Is Chinese Cabbage Acidic or Alkaline?
Chinese cabbage (fresh) is alkaline: Negative PRAL: alkalizing after digestion.
Classification
At 18 kcal per 100 g, Chinese cabbage is a very light vegetable, and its mineral balance is clearly alkaline: −4.0, driven by potassium with almost no protein. Raw in a salad or briefly stir-fried in a wok, it keeps most of that. Long boiling in lots of water leaches out the potassium. Fermented as kimchi, the cabbage stays alkaline, since salt doesn't count in the PRAL.
In the Vegetables & Salad category, Chinese cabbage (fresh) ranks #55 of 110, sorted from alkaline to acid-forming. More alkaline options include Tomatoes, peeled (−4.1), Okra (−4.1), Horseradish (−4.1). More acid-forming are Tomatoes, strained (passata) (−4.0), Zucchini (−3.7), Daikon radish (−3.6).
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.
Goes well with
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Chinese cabbage 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: Chinese cabbage (fresh) has a PRAL of −4.0 per 100 g, so it counts as alkaline in your daily acid-base balance.
How much Chinese cabbage do I need for a noticeable effect?
A serving (150 g) of Chinese cabbage adds −6.0 to your daily balance. For comparison: an egg is around +5.4, a slice of cheese around +6. So one serving of Chinese cabbage roughly offsets one of them.
Why is Chinese cabbage 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. Chinese cabbage provides more potassium, magnesium and calcium than phosphorus and protein, so the balance is negative (−4.0).
Chinese Cabbage 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 Vegetables & Salad: Vegetables & Salad 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.