Acidic Foods - Alkaline Foods

Acidic Foods

Corn
Meat
Beans
Fish
Fowl
Most grains
Coffee
Plums
Prunes
Cranberries
Distilled water


Very Acidic Foods and Supplements Include

Eggs
Liver and other organ meats
Gravy
Broth made from bones or other animal parts
Wine
Yogurt with active cultures
Buttermilk, including buttermilk pancakes and biscuits
Sour cream
Most fermented foods and aged cheeses
Some B vitamin supplements (or foods supplemented with B vitamins) can make your stomach more acid
Hydrochloric acid supplements
Digestive enzymes

Please note that fermented foods like yogurt, buttermilk and sour cream seem to become more acidic in the body if they contain some types of active cultures of helpful bacteria.

Non Food Substances That Can Make Urine Acidic

Probiotics - These are supplements that contain "helpful bacteria". At least some types of beneficial bacteria help to create an acidic environment in the digestive tract. Probiotics are often used after taking antibiotics and may help some cases of bladder infections, irritable bowel syndrome and diarrhea. My friends and family have noticed that if we take excess amounts of probiotics it may cause heart burn and/or high blood pressure. (See my related section on IBS Treatment.)

Soft water - Soft water is water that is low in minerals. This type of water tends to be more acidic.
Alkaline Foods

Most fruits, except as noted above
Most vegetables, except as noted above
Very Alkaline Foods Include

Bananas
Chocolate
Figs
Mineral water
Orange juice
Potatoes
Spinach
Watermelon
Dandelion Greens
Please note that some foods, such as citrus fruits, have an acid pH before they are consumed and but they usually leave an alkaline residue in the body after they have been metabolized.

Non Food Substances That Can Make Urine Alkaline

Antibiotics - antibiotics destroy both the bad and the helpful bacteria in the intestinal tract. Some of the helpful bacteria work to create an acidic environment in the human body. When these bacteria are eliminated by antibiotics, urine may become more alkaline. I think this is one reason why women will frequently get bladder infections after taking antibiotics.

I have some old nutrition text books, and in the era before wide spread antibiotic use, health care professionals often advised people suffering from urinary tract infections to eat a lot of meat and other acid forming foods. Many allopathic doctors of today think acid-base balance is a lot of malarkey, but thirty years ago you could actually find this type of knowledge in some college nutrition text books.

Many mineral supplements - especially calcium, potassium, iron and magnesium. Calcium and magnesium are common ingredients in antacids as they neutralize stomach acid. Some people get upset stomachs (gas, bloating, diarrhea, malabsorption) from these types of mineral supplements, especially if they suffer from hypochloridia (low stomach acid).

Antacids - Antacids, which often contain magnesium or calcium supplements, may cause an increase in the alkalinity of the urine, which can lead to bladder infections as bacteria tend to thrive in alkaline environments.

Hard Water - Hard water is just the opposite of soft water. It is water that has a high mineral content, and as a result tends to be more alkaline. Some studies have shown that people have less heart attacks where the water is hard, presumably because the disolved minerals that make the water hard are important for nutrition.
Neutral Foods

The Mayo Clinic Diet Manual, Seventh Edition categorizes the following foods as neutral foods:

Butter
Margarine
Cooking fats
Oils
Plain candies
Sugar
Syrup
Honey
Arrowroot
Corn
Tapioca
Coffee
Tea
Many other books on pH balance have conflicting information to the neutral foods listed above. Most alternative health books I own state that coffee, tea, sugar (and anything with sugar), and corn make the urine more acid.