# Why do apples make you hungry? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 29, 2015, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-apples-make-you-hungry/721094 "2015-05-29T03:45:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-apples-make-you-hungry/721094/21 "2015-05-30T00:35:14Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Apples are not alkaline. Can you explain how a lot of websites describe apples as being alkaline, when they aren’t? When I search “Apples are not alkaline” I get a lot of results saying how they are. No big deal; how do I like them apples? Not very often. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-apples-make-you-hungry/721094/22 "2015-05-30T00:41:20Z")
> [@JustinC](#): > > The OP stated ‘apples’, not a certain type and certainly not juice, but thanks for clarifying what number is alkaline. **california jobcase** and **Mangetout** are quite right that apples in general are not alkaline: in fact, they’re distinctly acidic. (As you can pretty easily tell from a bite of any apple.) [Fruit and vegetable pH table:](http://www.pickyourown.org/ph_of_foods.htm) > [@](#): > > Apple, eating 3.30 - 4.00 > Apples: > Delicious 3.90 > Golden Delicious 3.60 > Jonathan 3.33 > McIntosh 3.34 > Winesap 3.47 Even the very-not-tart Delicious apple is quite acidic, and very different in flavor from foods that are actually approaching alkaline. Avocados and broccoli, for example, have a pH around 6.5. Cooked spinach can be slightly alkaline. Those are the types of flavors we’re talking about for non-acidic foods. If you can find **any** variety of apple that’s even slightly alkaline, I’ll undertake to eat a bushel basket of them at one sitting. ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-apples-make-you-hungry/721094/23 "2015-05-30T00:42:41Z")
> [@JustinC](#): > > I read somewhere that apples are good for acid reflux. Apples are alkaline and contain a lot of water (compared to meat or bread, for example). Would they have any effect on the acid in your stomach, and could the water and alkaline affect your stomach receptors that tell you you’re full, or is this all a bunch of woo? Couldn’t say definitively but I always feel sick a while after eating apples. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-apples-make-you-hungry/721094/24 "2015-05-30T01:06:37Z")
> [@JustinC](#): > > Can you explain how a lot of websites describe apples as being alkaline, when they aren’t? Well, there’s a shit ton of inaccurate and misleading information about just about everything on the internet (except here at the Straight Dope, of course). Beyond that, AFAICT, the confusion arises from a widespread misunderstanding among “nutrition dilettantes”—you know, the ones who are always concerned about vaguely defined “toxins” and “additives” in foods\*—about the concept of “alkaline forming” foods. IANA nutritionist, but AFAICT from skimming some actual nutritionist-authored articles with titles like [“Effect of a supplement rich in alkaline minerals on acid-base balance in humans”](http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1475-2891-8-23.pdf), the deal is that certain foods, even if they have low pH and hence somewhat acidic flavor, contain alkaline minerals such as potassium, magnesium or calcium. These “base-forming” or “alkaline forming” minerals, which are often found in vegetables and fruits such as apples, can help to maintain the body’s acid-base balance and avoid effects like low-grade acidosis and consequent bone-mass decrease. Nutrition dilettantes tend to be very attracted to anything that purports to maintain some kind of physical “balance” or correct “imbalance”. So I think what happened is that some of them started the notion that “apples are alkaline”, meaning that they increase alkaline formation in the body, and weren’t careful to avoid confusing that with the actual pH levels of apples themselves, which are quite acidic. \*Mind you, I’m not saying anything against the general principles of the very sensible Michael Pollan-style whole-foods/slow-food movement. But that’s a far cry from believing all the “Food Babe”-type bullshit about “chemicals” and “toxins” and “cancer-fighting enzymes”. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-apples-make-you-hungry/721094/25 "2015-05-30T06:01:57Z")
> [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](#): > > I notice the same thing with apples. Back when they tasted good, I could deal with it, but now? Feh. Just eat the variety that you ate back then. Many new varieties, but the old versions taste the same. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-apples-make-you-hungry/721094/26 "2015-05-30T07:57:30Z")
> [@JustinC](#): > > Can you explain how a lot of websites describe apples as being alkaline, when they aren’t? When I search “Apples are not alkaline” I get a lot of results saying how they are. > > No big deal; how do I like them apples? Not very often. There’s a bunch of ideas out there about how certain foods are ‘alkalizing’ - including apples, vinegar and lemon juice - all of which are definitely acidic. I haven’t done very much more than skim the writing on that idea, but it looks to have at least some of the attributes of woo. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-apples-make-you-hungry/721094/27 "2015-05-30T16:14:04Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > There’s a bunch of ideas out there about how certain foods are ‘alkalizing’ - including apples, vinegar and lemon juice - all of which are definitely acidic. > > I haven’t done very much more than skim the writing on that idea, but it looks to have at least some of the attributes of woo. Yes apples and lemons are acidic, but they happen to be alkalizing in terms of urinary pH: [http://www.direct-ms.org/pdf/NutritionGeneral/Remer%20and%20Manz%20Acid%20Base.pdf](http://www.direct-ms.org/pdf/NutritionGeneral/Remer%20and%20Manz%20Acid%20Base.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-apples-make-you-hungry/721094/28 "2015-05-30T16:53:53Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > … > The traditional gibe about eating Chinese food and being hungry again in 30 minutes is similar. The white rice is pretty glycemic and many sauces have/had a bunch of sugar in them. Sugar-laden sauces were pretty rare in other American cuisine back in the '60s when the typical Chinese restaurants & takeouts became mainstream and the joke about the being hungry again gained currency. > > … Interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-apples-make-you-hungry/721094/29 "2015-06-01T12:23:21Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Apples are alkaline? Eat a Winesap, Braeburn or King David and tell me it’s alkaline. Apple juice has a pH of 3.35 to 4. Seven is neutral, alkaline is over seven. One of the more common and biochemically ubiquitous organic acides is actually named after apples (malic acid, from the Latin/scientific term for apples), presumably because apples have a lot of it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-apples-make-you-hungry/721094.md?page=1)