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Green: alkaline
or low-acid food; Red: acidic food.
Food Name | Pro. | Pho. | Pot. | Mag. | Cal. | PRAL | |
Milk, human | 1.03 | 14 | 51 | 3 | 32 | -0.5 | |
Milk | 3.29 | 94 | 148 | 11 | 117 | 0.2 | |
Milk, cow's, fluid, whole | 3.22 | 91 | 143 | 10 | 113 | 0.2 | |
Milk, cow's, fluid, whole, low-sodium | 3.10 | 86 | 253 | 5 | 101 | -2.1 | |
Milk, calcium fortified, cow's, fluid, whole | 3.21 | 91 | 143 | 10 | 412 | -3.7 | |
Milk, calcium fortified, cow's, fluid, 1% fat | 3.37 | 95 | 150 | 11 | 219 | -1.1 | |
Milk, calcium fortified, cow's, fluid, skim or nonfat | 3.40 | 101 | 166 | 11 | 204 | -1.0 | |
Milk, cow's, fluid, other than whole ("lowfat") | 3.33 | 96 | 152 | 11 | 119 | 0.2 | |
Milk, cow's, fluid, 2% fat | 3.30 | 94 | 150 | 11 | 117 | 0.1 | |
Milk, cow's, fluid, acidophilus, 1% fat | 3.37 | 95 | 150 | 11 | 119 | 0.2 | |
Milk, cow's, fluid, acidophilus, 2% fat | 3.30 | 94 | 150 | 11 | 117 | 0.1 | |
Milk, cow's, fluid, 1% fat | 3.37 | 95 | 150 | 11 | 119 | 0.2 | |
Milk, cow's, fluid, skim or nonfat, 0.5% or less butterfat | 3.37 | 101 | 156 | 11 | 125 | 0.2 | |
Milk, cow's, fluid, filled with vegetable oil | 3.33 | 97 | 139 | 13 | 128 | 0.3 | |
|
Usage Note
- Foods are color coded: Green for alkaline or low-acid foods
and Red for acidic foods.
- The larger the PRAL magnitude, the more alkaline or acidic the food is.
- This database contains the PRAL values and acidity ratings for 6,941 foods.
- Abbreviations: Pro = Protein, Pho = Phosphorus, Pot = Potassium, Mag = Magnesium,
Cal = Calcium.
- Phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and calcium values are in mg and calculated per
100g of food weight.
- Protein value is in grams and calculated per 100g of food weight.
- Pie chart shows relative contributions to total calories from carbohydrate, protein
and fat (and alcohol, if exists).
- The mineral and vitamin charts show the relative contents of minerals and vitamins
of each food. The higher the bubble, the higher mineral or vitamin content a food
has relative to other foods. The larger the bubble, the greater the mineral or vitamin
content relative to the Recommended Daily Allowances.
Low Acid Diet
excerpts from
The New York Times
Tired of Feeling the Burn? Low-Acid Diet May Help
Stomach acid has long been blamed for acid reflux, heartburn and other ills. But
now some experts are starting to think that the problems may lie not just in the
acid coming up from the stomach but in the food going down.
Recent studies have shown a link between bone health and a low-acid diet, while some
reports suggest that the acidity of the Western diet increases the risk of diabetes
and heart disease.
This year, a small study found that restricting dietary acid could relieve reflux
symptoms like coughing and hoarseness in patients who had not been helped by drug
therapy, according to the journal Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology.
Read full article:
New York Times: Tired of Feeling the Burn? Low-Acid Diet May Help
Exploring a Low-Acid Diet for Bone Health
Why are osteoporotic fractures relatively rare in Asian countries like Japan, where
people live as long or longer than Americans and consume almost no calcium-rich
dairy products? Why, in Western countries that consume the most dairy foods, are
rates of osteoporotic fractures among the highest in the world? And why has no consistent
link been found between the amount of calcium people consume and protection against
osteoporosis?
An alternative theory of bone health is the theory of low-acid eating, a diet laden
with fruits and vegetables but relatively low in acid-producing protein and moderate
in cereal grains.
Studies by Dr. Bess Dawson-Hughes, at the Jean Mayer U.S.D.A. Human Nutrition Research
Center on Aging at Tufts University, and collaborators have demonstrated the acid-neutralizing
ability of fruits and vegetables and the crucial role they can play in maintaining
healthy bones.
Read full article:
New
York Times: Exploring a Low-Acid Diet for Bone Health
What is PRAL: Potential Renal Acid Load?
PRAL value is calculated from a formula developed by Thomas Remer and other researchers
at the Department of Nutrition and Health, the Research Institute of Child Nutrition,
Dortmund, Germany, to assess the acidity of foods and diets.
PRAL formula:
PRAL = 0.49 x protein + 0.037 x phosphorus - 0.021 x potassium - 0.026 x magnesium
- 0.013 x calcium
Detailed information about PRAL at The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition:
PRAL Research
Today, there is a general consensus that diet can markedly affect acid-base status
and that a person’s acid load can be specifically manipulated by dietary means.
An established method of estimating acid loads of foods or diets is by calculating
the potential renal acid load (PRAL). PRAL provides an estimate of the production
of endogenous acid that exceeds the level of alkali produced for given amounts of
foods ingested daily. The concept of PRAL calculation is physiologically based and
takes into account different intestinal absorption rates of individual minerals
and of sulfurcontaining protein, as well as the amount of sulfate produced from
metabolized proteins. This method of calculation was experimentally validated in
healthy adults, and it showed that, under controlled conditions, acid loads and
renal net acid excretion (NAE) can be reliably estimated from diet composition.
Alkaline Diet Research
at the Jean Mayer US Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on
Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA
Muscle mass gradually declines after age 50, and muscle loss leads to muscle weakness;
greater risks of falls, fractures, and disability; and loss of independence.There
is plausible evidence that the composition of diets with respect to acid-base balance
is a contributing factor.
Protein and cereal grains are metabolized to acidic residues, and fruit and vegetables
are metabolized to alkaline residues. In general, American diets are acidic, generating
75–100 mEq acid/d. With the decline in renal function that occurs with aging, older
persons are not able to excrete the excess hydrogen ions, and they develop mild
but slowly increasing metabolic acidosis. Metabolic acidosis has been linked to
muscle wasting in chronic renal failure and in obese subjects who were acidotic
while following weight-loss diets; correction of the acidosis has been shown to
reverse the muscle wasting in these 2 conditions.
Additional PRAL Calculator
The PRAL database at this site is for the What We Eat in America survey database. We have another PRAL calculator for the National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference at: Potential Renal Acid Load Calculator. If you can't find a certain foods in our database, please try the PRAL calculator at our partner website.
Partner Websites
Please bookmark our partner websites to use when any of our nutrition calculators is not available or overloaded.
Fruits Low in Acidity
List of fruits lowest in acidity based on PRAL values.
| Low-Acid Fruits based on PRAL values |
PRAL value |
| Apricots, dehydrated (low-moisture), sulfured, uncooked |
-33 |
| Bananas, dehydrated, or banana powder |
-30 |
| Apricots, dried, sulfured, uncooked |
-22 |
| Peaches, dehydrated (low-moisture), sulfured, uncooked |
-22 |
| Prunes, dehydrated (low-moisture), uncooked |
-19 |
| Peaches, dried, sulfured, uncooked |
-16 |
| Figs, dried, uncooked |
-14 |
| Fruit, mixed, (prune and apricot and pear), dried |
-14 |
| Persimmons, japanese, dried |
-14 |
| Currants, zante, dried |
-14 |
| Plums, dried (prunes), uncooked |
-13 |
| Apricots, dehydrated (low-moisture), sulfured, stewed |
-13 |
| Apples, dehydrated (low moisture), sulfured, uncooked |
-12 |
| Orange juice, frozen concentrate, unsweetened, undiluted |
-12 |
| Raisins, golden seedless |
-11 |
| Plantains, yellow, fried, Latino restaurant |
-10 |
| Pineapple juice, frozen concentrate, unsweetened, undiluted |
-10 |
| Pears, dried, sulfured, uncooked |
-9 |
| Grapefruit juice, white, frozen concentrate, unsweetened, undiluted |
-9 |
| Apple juice, frozen concentrate, unsweetened, undiluted, with added ascorbic acid |
-9 |
| Low-Acid Fruits based on PRAL values |
PRAL value |
| Apple juice, frozen concentrate, unsweetened, undiluted, without added ascorbic acid |
-9 |
| Avocados, raw, California |
-9 |
| Peaches, dehydrated (low-moisture), sulfured, stewed |
-9 |
| Plantains, green, fried |
-9 |
| Tangerine juice, frozen concentrate, sweetened, undiluted |
-8 |
| Avocados, raw, all commercial varieties |
-8 |
| Apricots, dried, sulfured, stewed, without added sugar |
-8 |
| Apples, dried, sulfured, uncooked |
-8 |
| Apricots, dried, sulfured, stewed, with added sugar |
-8 |
| Custard-apple, (bullock's-heart), raw |
-7 |
| Carissa, (natal-plum), raw |
-6 |
| Plums, dried (prunes), stewed, with added sugar |
-6 |
| Plums, dried (prunes), stewed, without added sugar |
-6 |
| Prunes, dehydrated (low-moisture), stewed |
-6 |
| Guavas, strawberry, raw |
-6 |
| Nance, frozen, unsweetened |
-6 |
| Passion-fruit juice, purple, raw |
-6 |
| Low-Acid Fruits based on PRAL values |
PRAL value |
| Avocados, raw, Florida |
-6 |
| Peaches, dried, sulfured, stewed, with added sugar |
-5 |
| Orange juice, chilled, includes from concentrate, fortified with calcium |
-5 |
| Currants, european black, raw |
-5 |
| Passion-fruit juice, yellow, raw |
-5 |
| Peaches, dried, sulfured, stewed, without added sugar |
-5 |
| Melons, cantaloupe, raw |
-5 |
| Pears, dried, sulfured, stewed, without added sugar |
-5 |
| Nance, canned, syrup, drained |
-5 |
| Orange juice, chilled, includes from concentrate, fortified with calcium and vitamin D |
-5 |
| Passion-fruit, (granadilla), purple, raw |
-5 |
| Rhubarb, frozen, uncooked |
-5 |
| Grapes, muscadine, raw |
-4 |
| Grapes, american type (slip skin), raw |
-4 |
| Pears, dried, sulfured, stewed, with added sugar |
-4 |
| Apricots, frozen, sweetened |
-4 |
| Currants, red and white, raw |
-4 |
| Low-Acid Fruits based on PRAL values |
PRAL value |
| Oranges, raw, all commercial varieties |
-4 |
| Sugar-apples, (sweetsop), raw |
-4 |
| Pomegranate juice, bottled |
-4 |
| Rhubarb, frozen, cooked, with sugar |
-4 |
| Oranges, raw, with peel |
-4 |
| Prunes, canned, heavy syrup pack, solids and liquids |
-4 |
| Naranjilla (lulo) pulp, frozen, unsweetened |
-4 |
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