List of Acid Forming Foods and Their Role in Disease Creation
Acid forming foods are foods which, when eaten, the byproducts create an acidic condition in the body. This acidic condition must be alleviated by the body to avoid acidosis and ultimately death. (You can learn all about the Acid/Alkaline Balance and how it relates to health here: Alkalize Section.)
There are three levels of Acid Forming Foods: High Acid Forming, Medium Acid Forming and Low Acid Forming. Levels on the Ph Scale are to the power of 10, so a Ph of 5 is 10 times more acidic then a Ph of 6.
So as you look at the list of High, Medium and Low Acid Forming foods, remember that Medium is significantly more Acid Forming then Low and High is significantly more the Medium.
Ideally, you want to only consume very small amounts of High Acid and Medium Acid foods, and balance those with Abundant amounts of Alkaline Foods.
Please note that some foods which are acidic in taste, like lemons, leave a highly alkaline waste in the body after digestion. This is due to the alkaline mineral content and not the overall acidity of any food. On the opposite end of the spectrum, foods like bread, which do not have an acidic flavor are highly acid forming in the body.
You can see a list of Alkaline Foods here: List of Alkaline Forming Foods.
List of Acid Forming Foods
High Acid Forming
- Beer, Pale
- Gin
- Malt Liquor, Pale
- Scotch
- Vodka
- American Cheese
- Angel Food Cake
- Bacon
- Bagels
- Baking Chocolate
- Bangers
- Soy Beans
- Bologna
- Coneydogs
- Hot Dogs
- Hamburgers
- Meat (Steaks, Roasts, etc)
- Mince
- Sausage
- Espresso
- All Sodas/Cola
- Soy Milk
- Milk Shakes
- Tonic Water
- Biscuits
- Bread Sticks
- Croissants
- Crumpets
- English Muffins
- Matzoh, white flour
- Pita, white flour
- Scones
- Tortillas, white flour
- White Bread
- Breakfast Sandwich with Eggs, Cheese and Sausage or Ham
- Brown Sugar
- Brownies
- Burrito with Chicken or Beef
- Ceasar Salad Dressing
- Carrot Cake
- Cheesecake
- Coffee Cake
- Cupcakes
- Devils Food Cake
- Donuts
- Yellow Cake
- Camembert Cheese
- Frosted Corn Flakes
- Grits, Soy
- Cheddar Cheese
- Gouda Cheese
- Hard Cheese, most
- Mozzarella Cheese
- Swiss Cheese
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Chicken Nuggets
- Chicken Sandwich
- Chili with Beef
- Potato Chips, fried
- Corn Chips
- Tortilla Chips
- Chocolate (Baking, Dark and Milk)
- Cocoa Powder
- Cookies
- Corn Syrup
- Cottonseed Meal
- Cottonseed Oil
- Couscous
- Saltine Crackers
- Cranberry Sauce, sweetened
- Croutons, white flour
- Pies, commercial
- Pudding
- Frozen Yogurt
- Egg Noodles
- Egg White Powder
- Farina Cereal
- Filberts (Hazelnuts)
- Lobster
- Muscles
- Prawns
- Shrimp
- Swordfish
- Fish Filet Sandwich
- Rice Flour
- Soy Flour
- White Flour (wheat)
- Vegetarian Hot Dogs
- Onion Rings
- All Fried Foods
- Fruit Preserves or Jellies, sweetened with sugar or cornsyrup
- Gouda Cheese
- Malt
- White Sugar
- Vegetarian Hamburger, soy based
- Hazelnut butter
- Table Salt (Iodized) – (sea salt is high Alkaline)
- Hops
- Ice Cream
- Lasagna
- Pasta, Macaroni, white flour
- Beef Sausage
- Corned Beef
- Pork Sausage
- Salami
- Macaroni and Cheese
- Marmite/Vegemite
- Bacon
- Rashers
- Veal
- Mussels
- Egg Noodles
- Pancakes
- Cheese Danish
- Puff Pastry
- Phosphoric Acid (food Additive)
- Pizza, all flavors, with or without cheese
- Pretzels
- Protein Powders, most types, especially whey and soy
- Quiche
- Red Wine Vinegar
- Roast Beef Sandwich
- Tofu
- Tacos with Beef or Chicken
- White Vinegar
- Waffles
- Walnuts
- Yeast
- Soy Milk
Medium Acid Forming
- Beer, dark
- Malt Liquor, dark
- Wine, Red and White
- Anchovy paste
- Apple Pie, homemade, lightly sweetened
- Aspartame
- Saccharin
- Baked Beans with Pork
- Barbaque Sauce
- Barley, Whole Grain
- Barley Flour
- Bass
- Peanuts
- Liver
- Benzoate (preservative)
- Decaffeinated Coffee
- Coffee
- Cow’s Milk, Chocolate
- Rice Milk
- Vitamin Water with Sweetners
- Bison (Buffalo) Meat
- Bratwurst
- Turkey Bologna
- Oat Bran
- Bran Cereal
- Bran Flakes with Raisins, sweetened
- Matzoh, whole wheat flour
- Pita, Whole Wheat
- Pumpernickle Bread
- Rye Bread
- Corn Tortillas
- Whole Wheat Bread
- Bulgur Wheat
- Catfish
- Ketchup
- Corn Flakes
- Grits, Corn
- Oat Bran
- Puffed Rice, white
- Cottage Cheese
- Cream Cheese
- Most Soft Cheeses
- Chicken
- Chicken Liver
- Chinese Mustard
- HP sauce
- Malt Vinegar
- Mustard, prepared
- Pickle relish
- Steak sauce
- Sweet and sour Sauce
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Corn
- Corn Flour
- Corn Starch
- Corn Syrup
- Corn Meal
- Crabs
- Rye Crackers
- Whole Wheat Crackers
- Cranberries
- Cream Cheese
- Pies, Homemade, Fruit, Lightly Sweetened
- Lard
- Peanut Oil
- Soybean Oil
- Duck
- catfish
- Flounder
- Grouper
- Haddock
- Halibut
- Herring
- Mackerel
- Orange Roughy
- Oysters
- Perch
- Pike
- Pilchards
- Pollack
- Salmon
- Sardines
- Scallops
- Scrod
- Sea Bass
- Snapper
- Squid
- Tuna
- Turbot
- Whitefish
- Whiting
- Yellowtail
- Rye flour
- Turkey Hot dogs
- Olives, ripe
- Pomegranates
- Goat
- Polenta
- Rye
- White Rice
- Ham
- Turkey Burgers
- Vegetarian Burger, bean based
- Kielbasa Sausage
- Knockwurst, sausage
- Lamb
- Lard
- Liver, beef or chicken
- Liverwurst
- Pastrami
- Pepperoni
- Turkey Lunch Meat
- Lamb
- Rabbit
- Venison
- Peanut Butter
- Pistachio Buter
- Peanuts
- Pecans
- Pistachio Nuts
- Whole Wheat Pastas
- Tomato (Pasta) sauce with meat
- Pickles, sweet with white vinegar and sugar
- Pistachio Nuts
- Popcorn
- Rice Cakes/Popcorn Cakes
- Pork, most (Bacon and sausage/banger is high acid)
- Tempeh
- Venison
Low Acid Forming
- Adzuki Beans
- Rice Wine
- Almond Milk, commercial sweetened
- Amaranth Flour
- Amaranth Seeds
- Apple Juice, sweetened
- Arrowroot Flour
- Baked Beans, Vegetarian
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Black Beans
- Chickpeas
- Fava Beans
- Great Northern Beans
- Lima Beans
- Mung Beans
- Navy Beans
- Green Peas
- Split Peas, green or yellow
- Pinto Beans
- Runner Beans
- White Beans
- Mature Green Beans (with formed beans)
- Cow’s Milk, (Whole, skim, 1%, 2%)
- Goat’s Milk
- Kefir (Cow’s Milk)
- Mirin (rice wine)
- Black Tea
- Tomato Juice
- Vegetable Juice, commercial (homemade is highly alkaline)
- Tap Water, most sources, Chlorinated or not Chlorinated
- Black Bean Soup
- Bran Flakes with Raisins, unsweetened
- Broad Beans
- Brown Rice
- Brown Rice Cakes
- Brown Rice Flour
- Brown Rice Pasta
- Buckwheat Flour
- Buckwheat Groats
- Buckwheat Noodles
- Butter
- Canola Oil
- Carrot Juice, commercial
- Kasha
- Oatmeal
- Porridge
- Swiss Chard
- Curd Cheese
- Cherimoya
- Clam Juice
- Clams
- Cockles
- Coleslaw
- Duck Sauce
- Green Curry Paste
- Hoisin Sauce
- Mayonaisse
- Oyster Sauce
- Peanut Satay Sauce
- Plus Sauce
- Salad Cream
- Thai Fish Sauce
- Cream
- Sour Cream
- Curd Cheese
- Curry Powder
- Dates
- Apricots, dried
- Figs, dried
- Prunes
- Eggs, white or whole
- Cannola Oil
- Safflower Oil
- sunflower Oil
- Sesame oil
- Vegetable Oil
- Millet Flour
- Triticale Flour
- Freekah
- French Dressing
- Guava
- Plums
- Tomatoes
- Gelatin
- Millet
- Brown Rice
- Teff
- Triticale
- Wheat, unrefined
- Vegetarian Burger, no soy, few to no beans, mostly vegetables
- Honey
- Hummus
- kidney beans
- Spinach
- Maple Syrup
- Mochi
- MSG (monosodium glutamate)
- Buckwheat Noodles
- Soba Noodles
- Pine Kernals
- Pine Nuts
- Oats
- Pasta Sauce, no meat
- Ranch Dressing
- Rhubarb
- Russian Dressing
- Thousand Island Dressing
- Split Pea Soup, no meat
- Tomato Soup
- Stevia
- Teff
- Vanilla Extract
- Carrots, commercial (organic are alkaline)
To see a list of Alkaline Foods read Alkaline Forming Foods.
To Learn about the Acid Alkaline Balance read Why Alkalize?.