Acid-forming foods may be acid or alkaline in nature before digested. However, after it has been digested and absorbed it causes the pH of the blood and other body fluids (eg urine extracellular fluid) to become more acid.

Similarly, alkaline-forming foods can either be acid or alkaline in nature, but after absorption makes the pH of body fluids more alkaline.

For example, tomatoes and citrus fruits (oranges, lemons) are considered to be acid, but instead they form alkaline urine, blood and extracellular fluid. They are acidic in nature but alkaline in body fluids after they have been digested. However, these foods do contain salicylic acid which causes irritation to some people causing inflammatory pain and allergic reaction. Thus arthritic patients function best on a low salicylate, alkaline-forming diet.

ACID - FORMING FOODS

Slightly Acid-Forming Fruits

Cranberries, Plums, Prunes and  their juices

Acid-forming Fruits

All preserved or jellied, canned, sugared, dried sulphured glazed fruits, raw with sugar, bananas if green, olives pickled

Acid-forming Dairy Products

Butter, cheese (all), cottage cheese, cream, ice cream, custards, milk, boiled, cooked or pasteurised, malted, dried, canned

Slightly Acid-forming Vegetables

soy beans, mushrooms (most varieties)

Acid-forming Vegetables

artichokes, asparagus tips, white beans, all dried brussel sprouts, garbanzos, rhubarb, lentils

Acid-forming Miscellaneous

all alcoholic drinks, candy and confectionery, cocoa and chocolate, Coca-Cola, Coffee, Condiments – curry, pepper, salt, spices, dressings and thick sauces, drugs and aspirin, eggs - especially whites, ginger preserved, jams and jellies, flavourings, marmalades, mayonnaise, preservatives-benzoate, sulphur, vingegar, salt, brine, peanuts, smoke,

sago (starch), soda water, tapioca, tobacco-juice, snuff, asprin, chemicals, drugs-medicinal & psychedelic, pesticides, herbicides

Acid-forming Cereals

all flour products, barley, breads (all kinds), cakes, corn, cornmeal, cornflakes, starch, crackers (all), doughnuts, macaroni, spaghetti, noodles, oatmeal, rice (slightly), rye crisp

Acid-forming Nuts

All nuts roasted, coconut if dried peanuts 

ALKALINE – FORMING FOODS

Fruits

apples and cider vinegar, apricots, avocados, bananas (speckled only), breadfruit, cactus, carob (pod only), cherries, currant, dates, figs, grapes, cantaloupe, grapefruit, guavas, kumquats, lemons (ripe), loquats, limes, mangoes, melons (all), nectarines, olives (sun dried), oranges, papayas, passionfruit, peaches, pears, persimmons, pineapple (fresh if ripe), pomegranates, quince, raisins, tamarind, tangerines, tomatoes.

Vegetables

cabbage – red and white, carrots, celery (entire), cauliflower, chard, chicory, artichokes, bamboo shoots, beans - green, lima, sprout, beets and tops, broccoli, asparagus (ripe), chives, collards, cowslip, cucumber, dandelions - green, dill, dock - green, dulse (sea lettuce), eggplant, endive, garlic, horseradish (fresh), Jerusalem artichoke, kalo, leek, legumes (except peanuts), lettuce, okra, onions, oyster plant, parsley, parsnip, peppers (green and red), potatoes (all varieties), pumpkin, radish, rhubarb (oxalic acid), sauerkraut (lemon only), sorrel, soy bean extract, spinach, squash, taro (baked), turnips and tops, water chestnut, watercress

Miscellaneous

agar, alfalfa products, coffee substitutes, ginger, dried unsweetened, honey, kelp, teas – all unsweetened, yeast cakes

Dairy Products

acidophilus yoghurts, buttermilk, milk raw (human, cow or goat), whey, yoghurt

millet, buckwheat

Nuts

almonds, chestnuts, roasted, coconut fresh