Fertilehealthy

Susan had a question following yesterday’s post:

I'm confused about how fruits that taste acidic are alkaline?

I love questions! So I decided to not only answer this question, but expand a bit on the necessity and benefits of an alkaline-forming diet.

The body’s internal environment is affected both by what we eat and what’s left over after what we’ve eaten has been digested.  Most foods leave post digestion residues, called “ash”.  Ash is the leftovers of oxidized food-fuel.  It is the part of food that is left after our bodies has used the vitamins, minerals and enzymes. The ash in our bodies is similar to the ash in our fireplaces, only in a fluid environment - the bloodstream.

Ash from food is either acid or alkaline.  The ash of high-protein foods is a fairly strong acid.  The ash from most fruit and vegetables is alkaline.  Remember, it’s the leftovers we’re talking about.  The foods themselves aren’t necessarily alkaline, but they have been through a complex chemical process.  Freshly squeezed orange juice (as opposed to commercially processed orange juice with additives), for instance, is very alkaline-forming. 

You may remember the pH scale from high school chemistry.  PH levels fall between zero and fourteen, with zero being totally acid, fourteen totally alkaline and seven neutral.  The blood is slightly alkaline, with a pH of 7.35 to 7.45.  As you can see, the leeway is small.  However, the body cannot function outside of those parameters and would quickly shut down.

When we eat foods that leave an acid ash in the bloodstream, the body has to neutralize that acid in order to bring the keep the pH level within the safe parameters.  That’s normally not a problem.  We are equipped with neutralizing minerals that take care of the situation.  These minerals are part of our alkaline reserve.  

The problem comes if we abuse the system by eating a diet high in alkaline-forming foods and deplete our alkaline reserve.  The body will do what it has to in order to save itself from imminent death. The body now has two choices:

1. It handles the emergency by finding other neutralizing minerals from around the body to do the job.  That would be the minerals our endocrine system needs to function properly, thus affecting our weight and a whole host of other body functions.  Another effective way of doing this is to leach calcium from the bones, resulting in bone loss and osteoporosis.
2. It can dump the acidic ash into the cells.  This causes the cells to become toxic, decreases their oxygen levels and harms DNA.  Eventually most of the acidic cells will die. However, some will evolve, and adapt, and survive by becoming abnormal, mutated cells. Malignant cells. These multiply indefinitely and without order. They are cancer.

As you can see, it is in our best interest to eat a diet that is high alkaline forming.  By eating a lots of fruit and vegetables in their natural raw state every day, you will be doing just that.