WHAT EXACTLY IS ALKALINE AND ACID? WHAT IS pH AND pH BALANCE?
Please take a minute to read a little basic pH information in order to get to the nitty gritty. This is a partial excerpt from the book Alkalize or Die.
The countless names attached to illnesses do not really matter. What does matter is that they all come from the same root cause… too much tissue acid waste in the body!
And how do you know if your system is too acid? Do you need to have blood, urine, or saliva tests?
At present no tests can accurately gauge how acid you are because current diagnostic methods reveal only that acid wastes are present in body fluids (blood, lymph, urine, mucous, and saliva). Such tests never give a reliable indicator of how much acid waste is actually in the system, because the fluids are always running through the tissues attempting to remove these excess tissue acid wastes.
Although it is possible to measure body fluid as being alkaline or acid, it is impossible to evaluate the state of body tissues (skin, organs, glands, muscles, ligaments, arteries and vessels) based solely on blood, urine, or saliva tests. Unfortunately, waste acids that are not eliminated when they should be are reabsorbed from the colon into the liver and put back into general circulation. They then deposit in the tissues.
These tissue residues determine sickness or health!
You need to discover what tissue acid wastes are present and begin the process of alkalizing yourself. This will rid the acid from the body – the result being superior health, energy and the strength to enjoy life fully. An alkaline/acid checklist will help you determine your current level of acidity. Think about it this way… Too much acidity in the body is like having too little oil in your car. It just grinds to a halt one lazy Sunday afternoon. There you are – stuck. The body does the same thing. It starts creaking to a stop along the byways of life and you find yourself in some kind of discomfort. I watch with great concern as people of all classes and lifestyles suffer from this excess. It is the bane of rich and poor, young and old alike. Meat eaters and vegetarians are not exempt. Cowboys and congressmen also suffer its gradual effects.
From Alkalize or Die by Dr. Theodore A. Baroody
THE IMPORTANCE OF MINERALS TO AN ACID/ALKALINE BALANCE
Minerals are described by Dr. Hagiwara as “the ring of life.” He writes, “The source of life elements in all living organisms resides in the minerals contained in the earth.” He notes that if you burn a plant and an animal, “you will get the same minerals from the ashes.” The maintenance and balance of minerals is the key to health on the cellular level. Our cells are constantly re-creating themselves in a delicate process upon which our life depends, so our cells need a balanced supply of minerals to properly function and reproduce new living cells.
Barley Green (a green drink from the leaves of the young barley plant) contains 23 different minerals, and it provides a better balanced spectrum of our total mineral needs than any one other food of which we are aware, as illustrated by the comparisons on the preceding pages.
Minerals also help maintain the pH balance between acid and alkaline. Dr. Hagiwara warns, “should this balance be upset, the cell metabolism suffers, leading to conditions such as fatigue.” He describes potassium as “a source of life activity” as this mineral helps enzymes to function. Potassium is “consumed incessantly within our bodies in the process of energy metabolism.” If our potassium supply falls too low, it is replaced by sodium, which can then increase to an unhealthy limit. This upsets a balance, which will affect the functioning of some enzymes.
Experiments are cited that show persons submitted to vigorous exercise, fatigue from tension, mental stress or lack of sleep excrete potassium and store sodium in the cells. Dr. Hagiwara notes the reputation for endurance of cattle and horses; they work to exhaustion and then find renewed energy after feeding or grass, “due presumably to potassium and many other nutrients” in the grass. Perhaps the most important advantage to maintaining an alkaline environment is that alkalinity is detrimental to the survival of disease organisms and cancer cells.
Dr. Hagiwara also believes alkalinity is a critical factor in normalizing blood-sugar regulation and the proper functioning of enzymes. A diet in which acidic foods such as meat are dominant will foster a sodium / potassium imbalance, and lead to many other problems that can be helped by dietary changes to make the body more alkaline. We do not know of a more alkaline food than Barley Green. Spinach is considered to be one of the most alkaline of all foods, but Barley Green is more than 50 percent more alkaline than spinach.
From God’s Way to Ultimate Health by Dr. George H. Malkmus
KEEPING AN ACID/ALKALINE BALANCE
The body has various mechanisms which maintain acid-base equilibrium, normally between pH 6.8 and pH 7.8.3 the lungs, for example, eliminate volatile acids (carbon dioxide and carbonic acid through respiration, and the kidneys eliminate non-volatile metabolic acids (lactic, pyruvic and unc acid) through urine.
There are also chemicals in the blood, known as “buffers”, which keep the pH of the blood within narrow limits. However, the ability of the body to maintain a proper acid-alkaline balance is limited. When a person overeats acid foods, as in high protein diets, or when he or she is chronically constipated, alkali reserves can be depleted.
With a higher than normal acid level, the body’s resistance to disease is reduced. This is why it is important to include generous amounts of alkaline foods (mostly fruits and vegetables) in the daily diet. All digested foods leave a residue of “ash” in the body which is acid, alkaline or neutral depending on the kind of food eaten. Dr. Paavo Airola estimates the natural alkaline-acid ratio in a healthy body to be approximately four to one. When such a ratio is maintained, the body has a strong resistance to disease.
According to Swedish nutritionist Dr. Ragnar Berg, the ideal diet should include about 80 percent alkaline foods and 20 percent acid foods. Some nutritionists recommend half and half. Adopting a vegetarian diet, rich in highly alkaline fruits and vegetables, is highly therapeutic in many diseases as well as an excellent preventive. Here, in descending order of their ability to form alkaline and acid ash in the body, are some of the commoner foods. Many people have found this information invaluable in developing a balanced diet. Fresh fruits and vegetables are particularly beneficial in correcting over acidity.
ALKALINE FOODS – Foods above 6.5pH
Figs, soybeans, lima beans, bean sprouts, apricots, prunes, turnips, raisins, almonds, carrots, dates, celery, cucumbers, cantaloupe melons, lettuce, watercress, potatoes, cabbage, grapefruit, tomatoes, peaches, apples, grapes, bananas, millet, Brazil nuts, buckwheat.
ACID FOODS – Foods below 6.5pH
Oysters, fish, all kinds of meat, chicken, eggs, grains, wheat, nuts (except almonds and Brazil nuts), cheese, lentils, peanuts.
NEUTRAL FOODS
Milk, butter, vegetable oil, white sugar.
Naturopaths recommend spring water as a partial treatment in many seemingly unrelated disorders such as kidney stones, prostate enlargement, indigestion and fatigue. These have one possible common cause: over acidity. Spring water, which is rich in alkaline ions, can help to neutralize acidity and purify the body. In Europe, it is common practice to prescribe specific spring waters for specific disorders.
From Complete Nutrition by Dr. Michael Sharon
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