“Dietary acid load (DAL) is determined by the balance of acid-inducing foods which is rich in animal proteins (such as meats, eggs, and cheese)” and offset by base-inducing foods, such as fruits and vegetables. In a national survey of 12,000 American adults, DAL was associated with kidney damage among U.S. adults.

Not only is protein derived from plant foods accompanied by antioxidants that can fight the free radicals, but plant protein is also less acid-forming in the first place because it tends to have fewer sulfur-containing amino acids. One of the reasons plant foods tend to be less acid-forming than animal foods is because acid is produced by the sulfur in the protein, and there’s less in plant proteins.