Best Ways to Increase Urine pH

Diet and lifestyle changes that’ll make your urine less acidic

What’s going on with your urine can say a lot about how healthy your body is! Urine pH is a measure of how acidic it is - a lower pH is more acidic, while a higher pH is more alkaline. The pH of your urine can affect how likely you are to get some medical problems like kidney stones and gout.[1] The average Western diet tends to decrease the pH in your body, so increase the pH of your urine to lower your chances of some health conditions.[2] Alter your diet to include more fruits and vegetables, and consider medications in extreme cases if your doctor recommends it.

Things You Should Know

  • Eat more alkalinizing fruits like blackberries, apples, oranges, pineapples, and grapes.
  • Add more vegetables to your diet by consuming more broccoli, asparagus, and kale.
  • Substitute meat with beans, peas, or lentils.
  • Limit your alcohol intake and drink more water or tea.
Method 1
Method 1 of 3:

Natural Methods

  1. Image titled Increase Alkalinity Step 4
    1
    Eat a lot of fruit. Load your diet with fresh fruits and vegetables to increase the pH of your urine.[3] Most fruits are alkalinizing (raise pH), but some do this more effectively than others. Some of the best alkalinizing fruits include:[4]
    • Blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries
    • Nectarines, persimmon, apples, apricots, pears, and peaches
    • Tangerines, limes, lemons, and oranges
    • Papaya, pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, and banana
    • Grapes, raisins, and cherries
    • Avocado and green olives
  2. Image titled Increase Alkalinity Step 1
    2
    Increases your veggie intake. Try to include fresh vegetables in every meal. Increase your portion sizes of vegetables and decrease your portion sizes of meats to help increase the pH of your urine. Some of the best veggies to regularly include in your diet are:[5]
    • Asparagus, celery, and artichoke
    • Onions, endives, and kohlrabi
    • Collard greens, mustard greens, and kale
    • Winter squash, zucchini, and summer squash
    • Eggplant, beets, and bell peppers
    • Parsnips, sweet potatoes/yams, and baked potatoes
    • Broccoli, cabbage, and okra
    Advertisement
  3. Image titled Choose Healthy Sources of Protein Step 5
    3
    Replace the meat in your meals. Replace a portion of meat in your meal with legumes like beans or peas. These increase your urine pH and provide a good source of protein. Lentils are also a good alkalizer and make a healthy replacement for meat.[6]
  4. Image titled Choose Heart Healthy Winter Foods Step 11
    4
    Snack on nuts and seeds. A handful of nuts and seeds make a great snack throughout the day, and are a good way to get healthy fats in your diet if you cut down on how much meat you eat. Some nuts are especially alkalizing, such as chestnuts, pumpkin seeds, and cashews.[7]
    • Almonds, sesame seeds, and sunflower seeds also increase your urine pH, though not as much as the others.
  5. Image titled Increase Alkalinity Step 7
    5
    Season your food with alkalizing herbs and spices. Rather than cooking with regular table salt, add flavor to your food with tasty herbs and spices that increase your urine pH. Cook with sea salt and black pepper, and include these other flavors in your meals:[8]
    • Ginger root
    • Parsley
    • Basil
    • Garlic
    • Cilantro
    • Bay leaves
    • Cayenne pepper
    • Soy sauce
    • Cinnamon
  6. Image titled Increase Alkalinity Step 11
    6
    Decrease your intake of acid-forming foods. While eating alkalizing foods, minimize what you’re eating that increases acid in your urine. Meat, poultry, eggs, fish, and dairy are big acid-formers that are common in many diets. Minimize your intake of these by monitoring your portion size – base meals mainly on fruits and vegetables, with only small servings of the above proteins.[9]
  7. Image titled Have Healthy Kidneys Step 8
    7
    Stop drinking alcohol. Alcohol makes your urine more acidic.[10] Drink mineral water, ginger tea, or pineapple or grapefruit juice instead – these all raise your urine pH.[11]
    • Talk to your doctor if you think you need help to stop drinking.
  8. Image titled Boost Energy Levels Step 11
    8
    Take a plant-based supplement to raise pH. Take a plant-based dietary product, or “green food” extract. Use it for a week as indicated on the label. This may effectively raise the pH of your urine and increase alkalinity in your body.[12]
    9. Advertisement
Method 2
Method 2 of 3:

Understanding Urine pH

  1. Image titled Accept Having a Schizoaffective Disorder Diagnosis Step 1
    1
    Visit your doctor if you have urinary symptoms. There are a number of illnesses and health problems that will affect your urine and urination habits. Any time you have pain in your abdomen, flank (your side beneath your ribs), or groin, visit your doctor to find out what’s wrong. You should see your healthcare professional if you have any urinary symptoms. Sometimes, increasing the pH of your urine can help – other times, you may need antibiotics or other treatment to solve your medical problem. Get a proper diagnosis, talk to your doctor about treatment options, and ask if raising your urine pH will help if you experience any of the following:[13]
    • You’re urinating more or less than usual, or you can only urinate in small amounts.
    • It hurts or burns when you urinate.
    • Your urine looks very dark.
    • Your urine smells bad.
  2. Image titled Avoid Diverticulitis Step 9
    2
    Increase urine pH if you have kidney stones. Some types of kidney stones occur if there’s too much acid and other compounds in your body, so alkalinizing your urine (raising the pH) can help dissolve kidney stones.[14] You may also need other treatments and not all types of kidney stones are improved this way, so talk to your doctor about treatment options. Signs and symptoms of kidney stones can include any of the following:[15]
    • Pain in your flank (the side of your torso beneath your ribs)
    • Pain that travels to your abdomen or groin
    • Pain that comes in waves and changes in intensity
    • Blood in your urine (urine may look pink, red, or brown)
    • Cloudy or bad-smelling urine
    • Pain when you urinate
    • Urinating more often or feeling sudden urges to urinate
    • Nausea and vomiting
    • Fever and chills
  3. Image titled Have Healthy Kidneys Step 4
    3
    Alkalize your urine if you have gout. You can get gout if you have too much of a certain kind of acid in your body (uric acid). Gout can cause severe pain, redness, and swelling in your small joints, usually your big toe.[16] If you have severe pain in your big toe that’s unrelated to an injury, see your doctor to get diagnosed. If you have gout, try to raise the pH of your urine to decrease your uric acid level – this can help prevent future attacks of gout.[17]
  4. Image titled Make Yourself Pee Step 18
    4
    Check your urine pH at home. If you are going to try to raise the pH of your urine, keep track of the changes by measuring pH once a day. Urine that is too alkaline can cause problems, just as acidic urine can. Purchase pH test strips from your local pharmacy. To test your urine, collect a sample in a clean cup and use the strips as directed. Insert the strip into the urine for the directed amount of time, then match the color on the strip to a color chart on the bottle to determine pH.[18]
    • Alkalize your urine to a pH >7 if you’re trying to dissolve kidney stones.[19]
    • Get a clean urine sample. Begin to urinate for several seconds, then collect a sample in your clean cup by catching the urine mid-stream.
    • Urinary dipsticks are available from companies like AimStrip. These can be used to test urinary pH, as well, though you may have to get them from the company directly.
    5. Advertisement
Method 3
Method 3 of 3:

Seeking Medical Care

  1. Image titled Avoid Risky Supplement Mixes Step 2
    1
    Take sodium bicarbonate. Sodium bicarbonate is a medication you can take to raise the pH of your urine.[20] Medications to raise urine pH are only appropriate for certain conditions, and taking it improperly can cause serious health problems – only take it as directed by your doctor. Usually, the medication is given in your doctor’s office as an injection.
    • Don’t use sodium bicarbonate if you are vomiting, you have alkalosis (too little acid in your body), or you have a deficiency of calcium or chloride.[21]
    • Let your doctor know if you’re taking any other medications or supplements, you have any allergies, you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, or you have disease of your heart, kidneys, or liver.
  2. Image titled Choose Safe Sleep Aids Step 8
    2
    Inquire about potassium citrate if you have kidney stones. Some medications are appropriate for specific medical conditions caused by acidic urine. Ask your doctor about potassium citrate (Urocit-K), a medication used to treat a specific kidney condition and resolve kidney stones.[22]
    • This medication can have many side effects and is not used to treat all causes of kidney stones.
  3. Image titled Choose Safe Sleep Aids Step 1
    3
    Ask about calcium citrate as a treatment option. This medication might be helpful and appropriate to increase your urine pH. It depends on your condition, symptoms, and what is causing your urinary problems.[23] Ask your doctor if this medicine is right for you.
    4. Advertisement

Warnings

  • Some medications can alter the results of a urine pH test, including acetazolamide, ammonium chloride, methenamine mandelate, potassium citrate, sodium bicarbonate, and thiazide-type diuretics.[24] If you’re taking one of these, talk to your doctor about your urine test. Do not stop taking any medication without your doctor’s supervision.

You Might Also Like

Reduce Foamy UrineFoamy Urine: Causes, Treatments, & When to See a Doctor
Use a Urine Dipstick Test
How to
Use a Urine Dipstick Test
Increase Urine FlowHow to Increase Urine Flow: Keep Your Bladder Healthy and More
Reduce Protein in Urine
How to
Reduce Protein in Urine
Cope if You Wet Yourself in Public
How to
Cope if You Wet Yourself in Public
Acidify Urine
How to
Acidify Urine
Strengthen Bowel Muscles
How to
Strengthen Bowel Muscles
Not Pee Your Pants when Laughing
How to
Not Pee Your Pants when Laughing
Detect Blood in Urine
How to
Detect Blood in Urine
Relax Your Pelvic Floor
How to
Relax Your Pelvic Floor
Apply Incontinence Pads
How to
Apply Incontinence Pads
Collect a Sterile Urine Sample
How to
Collect a Sterile Urine Sample
Treat an Enlarged Prostate
How to
Treat an Enlarged Prostate
Prevent Prostate Enlargement
How to
Prevent Prostate Enlargement
Advertisement

References

  1. ↑ https://www.ucsfhealth.org/medical-tests/urine-ph-test
  2. ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2585554/
  3. ↑ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23827128/
  4. ↑ https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/List_of_Acid-Alkaline_Forming_Foods_-_NEED_PRINT.pdf
  5. ↑ https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/List_of_Acid-Alkaline_Forming_Foods_-_NEED_PRINT.pdf
  6. ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6722549/
  7. ↑ https://www.ecowatch.com/what-you-should-eat-to-balance-your-ph-and-alkalize-your-body-1882158316.html
  8. ↑ https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/List_of_Acid-Alkaline_Forming_Foods_-_NEED_PRINT.pdf
  9. ↑ https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/5-steps-for-preventing-kidney-stones-201310046721
  1. ↑ https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh21-1/84.pdf
  2. ↑ https://www.stjoes.ca/patients-visitors/patient-education/patient-education-k-o/kidney-disease-and-your-diet.pdf
  3. ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2585554/
  4. ↑ https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15357-urine-changes
  5. ↑ https://www.kidney.org/atoz/content/kidneystones_prevent
  6. ↑ https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/transcripts/1616_understanding-treating-and-preventing-kidney-stones
  7. ↑ https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/4755-gout
  8. ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2976726/
  9. ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279350/
  10. ↑ https://www.aafp.org/afp/2011/1201/p1234.html
  11. ↑ https://www.drugs.com/drug-class/urinary-ph-modifiers.html
  12. ↑ https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21529-metabolic-alkalosis
  13. ↑ https://www.drugs.com/potassium.html
  14. ↑ https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/calcium-citrate
  15. ↑ https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003583.htm

About This Article

Sarah Gehrke, RN, MS
Medically reviewed by:
Sarah Gehrke, RN, MS
Registered Nurse
This article was medically reviewed by Sarah Gehrke, RN, MS. Sarah Gehrke is a Registered Nurse and Licensed Massage Therapist in Texas. Sarah has over 10 years of experience teaching and practicing phlebotomy and intravenous (IV) therapy using physical, psychological, and emotional support. She received her Massage Therapist License from the Amarillo Massage Therapy Institute in 2008 and a M.S. in Nursing from the University of Phoenix in 2013. This article has been viewed 59,212 times.
68 votes - 89%
Co-authors: 9
Updated: March 21, 2023
Views: 59,212
Categories: Urinary System Health

Medical Disclaimer

The content of this article is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, examination, diagnosis, or treatment. You should always contact your doctor or other qualified healthcare professional before starting, changing, or stopping any kind of health treatment.

Advertisement