The Acidic and Alkaline Food

All food digested in your body metabolizes into an ash residue. This ash residue can be acidic, neutral or alkaline, depending on the mineral contents of the original food. If you want to be healthy, you need to understand the difference between acidic and alkaline foods. If you consume a lot of acidic food, you may suffer from common ailments such as colds or allergies more than others. If this food habit continues, other diseases may follow.

How do you know whether a kind of food is acidic or alkaline? This is determined by the types of minerals in it and the quantity of these minerals. It is not determined by the taste of the food on your tongue. In general, when minerals such as potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium and iron enter the body, they become alkaline while phosphorus, chlorine, and sulphur become acidic after consumption. Even though vinegar and lemons have sour taste, the acidity is dissolved in the body, leaving behind potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium and iron, hence they are alkaline (Jiang 1999). See Jiang S.H. (1999). Eating this Way is Healthiest. Taipei: Yuan Shen Press. (In Chinese)

The list of alkaline food and acidic food is shown below.

List of alkaline food
(a) Grains: millet
(b) Vegetables: Vegetables, sea vegetables, sprouts
(c) Beans and bean products: Green beans, green peas, Lima bean, soya bean, red beans, to fu, sprouted beans
(d) Fruits: Fresh fruits and fruit juice
(e) Cooking ingredients: Miso

List of acidic food
(a) Grains: Brown rice, white rice, wheat, oats, rice bran, oat bran
(b) Meat: Meat, fish, sea food, eggs
(c) Vegetables & nuts: Preserved vegetables, beans, nuts
(d) Fruits: Preserved fruits
(e) Starch & food processed from starch: White bread, noodles, biscuits, flour, wheat flour
(f) Food manufactured from white sugar, chemically produced sugar and salt: Sauce, ice-cream, chocolate, soft drinks, canned fruits, frozen fruits, refined sugar
(g) Cooking ingredients: Onion, garlic, ginger, animal oils, olive oil, pepper
(h) Special food: Oily fried food, fermented food, addictives, processed, sauced food, butter, cheese, honey, wheat germ, yogurt
(i) Drinks: Pasteurized milk, yogurt, alcohol, beer, soft drinks, coffee, tea, ice-cream, cow’s milk

It is useful to remember the research by Dr. William Howard Hay (1866-1940): the human body requires 20% acidic food and 80% alkaline food to provide the necessary energy in maintaining the body’s healthy condition. It is necessary to stress that these sources of acidic food and alkaline food have to come from non-animal sources.

Whether you are faced with any disease or not, regular medical check-up on the body’s pH value provides a good indicator on your health condition. When it shows acidic results, this is a time that you need to consider alternative medication. You need to properly examine the food you consume and then take positive steps to reclaim your health.