Is Iced Tea (Lemon, Sweetened) Acidic or Alkaline?
Iced tea (lemon, sweetened) (prepared) is neutral: PRAL close to zero: hardly shifts your acid-base balance.
Classification
Sweetened lemon iced tea comes in at −0.2 per 100 ml, within the neutral range. A little potassium from tea and lemon faces almost nothing on the acid side, and the rest is water and sugar. So it's not an alkaline drink. At 25 kcal per 100 ml, half a liter adds up to quite a bit of sugar. Home-brewed tea with a slice of lemon gets by without it.
In the Drinks category, iced tea (lemon, sweetened) (prepared) ranks #56 of 80, sorted from alkaline to acid-forming. More alkaline options include Tonic water (−0.2), Wheat beer (−0.2), Green tea (−0.2). More acid-forming are Kombucha (plain) (−0.1), Rooibos tea (−0.1), Gin and tonic (−0.1).
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 iced tea (lemon, sweetened) 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: Iced tea (lemon, sweetened) (prepared) has a PRAL of −0.2 per 100 ml, so it counts as neutral in your daily acid-base balance.
Does iced tea (lemon, sweetened) count in the acid-base balance at all?
Hardly. At −0.2 per 100 ml, iced tea (lemon, sweetened) is in the neutral range between −0.5 and +0.5. You can eat it without shifting your balance.
Iced Tea (Lemon, Sweetened) logged, balance checked.
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Compare all Drinks: Drinks 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.