Different types of food can affect your body's systems differently. Your inner workings and body chemistry must achieve a certain balance to function and maintain health. When one of your systems falls out of balance, you are likely to notice the problem as a new symptom or sickness. Your digestive tract is no different. You must eat a proper level of acidic and alkaline foods in order to maintain balance in your system.
Foods as Fuel
When you consume foods to fuel your body, they are burned, or digested. What is left behind is food ash. This ash can be neutral, acidic or alkaline. If you eat an acidic food with an alkaline food, the alkaline ash neutralizes the acidic ash. Leftover alkaline is stored. The ideal ratio of alkaline to acid is 80 percent to 20 percent, or 4 to 1. When a body's reserves drop to 3 to 1, your body's ability to fight off infection is compromised.
Acidic Foods
Acidic foods include oysters, veal, most fish, organ meats, chicken, fowl, most grains, eggs, peanuts, rice, whole wheat bread, rye bread, most nuts, natural cheese and lentils.
Overacidity
An overabundance of acidity in the body's tissues, otherwise known as acidosis, can cause many diseases like arthritis and rheumatism. When there is an overabundance of an acidic food's ash, it is because there has been a depletion of the alkali reserve or not enough alkaline foods eaten along with the acidic foods to neutralize the acidity.
Alkaline Foods
The following are alkaline foods: figs, potatoes, soy beans, lima beans, pineapple, cabbage, grapefruit, tomatoes, peaches, apricots, spinach, turnips, raisins, apples, grapes, bananas, watermelon, millet, carrots, dates, celery, almonds, Brazil nuts, coconut, buckwheat, watercress, lettuce, cantaloupe and cucumber.
GERD
GERD, or gastroesophageal reflux disease, occurs when the stomach contents leak into the esophagus, causing heartburn and other painful symptoms. The sphincter muscle is a "lid" muscle that is supposed to keep this from happening. When this doesn't occur, food, liquid, and stomach acid can leak into the esophagus. Medications can treat GERD, but your doctor may recommend an alkaline diet to keep the amount of acid in the stomach to a minimum.
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