People who suffer from acidity often think that the cause of their problem is something in their diet. However, it is often not due to the acidity of the food we eat, but due to an overproduction of acid that is secreted into the stomach following a meal. The stomach produces acid to digest food, and while digesting foods that are very oily and spicy, a lot more acid is produced. The resulting high concentration of acid in the stomach causes acidity.
Acidity is measured on a scale from 1 to 14 and is expressed as a pH value. A pH of 1 is very acidic, a pH of 14 is weakly acidic or more commonly referred to as being very basic. Food or drink that has a pH of 7 is neutral, (neither acidic nor basic). You will be surprised to know that stomach acid is much more acidic than lemons, oranges or wines. Foods higher on the pH scale, for example, milk, reduce the acidity in the stomach by neutralising (reducing) some of the acids.
pH Values of some common foods
|
Eggs |
7.6–8.0 |
|
Bananas |
4.5–4.7 |
|
Corn |
6.0–6.5 |
|
Carrots |
4.9–5.3 |
|
Cow’s milk |
6.3–6.6 |
|
Wheat flour |
5.5–6.5 |
|
Soft drinks |
2.0–4.0 |
|
Potatoes |
5.6–6.0 |
|
Lemons |
2.2–2.4 |
|
Oranges |
3.0–4.0 |
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