Acidic foods to avoid

On Jul 23, 2023

All meat (beef, pork, lamb, and chicken) and fish
Rice (white, brown, or basmati)
Cornmeal, oats, rye, spelt, wheat, bran
Popcorn
Pastas
Breads and most other grain products, such as cereals (hot or cold), crackers, and 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 and sharper cheeses are the worst)
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
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)
Refined 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

Practically all vegetables
Practically all fruits, except 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 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, and goat’s milk
Eggs
Whey
Plain yogurt
Sweeteners like raw, unpasteurized 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 all spices
Vanilla extract
Brewer’s yeast
Most unprocessed, cold-pressed oils are neutral or alkaline-forming. (Even margarine seems to be neutral, but I don’t recommend this “liquid plastic.”)