Key TakeawaysBase-producing fruits and vegetables can help reduce the risk of heart disease and slow the progression of kidney disease in people with high blood pressure, according to a new study.Diet alone doesn’t drastically change the body’s pH balance.People with normal kidney function don’t need to avoid acid-producing foods, as the body effectively regulates pH.
Key Takeaways
Base-producing fruits and vegetables can help reduce the risk of heart disease and slow the progression of kidney disease in people with high blood pressure, according to a new study.Diet alone doesn’t drastically change the body’s pH balance.People with normal kidney function don’t need to avoid acid-producing foods, as the body effectively regulates pH.
The human body is great at regulating acids and bases to keep a stablepH balanceat around 7.4—a slightly alkaline value—through organs like the kidneys and lungs.
Some proponents of the alkaline diet say that acid-forming foods, like meat, eggs, and grains, can throw off the body’s pH balance and cause a variety of health problems. To maintain pH balance, they claim that base-producing foods, like fruits, vegetables, and beans, can help reduce dietary acid and fight diseases.
While increasing fruit and vegetable intake is healthy in general, food alone doesn’t drastically change blood pH balance. However, new research shows that base-forming fruits and vegetables can help people with high blood pressure lower the risk of heart disease and chronic kidney disease progression.
The five-year study included 153 people with high blood pressure and kidney disease who were also at risk for heart attack or stroke. The study participants who were randomly assigned to reduce their dietary acid with base-producing fruits and vegetables had the best outcomes for both kidney and heart health.
The remaining study participants either followed their usual treatment plans or took sodium bicarbonate tablets to match the base-producing effects of the fruits and vegetables. Compared to the fruit and vegetable group, the sodium bicarbonate group had similar benefits for kidney health but not heart health.
“Diets high in fruits and vegetables should be part of the management, along with medication, of hypertension,”Donald E. Wesson, MD, MBA, lead study investigator and a professor of medicine at Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin, told Verywell.
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How Does Acid or Base Affect Your Health?
During the digestive process, foods break down and produce acids or bases, also called alkalis. Acid-producing foods include meats and cheeses, while most fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds are considered base-producing.
“When we eat an acid-producing meal—one that is full of animal products—in the short term, the kidney is able to get rid of that acid from the body and put it into the urine,” Wesson said.
This mechanism can harm kidney function in the long term, but most people should focus on incorporating more fruit and vegetables into their diet instead of completely avoiding acid-producing animal products, he added.
Nutrition experts may recommend acid-reducing diets to help people manage life-threatening symptoms of chronic kidney disease. These low-acid diets emphasize fresh fruits and vegetables while limiting meat, cheese, egg yolks, and grains.
However, for people with normal kidney function, food won’t significantly change the pH of the blood, and you don’t need to worry about avoiding all acid-producing foods.
“Our bodies are really, really good at regulating and balancing themselves. So as long as there’s no underlying condition, the foods that we’re eating should have a minimal impact [on] our acid-base balance,”Melissa Ann Prest, DCN, RDN, a registered dietitian based in Seattle and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, told Verywell.
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The body works hard to maintain its internal acid-base balance, so most people without underlying health conditions don’t need to worry about avoiding all acid-producing foods.
“If the kidneys aren’t working very well, if something’s going on with the lungs that can change our acid-base balance, then food can have a bigger impact on it,” Prest said. “But, on a day-to-day basis, if we’re eating a lot of acid-producing foods and our kidneys are working fine, it’s going to balance it out naturally on its own.”
Eating more base-producing fruits and vegetables can support health in general. However, most Americans don’t meet the dietary recommendations for produce, so replacing less-nutritious foods with plant-based options can help reduce chronic disease risk.
“Study after study has shown the benefit of dietary patterns that have high fruit and vegetable intake,” Prest said.
Instead of trying to measure pH levels, Prest recommends thinking about ways to include more plant foods in your diet.
“Let’s make the vegetables more of the center of your plate with protein foods on the side as an addition to that, but not putting the focus on that. That’s something that you could do if you wanted to have a more balanced diet in terms of having more foods that are alkaline producing versus acid producing,” she said.
What This Means For YouIncorporating more fruits and vegetables into your diet can support heart and kidney health, especially if you have high blood pressure. You don’t need to avoid all acid-producing foods, but focusing on plant-based options can help reduce the risk of chronic disease.
What This Means For You
Incorporating more fruits and vegetables into your diet can support heart and kidney health, especially if you have high blood pressure. You don’t need to avoid all acid-producing foods, but focusing on plant-based options can help reduce the risk of chronic disease.
7 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.U.S. News and World Report.Dr. Sebi’s alkaline diet review: pros, cons and how It works.Goraya N, Madias NE, Simoni J, Kahlon M, Aksan N, Wesson DE.Kidney and cardiovascular protection using dietary acid reduction in primary hypertension: a five-year, interventional, randomized, control trial.Am J Med. Published online July 8, 2024. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2024.06.006Storz MA, Ronco AL.How well do low-PRAL diets fare in comparison to the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans?.Healthcare. 2023;11(2):180. doi:10.3390/healthcare11020180National Kidney Foundation.Metabolic acidosis.Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.What impact does pH have on food and health?.National Cancer Institute.Acid-base balance.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.State indicator report on fruits and vegetables, 2018.
7 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.U.S. News and World Report.Dr. Sebi’s alkaline diet review: pros, cons and how It works.Goraya N, Madias NE, Simoni J, Kahlon M, Aksan N, Wesson DE.Kidney and cardiovascular protection using dietary acid reduction in primary hypertension: a five-year, interventional, randomized, control trial.Am J Med. Published online July 8, 2024. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2024.06.006Storz MA, Ronco AL.How well do low-PRAL diets fare in comparison to the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans?.Healthcare. 2023;11(2):180. doi:10.3390/healthcare11020180National Kidney Foundation.Metabolic acidosis.Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.What impact does pH have on food and health?.National Cancer Institute.Acid-base balance.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.State indicator report on fruits and vegetables, 2018.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
U.S. News and World Report.Dr. Sebi’s alkaline diet review: pros, cons and how It works.Goraya N, Madias NE, Simoni J, Kahlon M, Aksan N, Wesson DE.Kidney and cardiovascular protection using dietary acid reduction in primary hypertension: a five-year, interventional, randomized, control trial.Am J Med. Published online July 8, 2024. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2024.06.006Storz MA, Ronco AL.How well do low-PRAL diets fare in comparison to the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans?.Healthcare. 2023;11(2):180. doi:10.3390/healthcare11020180National Kidney Foundation.Metabolic acidosis.Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.What impact does pH have on food and health?.National Cancer Institute.Acid-base balance.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.State indicator report on fruits and vegetables, 2018.
U.S. News and World Report.Dr. Sebi’s alkaline diet review: pros, cons and how It works.
Goraya N, Madias NE, Simoni J, Kahlon M, Aksan N, Wesson DE.Kidney and cardiovascular protection using dietary acid reduction in primary hypertension: a five-year, interventional, randomized, control trial.Am J Med. Published online July 8, 2024. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2024.06.006
Storz MA, Ronco AL.How well do low-PRAL diets fare in comparison to the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans?.Healthcare. 2023;11(2):180. doi:10.3390/healthcare11020180
National Kidney Foundation.Metabolic acidosis.
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.What impact does pH have on food and health?.
National Cancer Institute.Acid-base balance.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.State indicator report on fruits and vegetables, 2018.
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