Low Acid Diet

Low Acid Diet

Many holistic practitioner believe that lowering the acid in your diet may help with the digestion and give a sense of wellness.

If you wish to try a low-acid diet, only eat foods that are listed as recommended below. Remember, 20% of your diet cane come from acid foods, and 80% of your diet should be made up from Neutral or Alkaline foods.

eg. Your daily diet may look like this:

A variety of 6 vegetables (4 raw, 2 cooked) = 60% alkaline

2 Fruits (must be ripe or tree ripened) = 20% Alkaline

1 Good starch (as listed below) = 10% Acidic

 

Non-Starchy Foods (Alkaline): Alfalfa, Artichokes, Asparagus, Beans (string), Beans (wax), Beets and their leaves, Bok Choy, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots and their tops, Cauliflower, Celery, Chicory, Coconut, Corn, Cucumbers, Currants, Dandelions, Eggplant, Endive, Garlic, Horse-radish, Kale, Kohlrabi, Leek, Lettuce, Mushrooms, Okra, Ripe Olives, Onions, Oyster plant, Parsley, Parsnips, Fresh Peas, Sweet Peppers, Swish Chard, Radishes, Rutabagas, Savory, Sea lettuce, Sorrel, Spinach, Soybean Products, Sprouts, Summer Squash, Swish Chard, Turnips, Watercress

Fruits (Alkaline): All Berries, Apples, Apricots, Avocados, Cantaloupes, Cranberries, Currants, Dates, Figs, Grapes, Grapefruit, Lemons, Limes, Oranges, peaches, pears, Raisins, Persimmons, Pineapple, Plums, Prunes, Rhubarb, Tomatoes

Note: Citrus fruits when broken down in the body, release an alkaline ash (magnesium) which develops an alkaline condition in the body. Acid fruits sometimes stir up acids so rapidly in the body that the effect may be interpreted as a bad one. If eating fruits causes distress it is best to use sub-acid or sweet / dried fruits.

Fruits (Acid): Oranges, Lemons, Grapefruit, Limes

Fruits (Sub-Acid): Apples, Pears, Plums, Peaches, Grapes, Apricots

Sweet / Dried Fruits: Dates, Figs, Raisins

Note: Do not combine acid and sweet fruits. It is best to eat melons and berries alone.

Proteins (Acid): Beef, Buttermilk, Chicken, Clams, Cottage Cheese, Crab, Duck, Eggs, Fish, Goose, Lamb, Lobster, Mutton, Nuts, Oyster, Pork, Rabbit, Raw Sugar, Turkey, Veal

Starchy Foods (Acid): Barley, Beans (lima & white), Bread, Cereals, Chestnuts, Corn, Cornmeal, Crackers, Cornstarch, Grapenuts, Gluten Flour, Lentils, Macaroni, Millet, Oatmeal, Peanuts, Peas (dried), Sweet Potatoes, Rice (brown or polished), Rye flour, Sauerkraut, Tapioca

Starchy Foods (Alkaline): Almonds, White Potatoes, Pumpkin, Squash

Starchy Foods (Neutral): Oils – Avocado, Olive, Sesame, coconut, Soy Sunflower, Safflower, Cottonseed, Almond, Linseed; Fats – Butter, Cream, Margarine

 

Bad Combinations: Protein and Starch; Oil and Starch; Fruit and Starch

Poor Combinations: Protein and Acid Fruit; Leafy Greens and Acid Fruit; Leafy Green with Sub-Acid Fruit

Good Combinations: Protein and leafy greens; Starch and Vegetables; Oil and Greens; Oil and Sub-Acid Fruit