PH Diet Benefits

A pH diet is meant to help keep a good balance of acid and alkaline in your body. A good, or "neutral" balance is 7.35. A pH of 1 is the most acidic and a pH of 14 is the most alkaline. When your body is in a constant state of acidosis, meaning your pH is too low, it is difficult to stay healthy and energetic, advises Brendan Brazier, author of "Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide." Some foods such as bell peppers, melons and leafy green veggies are alkaline-forming in the body, whereas others like pasta, white rice and cheese are highly acid-forming. Some pH diets advocate an 80- to 20-percent balance of alkaline- to acid-forming foods.

Energy

Eating alkaline-forming foods can help you improve your energy levels, say Christopher Vasey and Jon Graham in their book, "The Acid-Alkaline Diet for Optimum Health." If you are in a state of acidosis, you are likely to experience constant fatigue, have difficulty recovering your strength after mental or physical effort and have decreased physical tone to your body. You're likely to feel a sudden energy loss after eating acid-forming foods as well, the authors note. Low-grade metabolic acidosis such as that occurring when you eat too many acid-forming foods will affect your body at the cellular level, says Brazier. It causes a decrease in cellular energy production, he notes. Brazier adds that acidity is a stressor for your body, which causes your cortisol levels to rise and impairs sleep, further sapping your energy.

Health Boost

Keeping your body in the right balance boosts immunity and health, says Brazier. Low-grade metabolic acidosis due to eating too many acid-forming foods affects your body at the cellular level. It causes an increase in cell-damaging free radicals, which can boost risk for a host of health conditions, Brazier notes. Along with boosting your immunity and overall health, keeping a proper pH balance will help you reduce risk for reduction of growth hormone levels, kidney stones, loss of bone mass and the reduction of lean body mass along with an increase in body fat. Indeed, restoring pH levels within the body may be a good way to prevent or rectify cachexia, which is characterized by weight loss and muscle atrophy when a person suffers from conditions such as cancer or AIDS, says G. Drochioiu, author for a study published in the journal "Medical Hypotheses."

Mental Boost

Eating to maintain the proper pH will benefit your mental condition, say Vasey and Graham. If you are in a state of acidosis, you are more likely to be irritable, nervous or agitated without cause, lose enthusiasm or drive, become easily stressed or have depressive tendencies, the authors assert. C.D. Stowe, lead author for a case report published in the journal "Pharmacotherapy," says mental status changes can come about when a person is in a state of metabolic acidosis. Metabolic acidosis also can alter your blood-brain barrier integrity, says S. Zougbédé, lead author for a study published in the "Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism." Your blood-brain barrier helps maintain a constant environment for your brain, protecting it from foreign substances in your blood that can harm it as well as from neurotransmitters and hormones in the rest of your body, according to the University of Washington in Seattle.