Can The Acid Levels Of The Food Affect Your Health and Weight?

'Alkaline' may be Hollywood’s latest diet buzzword, but can the acid levels of the food you eat really affect your health and weight?

- Elizabeth Gunnison Dunn

Previously the province of hard-core naturopaths and holistic health experts, dietary pH (aka the acidity levels of foods) has recently sprung into the mainstream nutrition conversation. One reason for its rise: a slew of A-list celebs (think Victoria Beckham, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kirsten Dunst) who credit their trim physiques and bright complexions to having banished acid-producing foods from their plates. Now “acid residue”—low-pH remnants left over after foods like meat, dairy products, and alcohol have been ingested—has joined the ranks of sugar, gluten, and trans fat as one of the diet world’s most reviled bogeymen.

What are the scientific claims, exactly? Google “alkaline diet” and you’ll find lots of chatter on the subject—not to mention websites hawking alkaline waters, special supplements, cold-pressed juices, and acid-busting cookbooks— but no single doctor or dietitian is at the center of this nutritional theory. Unlike plans created by individuals, like the Dukan Diet or the Zone, eating alkaline is something of a leaderless movement. Essentially, it’s a constellation of beliefs about the destructive impact of acid-producing foods on health and well-being.

An alkaline overview