Is Sour Cream Acidic or Alkaline?
Sour cream (raw) is neutral: PRAL close to zero: hardly shifts your acid-base balance.
Classification
Sour cream comes in at +0.2, which makes it neutral, because the fat content strongly dilutes the milk protein and phosphorus. The fattier the dairy product, the closer to zero. Low-fat quark (a fresh, high-protein dairy product similar to strained yogurt), by contrast, comes to +9.4. So a dollop on a baked potato or in borscht doesn't show up in your balance.
In the Dairy category, sour cream (raw) ranks #16 of 25, sorted from alkaline to acid-forming. More alkaline options include Greek yogurt (+0.2), Skim milk (+0.1), Milk (3.7% fat) (+0.1). More acid-forming are Kefir (+0.2), Yogurt, plain (3.5%) (+0.5), Yogurt, low-fat (1.5%) (+0.8).
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 sour cream 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: Sour cream (raw) has a PRAL of +0.2 per 100 g, so it counts as neutral in your daily acid-base balance.
Does sour cream count in the acid-base balance at all?
Hardly. At +0.2 per 100 g, sour cream is in the neutral range between −0.5 and +0.5. You can eat it without shifting your balance.
Sour Cream 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 Dairy: Dairy 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.