Is Honey Mustard Dressing Acidic or Alkaline?
Honey mustard dressing (prepared) is alkaline: Negative PRAL: alkalizing after digestion.
Classification
Honey mustard dressing comes in at −1.3 per 100 ml, which makes it slightly alkaline. Mustard, honey and vinegar bring some potassium, protein-rich ingredients are largely absent, and the oil contributes nothing. On a salad, this barely matters for the balance. The salad itself decides. The 404 kcal per 100 ml are the bigger issue, so a tablespoon or two is enough.
In the Herbs, Spices & Sauces category, honey mustard dressing (prepared) ranks #49 of 75, sorted from alkaline to acid-forming. More alkaline options include Sauce Tabasco (−1.7), Thousand island dressing (−1.7), Mushroom gravy (−1.8). More acid-forming are Italian dressing (−1.3), Balsamic vinegar (−1.0), Curry sauce (−1.0).
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.
Goes well with
Frequently Asked Questions
Is honey mustard dressing 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: Honey mustard dressing (prepared) has a PRAL of −1.3 per 100 ml, so it counts as alkaline in your daily acid-base balance.
How much honey mustard dressing do I need for a noticeable effect?
A teaspoon (5 g) of honey mustard dressing adds −0.1 to your daily balance. For comparison: an egg is around +5.4, a slice of cheese around +6. So one serving of honey mustard dressing roughly offsets one of them.
Why is honey mustard dressing 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. Honey mustard dressing provides more potassium, magnesium and calcium than phosphorus and protein, so the balance is negative (−1.3).
Honey Mustard Dressing 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.