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The Acid-Alkaline Food Guide

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A Quick Reference to Foods & Their Effect on pH Levels

Over the last five years, there has been an explosion of bestselling acid/alkaline based diets. These have ranged from weight loss to diabetes management. While hundreds of thousands of people have gone on this diet that balances the pH level of your body, they have had to put up with the limited food guides contained in each book. Now, health experts Dr. Susan Brown and Larry Trivieri have created a complete resource for people wanting to widen their food choices. The Acid/Alkaline Food Guide offers dieters an easy-to-follow guide to the most common foods that influence your body’s pH levels.

The book begins by explaining what the acid/alkaline of your body has to do with the acid/alkaline influence of foods. It then explains how the pH of foods, once eaten, may change in your body—as citric acid fruits, once digested, become alkaline. As complicated as this process is, the authors provide the guidelines for the analysis of the foods covered in the book. This section is then followed by a listing of thousands of foods and their acid/alkaline ranges. Included are insets and groups that can help the reader better direct their food searches.

This is the first complete acid/alkaline food guide to include today’s modern diet. It will quickly become the first resource to turn to when preparing meals or ordering food.

208 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 15, 2006

147 people are currently reading
312 people want to read

About the author

Susan E. Brown

8 books3 followers

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5 stars
126 (29%)
4 stars
173 (40%)
3 stars
82 (18%)
2 stars
38 (8%)
1 star
13 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
Profile Image for Laura.
857 reviews211 followers
November 1, 2019
Easy to understand with good quick reference charts.
Profile Image for Shari.
43 reviews
July 13, 2012
This is the book I've been looking for! Half of the book is charts that explain how much acid vs. alkaline a food contributes to your body. Acidity contributes to all kinds of health issues! It needs more foods included though. Everyone should educate themselves about this part of nutrition.
Profile Image for Melissa.
31 reviews21 followers
February 22, 2012
This is a decent guide to the acid/alkaline properties of different foods. If you have read about acidity/alkalinity before, the introductory chapters might be old news, but it is worth it for the food guide.
20 reviews2 followers
October 23, 2011
Nice, general, informative content about Ph and food connection. The food guide is really easy to use and understand. Compact and light paperback, so it's easy to carry around with you at the grocery store.
Profile Image for SDestinie.
Author 3 books195 followers
August 27, 2018
Okay so apparently there really is an app for everything. This book has a nap in the front cover for your mobile phone for when you're shopping ordering, and also has very good and accessible information on the causes and solutions for acidity. Basically brown rice lentils and greens. Enjoy.
Profile Image for Shelli.
57 reviews
January 22, 2008
This diet has changed my life for the better. I strongly recommend it to everyone to at least read about how chemistry affects your health.
Profile Image for Mika Auramo.
1,066 reviews36 followers
December 6, 2024
Kokeiltu on, mutta ei ollut minun juttuni. Kirja antaa kyllä hyviä vinkkejä, mitä ruoka-aineita kannattaa vältellä jotta kehon pH-tasapaino pysyy optimitasolla ja asidoosi vältetään. Tosin olisi pitänyt vältellä punaista lihaa samalla tavalla kuin limppareita ja energiajuomia, jotta elimistön ei tarvitse luustosta korvata kalsiumia ja muita sen tiiviydelle välttämättömien mineraaleja emäksisyyden lisäämiseksi. Aikani kokeilin pH-liuskoja ja ihan riittävästi…
Profile Image for Daylynn Foster.
191 reviews12 followers
April 26, 2014
Easy to read. First 80 pages give info then the rest lists foods & rates them as low, medium or high in acidity & alkalinity. I learned that the majority of my food choices are alkaline. Yeah!
Profile Image for Juliana.
102 reviews2 followers
March 1, 2015
I initially bought the kindle version of it but found the charts very difficult to read. I had to buy the paper version. the content and explanations are great.
Profile Image for Arda.
269 reviews178 followers
November 27, 2020
This may seem somewhat outdated now but it's still fresh and could be a good intro to what acid-alkaline means. It was actually an introduction for me: I had not known about PH before (Potential for Hydrogen).

I like how this book, about food intake, is scientific in nature and is chemistry-based. Science kinda rocks! Susan explains the 0 to 14 levels of PH; pointing out that 7 is the median: what is under 7.0 is mostly acid and what is above 7.0 is leaning more toward alkaline.

While reading this book, I started to look into PH levels in water and was dismayed to find out that not all water bottles are created equal. Some have HIGHER Ph levels, and probably celebs who know about PH levels would root for the fancier water bottles. This was disturbing as it got me thinking about the inequality in the world, and how some people not only do not have access to high PH levels of water but perhaps no clean water at all.

In this respect, this book is timely now that people are (hopefully) becoming more environmentally conscious and considering shifting away from making the earth more toxic than it - which is directly linked with the body toxicity. Animal products, after all, are all acidic, and poultry are HIGHLY acidic.

With that being said, a vegan diet, which is clearly preferable, is also not free from acid. White bread and cakes at large after all, are acidic, not to mention alcohol... and coffee! Having all this in mind, it makes sense: the urine is perhaps one of the ways demonstrating the science behind the PH levels. When doctors say "drink more water," this book explains the science backing this up. However, it's not JUST the water - it's also the fruits and vegetables (sweet potatoes and onions are among those which have high alkaline) and it's also how one can pay attention to how the over-use of caffeine and alcohol consumption can bring alkaline down while the acid goes up. It's fun to explore how these things work.

Definitely an informative book with clear charts referencing the foods and where they fall under the acid/alkaline intensity.
57 reviews
October 24, 2023
"Literally meaning "potential for hydrogen, pH is used to indicate the concentration of hydrogen ions in a fluid... ...gives off hydrogen ions while its opposite, a base (also known as alkali) is a substance that accepts hydrogen ions... hydrogen ion is unstable and very reactive... ...seeks to react with a negatively charged molecule... ...[hydrogen ions are] hiding in the body's water molecules, ready to react withe higher molecules... ...alter a protein's structure, or "denature" it... ...how hydrochloric acid in the stomach aids in protein digestion."

"...not all foods with inherently acidic pH values produce acidifying effects in the body when they are consumed."

chef gave this to me to understand correlation btwn pH and flavor. this book was not necessarily effective in teaching that.

lemons and limes are alkalizing? chicken is acidifying? girl, what. even though most proteins are acidifying, without them none of any process could occur, even alkalinization.

i did switch my espresso from double to single shot! so, effective in that way.
Profile Image for Nora.
26 reviews4 followers
November 6, 2020
Very insightful book, explaining how eating more acidic foods actually makes you more prone to different diseases and what are the benefits of the alkaline diet. I found the table with different foods and their acidic/alkaline effects on the body to be very helpful for me when choosing what to include in my meals. It is very useful for people who are suffering from upset stomach, feel tired all the time or just want to improve their health habits.
Profile Image for Walaa 1988.
148 reviews12 followers
March 10, 2018
كتاب رائع يقسم الاغذية والمشروبات لفئتين:فئة ترفع درجة الحوضة في الجسم وفئة ترفع درجة القلوية
الاطعمة المسببة للحمضية تضر الجسم وتسبب هشاشة العظام والسرطان الخ
بينما القلوية تحمي العظام والجسم من الامراض والسرطانات
اغلب الكتاب عبارة عن جدول يصنف جميع الاطعمة الى قلوي منخفض او متوسط او مرتفع او حمضي منخفض او متوسط او مرتفع
استفدت منه و غيرت الكثير في نظامي الغذائي
1 review
February 15, 2020
This is a compact book with an excellent, easy to read food guide. I keep it handy and use it at least weekly. Whereas some food guides on this topic rate foods based on their PH prior to eating, this research rates the food based on how it is metabolized in the body, which is very important. For example, lemon juice is listed as highly alkaline.
Profile Image for Ana Isabel Hernández Gutiérrez.
6 reviews16 followers
March 26, 2019
Para aquellos que buscan limpiar su cuerpo y sangre, esta es una muy buena guía para hacerlo. Muy fácil de leer para aquellos que estamos involucrados en ciencias alimenticias. También contiene muy buenos tips.
Profile Image for Bhamini Pande.
63 reviews10 followers
January 3, 2022
Rather than a book, this could have been published as a research article/paper.
Pros: Detailed explanation of concepts.
Cons: The food chart is catered to western audiences only and misses on a wide variety of food.
Profile Image for Deborah Levin.
355 reviews2 followers
November 8, 2024
The authors provide a high level overview of the Acid-Alkaline diet. The level of detail is appropriate for people interested in the diet to understand basic parameters. The information in this book could be used to identify key topics to research in depth through other reference material.
Profile Image for Priscilla.
476 reviews
September 13, 2017
Boy, did I learn a lot! Wow. Very enlightening. If you have tummy troubles, try this approach. It's working for me.
Profile Image for Tara Wright.
6 reviews1 follower
January 3, 2022
I could get all of the information from this book with a few google searches. Good information, but not what I was expecting. The book itself is mostly the food table.
Profile Image for Kathryn.
121 reviews1 follower
July 5, 2022
informative. The charts are good!
Profile Image for Melissa Mae Palmer.
Author 3 books23 followers
April 2, 2017
I'm a cancer survivor. I really like this book. I grew up with hippie parents. I can say this, my father has a story but I would be a spoiler!
Profile Image for Fishface.
3,297 reviews242 followers
February 11, 2016
All superlatives. This is a SUPER helpful guide to assisting all kinds of health problems (as well as a general feeling of unwellness a lot of people have without being diagnosable) just by changing your diet. It's easy to understand and follow and does not involve a lot of crazy things like buying a juice machine or counting how many rice grains you're allowed to have at each meal.
1 review
February 11, 2015
Good info but the charts are too small to read.

The charts are too small to read. They should fill the whole page. The written portion is great, but not being able to read the charts makes the book useless.



149 reviews4 followers
November 26, 2010
Interesting and seemingly plausible nutritional advice.
Profile Image for Dianna.
22 reviews
January 6, 2011
very helpful and an awesome plan to help your immune system, but not as easy to follow, but worth it!
Profile Image for Jerome.
46 reviews1 follower
Read
August 6, 2011
Very interesting and makes sense
Profile Image for Laurie.
86 reviews
May 7, 2013
Great info. Important topic for our health. Food is medicine.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews

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