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Alkalinity
by author Sam Graci

Your brain and body are extremely sensitive to the slightest change in the pH level of your body’s vital fluids. A pH of less than seven is considered acidic, and more than seven is considered alkaline. Your body works hard to sustain several pH levels in various body systems.

Throughout the day, your body produces organic, acidic byproducts such as acetic acid, carbonic acid, fatty acids, lactic acid, and uric acid, which it buffers or neutralizes with organic minerals from the vegetables, herbs, spices, and fruit you eat.

When your body’s alkaline buffers are not consumed in large enough daily quantities, toxic acidic waste accumulates in the cells. Studies have shown that a state of acidosis appears to allow pathogens and cancer cells to proliferate, whereas an alkaline pH discourages cancer cell colony initiation and promotion.

Acid-Forming vs. Alkaline-Forming Foods

Only after food is consumed, digested, and absorbed can the final residue or “ash” be considered alkaline, acid, or neutral depending on the food’s mineral mix. Minerals such as sulphur, phosphorus, and iron form acid ions in the body.

When you consume too many acid-forming foods, your body must work extra-hard in order to neutralize them with alkaline blood buffers, which then will not be available to neutralize other acidic products your body naturally produces as a byproduct of cellular metabolism. In order to avoid this, you should try to consume foods containing sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium, as they form alkaline reactions in the body.

Achieving Equilibrium

Ideally, you should try to consume approximately 75 percent of your foods from the alkaline-forming foods and 25 percent from the acid-forming foods. Without this balance, you may experience either a state of metabolic acidosis (too acidic) or alkalemia (too alkaline), which has been shown to accelerate cellular, biological aging and prevent peak network neuropeptide and neurotransmitter communication.

Keeping body fluids in acid/alkaline equilibrium is also important and is achieved through the neutralizing or buffering systems in the blood, such as sodium bicarbonate and potassium bicarbonate; the pH-regulating action of the lungs; and the pH-regulating action of the kidneys, which excrete more or less bicarbonate.

Balance with Exercise

When you work or exercise hard, you create an abundance of volatile liquid acids while automatically increasing the depth and rate of your breathing. This increase in breath helps to remove carbonic acid by separating it into water and carbon dioxide (CO₂), which is excreted through the lungs. To further complete the process, your kidneys must also assist by buffering excess acids in the urine with bicarbonates and expelling them. This is why eating “cell friendly” foods and deep breathing greatly aids the body’s detoxification system and can keep your bones strong and your body cancer free.

Good to the Bones

According to research presented in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2004, alkaline-forming foods were found to build strong bones and prevent both risk of fracture and osteoporosis, while acid-forming foods were found to increase bone loss, risk of fracture, and osteoporosis. And according to a study in the 2003 journal Neoplasma, acid-forming soft drinks, alcohol, and coffee proved to be statistically significant risk factors for cancer.

It is interesting to note that human cells are slightly alkaline and plant cells are slightly acidic, though plant cells leave an alkaline “ash” after being digested. If the human body remains in an acidic state for too long, human cells become, like plant cells, acidic–creating a more receptive atmosphere for the initiation and promotion of cancer cell colonies.

Not all acidic foods, however, increase acidity inside your body. Lemon juice and apple cider vinegar, for example, are extremely acidic with a pH of 3.5 because of their citric acid content. But during digestion the citric acid breaks apart, and the potassium and magnesium form alkaline ions called potassium or magnesium citrate that actually increases alkalinity.

What’s most important to optimum health is that you aim to keep slightly alkaline by eating lots of colourful vegetables, salads, herbs, spices, and fresh fruit. When your body functions are in balance, you will feel your best each day.

For Maximum Well-Being

Body System	pH Balance
Cerebrospinal fluid and brain	6.8 to 7.1
Blood - the most important pH	7.35 to 7.45 (slightly alkaline)
Stomach fluid	1.5 (acidic to digest food efficiently)
Pancreatic fluid	8.8 (very alkaline)

Some Acid-Forming Foods

• fish
• poultry
• legumes
• meat
• eggs
• grains
• nuts
• seeds

Some Alkaline-Forming Foods

• fruits
• vegetables
• herbs
• spices
• raisins
• honey
• coffee/tea

Sam Graci is a renowned nutritional researcher and author of a new book The Path to Phenomenal Health (Wiley, 2005).

Source: alive #274, August 2005