Acid vs. Alkaline!

One of the recent books I have read is the Acid Alkaline Food Guide by Dr. Susan Brown and Larry Trivieri. I became interested in the topic of acidic vs. alkaline foods after reading The Wheat Belly and discovering that wheat is a highly acidic food that can cause inflammation and weaken your immune system (among other things) because it disrupts the pH balance in your body. But what does that mean exactly? Can having an over-acidic diet cause other problems? I picked up this book (where else but at Half Price Books! Ok, yes, I work there) and would like to share some of the most interesting bits with you. Interestingly enough, Dr.OZ had a nutritionist on today, who was also talking about acid/alkaline foods, and the different nutritional values of alkaline foods that your body desperately needs. Everything the nutritionist said coincided with the Acid Alkaline Food Guide and with The Wheat Belly so this is an important dietary issue to consider!

 

Our bodies have their own pH balance- this is created through the balance of various compounds and body fluids within the body. The body itself produces a lot of acid through its daily processes, and the cells/tissues of our bodies require alkaline to process the acids properly. pH is measured on a scale of 0 to 14 and right in the middle 7, is neutral (not too acidic or alkaline). Anything lower than 7 is considered acidic, anything higher than 7 is alkaline, although our bodies should have a slight tilt toward the alkaline side- somewhere between 7 and 8. The kidneys, and lungs (and the skin a little bit too) are the parts of the body that eliminate acid buildup. In order to alkalize, the body needs certain compounds, such as calcium and magnesium. If you are not eating enough of these alkalizing supplements through foods, your body will start to take the supplements it needs from your muscle tissue and even your bones! Eeek! This can lead to having a lower immune system, inflammation, and osteoporosis just to name a few. Only a certain amount of acid can be released per day so if a lot of acid is being produced in your body, and there aren’t enough of the alkalizing ingredients in your body to combat this, acid can build up in your body which will also result in disease (Dr. Susan Brown/Larry Trivieri, Acid Alkaline Food Guide, Chapter 1).

 

It is possible, although very rare to have an over alkaline body system. Breathing will decrease, as one symptom, and this can be equally as bad. The book goes into great detail about the definition and history of pH balance, and the function of the different organs and how they work to remove acid from our bodies. This is definitely a great book, and an easy read- it is not too long or over complicated. The back consists of many food tables that tell you the acid/alkaline level of various foods and drinks. The authors stress that even small fluctuations of the body’s pH balance can really affect your health. Over consumption of proteins, grains, sugar, refined foods, coffee, and alcohol WITHOUT EATING ENOUGH fruits vegetables, nuts, and seeds to name a few will result in a chronic acid state. The chronic acid state will cause loss of calcium, bone loss, and osteoporosis, increased levels of certain hormones, the loss of potassium and magnesium which results in high blood pressure!!!! And inflammation, muscle loss, increased risk of kidney stones, cell breakdown, fluid retention, DIGESTIVE PROBLEMS, yeast and fungal infections!, low ability to fight diseases and viruses, weakened mental state, inability to perform high level of intense exercise, gum disease, hypothyroidism, CHRONIC OVERPRODUCTION OF CORTISOL (oh yes, if you’ve read my past blogs you know even though I still have solved many of my other health issues, I still have high cortisol production and have been searching for an answer). There are many MANY other health issues related to having an acid imbalance- I just paraphrased some of them here- to really have an in-depth look, read the book- they are the professionals, not me. (Dr. Susan Brown/Larry Trivieri, Acid Alkaline Food Guide, Chapter 2). But to back up a second, the high blood pressure, and chronic overproduction of cortisol are two issues that I still had even after I stopped eating wheat. One of the things I read, and has been working (see my previous blog about blood pressure) was that to lower blood pressure to eat almonds every day (alkaline, No surprise there!), and also take a calcium and magnesium supplement. Well well, these are three of the things needed to restore alkaline in the body! And, having an over-acidic diet can result in high blood pressure! No wonder that even though I was dieting and exercising properly, my blood pressure was still high. This happened until I started taking supplements which little did I know was helping to restore my alkaline balance. It will be interesting to see if my cortisol levels have lowered once I have blood tests again in another month or so. I will keep you posted. So, to fight a chronic acid diet, one of the things you can do is make sure you have a healthy intake of calcium, magnesium, and potassium to name a few. The book makes suggestions in the back of specific supplements that will help you with all of this, if you want. The other thing that you can do is make sure that you are eating some alkaline foods with each meal. Your drive through meal at McDonalds of fries, a burger, and a coke is ALL ACIDIC. Nothing in that meal is alkaline- so if you feel crappy after eating it, don’t wonder why! If you want to eat a burger, you need to have some dark green vegetables, and a potato with it. Having a sandwich at lunch? All meats (even chicken and fish) are acidic, and so is the bread, so have some celery. Celery is a great alkaline food. I am NOT saying anything against eating meat here. I do eat meat, even though I know many people that are vegetarians or vegans. Your body does need protein- so eat the protein, just do it smart.

 

Want to see what your pH balance is? The book recommends buying some pH test paper, (Hydrion paper) and testing your first morning urine (don’t get all grossed out on me now! Just hear me out!) The color of the paper, once tested from your morning urine, will be compared with a color chart and will tell you approximately the pH of your urine. Make sure to buy a paper that has small enough gradients to measure in the 6.5-7.5 range. Dr. Brown uses Hydrion paper that measures pH from 5.5 to 8 with twelve gradients in between. They have more info in their book about where to order this paper, if you’re interested. The only tricky part is that the urine test will only be accurate if it is taken 6 hours after rest WITHOUT urination. So, no getting up in the middle of the night! Sorry! They recommend that the test be done a few times over the first week to reach a baseline. The back of the book has a detailed A-Z guide of foods and drinks that is very comprehensive and tells you how acidic or alkaline on a low, medium, or high level each different food is. Some other alkaline foods to fit into your diet are: mineral water, apples, asparagus, baked potato, baking powder, baking soda, bananas, beans, peppers, berries, ginger tea, vegetable juice, broccoli, celery, pretty much all if not most fruits and vegetables, just to name a few.

 

If you are feeling fatigued a lot, and constantly catching a cold, it could be related to your diet. Hippocrates said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”  I would have thought this was an insane quote 3 months ago. I probably wouldn’t have even understood what it meant. I thought people obsessed with eating healthy were nuts, and I certainly didn’t understand that food can have profound effects- be it healing effects, or harming effects- on your body. I have experienced both now! I can tell you for sure that eating what your body needs feels amazing and that you will have more energy and feel great. Live healthy, have energy, and LIVE!