Lemons: Acid or Alkaline?

Peter wrote to me about his confusion over lemons and whether they are alkalizing or acidifying.

This is a typical point of confusion when choosing to go alkaline.

A lemon has a pH of around 2.2; extremely acidic! You'll read most if not all the Alkalarian authors telling you it is alkaline. However, even here we have differing opinions.
Chris Vasey, author of The Acid Alkaline Diet says lemons are very acidifying.
Dr Susan E Brown, author of The Acid Alkaline food Guide says they are medium alkalizers.
Harald Tietze author of Youthing Not Ageing, says they are alkalizing.
Dr. Ted Baroody, author of Alkalize or Die says they are alkaline forming.

Now wonder you're confused!

So once again, let's look at what ALKALIZING means. It means that after the acids are used up in metabolism, there is a net increase or alkaline minerals that is larger than the increase in acid minerals LEFT OVER. This is what forms your alkaline reserves, or more correctly, buffer.