acid diet

How scientific is the alkaline acid diet? The main ideas that the acid diet suggests are straight forward. We should increase the amount of fruit and vegetables we eat while also reducing the amount of low quality nutrition acid foods in our diet. So what are these poor acid foods? These are foods that have low or empty nutritional value. The worst low quality acid foods being high in calories while low or completely lacking in any beneficial nutritional values. Eating acidic foods is not necessarily a bad thing. However not eating enough alkaline foods and eating bad acid foods can have a negative effect upon our health.

To alkalize the body and achieve optimum pH balance we want to eat a high alkaline foods diet. An alkaline diet high in fresh fruit and vegetables. These two food groups are the main alkalising foods. The vast majority of other foods fall into the acid food category. Acid foods include highly processed foods with added salt and sugar, dairy, meat, fish and foods made from grains.

Eating an alkaline acid diet can have many beneficial health effects such as improving energy levels, increasing concentration, providing a greater feeling of overall well being, as well as making you more alert and improving all round health and warding off illness. Advocates of the alkaline acid diet suggest eating a diet of 80/20 alkaline to acid foods. How much fruit and vegetables are required? If you eat a typical Western acidic diet made up of high amounts of meat and processed foods then alkalizing your body by eating increasing amounts of alkaline diet foods may have beneficial health outcomes. We all know that eating more fruit and green vegetables is good for us. The alkaline acid diet is not a vegetarian diet although becoming vegetarian or even vegan would likely produce an alkalizing effect upon the body, provided high quantities of fresh produce was included in the diet. Some vegetarians seem to think that by simply not eating meat and instead having potato chip sandwiches that they are being healthy. The important point is to consume a high alkaline foods diet rich in plant products.

Acid diet foods are certainly not all bad for the body. Plenty of so called acid foods are jam packed with nutrition. However the acidifying effect upon the body could be seen in a negative light. The good news is that by simply increasing the alkaline diet food consumed, it is possible to counteract any negative effect produced by eating so called acid foods. It is not that acidic lemons for instance are actually acidic foods either. Rather it is the pH of the ash that is produced after the body burns the food, or fuel, we eat. As it turns out, acidic lemons in their original state turn into alkaline lemons after we eat them surprisingly alkalising the body!

There are many ways to alkalize your body. Changing the pH of the body by dietary means by simply eating a high alkaline foods diet is the healthiest in my opinion. Alkalizing foods have more positive health effects than simply their pH balancing effect. They also contain nutrients, vitamins and minerals. People who follow the alkaline acid diet know because they eat more alkaline foods they can improve their body’s pH balance.

What is an acid diet? More importantly, are you eating one? These two questions may have profound implications for your health.

I first became interested in the topic of acid and alkaline diets when I was looking for a way to improve my own health. Although the diet can be used as part of a weight loss regime, this is not a focus for me, I was simply looking for information on what foods would make me feel more energetic throughout the day and make me feel healthier and more vitalized. Of course for people more concerned with weight loss, something like the insulin resistance diet may be of interest.

After some google searching I discovered some information on the alkaline diet, a diet which also goes by the names alkaline acid diet, acid alkaline diet and alkaline ash diet.

An alkaline diet is one high in fresh fruit and vegetables. These two groups of foods are the main alkalizing foods. Almost everything else falls into the acid food category. In particular, acid foods include processed foods, dairy, meat, fish and grain products.

Data from scientific research tells us which food groups fall into each category. In fact we even know the acidifying and alkalising effects of specific foods. The most authoritative report that many other papers reference, with regards to acid/alkaline effects, is titled Potential renal acid load of foods and its influence on urine pH. The authors analysed numerous foods to determine the effects on our bodies. Fruit and vegetables are the only food groups that could be termed alkaline foods.

After discovering this information I realized that the typical Western diet which I ate was certainly an acid diet. This set me off on my journey towards a more pH balanced diet as I work to improve my overall health and well being.

Advocates of the alkaline acid alkaline diet suggest eating a diet made up of 70-80% alkaline foods. This is a lot of fruit and vegetables to get through! While it may seem difficult if not impossible to eat this kind of amount, it is easy to increase furit and vegetable consumption slightly and then build upon your success and move away from eating an acid diet.

References: Remer T., Manz F. Potential renal acid load of foods and its influence on urine pH. J. Am. Diet. Assoc. 1995; 95:791-797