Short answer: olive oil is neither alkaline-forming nor acid-forming. Its PRAL is 0.0. It is approved on Dr. Sebi’s list, with one condition: the guide specifies it should not be heated.
Why olive oil has no meaningful pH
pH measures the concentration of hydrogen ions in a water-based solution. Olive oil is essentially pure fat with no water phase, so there is nothing for a pH meter to read. Oils are described by other measures instead, which is why the trade grades olive oil on free fatty acid content rather than on pH.
PRAL is more meaningful and equally undramatic: 0.0. PRAL is calculated from protein, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and calcium, and olive oil contains essentially none of them. Nothing in, nothing out.
Is olive oil Dr. Sebi approved?
Yes. The approved oils are olive, coconut, grapeseed, hempseed, sesame and avocado.
The guide specifies that olive and coconut oil should be used uncooked. The other approved oils carry no such note.
Why uncooked suits it
The instruction lines up with how the oil behaves in a pan. Extra virgin olive oil has a relatively low smoke point, usually quoted somewhere between 160°C and 190°C depending on how fresh it is and how much free fatty acid it carries. Push it past that and it starts to break down: the polyphenols and the green, peppery aromatics that you paid for are the first things to go, and the flavour turns flat and slightly bitter.
That is a sound reason to dress with it rather than fry in it, and it is also why the good bottle is worth saving for the end of cooking rather than the start. A spoonful stirred through at the table delivers far more of what makes olive oil worth buying than the same spoonful heated in a pan for ten minutes.
What to cook with instead
Grapeseed and avocado oil are both approved and both have higher smoke points, which makes them the better choice for heat within this framework. Avocado oil is the most heat-tolerant of the approved oils, comfortably into the 250°C range when refined, and it is close to neutral in flavour, so it works for searing and roasting without leaving a taste behind. Grapeseed sits a little lower, around 200°C, and is the cheaper everyday option for sauteing.
Sesame oil is a special case worth knowing: the pale untoasted kind takes moderate heat well, while the dark toasted kind burns quickly and belongs in a dressing or added off the heat at the end. Hempseed oil is delicate and grassy and should not be heated at all.
How to use it
Buy olive oil in a dark glass bottle or a tin, never a clear one, because light degrades it faster than anything else. Look for a harvest date rather than only a best-before date, and buy the most recent you can find; olive oil is a fresh juice, not a preserve, and it is at its best within a year of pressing. “Extra virgin” means it was mechanically pressed and met a free acidity limit, while a bottle marked simply “olive oil” or “pure olive oil” is usually refined oil with a little extra virgin blended back in for flavour. If the label lists a single country or a single estate rather than a blend of several, you generally know more about what you are getting.
Store it in a cupboard away from the stove, not on the counter beside it. Heat, light and air are what turn a good oil rancid, and a bottle left in the sun can lose its character in weeks. Buy a size you will finish in two or three months rather than a drum that will sit half-used.
In the kitchen, the uses that suit it are the cold ones. Whisk it with key lime juice, a little chopped onion or garlic and a pinch of pure sea salt for a dressing that takes a minute. Drizzle it over cooked grains such as quinoa or amaranth, over roasted vegetables after they leave the oven, or over a bowl of soup. Blend it into an avocado or chickpea dip to loosen the texture. A tablespoon is a normal amount for a serving.
This is food, not a treatment for any condition. If you have symptoms or a diagnosis, see your doctor — eating well sits alongside medical care, not instead of it.
Common questions
Is olive oil acidic?
Not in any sense a pH reading would capture. Producers do measure “acidity” in olive oil, but that refers to free fatty acid content as a quality grade, not to pH.
Can I cook with olive oil at all?
Within the guide, no — it specifies uncooked use. Outside it, gentle heat is fine; high heat wastes what you paid for.
Which oils are approved?
Olive, coconut, grapeseed, hempseed, sesame and avocado.
Related
- Is avocado alkaline or acidic?
- Is quinoa alkaline?
- Is oatmeal alkaline?
- Is honey alkaline or acidic?
- The complete approved food list
Not sure which oils are on the list? The Ackaline app scans any food and tells you whether it’s approved — free to download. The full list with the reasoning is in The Alkaline Healing Blueprint.
For education, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor before making significant changes to how you eat.
