Most fruits and vegetables, soybeans and tofu, and some nuts, seeds, and legumes are alkaline-promoting foods, so they're fair game. Dairy, eggs, meat, most grains, and processed foods, like canned and packaged snacks and convenience foods, fall on the acid side and are not allowed.
Meat, dairy, eggs, starches, grains, and sugars are acidic foods that aren't included in an alkaline diet.
While whole eggs are relatively pH neutral, egg white is one of the few food products that is naturally alkaline, with an initial pH value that can be as low as 7.6 at time of lay, but with increasing alkalinity as the egg ages, and can reach pH of 9.2.
A healthy alkaline breakfast is one that contains alkalizing foods that will help you maintain a healthy pH balance throughout the day. Alkaline breakfast foods that make great additions to any breakfast meal include oatmeal, fruits and vegetables, quinoa, and yoghurt.
The primary protein in egg whites is albumin, which is water-soluble and contains a high proportion of positively charged amino acids, such as lysine and arginine. These amino acids give the egg white a net positive charge, making it alkaline.
Foods with a pH below 7 are considered acidic, while those with a pH above 7 are alkaline. Potatoes, with their pH range of 5.1 to 5.9, fall into the category of mildly acidic to neutral foods.
The Alkaline Food Chart
The alkaline diet divides food into three categories: acidic, neutral, and alkaline. Acidic foods include red meat, chicken, fish, chocolate, wheat, and alcohol. Neutral foods include natural fats like butter, most oils, milk, and cream. Alkaline foods include most fruits and veggies.
Generally, the pH level of plain yogurt is between 4.4 and 4.8, making it slightly acidic.
Cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower and broccoli are known to balance alkaline pH in the system. They contain immense amounts of vitamins A, C, k and folate and phytochemicals plant compounds that are valuable in lowering inflammation and avert the risk of cancer.
And not only are bananas alkaline, they're also rich in pectin — a soluble fiber that helps keeps food flowing nicely through the digestive tract. This can help you feel full longer, so you're less likely to overeat. Other alkaline foods include melons (particularly cantaloupe and honeydew), cauliflower and almonds.
Apples, avocados, cantaloupes, bananas, and dates are a few examples of alkaline fruits. These fruits are rich in alkaline water content.
In fact, our body requires us to eat foods labeled as 'acidic': our diet should be 60-80% alkaline promoting foods and 20-40% acid promoting foods. After all, there are still some key, healthy, plant-based whole foods that are acidic promoting including corn, oats, chickpeas, peanut butter.
There are different types of blueberries, and the pH level also varies. However, the scale usually falls between 3.11 and 3.35. As a result, these fruits are classified as acidic.
Wondering where your fave foods rank from acidic to alkaline? To make things simple, here's where certain foods fall on the pH scale after being metabolized. PSA: foods like limes, lemons, and tomatoes have an acidic pH, but are considered alkaline because of their low PRALs.
7 Most Alkaline Foods... Celery, Cucumber, Kale, Spinach, Bell Peppers, Avocado & Broccoli.
Are mushrooms alkaline or acidic? Mushrooms are alkaline. What is the pH level of mushrooms? Mushrooms have a 8.0 pH level, when fresh, once digested.
Goat dairy is preferable to cow or sheep dairy, because it is less acid forming. It is possibly even alkaline forming. There are a lot of great goat cheeses and goat yogurt (a great probiotic source) is delicious so substituting goat dairy products for cow dairy isn't impossible.
The average pH of honey is 3.9 (with a typical range of 3.4 to 6.1).” For reference, the pH scale runs from 0-14. A pH is 7, in the middle of the scale, is considered neutral (neither acidic nor basic). For comparison, honey is generally slightly more acidic than coffee (4.85 to 5.10) and tomato juice (4.05-4.65).
Milk is presumed to be alkaline, although it actually comes in at between pH 6.5 and 6.7 which makes it slightly acidic Therefore, it can neutralize stomach acid to some degree but not as much as you might assume.
Alkaline diet principles
At first glance, alkaline diets have similarities to the Australian Dietary Guidelines. They recommend eating lots of vegetables, fruits, seeds and nuts, exercising daily and avoiding or limiting fats, sugars, refined foods, salt, alcohol, tobacco, coffee and tea.
The alkaline vegetable list is unending. Cabbages, lettuce, mushrooms, onions, peas, pepper bells, parsley, radish, cucumber and almost all vegetables are all alkaline vegetables.
Refined carbohydrate foods such as pasta, packaged cereals and sugars are also highly acid-forming. Other acid-forming foods are: most legumes such as beans, lentils and peanuts; most grains such as wheat, rye, rice, oats and corn; some nuts such as cashews; alcohol; coffee; and tea.