A healthy alkaline diet should consist of 70 to 80 percent alkaline foods and 20 to 30 percent acid-forming foods. Since there are good and bad acid-forming foods, it is important to know the difference.
The Table: Alkaline and Acidic Foods
Our acid-base table lists almost all alkaline and acid-forming foods that are used in today’s diet. So if you want to eat according to the guidelines of an alkaline diet, then our acid-base table will help you choose the right and healthy foods .
Alkaline diet or alkaline-excess diet?
You may be wondering why we keep talking about an alkaline excess diet and not an alkaline diet. This is simply because we do not recommend an alkaline diet as a permanent diet.
- The purely alkaline diet is ideal for a detoxification cure, for alkaline fasting, or as an accompaniment to a colon cleanse, detoxification cure, or deacidification. The alkaline diet is therefore more suitable for short-term measures, e.g. for a period of four to twelve weeks. However, as a long-term optimal diet, we believe that the alkaline excess diet is much more sensible, more practical, and also healthier in the long term.
- An alkaline excess diet does not only consist of alkaline foods, but also of acid-forming foods. Not all acid-forming foods are bad and unhealthy. Of course, bad and unhealthy acid-forming foods do not belong in an alkaline excess diet. However, good acid-forming foods should regularly enrich and supplement meals.
Consequently, it is not only important to be able to distinguish between alkaline and acid-forming foods, but also to be able to tell the difference between good acid-forming foods and bad acid-forming foods. Our table will help you with this!
What does alkaline mean? What does acidic mean?
Also, always remember that the term alkaline does not mean that the food now has an alkaline pH (like soap or lye). Also, acid-forming foods – sometimes called acidic foods – do not taste sour like lemon juice (which is an alkaline food).
Rather, it is about how the food affects the body and which substances are created during its metabolism. If the effect is rather unfavorable and acids and other harmful substances are created during metabolism, then the food is an acid-forming food.
However, if the food has a predominantly positive effect on the organism, if it provides it with alkaline minerals or activates the body’s own base production, then it is an alkaline food.
What are alkaline foods?
When the alkaline potential of a food is officially tested, it is burned and then examined to see how alkaline or acidic the remaining ash is. The combustion process is intended to imitate digestion in the body to some extent.
In addition, we look at how high the content of acid-forming amino acids is in the respective food.
From a scientific point of view, these two aspects are completely sufficient to determine the alkaline potential of a food and to classify all foods as acidic or alkaline. We have a different opinion.
Use the recipe section with our alkaline recipes. There you will find a variety of delicious and healthy alkaline recipes.
Alkaline foods have an alkaline effect on eight levels
In our opinion, foods that are alkaline and healthy at the same time should have an alkaline effect on at least eight levels, not just two. Alkaline foods therefore meet the following criteria:
1. Rich in alkaline minerals
Alkaline foods have a high content of alkaline minerals and trace elements (potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron).
2. Poor in acid-forming amino acids
Alkaline foods are low in acid-forming amino acids. If there is an excess of these acidic amino acids—for example, if you eat too much meat, fish, eggs, but also too many Brazil nuts, too much sesame, or too much soy – they are broken down and sulfuric acid is produced.
3. They stimulate the body’s own alkaline production
Alkaline foods provide substances (e.g. bitter substances) that stimulate the body’s own production of bases.
4. They do not slag
Alkaline foods do not leave behind any acidic metabolic residues (toxins) when metabolized .
5. Valuable plant substances are included
Alkaline foods contain valuable plant substances (e.g. antioxidants, vitamins, secondary plant substances, chlorophyll, etc.) that vitalize the body, strengthen its detoxification organs, relieve the burden on its excretory organs, and support the immune system. In this way, alkaline foods enable the body to better neutralize and excrete excess acids, toxins, and waste products on its own. This in turn prevents over-acidification or reduces existing over-acidification.
6. They have a high water content
Alkaline foods are generally rich in water, meaning they have a high water content, so that the body always has enough fluid (even if you drink too little at times) to be able to quickly excrete acids or other waste products via the kidneys.
7. They have an anti-inflammatory effect
…due to their high levels of vital substances and antioxidants as well as the right fatty acids. Chronic latent inflammatory processes are often the beginning of many chronic diseases of civilization (from rheumatism and arteriosclerosis to diabetes and autoimmune diseases) and initially go completely unnoticed. Inflammatory processes, however, lead to endogenous acid formation (taking place in the body) and thus increase overacidification. Alkaline foods also alleviate or prevent overacidification by inhibiting risky inflammatory processes.
8. They stabilize the healthy intestinal flora
Alkaline foods stabilize the intestinal flora. The healthier the intestine is, the better and faster acids can be excreted, the more complete the digestion is, and the fewer toxins are produced in the first place.
Alkaline foods include fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, herbs, and sprouts.
(Alkaline waters often have such a positive effect on health because they have a high hydrogen content. However, not all alkaline water is hydrogen-rich).
What are acidic foods?
Acidic or acid-forming foods, on the other hand, do not fulfill the above points or only to a small extent. Instead, they have an acid-forming effect on eight levels.
1. They are rich in acidic minerals
Acid-forming foods contain plenty of acidic minerals and trace elements (e.g. phosphorus, iodine, chlorine, and fluoride).
2. They are rich in acid-forming amino acids
so that their excessive consumption leads to the formation of sulfuric acid (see also section 2 under alkaline foods).
3. They cannot stimulate the body’s own alkaline production
Acid-forming foods are extremely poor in those substances (e.g. bitter substances) that would stimulate the body’s own production of bases and that could contribute to deacidification. Instead, acid-forming foods cause an increase in acids in the body.
4. They lead to slag formation
Acid-forming foods contain so many harmful and acid-forming ingredients that their metabolism produces enormous amounts of acidic metabolic residues (slags). Acid-forming ingredients include alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and synthetic food additives (preservatives, colorants, etc.).
5. They prevent the body’s own deacidification processes
Acid-forming foods contain no or significantly fewer substances (e.g. antioxidants, vitamins, secondary plant substances, chlorophyll, etc.) that would motivate the body to deacidify itself.
6. They often have very low water content
This means that the body – especially if too little water is consumed at the same time – hardly has enough capacity to quickly excrete acids or other waste products through the kidneys. Some of the waste products therefore remain in the body and contribute to increasing acidification.
7. They promote the development of inflammation in the body
e.g. because of their high content of inflammatory fatty acids, but also because they are low in anti-inflammatory substances. However, where there is inflammation, acids are produced in greater quantities.
8. They worsen intestinal health and damage the intestinal flora
If food has a negative effect on the intestines, the resulting acids can be eliminated more slowly, and the more toxins are produced. In addition, the bacteria that predominate in damaged intestinal flora produce toxins that further contribute to acidification and toxin buildup.
Acidic or acid-forming foods to be avoided include meat, sausage, cheese, conventional sweets, cakes, pasta, and baked goods made from refined flour, soft drinks, alcoholic beverages, and also numerous highly processed convenience foods.
How do I recognize the good/bad acid formers?
In addition to the bad acid-forming foods that should be avoided, there is another section in our acid-base table. It is the one with the recommended acid-forming foods.
If a food has an acid-forming effect on one or two levels and possibly also meets ecological criteria, then it is a good acid-forming food.
Good acid-forming foods include nuts and pulses . Although they have a low water content, a high phosphorus content, and provide plenty of acid-forming amino acids, they are still very healthy foods because they are rich in proteins and many essential nutrients.
| Good Acid Formers | Bad Acid Producers |
| organic grain | eggs from conventional farming |
| oats and oat flakes | Fish and seafood from conventional aquaculture |
| legumes | meat from conventional agriculture |
| nuts | dairy products |
| pseudo cereals | alcoholic and caffeinated drinks |
| Animal products from organic farming | ready-to-drink beverages such as soft drinks |
| High-quality plant-based drinks | sugar |
Here you can find our complete acid-base table as a PDF.
How do intolerances affect the alkaline potential?
Intolerances can affect the alkaline potential of a food. It is therefore important to know that even the best alkaline food has an acid-forming effect on people who react to it with an intolerance. It therefore also depends on the individual person whether a food is metabolized alkaline or acidic.
So, for example, if you suffer from fructose intolerance, you will certainly not metabolize the best alkaline fruits in an alkaline way, but rather in an extremely acidic way. If you have intolerances, you should therefore not rely on specific tables, but rather take your time to test out what suits you and put together a menu from those foods that you can tolerate.
What are neutral foods?
High-quality fats and oils are considered neutral foods, such as coconut oil, linseed oil, pumpkin seed oil, hemp oil, olive oil, butter, etc.
Why are there different acid-base tables?
If you search for acid-base tables online or in literature, you will quickly notice that they are always different. Which table should you believe?
We recommend an alkaline diet that is not only alkaline but also healthy. If you look at some of the acid-base tables created using scientific analytical methods (e.g. those based on the PRAL value), you will notice that the alkaline foods listed there include things that do not fit into a healthy alkaline diet (including wine, hazelnut spread, jam, beer and ice cream).
Foods of this type are only found in conventional acid-base tables because they are created using only the two criteria mentioned above or by measuring acid excretion via urine. So what is really of interest is the alkaline or acid potential of a food, not whether this food is healthy.
So you can eat a wonderfully alkaline diet and at the same time be very unhealthy—and that is exactly what we want to prevent!
Where can I find meal plans for alkaline nutrition?
If you need tips on changing your diet to an alkaline diet, you can find them in our main article on alkaline diet.
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