Understanding pH: Why Acidic Foods Can Still Alkalize Your Body

Few popular superfoods have maintained such a devoted following over the decades like Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV).

At first glance, ACV—like most fruits and vegetables—is highly acidic when consumed. However, once it enters your body and is metabolized, it actually promotes alkalinity. This is due to the chemical and metabolic processes involved in its digestion.

Let’s start by comparing the pH and acidity levels of the most commonly consumed vinegars. While ACV has a similar pH to white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, and others, it behaves quite differently in the body. Unlike these other vinegars, which are acid-forming when metabolized, ACV has an alkalizing effect. Most vinegars not only start off acidic but also cause the body to produce more acid during digestion, classifying them as acid-forming foods.

Water has a pH of 7, which is considered neutral because it contains a balanced concentration of hydrogen ions (protons).

• Acidic = too many protons (low pH)

• Basic (alkaline) = too few protons (high pH)

For humans, optimal blood pH typically ranges between 7.35 and 7.45. Many factors can influence your body’s pH, and when it becomes too acidic, it can have negative effects on your health.

Your body works constantly to maintain this narrow pH range. The further your blood strays from this balance, the more your metabolic functions begin to struggle—or even fail. While the body can tolerate occasional spikes in acidity, chronic acidosis can disrupt essential processes and lead to serious health issues.

What you eat plays a major role in your body’s pH balance—but so do other lifestyle factors like stress, lack of sleep, insufficient physical activity, exposure to toxins, and other unhealthy habits.

It's not as simple as just eating alkaline foods and avoiding acidic ones. The impact a food has on your body's pH after digestion—whether it is acid-forming or alkalizing—is more important than its initial pH value.

Generally, plant-based foods tend to have an alkalizing effect on the body, even if they are acidic in their natural state. Here are some examples of commonly acidic fruits and vegetables that actually promote alkalinity after being metabolized:

Alkalizing Plant-Based Foods

Food	Natural pH Value
Cooked Kale	6.4 – 6.8
Spinach	5.5 – 6.8
Tomatoes	4.2 – 4.9
Blueberries	3.7
Lemon Juice	2.3

Surprising, right? You might assume something like pure lemon juice is bad for an alkalizing diet because of its acidity—but it's actually beneficial. Despite their acidic pH, these foods have an alkalizing effect after digestion due to how they are metabolized.

In contrast, most animal-based foods also start out with acidic to neutral pH values. However, unlike vegetables, these foods tend to have an acid-forming effect in the body after digestion.

Acid-Forming Animal-Based Foods

Food	Natural pH Value
Butter	6.1 – 6.4
Milk	6.3 – 8.5
Egg Whites	7.0 – 9.0
Ground Beef	5.1 – 6.2
Chicken	6.5 – 6.7
Cheddar Cheese	5.9
Cream	6.5

As you can see, many of these pH values are comparable to the fruits and vegetables listed earlier. But the metabolic effect is very different. Plant foods contain fiber and cell walls, which influence how they're processed and used by the body. Animal products lack these features, leading to a more acid-forming effect after digestion.

The best hidden benefit of ACV: Keeps the arteries clean!

Follow the below link to read more...

https://www.myketopal.com/post/apple-cider-vinegar-keeps-the-arteries-clean