Is Lemon Acidic or Alkaline?
Alkaline. Lemon tastes sour, but 100 g has a PRAL of −4.0, because what counts is not the taste but what is left after your body metabolizes it.
Why lemon is alkaline
The citric acid that makes lemon taste so sour is completely broken down into carbon dioxide and water during metabolism. What remains are the fruit's minerals, mainly potassium. That is why lemon counts as an alkaline food, just like orange (−2.8) or grapefruit (−2.6).
The effect is smaller than many guides claim, though. Half a lemon in water adds about −0.7 to your daily balance. That's good, but it doesn't make up for a steak (+12.9 per 100 g). Lemon water is a useful building block, not a free pass.
Acidic or alkaline: PRAL, not pH
The PRAL (potential renal acid load) estimates what a food leaves behind after digestion. It is not the pH of the food itself: a lemon tastes sour, yet its PRAL is −4.0. If you are asking whether lemon is acidic because of heartburn or reflux, that is a question of pH and your stomach, which the PRAL does not measure; talk to your doctor about it.
Lemon in different forms: raw, cooked, processed
How the PRAL changes with state and product. All values per 100 g or 100 ml.
| Food | PRAL |
|---|---|
| Lemon (fresh) | −4.0 |
| Lemon juice (raw) | −2.3 |
| Lime (fresh) | −2.5 |
| Lemon soda (prepared) | 0.0 |
Goes well with
Frequently Asked Questions
Is lemon acidic or alkaline?
Sour in taste, alkaline once metabolized. The pH of the fruit tells you nothing about its effect in your body. That is what the PRAL describes, and at −4.0 it is negative.
Is lemon water alkaline?
Yes, slightly. The juice of half a lemon in a glass of water comes to about −0.7. Don't drink the juice undiluted, and don't drink it right after brushing your teeth. The acid attacks tooth enamel.
Is lime as alkaline as lemon?
Slightly less. Lime has −2.5 per 100 g, lemon −4.0. In the amounts you actually use, the two are equivalent.
Lemon and everything else on your plate: calculated automatically.
Basentracker adds up the PRAL of every meal and shows whether your day is in the alkaline range. Over 950 foods, photo scan, recipes, free.
Free for Android · iPhone coming soon
More fruit compared
All fruit with their PRAL: Fruit table. Back to the overview Acidic or Alkaline?, or put together a meal in the PRAL calculator.
Source: Basentracker food database (PRAL according to Remer & Manz, calculated from protein, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and calcium per 100 g). This information does not replace medical advice.