Is Sweet Potato Acidic or Alkaline?
Sweet potato (boiled) is strongly alkaline: Negative PRAL: alkalizing after digestion.
Classification
Boiled sweet potato reaches −5.3, which makes it clearly alkaline, because the tuber supplies a lot of potassium with little protein. Cooked in its skin, it keeps most of that potassium. A 200 g sweet potato adds about −11. Next to a 150 g beef steak at +8.7 per 100 g, it offsets most of the acid load.
In the Vegetables & Salad category, sweet potato (boiled) ranks #29 of 110, sorted from alkaline to acid-forming. More alkaline options include Pumpkin (Butternut) (−5.4), Beetroot (−5.6), Brussels sprouts (−5.6). More acid-forming are Celery stalk (−5.2), Chili pepper, red (−5.0), Spinach (−5.0).
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.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is sweet potato 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: Sweet potato (boiled) has a PRAL of −5.3 per 100 g, so it counts as strongly alkaline in your daily acid-base balance.
How much sweet potato do I need for a noticeable effect?
A serving (150 g) of sweet potato adds −7.9 to your daily balance. For comparison: an egg is around +5.4, a slice of cheese around +6. So one serving of sweet potato roughly offsets one of them.
Why is sweet potato 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. Sweet potato provides more potassium, magnesium and calcium than phosphorus and protein, so the balance is negative (−5.3).
Sweet Potato 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.