Many people with health problems such as heartburn and acid reflux are told to cut down on acidic foods to ease discomfort. But what many people don't know is which foods are acidic. Some foods such as lemons appear to be acidic because they taste acidic but in fact they have an alkaline effect.
Acidity and alkalinity are supported by a pH factor ranging from 0-14. pH0 is acidic and pH14 is alkaline. What needs to be understood is that an alkaline diet is not necessarily better than acidic; nutritionally there needs to be a balance of both.
Unfortunately, due to diets being high in processed foods, it becomes almost impossible to maintain that balance. The pH of stomach acid is 1, which is needed for the first point of digestion, water is 7 (neutral), blood is 7.35, sea water is 8.5, and baking soda is 12.
Ideally, body pH should stay on the alkaline side just above neutral, between 7.35 and 7.45. Many health experts have suggested that health deteriorates when blood changes pH due to an imbalanced diet. Foods are classified as acid-forming or alkalizing depending on the effect they have on the body, not on their acid content. Just because a food tastes acidic, does not mean it will be acid forming in the body.
Acidic Foods List
Listed below are foods that produce acid when ingested. That is, they contribute a hydrogen ion to the body and produce an acidic environment.
- vegetables: corn, lentils, olives, winter squash
- fruits: blueberries, canned or glazed fruits, cranberries, currants, plums, prunes
- grains: amaranth,barley, bran, oat bran, wheat, bread, corn, cornstarch, crackers, soda, flour- wheat, flour-white, hemp seed flour, kamut, macaroni, noodles, oatmeal, oats (rolled), quinoa, ice, rice cakes, rye, spaghetti, spelt, wheat germ, wheat
- beans and Legumes: almond milk, black beans, chick peas, green peas, kidney beans, lentils, pinto beans, red beans, rice milk, soy beans, soy milk, white beans,
- dairy: butter, cheese, ice cream, ice milk
- nuts: cashews, legumes, peanut butter, peanuts, pecans, tahini, walnuts
- protein: bacon, beef, carp, clams, cod, corned beef, fish, haddock, lamb, lobster, mussels, organ meats, oyster, pike, pork, rabbit, salmon, sardines, sausage, scallops, shellfish, shrimp, tuna, turkey, veal, venison
- fats and oils: avacado oil, butter, canola oil, corn oil, flax oil, hemp seed oil, lard, olive oil, safflower oil, sesame oil, sunflower oil
- sweeteners: carob, corn syrup, sugar
- alcohol: beer, hard liquor, spirits, wine
- other: cocoa, coffee, mustard, pepper, soft drinks, vinegar, beer: pH 2.5, Coca-Cola: pH 2, coffee: pH 4
- drugs and chemicals: chemicals, drugs,-medicinal, drugs-psychedelic, herbicides, pesticides, tobacco
If you have a health issue or a problem with acidity, then you may need to cut down on the amount of acidic forming foods you consume and increase the alkaline forming foods into the diet. Problems can arise with a diet high in processed or takeaway foods as these lack digestive enzymes to aid digestion and put less stress on the body to produce acid to break down the food.
Try changing to a fresh produce eating plan with a slightly higher alkaline diet and your body will thank you for it.
References:
Murray M, & Pizzorno J. (1990). Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine. London. Macdonald & Co.
Yeager S. (1997). The Doctor's Book of Food Remedies. Italy. Rodale Press.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be used for diagnosis or to guide treatment without the opinion of a health professional. Any reader who is concerned about his or her health should contact a doctor for advice.
Kristin Collins - Having graduated as a Naturopath in 1995 I then went on to work as a consulting Naturopath in several different pharmacies. During this ...
