What is pH?
The pH of our blood plasma must remain at a constant between 7.35 and 7.45. The slightest deviation in either direction spells trouble. An acid pH of 6.95 results in diabetic coma and death, while an alkaline pH of 7.7 causes tetanic convulsions and eventual death. The good news is that the more acid pH of the blood slows the heartbeat whereas a more alkaline plasma speeds it up. Clearly maintaining the correct pH level of the blood is vital and the body has several mechanisms to ensure its homeostatic balance.
What does this mean when it comes to food and diet?
From a nutritional standpoint, foods are classified as either acid forming or alkalizing according to the effect they have on the body, not according to their own intrinsic acidity or alkalinity. Thus, many foods that taste acidic – grapes and citrus, for example – are considered alkalizing because they leave an alkalizing residue upon being metabolized.
Sugar and other concentrated sweeteners, starches, greens, flowers, fats and most animal protein foods also create an acid condition upon being metabolized.
This is true in fact, of most fruits and vegetables, as well as see vegetables, all of which are high in buffering minerals. Coffee, when it is not decaffeinated, can also be alkalizing, for caffeine is an alkaloid; the rest of the coffee is highly acidic. Salt, because if it sodium content, is an alkalizing element as well.
Can you be too alkaline?
It’s easier to become over acidic than it is to become over alkaline. The foods we tend to gorge on are sweets, flour products, fats, and meats, all of which are acid forming.
Which is better – acid or alkaline?
The suggestion is a ratio of 20 percent acid forming to 80 percent alkalizing foods by volume.
How can you tell if you’re acidic?
When we become over acidic, we awaken with a sticky sour taste in the mouth. To get rid of it, we almost automatically run for the coffee or the orange juice both of which do indeed have an alkalizing a fact. The sour taste in the mouth should be heated as an alarm signal indicating that the body has an acid overload if this condition is not corrected by diet or deep breathing (Preferably with exercise, because too much deep breathing alone could cause hyperventilation and over alkalinity), The acids will draw a minerals out of the bodies own tissues, thereby creating a state of demineralization. Lack of sufficient minerals will first manifest itself in nervous or emotional and balances, then perhaps in dental problems, broken nails, and eventually in a more serious weakening of the entire system.
Next Steps
Dr. Daryl Gioffre has 7 tips to help you ease the transition from an acidic to alkaline nutrition lifestyle.
- Keep it simple! It doesn’t need to be complicated, and the days of counting calories are OVER. Use the 80/20 rule in favor of alkaline to acidic foods. Stay super hydrated. Eat more raw organic greens, healthy fats, nuts, seeds, green drinks, and minerals. Eat less sugar, trans-fats, dairy, meat, processed foods, soda, and coffee and you will be amazed at how quickly you can reclaim your health and energy.
- Don’t deprive but moderate. Deprivation never works. By slowly adding healthy foods and habits into your lifestyle, eventually the good will outweigh the bad and the body will sustain itself.
- Reduce (or eliminate!) the 3 P’s—Packaged, Prepared, and Processed foods.
- Know your pH! Track the pH levels of your urine and saliva on a daily basis. This is how you can determine if you are acidic OR alkaline. And once you know, this is how you can determine if what you are doing is working (or not working).
- Don’t think of it as a diet. You are making a lifestyle change.
- Begin a daily exercise routine. Sweat excretes toxins from the body. As your blood is pumping oxygen at a greater rate with increased activity it’s carrying away toxins from your muscles and other areas of your body, too.