Our body’s pH is a direct consequence of the substances, food and drink choices we make. Below 7 pH we become acidic; above 7 pH we become alkaline. Alkaline forming reactions produce an increased ability to energize the system. Acid forming reactions produces a decreased ability to energize the system. Our bodies are designed to be slightly alkaline. Our food and drink choices play the major role in the final outcome. We have to carefully study the way each food / drink breaks down and metabolizes in our system, how it releases its energies, either fast or slow; the type of nutrients, whether food digests or ferments. All of these choices affect and adjust our body’s pH.
Our body produces only 1 acid; Hydrochloric Acid (HCL) which is vital for breaking down food in our stomach. HCL keeps us alive by maintaining proper alkaline/acid balance and then becomes alkaline after its vital job of digestion is done. All other acids are by-products of metabolism.
If our body is not mildly alkaline it cannot use oxygen efficiently and produces free oxygen radicals. Maintaining an alkaline pH in the gastro intestinal tract is critical for digestion, absorption and assimilation. Food rich in fatty acids, with minerals in your food and water, work together to provide the resources needed to maintain an alkaline pH.
The body can go through a process where it attempts to alkalinize the environment by literally cannibalizing every available buffer and dumping them in those compartments that are too acidic. Demineralizing your bones and teeth of alkalizing minerals such as Calcium and Magnesium and fluids containing Potassium will eventually lead to Osteoporosis and many other problems. Women with strong healthy teeth prior to childbirth may notice that after one or two babies their teeth become far more susceptible to cavities. Why? They just donated huge mineral resources. If the diet did not provide minerals to the fetus, it was taken mostly from the mother’s bones and teeth. Refined sugars, refined flours and rice, and sodas metabolize quickly into acid-forming substances in our bodies. Acidification acts as a demineralization process sacrificing your teeth and bones, and the enzyme and protein structures required to maintain your health.
In 1934, Dr Worburg demonstrated that if you put cancer cells in an alkaline solution they die within a short period of time, because alkaline solutions contain oxygen, and oxygen is toxic to cancer. Cancer cells are ANAEROBIC.
Research of the great European scientists Antoine Bechamp, Claude Bernard and Gunther Enderlein show experimentally that disease is a general manifestation of a disruption to the internal biological environment. First, it was the internal condition of the body’s terrain that allowed microorganisms of either good or bad origin to proliferate. If internal conditions were balanced and correct; adequate minerals, proper pH balance, healthy immune system and organ operation; pathogenic organisms-either internal or external- had little to no effect on the person. However, when conditions were imbalanced or acidic internally, lacking nutrients and minerals, these conditions actual fostered the growth of undesirable microorganisms resulting in sickness and disease.
The opposing theory was from Louis Pasteur known as the Germ Theory of Disease. It claims that fixed species of microbes from an external source invade the body and are the first cause of “infectious” disease; that the internal condition of the body was of little consequence. The microbian doctrine also gave rise to the development of antibiotics, the first being penicillin in 1940. An antibiotic is the poisonous waste from one germ used in the attempt to kill another germ. Penicillin is the poison from a fungus. Traditional Western medicine favors the doctrines of Pasteur. Allopathic medicine prescribes the use of ‘antibodies’ or antibiotics in prescription form to combat pathogenic microorganisms, sickness and disease.
Sickness and disease are a symptom, effect, or manifestation that our body is not able to maintain its proper balance of health and vigor. Prescription drugs are directed towards treating these symptoms, effects and manifestations of illness. They do not address the underlying CAUSE!
Rudolph Virchow said “mosquitoes seek the stagnant water, but do not cause the pool to become stagnant”. Removing cancer does not address an acidic anaerobic internal environment that set the stage for its growth in the first place anymore than a good rain storm that cleans the filthy polluted air over a city removed the source of that pollution. With the CAUSE still in place it is only a matter of time before the EFFECT of another illness manifests itself in the next weakest part of the body.
Just as we feed biology in the soil, we feed biology in our bodies. All microorganisms produce by-products as part of their normal functions. Our bodies must deal with those by-products, be they beneficial or toxic. Sugars, alcohols, junk foods and improperly grown food lacking in balanced nutrient, sodas, coffee, tea, drugs, tobacco, and so on metabolize very acidic to lower our bodies pH. In addition, they offer foods to microbes such as yeast, fungi and molds, and other undesirable pathogens, so they can proliferate. If you feed the pathogens, they become the dominant biology within us. Pathogens produce toxins as their by-products, which further stress and compromise our.
An excellent resource is "Alkalize or Die," by Dr. Theodore A Baroody, N.D., D.C., Ph.D. Nutrition, C.N.C. The information in the book is the result of many years of both research and clinical practice.
The following summary gives you a quick overview of how your body handles different types of foods (for the complete tables, see Dr. Baroody's book "Alkalize or Die"):
- Fruits and Vegetables - Alkaline forming (this included sprouts)
- Grains - Acid forming
- Meats - Acid forming
- Sugars and Starches - Acid forming
A notable exception here is raw honey, which is Alkaline forming - Meats - Acid forming
- Dry beans, nuts and seeds - Acid forming
The categories listed above are not 100% Alkaline or Acid. There are a few exceptions in each category, but from an overall viewpoint, the categories trend as indicated. Most processed foods are Acid forming, and therefore, best to avoid except as an occasional treat.
In general, we should follow the Rule of 80/20 –which means we eat 80% of our foods from the alkaline-forming list and 20% from the acid-forming list. The acid-forming foods are necessary to balance the alkaline-forming foods.
Alkaline-forming foods have a cooling effect upon our body, and produce energy, while natural acid-forming meats have a heating effect upon our systems as they digest slowly, requiring energy.
For most of the world’s population this 80/20 ratio works fine. The hotter and drier the environment, the more the body produces acid-forming reactions. Very hot, dry desert climates such as the Sahara actually require an alkaline-forming diet of 90%.
In contrast, people living in harsh, cold, wet climates near the North and South Pole require a 20/80 balance with 80% acid-forming, natural flesh diets during the coldest winter months. During the milder and warmer seasons, a 50/50 balance works well.
Animals as well as humans have a proper pH range. A pH above or below the proper level sets up an environment that encourages imbalanced microorganism growth. For optimum health, the body should maintain a slightly alkaline state with a blood pH of 7.4 while a pH of 6.5 for both saliva and urine are optimal.