Body metabolism, including digesting and assimilating the food we eat, normally and naturally produces acid toxic organic waste; making good elimination -- such as from bowels and kidneys -- an important key element, here. Overacid body chemistry may even be the "signal" for the microorganism activity described in Part 9 of this discussion - "How Does It Work? - Unconventional Concepts of Illness & Health - You May or May Not Have Considered.

Although foods that are not acid in their natural state produce acid in metabolism, many will be MORE ACID-FORMING (or less so) depending on how and how much they're processed before eating. And, curiously, some ACID foods CAN become just the opposite when digested properly.

#1 Alkaline food: Alfalfa -- usually available fresh only as sprouts (which should ideally be grown at home from untreated seeds rather than bought not-so-fresh in supermarkets). Mature Alfalfa leaves are usually available dried as tea (or in tablets that may be more convenient provided the binder used to hold the tablet together does not exacerbate an already-sluggish elimination problem). Some people like the tea better mixed with Peppermint Tea.

Citrus fruits -- ALONE -- not eaten with other foods or sugar or salt or... (you get the idea). Some folks find drinking the juice of half a lemon in a glass of "non-chemicaled" water first thing in the morning about thirty minutes before breakfast very helpful. (I know what you're thinking -- citrus is the most acid food there is. But used ALONE it seems to trigger the very opposite in reaction with body chemistry; orchestrated, apparantly by the liver and other glands and organs involved in the body's ph balance.)

All "flesh foods" (meats, etc.) are more acid-forming than fruits and vegetables. Pork is usually the most acid; fish -- especially if gently broiled, baked or steamed rather than deep fried -- is probably the least.

Grains: Corn seems to be the most acid-forming. Oats and Millet the least. Observant farmers of yesteryear who plowed with horses or mules noticed hints if this from observing their animals' reaction to the summer heat.

Legumes (beans, peas and their "cousins"): Lima beans have the reputation for being the least acid-forming -- especially the less starchy varieties. Followed by lentils and garbanzos, if memory serves. (You probably should consult a better "authority" on the last two.)

FRESH RAW fruits and vegetables are always less acid-forming than canned or otherwise processed. Even less-so than simply cooked.

Negative emotions - from anger and resentment to grief and despair (and everything in between) - produce acid reactions, also; while over-acid body chemistry, in turn, often induces negative emotions. Thus the old observation that "Laughter is good medicine".