Is Sauce Tabasco Acidic or Alkaline?
Sauce Tabasco (prepared) is alkaline: Negative PRAL: alkalizing after digestion.
Classification
Hot, but slightly alkaline: Tabasco comes in at −1.7 per 100 ml because the chili peppers supply potassium, while vinegar and salt play no role in the PRAL calculation. With a few dashes totaling maybe 2 ml, though, the effect on your balance is practically zero. The heat has nothing to do with acid in the PRAL sense.
In the Herbs, Spices & Sauces category, Sauce Tabasco (prepared) ranks #48 of 75, sorted from alkaline to acid-forming. More alkaline options include Thousand island dressing (−1.7), Mushroom gravy (−1.8), Apple cider vinegar (−2.0). More acid-forming are Honey mustard dressing (−1.3), Italian dressing (−1.3), Balsamic vinegar (−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 Sauce Tabasco 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: Sauce Tabasco (prepared) has a PRAL of −1.7 per 100 ml, so it counts as alkaline in your daily acid-base balance.
How much Sauce Tabasco do I need for a noticeable effect?
A teaspoon (5 g) of Sauce Tabasco 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 Sauce Tabasco roughly offsets one of them.
Why is Sauce Tabasco 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. Sauce Tabasco provides more potassium, magnesium and calcium than phosphorus and protein, so the balance is negative (−1.7).
Sauce Tabasco 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.
Free for Android · iPhone coming soon
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.