Welcome to my email newsletter. I hope you will enjoy and benefit from some of the things I will be talking about. Today’s topic is...

Acid - Alkaline Balance

Our bodies are designed to work at a specific acid-alkaline balance which is measured on the ph balance scale of 0 - 14 . Our blood must stay at a ph of about 7.4, which is slightly alkaline. It is kept at exactly this ph at all cost and it will never be allowed to digress from it. Most of our tissues and organs rely on a degree of alkalinity to work at their best. The more acidic they become the more prone they may be to develop disease.
What we eat may have an enormous influence on the ph balance of our blood and tissues.
Environmental pollution and some negative emotions may contribute as well, but these two aspects cannot be measured and controlled as easily as our diet. Unfortunately, the typical Western diet may leave us more prone to acidity than alkalinity.

What happens if our tissues turn too acidic

All food and drink we consume ends up being transported in the blood in some form or other. If our diet contains aspects which leave an overly acidic residue in our blood, the body instantly balances this residue by drawing alkaline minerals and compounds out of our bones and other tissues in order to bring the blood back to ph 7.4. It follows that the more of an acidic residue our diet leaves in our blood, the more our bones and tissues may lose their alkaline reserves. This may have negative consequences for our general state of health which may consequently deteriorate in the following three stages:

1. acidity may reduce energy production and availability within affected body cells;
2. this may reduce the function of these cells and therefore the function of the organ or tissue they belong to;
3. a reduction in function may affect normal maintenance and repair within a cell leading to a loss of structural integrity and breakdown;

If a large area of cells or even a whole organ is allowed to progress to the last stage, we may have reached chronic disease or deep pathology. In other words, chronic disease such as osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease and cancer may only be possible when our tissues become too acidic. 

This concept is not an alternative medicine view, but a scientific fact which is underrated and neglected by orthodox medicine. By keeping your tissues alkaline you may do more for your health and for prevention of chronic disease than any type of therapy can do for you.

Conditions linked to an acid overload

Diseases linked by scientists to an acid overload are: osteoporosis, high blood pressure, stroke, kidney stones, asthma, exercise-induced asthma, Meniere’s syndrome, insomnia, and stomach cancer.
From an alternative point of view, any disease may be initiated by an acid overload in the way described above.  Chemical reactions in our body require a certain ph and when this is too acidic, reactions may slow down. This may make every single process in our body less efficient and eventually lead to any type of chronic disease.
Interestingly, acute illness such as fevers, colds and diarrhoea, may also be seen as an attempt of the body to eliminate acidity on a grand scale in order to quickly bring ph balance back to normal. Seen in this light, we ideally should avoid suppressing acute illnesses and instead try to assist the body in eliminating acid waste gently but quickly. Homeopathy may help in providing just this assistance without suppression or side effects.

What is an “alkaline” diet?

When we speak of an “alkaline” diet, we mean a diet which may leave an alkaline residue in our blood thereby preserving the alkalinity in our cells and tissues and preventing the deterioration described above.

Acid forming foods          Alkaline forming foods        Neutral
Meat                             Fruit                                Fats
Fish                              Vegetables
Eggs
Cheese
Legumes/Pulses
Grains: Rice      
             Wheat
             Rye
             Barley
             Oats
Salt  (Sodium Chloride)

How do we keep our bodies alkaline?

One of the best ways to keep our body alkaline appears to be by eating a surplus of alkaline forming foods. In order to keep chronic disease at bay we must eat enough fruit and vegetables to tip the balance in favour of alkalinity.
In practical terms this means that at each meal our plate should be covered at least 2/3 with alkaline forming foods and not more than 1/3 with acid forming foods. It is also relevant how long vegetables and fruit have been cooked or processed, because cooking and processing removes alkaline forming minerals from the food and so transforms it into an acid forming food. In practical terms this means that we should eat a lot of raw fruit and vegetables and when we cook them we should steam or stir-fry in order to preserve the mineral content. 
Another important point is to use salt sparingly. As soon as you add salt to your food, you increase the acid load your body will be exposed to.

A third and most important point is to drink high quality water. Tap water contains chlorine, hormone disrupting chemicals and heavy metals, all of which may be extremely damaging to our health. Far from being a beneficial drink it is one of the worst health hazards of our time. Bottled water is better as it does not contain heavy metals or chlorine. It does contain hormone disrupting chemicals and so it is also not ideal. The best solution may be to use a high quality water filter which removes as many pollutants as possible and produces ph neutral water.
With respect to acid-alkaline balance, it is now possible to use water as a powerful alkalizing tool. Some Alkaline Water Filters are now fitted with a device that produces alkaline water at a ph of 8.5 – 9.5.  Drinking this kind of water may help to keep body tissues alkaline because the alkalinity of the water will neutralize some acidity our body is exposed to.