As protein foods, cheeses are acid-forming. But our bodies need protein so trying to find alkaline cheese is futile. Especially as the least acidic cheese isn’t really cheese at all. Because taking the fat out of milk then adding chemicals to make something that looks like cheese is a route to unhealthy madness!
Instead, you should think about alkaline cheese-based meals. So select your favorite cheese to meet the protein requirements that your health professionals advise you to eat. Then choose recipes that have most of the calories from vegetables. Or other alkalizing foods. Finally, complete your cheesy meal with salad, fruit, or both.
Before you use this PRAL Cheese List, you must understand and agree to PRAL Food Lists Principles
Alkaline Cheese List
I list cheeses with the lowest PRAL index first. Because these have the lowest acid load. So the least acid-forming foods show first. But you can click the food table headings to change sort order.
| Main food description | Energy (kcal per 100 g) | PRAL (100 g) |
PRAL ( 100 calories ) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheese, NFS | 365 | 14.43 | 3.95 |
| Cheese, Blue or Roquefort | 353 | 11.97 | 3.39 |
| Cheese, Brick | 371 | 15.83 | 4.27 |
| Cheese, Camembert | 300 | 13.05 | 4.35 |
| Cheese, Brie | 334 | 11.02 | 3.30 |
| Cheese, Cheddar | 404 | 16.51 | 4.09 |
| Cheese, Cheddar, reduced fat | 309 | 20.72 | 6.71 |
| Cheese, Cheddar, nonfat or fat free | 157 | 20.25 | 12.90 |
| Cheese, Colby | 394 | 16.30 | 4.14 |
| Cheese, Colby Jack | 384 | 16.30 | 4.24 |
| Cheese, Feta | 264 | 11.23 | 4.25 |
| Cheese, Fontina | 389 | 16.49 | 4.24 |
| Cheese, goat | 360 | 20.03 | 5.56 |
| Cheese, Gouda or Edam | 357 | 18.49 | 5.18 |
| Cheese, Gruyere | 413 | 21.21 | 5.14 |
| Cheese, Limburger | 327 | 14.67 | 4.49 |
| Cheese, Monterey | 373 | 16.32 | 4.38 |
| Cheese, Monterey, reduced fat | 313 | 18.68 | 5.97 |
| Cheese, Mozzarella, NFS | 295 | 18.20 | 6.17 |
| Cheese, Mozzarella, whole milk | 300 | 15.28 | 5.09 |
| Cheese, Mozzarella, part skim | 295 | 18.20 | 6.17 |
| Cheese, Mozzarella, reduced sodium | 280 | 20.69 | 7.39 |
| Cheese, Mozzarella, nonfat or fat free | 141 | 24.23 | 17.18 |
| Cheese, Muenster | 368 | 15.95 | 4.33 |
| Cheese, Muenster, reduced fat | 271 | 19.03 | 7.02 |
| Cheese, Parmesan, dry grated | 420 | 21.37 | 5.09 |
| Cheese, Parmesan, dry grated, reduced fat | 395 | 21.44 | 5.43 |
| Cheese, Parmesan, hard | 392 | 24.73 | 6.31 |
| Cheese, Parmesan, dry grated, fat free | 370 | 21.46 | 5.80 |
| Cheese, Port du Salut | 356 | 20.03 | 5.63 |
| Cheese, Provolone | 351 | 17.43 | 4.97 |
| Cheese, provolone, reduced fat | 274 | 17.00 | 6.20 |
| Cheese, Swiss | 393 | 20.51 | 5.22 |
| Cheese, Swiss, reduced sodium | 374 | 20.54 | 5.49 |
| Cheese, Swiss, reduced fat | 179 | 20.54 | 11.47 |
| Cheese, Swiss, nonfat or fat free | 127 | 20.54 | 16.17 |
| Cheese, Cheddar, reduced sodium | 398 | 17.65 | 4.43 |
| Cheese, Mexican blend | 358 | 16.74 | 4.68 |
| Cheese, Mexican blend, reduced fat | 282 | 15.91 | 5.64 |
| Queso Anejo, aged Mexican cheese | 373 | 15.54 | 4.17 |
| Queso Asadero | 356 | 16.39 | 4.60 |
| Queso Chihuahua | 374 | 16.77 | 4.48 |
| Queso Fresco | 299 | 12.42 | 4.15 |
| Queso cotija | 366 | 22.76 | 6.22 |
| Puerto Rican white cheese | 174 | 6.18 | 3.55 |
| Cheese, American and Swiss blends | 366 | 15.57 | 4.25 |
| Cheese, American | 307 | 11.35 | 3.70 |
| Cheese, American, reduced fat | 240 | 24.63 | 10.26 |
| Cheese, American, nonfat or fat free | 126 | 0.51 | 0.40 |
| Cheese, American, reduced sodium | 376 | 26.46 | 7.04 |
| Cheese spread, American or Cheddar cheese base, reduced fat | 176 | 27.82 | 15.81 |
| Cheese, processed cream cheese product, nonfat or fat free | 105 | 16.07 | 15.30 |
| Cheese, processed cheese food | 330 | 9.54 | 2.89 |
| Cheese, processed, with vegetables | 375 | 26.42 | 7.05 |
| Cheese, with wine | 330 | 9.54 | 2.89 |
| Cheese spread, American or Cheddar cheese base | 290 | 27.27 | 9.40 |
| Cheese spread, Swiss cheese base | 290 | 27.27 | 9.40 |
| Cheese spread, pressurized can | 290 | 27.27 | 9.40 |
| Imitation cheese | 390 | 20.76 | 5.32 |
| Cheese with nuts | 424 | 10.94 | 2.58 |
| Mozzarella sticks, breaded, baked, or fried | 325 | 11.84 | 3.64 |
For the cheese category, the average PRAL values are 17.78 per 100 grams and 6.11 per 100 calories. To put this in context, compare with other dairy foods in the Food Category List.
Your Alkaline Cheese
Remember, factors such as growing conditions, variety, and preparation methods affect all food nutrients. USDA database values are an average of many samples. So your PRAL values for cheese will vary from day to day. But they are always an estimate of actual acid load on your kidneys. Which I explain more in the notes about PRAL principles on the category list page.
Leave Acid-Alkaline Cheese PRAL List to browse the Complete PRAL Food Category List.
Alkaline Cheese Related Topics
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Common Terms: cheese, Enduring Nutrient Facts
