Knowing which foods are more alkaline or more acidic, from the point of view of how they affect the pH of urine, can help us follow an alkaline diet. But first, some general guidelines on how to alkalize the diet can be of great help to start an alkaline diet.

How to make an alkaline diet

Whether a diet is alkaline does not only depend on choosing specific foods. Not only are there other factors that influence the acidification of the diet, but it will be much easier to orient yourself if you follow some general diet and lifestyle advice:

• Fruits and vegetables: the most alkaline foods

In general, it is important to eat more ripe fruit, vegetables and tubers. Vegetable soups with potatoes are ideal.

You can also drink homemade citrus juices, celery, apple, pear, carrot, grape, wheat sprout, cherry… rich in potassium. Figs, ripe lemons, onions and alfalfa are also advisable.

• Avoid an acidifying diet

It is important eat less protein and fat in generalas well as pasteurized dairy products, refined cereals, preserves, pastries, chocolate, soft drinks, alcohol and coffee. If dairy products are consumed, they should be reduced to a maximum of four per week. You must also reduce the salt and leave the white sugar.

Avocados and vegetable oils are in the neutral zone.

You have to take the dried fruits without roasting or salting.

It is also better to use gentle steam cooking.

Furthermore, it is recommended Alternate the olive oil with other cold pressed oils and opt for cider vinegar and whole sugar.

Facilitate debuggingsince acidic waste is eliminated through the skin, lungs and intestine.

Carry out deep breaths and avoiding overexertion during exercise are some of the recommendations.

• Water and infusions to alkalize

In this sense, it is advisable to drink one or two liters of water a day. A large part of the bottled waters in Spain are natural minerals, many of them sodium or mixed bicarbonated waterswhich alkalinize the pH of the urine.

Also indicated are the herbal teas like green teahorsetail, dandelion…

Mineral salts that help alkalinize urine have traditionally been sold in pharmacies: Epson salts (magnesium sulphate), Eno fruit salt with bicarbonates and citrates, or alkalizing preparations such as the one used in Mayr’s cure, of which one teaspoon is taken dissolved in a quarter of a liter of water, twice a day.

Alkaline foods: table with the most common acid load

to know how much they acidify or alkalize foodsits acid load in the urine is calculated. This allows you to choose those that acidify the least.

The acid load of foods in the urine is expressed with what is known as potential renal acid load or PRALfor its acronym in English, and is calculated from its content in 5 nutrients that alter the body’s pH: proteins, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Thus, we find:

• Acidifying foods: Foods with positive values ​​exert an acidifying effect, greater the higher they are.
• Alkaline foods: Alkalizing foods obtain negative values.

Below you will find the acid load of some of the most common foods in the diet:

Vegetables and vegetables

• Spinach: –14.0
• Celery: –5.2
• Carrot: –4.9
• Zucchini: –4.6
• Potato: –4.0
• Lettuce: –2.5
• Eggplant: –3.4
• Tomato: –3.1
• Onion: –1.5
• Broccoli: –1.2

Fruits and nuts

• Raisin: –21.0
• Dried fig: –18.1
• Black grape: –6.5
• Banana: –5.5
• Apricot: –4.8
• Cherry: –3.6
• Orange: –2.7
• Lemon: –2.6
• Apple: –2.2
• Almond: +4.3
• Nut: +6.8
• Peanut: +8.3

Cereals and derivatives

• Whole wheat bread: +1.8
• White bread: +3.7
• Rye bread: +4.1
• White rice: +4.6
• Corn flakes: +6.0
• Spaghetti: +6.5

Legumes

• Green beans: –3.1
• Lentils: +3.5

Fats and oils

• Olive oil: 0
• Sunflower oil: 0
• Butter: +0.6

Drinks

• Orange juice: –2.9
• Lemon juice: –2.4
• Red wine: –2.4
• Coffee: –1.4
• Green tea: –0.3
• Coca-cola: +0.4
• Beer: +0.9

Sugars and sweets

• White sugar: 0
• Whole sugar: –1.2
• Honey: –0.3
• Dark chocolate: +0.4
• Milk chocolate: +2.4

Meats

• ​Pork, lean: +6.7
• Chicken: +8.7
• Beef, fillet: +9.0
• Lamb: +9.9

Fish and seafood

• ​Cod: +7.1
• Salmon: +9.4
• Sardine in oil: +13.5
• Mussel: +15.3
• Prawn: +15.5

Dairy and eggs

• Skimmed milk: +0.7
• Whole milk: +7
• Yogurt: +1.5
• Egg: +8.2
• Fresh cheese: +11.1
• Manchego cheese: +28.7
• Parmesan cheese: +34.2

How to know if you have acidic pH in your urine

One option is to measure 24-hour urine, mixing it well, and another take measurements on an empty stomach and after meals. A pH measuring paper is then inserted into the collected urine and the result is read.

He pH measuring paper It comes in the form of strips. It is sold in any pharmacy, it is cheap and gives the reading in decimals. You just have to be careful to keep it well..

There are instruments that allow measuring pH and are called potentiometers (or pH meter); They are very expensive and give up to thousandths. But to measure the pH of urine it is not necessary to refine so much. An adequate urine pH ranges between 6.3 and 7.2; lower is considered acidic and higher is considered alkaline.