.365. Therefore, acid-tasting fruit are not "acidic" - all fruit are alkalising. Also dairy products being gentle on the tongue doesn't mean they are neutral - they are all acidifying.

Despite people reactively deeming it "alternative" or even a "hippy tree hugging falsehood", the way that the body neutralises acid is not disputed. The acid-alkali concept on which it is based is valid.

Sea vegetables are very alkalising

Leafy vegetables are the next most alkalising. Certain fruit, such as citrus and watermelon, are strongly alkalising

All other fruit and vegetables are alkalising

Certain seeds and nuts are alkalising, others are mildly acidifying. Sesame seeds and poppy seeds for example are very alkalising.

Psueograins such as quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, millet and wild rice are slightly alkalising

True grains are generally slightly acidifying, although I'm not sure about rice, which is considered the easiest grain to digest

Beans are mildly acidifying

Yeast products (such as Marmite and edicle yeast powders) are slightly acidifying

All animal products are strongly acidifying

Anonymous said...

*edible, not edicle.

BTW, the captcha verification on here is almost impossible to decipher - maybe it's given me an extra hard one as I'm on Tor?

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I truly appreciate your efforts and I am waiting for your next write ups thanks once again.

Pauleen
www.imarksweb.org

A well wisher said...

I would just like to mention that all negatives like stress, worry, hate, blame etc. are all acidic to the body, whereas all positives like love, laughter, and kindness are all alkalizing to the body.

Anonymous said...

Great comment!! We all tend to leave out what stress can do to the body

Anonymous said...

Great comment!! We all tend to leave out what stress can do to the body

Anonymous said...

Finally! Exactly what i was looking for... thank you
alkaline food list

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