Tweet

Acid Alkaline Diet: Essential to Healthy living

Most people have never heard of the Alkaline Diet, probably because it is the exact opposite of the high protein-low carb diets that have been so popular over the last few years. But many doctors are now recommending the Alkaline Diet to their patients because of how necessary the proper alkaline-acid balance is to healthy living and well being.

What is Alkaline and Why is it Important?

Alkaline occurs naturally in our bodies, and its main function is to neutralize excess acids and remove them from the body. It is important to maintain sufficient alkaline levels, because when our alkaline levels are low, our bodies deplete essential nutrients from organs and other body parts in order to neutralize the excess acid. This can result in a number of diseases, deficiencies, and disorders.

What Happens When Our Bodies Are Not Supplying Enough Alkaline and acid Alkaline diet?

When our bodies can no longer find alternative means to neutralize acid, a condition known as acidosis occurs. Dangerous levels of acid infiltrate our tissues and remain stuck there, where it can no longer be neutralized. As a result, our levels of acidity are greatly increased. Acidosis is thought to be responsible for nearly all fatal diseases, as it is essentially the one thing that all diseases have in common with each other. This is why many doctors believe that an Alkaline Diet is essential to good health. If we are able to maintain proper amounts of alkaline by carefully selecting the foods we eat, we will maintain a healthy alkaline pH balance, thus avoiding acidosis.

What do pH Levels Have to Do With an Alkaline Diet?

Both alkaline and acid naturally occur in the body. pH, which signifies our alkaline to acid ratios, is a measurement scale that is used to determine the amounts of alkaline and acidity in our body fluids. The pH scale ranges from 0-14. 7 is considered “neutral,” while anything lower than 7 is considered to be acidic. A pH level of 7.1 or higher is alkaline. Obviously, it is much healthier to have higher amounts of alkaline in one’s system than to have higher amounts of acid.

Doctors who support an Alkaline Diet believe that our bodies’ pH levels, which are normally between 7.36 and 7.34, must remain perfectly balanced in order to stay healthy and avoid many damaging and fatal diseases. If our pH levels are more acidic than they are alkaline, acidosis is likely to occur.

How Does the Alkaline Diet Work to Stabilize pH Levels?

Alkaline occurs naturally in many foods, just as it does in our own bodies. The object of the Alkaline Diet is to supply our bodies with sufficient amounts of alkaline through the foods we eat, in order to maintain healthy, predominantly alkaline pH levels. The theory is that the more alkaline we can provide our bodies with, the more efficiently our bodies will neutralize acid and remove it from the body, thus maintaining good health and longevity, and our ability to ward off diseases.

How Do You Follow the Alkaline Diet?

Following an Alkaline Diet is relatively simple. You should talk to your doctor before starting any diet, as people vary and existing or unknown health problems may impact the way an Alkaline Diet works for you. But generally speaking, the ideal Alkaline Diet consists of eating 75% alkalizing foods and 25% acidifying foods. Essentially, this means that the foods you eat should contain three times as much alkaline as they do acid.

Which Foods Are High in Alkaline?

The following foods are high in alkaline, and should be included regularly in an Alkaline Diet:

There are many other alkalizing foods, which can easily be found in a more comprehensive list on many health related websites.

Which Foods Are High in Acid?

The following foods are high in acid, and should only constitute 25% of an Alkaline Diet:

How Do I Know if My pH Levels Are Alkaline?

Once you’ve started an Alkaline Diet, determining whether or not your pH levels are predominantly alkaline is simple. You can purchase pH level test strips, and test your urine and saliva in the privacy of your own home. The best time to test is one hour before a meal or two hours after a meal. Twice a week is a sufficient number of times to test your pH levels.

What Should the pH Test Strip Say?

If you are following the Alkaline Diet correctly, your urinary pH levels should read between 6.0 and 6.5 in the morning, and between 6.5 and 7.0 in the evening. If testing your saliva, the pH strip should read between 6.5 and 7.5 all day long. Basically, your urine pH strip results gauge how well your body is excreting acids; while saliva pH strip results determine how much acid your body is producing.

Leave your comments