The pH Diet

The pH level show your blood acid-base situation. pH 7 represents a neutral solution (water), the gastric acid has a pH around 1.2 (acid), when pH is above 7, it means that the solution is alkaline. Your blood pH is around 7.4 (slightly alkaline). It is very important for the body to maintain the blood pH at a narrow range. Too low or too high pH disrupts the normal functioning of several enzymes and signal transmission of nerve cells. For those reasons the body has developed several powerful mechanisms for keeping the blood pH around 7.4 Now almost all the foods that we eat, when finally metabolized, release either an acid or an alkaline base into blood. Grains, fish, meat, cheese, milk and salt all produce acid. Fresh fruits, vegetables produce an alkaline base. A normal diet should include both of these groups (not because the pH, but in order to get all the nutrients and vitamins). According to the Alkaline diet is, that we should eat more fresh fruits and vegetables to make our blood more alkaline, because according to some ALTERNATIVE practitioners, the sift to an acid-producing diet is the cause of a number of chronic diseases (anxiety, lack of energy, even tumors). Now, the typical Western-diet does indeed lack of fresh vegetables and fruits. This means that we are eating too much fats (including cholesterol) and too much sucrose (white sugar). Also we can develop some vitamin and mineral deficiencies. This is why we need to start eating more vegetables (not forgetting meat also!!!). This has nothing to do with our blood pH. The fact is, you can't simply influence it great enough with your diet. There will be some effect if you would start to eat only vegetarian food. But this is dangerous as you would eventually develop some vitamin, aminoacid and mineral deficiencies. See, your body has very powerful mechanisms for remaining your blood pH (or to protect you from yourself). There are the blood bicarbonate system, the phosphate buffer, the CO2 system and some more. Your body is just too powerful. Now you could (please don't do that) ingest yourself with bicarbonate which makes your pH go straight up (make your blood very alkaline). This would probably cause lethal consequences as your enzymes and hormones stop working and your nerve cells won't function anymore. The key of healthy eating is a diverse diet. Remember that you need to eat both vegetables, fruits, fish, meat. On simple rule is: Carbohydrates should cover 50-60% (mainly starch from potatoes, pasta), fats about 25% (meat, fish, vegetables) and proteins about 15% (egg, milk, meat) of your daily energetic intake. About that I will definitely post a more detailed diet plan for you.