Acid-Alkali Balance and Diet
Contrary to popular belief this doesn’t mean an excess of “acidic” tasting foods such as citrus, pineapples and tomatoes, which are in fact alkaline, but a diet too high in grains and proteins. Cereal grains (with the exception of millet and buckwheat) and animal proteins, refined sugars and salt, are acid-producing, whereas all fruits (with the exception of plums) and vegetables are alkali producing. To put this into a realistic Western diet perspective, consumption of a diet rich in cereal grains, refined sugars, salt and fats will yield a net-acid load. Indeed this type of diet would induce a chronic low-grade metabolic acidosis in even a healthy individual.
Our kidneys also play a vital role in maintaining a correct acidalkali balance. As kidney function ordinarily declines with age, there is a progressive worsening of low-level metabolic acidosis irrespective of diet. So what are the health implications of this chronic low-grade, diet-dependent, age amplified acidosis?
Acid diets and our health
Any mild acid-alkali imbalance may lead to pathological consequences such as bone demineralization, muscle protein breakdown, renal disease and kidney stones, hypertension and poor exercise performance. Symptoms associated with acidosis include water retention, headache, burning in the mouth or under the tongue, alternating constipation and diarrhoea and bumps on the tongue or the roof of the mouth. Indeed acidosis has been linked to many chronic degenerative diseases such as rheumatoid and osteoarthritis.
An alkaline diet
The acid/alkaline balance of our blood depends largely on what we consume. Ideally our diet should be 70% alkaline and 30% acidic. The pH of our blood plasma needs to remain at
a pretty constant 7.41.
One of the greatest mistakes in nutrition is the assumption that acid fruits, like citrus, pineapples and tomatoes, are acidforming. During metabolism, their organic acids are broken
down to release energy and the acid end-product, carbon dioxide, is breathed out, leaving a residue of alkaline minerals.
Foods that leave an alkaline residue are the fresh fruits and vegetables; those that increase acidity are almost all the rest – meat, cheese, eggs, nuts (except almonds), legumes, seeds, grain foods such as bread, pasta, rice, and cereals, refined sugar, coffee and tea. Millet, buckwheat and soy beans (tofu) are an exception, being alkali-producing grains and legumes.
Yoghurt is also alkaline.
Consumption of a diet rich in plant foods, i.e. fresh fruit and vegetables, with small amounts of vegetable or animal protein will yield a net alkali result.