ALKALIZING AND ACIDIFYING FOODS
Numbers below represent alkaline rating with 0 being neutral – these are not pH numbers
The chart above was gathered from a number of sources. There is a difference between what is alkalizing and what is acidifying depending on source, as various methods are used to determine this. Some researchers use the alkaline content of a food; others try to determine the effect on the body – citrus fruit on the surface appears to be acidic for example, but has a neutralizing affect when consumed; other researchers have come up with a number, as in the chart above, in which they use mineral content to determine the rating.
Use your good judgment on determining which acidic foods to eat. For instance, Salmon, tuna and even sardines provide Omega fatty acids which are important to health. Don’t cut these out of your diet because of the acidifying ratings. Use reason. I eat hamburgers and other meats because I like them, but I don’t do it every day or in large quantities. I want to keep my pancreas healthy.
About pH: pH is recorded on a level from 0 to 14, with 0 to 6.9 being acidic, 7 neutral and 7.1 to 14 alkaline. The human body should be around 7.35 to 7.5 for optimal health. When we eat foods, the pancreas works to turn the digested particles alkaline as they enter the blood stream. It takes 750,000 times the effort to turn a soda with a pH 2 to a pH 7.5 as it does to change a pH 7 food to pH 7.5. Each level takes 10 times the effort.