Is Butter Acidic or Alkaline?
Butter (raw) is slightly acid-forming: Positive PRAL: acid-forming after digestion. Practically neutral: butter has a PRAL of +0.9 per 100 g, which technically puts it just inside the acid-forming range. Pure fats contain hardly any minerals or protein, so butter, margarine (−0.4) and almost all oils (0.0) sit close to zero.
Classification
Butter is almost pure milk fat, and fat contributes nothing to the acid-base balance. The small traces of milk protein and phosphorus are still enough for +0.9, just barely acid-forming. So butter on your bread hardly matters for your balance, but the cheese on top does. Butter matters elsewhere: at 747 kcal per 100 g, it's extremely energy-dense.
In the Oils & Fats category, butter (raw) ranks #21 of 22, sorted from alkaline to acid-forming. More alkaline options include Clarified butter (+0.1), Lard (+0.1), Olive oil (0.0). More acid-forming are Herb butter (garlic butter) (+2.9).
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.
What balances butter
One teaspoon of butter (10 g) of butter adds +0.1 to your daily balance. These three bring it back; the grams shown offset exactly this serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is butter 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: Butter (raw) has a PRAL of +0.9 per 100 g, so it counts as slightly acid-forming in your daily acid-base balance.
Do I have to avoid butter on an alkaline diet?
No. What counts is the balance of the whole day, not a single food. Butter is slightly acid-forming; with enough vegetables, potatoes and fruit on the same plate, the meal stays balanced.
Butter 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 Oils & Fats: Oils & Fats 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.