Short answer: tomatoes are alkaline-forming at PRAL −2.8, and Dr. Sebi's guide approves two kinds — cherry and plum.
This is one of the more workable exclusions on the list, because both approved varieties are in every supermarket and neither is expensive.
The numbers
Tomatoes measure around pH 4.3 to 4.9 — acidic in the hand, which is why they need proper acidification for safe home canning and why they are a common reflux trigger.
On acid load, published tables put tomatoes at −2.8, which is solidly alkaline-forming. Another food that is acidic in the bowl and alkalizing after metabolism, like honey and citrus.
Neither figure distinguishes between varieties. Cherry tomatoes are usually a little sweeter and denser than large slicing tomatoes, but the difference doesn't show up in an acid-load table.
Which tomatoes are approved
The guide names cherry tomatoes and plum tomatoes. Beefsteak, vine, salad and the large round slicing tomatoes are not named.
Plum tomatoes are the oval ones — Roma, San Marzano and their relatives, the varieties bred for sauce because they are meatier and hold less water. Cherry tomatoes are the small round ones. Between them they cover most of what you actually want a tomato for.
Some context on how these grow, offered as background rather than a rule: cherry and plum tomatoes include a number of open-pollinated and heirloom varieties that do come true from saved seed, while a great deal of large commercial tomato production is F1 hybrid seed bought fresh each season. That is a fact about tomato growing. The guide is a closed list, and the two named varieties are the answer.
Cooking with the two you have
The practical question is what to do when a recipe wants a big tomato.
- For sauce: plum tomatoes are what sauce is meant to be made from anyway. Roast them halved at 200°C with grapeseed oil, sea salt, oregano and onion for 30 to 40 minutes, then crush. Better than any large tomato would have given you.
- For slices in a sandwich or salad: plum tomatoes sliced lengthways, or cherry tomatoes halved. Salt them and leave five minutes — it draws out water and concentrates the flavour.
- For roasting whole: cherry tomatoes on the vine, 200°C for 15 to 20 minutes until they split. They collapse into their own sauce and are one of the easiest good things on this list.
- For stews: plum, chopped, added early so they break down.
- Tinned: most tinned whole and chopped tomatoes are plum varieties — that is what the tinning industry uses. Check the tin, and check for additives; some carry citric acid or calcium chloride.
Ripeness matters more than variety
Never refrigerate a tomato you intend to eat raw. Cold below about 12°C destroys the aroma compounds and the texture goes mealy, and it does not come back at room temperature. Keep them on the counter, stem-side down.
Common questions
Are tomatoes alkaline or acidic?
Acidic in the hand at roughly pH 4.3 to 4.9, and alkaline-forming after metabolism at −2.8. The chart with comparable figures is here.
Is tomato a fruit or a vegetable?
Botanically a fruit; on Dr. Sebi's guide it sits under vegetables, along with avocado.
Are sun-dried tomatoes allowed?
Depends what variety and what is on them. Most sun-dried tomatoes are plum, which helps, but the jarred ones are usually packed with garlic, herbs and oils that may not be on the guide. Read the label.
What about tomato paste or passata?
Usually plum-based. Check the ingredients — plain passata is often just tomatoes and salt, while jarred sauces almost always carry garlic.
Are tomatoes bad for reflux?
They are a common trigger, at pH 4.3 to 4.9. That is a comfort question rather than an alkalinity one, and persistent reflux is worth discussing with a doctor rather than managing by food list alone.
What about tomatillos?
Tomatillos are separately named on the approved vegetable list. Different plant, despite the name, and worth knowing about — they are tart and good roasted.
Can I grow the approved kinds?
Cherry and plum tomatoes are among the easiest things to grow in a pot, and open-pollinated varieties let you save seed. Cheaper than buying them, and it settles the variety question permanently.
Related
- Is cucumber alkaline?
- Is garlic alkaline, and what to use instead
- The grocery list, aisle by aisle
- The complete approved food list
Not sure whether what's in your hand qualifies? The Ackaline app scans any food and tells you whether it's approved and why — free to start. The full list with the reasoning behind every exclusion is in The Alkaline Healing Blueprint.
For education, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor before making significant changes to how you eat.
