Is Bay Leaf Acidic or Alkaline?
Bay leaf (dried) is strongly alkaline: Negative PRAL: alkalizing after digestion.
Classification
Dried bay leaf comes in at −17.2 because drying strongly concentrates the leaf's potassium and calcium. For your daily balance, this doesn't matter. You cook one or two leaves with your dish and fish them out before eating. Whatever passes into the broth only shows up in the second decimal place.
In the Herbs, Spices & Sauces category, bay leaf (dried) ranks #18 of 75, sorted from alkaline to acid-forming. More alkaline options include Curry powder (−17.3), Anise (−18.2), Tomato paste (−21.2). More acid-forming are Vegetable broth, powder (−14.1), Dill (−13.1), Miso (soybean paste) (−13.0).
Acidic or alkaline: PRAL, not pH
On this site, acidic and alkaline refer to the PRAL (potential renal acid load). It estimates what a food leaves behind once it has been digested: a positive value is acid-forming, a negative value is alkalizing. That is different from the pH of the food itself: a lemon tastes sour, yet its PRAL is −4.0, so it is alkalizing. Your diet does not change your blood pH. It does change how much acid your kidneys have to deal with.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is bay leaf acidic?
It depends on what you mean by acidic. The pH describes the food itself, for example how sour it tastes. The PRAL describes what it leaves behind after digestion: Bay leaf (dried) has a PRAL of −17.2 per 100 g, so it counts as strongly alkaline in your daily acid-base balance.
How much bay leaf do I need for a noticeable effect?
A teaspoon (5 g) of bay leaf adds −0.9 to your daily balance. For comparison: an egg is around +5.4, a slice of cheese around +6. So one serving of bay leaf roughly offsets one of them.
Why is bay leaf alkaline even though it is not a typical alkaline food?
The PRAL depends on the minerals left over after digestion, not on taste or pH. Bay leaf provides more potassium, magnesium and calcium than phosphorus and protein, so the balance is negative (−17.2).
Bay Leaf logged, balance checked.
Basentracker adds up every meal automatically and shows whether your day is in the alkaline range. The same values as on this page, all 977 foods, photo scan, recipes.
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Compare all Herbs, Spices & Sauces: Herbs, Spices & Sauces table. Common questions are answered in Acidic or Alkaline?, and the PRAL calculator adds up a whole meal.
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.