Maintaining the correct dietary balance between acidic and alkaline foods is essential if you want to stay healthy. Too much alkaline in your diet leads to alkalosis, which can lead to nausea, vomiting, muscle spasms, stupor or even coma, explains the U.S. National Institute of Health. Too much acid in your diet leads to acidosis, which causes confusion, breathing difficulties and possibly death. The modern Western diet is made up of too many acidic foods.
pH Balanced Diet
Foods are said to be either acidic or alkaline based on their pH value. pH relates to the amount of hydrogen in something: power of Hydrogen. The scale ranges from 0 to 14. A pH of 7 is neutral. Acidic foods have a pH of below 7, while acidic foods have a pH above 7. Because your blood is slightly alkaline, it is recommended you maintain a pH of 7.4 to 7.5 in your body, according to natural-health-for-you.com. To test your body's pH, you can buy pH strips in drug stores which you dip into your saliva. Your diet should be made up of 80 percent alkaline and 20 percent acid, according to liferesearchuniversal.com.
History
When the human race was made up of hunter gatherers, diets were vastly different from the ones consumed today. Diets consisted of unprocessed animals and plants. The Industrial Revolution and agricultural advances made grains far easier to harvest and distribute. Salt mining and transportation improvements have led to much more salt in diets. Meat, and especially processed meat, is now more readily available, as are dairy products and foods high in sugar. For these reasons, the Western diet has become more acidic, as these foods release acid into the blood.
Alkaline Foods and Acidic Foods
When foods are digested by your body, they release either acid or alkaline into your bloodstream in the form of ash, or bicarbonate. Fish, shellfish, meat, poultry, salt, and dairy all produce acid. In a ratio of potential acidity per ounce of food, oysters are the most acidic food, with a score of 5, while veal and most fish score 3.5. Fruit and vegetables are alkaline foods. This can be confusing, but although fruits like oranges and lemons are acidic in their natural state, once digested they release alkaline. Nuts, seeds and beans are all alkaline foods. With a score of 30 for potential alkalinity per ounce, figs produce the most alkaline, followed by soy beans, lima beans, apricots and spinach. The only truly neutral foods are olive oil and sunflower oil, although butter is almost neutral.
Drinks
Sodas, coffee, beer, wine and spirits are all acidic. Fresh fruit and vegetable juices are alkaline, while distilled water should be neutral.
Benefits
Maintaining a pH balance of one part acid, four parts alkaline, can increase your strength and stamina and stimulate weight loss. It may help fight off fever, colds, influenza, headaches, fatigue and nasal congestion. Too much acid in your diet can lead to cardiovascular damage, kidney stones, bladder problems, headaches, depression, premature ageing, stress, irritation, muscle cramps, dry skin, mouth and stomach ulcers.
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