Can You Change The pH Of Your Urine - And Does It Matter?

Watermelon makes your urine alkaline.

You may have heard about ways of changing the pH - the acidity or alkalinity - of your body. Let me state from the beginning: You can not do that. But you can change the pH of your urine. And that actually matters if you have gout.

SPECIAL PH METER

To start with, if you want to determine the pH of your urine, you need either a specialized electronic meter or a paper strip that changes color when the pH changes. You can not see the pH of your urine by color, for instance. When your urine is darker, you are more dehydrated. When your urine is colorless you are well hydrated. When it is red, you have been eating beetroots.
Beetroots and purple cabbage actually change color with changing pH, but not when the color is expelled from the body.

FOOD CHANGES PH

Urine is normally close to pH neutral (neither acid nor alkaline), but just as beetroots can change its color, eating different foods can change the pH of your urine. That is after they are processed in the body. Drinking alkaline water does not change your body pH, nor the pH of your urine, as it is neutralized when it hits your stomach acid. For those who did not take chemistry in school, an acid an an alkaline neutralize each other, often with a powerful energy release (think Mentos meet Coca-Cola).

BACTRIA-UNFRIENDLY URINE

You may have heard about the old folk remedy to eat cranberries to fight urine tract infection. It works, by making your urine more acidic, and so makes your urinary tract less friendly for bacteria. However, if you have gout, you do not want acidic urine. Uric acid, which causes gout attacks when crystals form in your joints, is an acid. And acids dissolve badly in other acids. Acids dissolve well in alkaline fluids, and there is a simple way to make your urine more alkaline: eating vegetables.

ALL VEGETABLES BUT BEANS

Eating vegetables is of course an excellent way of reducing your purine intake, and also lose weight. And they are the best concievable source of dietary fibers. Plus they are tasty. And alkaline urine is also a way of discouraging bacteria from growing in the urinary tract. The exception is beans, which make your urine acidic. Since they are also the vegetables richest in purines (some beans contain almost as much purines as meat), it makes sense to avoid them as well, if you want alcalic urine and avoid gout.

Soft drinks are acidifying, but they are something you should avoid anyway. Unfortunately, milk and coffee also acidify the urine. You have to balance your consumption, or use supplements.
So a healthy diet not only helps by decreasing purines, it also makes it easier to get rid of uric acid.