Alkaline Vs Acidic Food: Everything You Want To Know About Acid Alkaline Diet

By Russell Dawson

Too much acid in the body affects the organs, tissues, and cells, which have dire effects on their proper functioning, as they are vital to the body’s existence. However, being the exact opposite of acidic, alkaline can also prove detrimental. As such, the only way for the human body to remain healthy is by maintaining a balance between acid and alkaline levels. For us to be able to know what that balance is, we must be able to measure acidity.

Have you ever heard of the pH value before? Well, understanding the pH value is the first step to measuring the acidity in one’s body. PH, which stands for the ‘power of Hydrogen,’ simply means the number value of hydrogen ions in a liquid. Since most if not all of the foods we consume contain liquid, we can also find out the number value of hydrogen ions in our foods, or the pH value of our foods. Ideally, this helps in determining the pH value of our bodies, thus knowing our acid numerical content. Did I lose you there? Well, let me tackle it from another point of view. Acidity in the body is measured by the pH value.

Importantly, there is a pH scale that runs from 1 to 14. This pH scale is divided between acids and alkaline, of which the mid-point is neutral, 7.0. So, from 1 to 6.9 is acidic and from 7.1 to 14 is alkaline. Whilst it is ideal for the body to be neutral, the food we consume on a daily basis makes this impossible, but the optimal level is between 7.35 and 7.45 pH! With that being said, the lower the pH value, the more acidic the substance is, and that is exactly how you measure acidity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jose Rincon
• Release date: Jul 16, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476470757

Russell Dawson

Russell Dawson grew up in a household that ate a balanced diet as his mother made the effort to provide foods that were nutritious and filling. He evens remembers that she had a wonderful garden in the backyard that provided the family with fresh vegetables and herbs. When he became an adult he made a concerted effort to keep eating healthy. When he met his wife Rina, she introduced him to the Paleo diet and modified it even more to be totally gluten free. He gladly tried it and was that much happier for it. He was so happy with the dietary change that he made the decision to share what he was experiencing with as many individuals as he could. He then wrote a text that outlined all of the great benefits that the Paleo diet had and how in the long run it was the healthier choice to make.

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Alkaline vs

acidic food:

Everything You Want To Know

About Acid –Alkaline Diet

Russell Dawson

Published by Russell Dawson at Smashwords

Copyright 2018 Russell Dawson

Chapter 1 -How Acidity is measured

Too much acid in the body affects the organs, tissues, and cells, which have dire effects on their proper functioning, as they are vital to the body’s existence. However, being the exact opposite of acidic, alkaline can also prove detrimental. As such, the only way for the human body to remain healthy is by maintaining a balance between acid and alkaline levels. For us to be able to know what that balance is, we must be able to measure acidity.

Have you ever heard of the pH value before? Well, understanding the pH value is the first step to measuring the acidity in one’s body. PH, which stands for the ‘power of Hydrogen,’ simply means the number value of hydrogen ions in a liquid. Since most if not all of the foods we consume contain liquid, we can also find out the number value of hydrogen ions in our foods, or the pH value of our foods. Ideally, this helps in determining the pH value of our bodies, thus knowing our acid numerical content. Did I lose you there? Well, let me tackle it from another point of view. Acidity in the body is measured by the pH value.

Importantly, there is a pH scale that runs from 1 to 14. This pH scale is divided between acids and alkaline, of which the mid-point is neutral, 7.0. So, from 1 to 6.9 is acidic and from 7.1 to 14 is alkaline. Whilst it is ideal for the body to be neutral, the food we consume on a daily basis makes this impossible, but the optimal level is between 7.35 and 7.45 pH! With that being said, the lower the pH value, the more acidic the substance is, and that is exactly how you measure acidity.

Say, perhaps, you would like to measure the acidity of your body; how would you go about doing that? Well, the first instinct would be to test the acidity of the blood; however, the pH level of one’s saliva is usually more acidic than blood, so testing its pH value would suffice. That’s not to say that a blood test is not practical but this is often the case. You will find that health physicians use a variety of ways to measure one's acidity, and another such way they go about doing this is via testing the pH value of one’s urine.

You can test you own saliva by over-the-counter test strips at pharmacies. Best practices involve testing one or two hours before or after a meal. Testing one’s saliva links to the enzymes of the digestive system and shows how effective they are. If a doctor performs a urine test and a blood test, the former involves taking a urine sample by having the patient peeing in a cup, while the latter involves the patient providing a blood sample via a needle.

Since acidification can be a life and death problem, it is always important to know one’s acidity level, which is why it is essential to know how to measure it! The next section will show how pH levels can affect your health.

CHAPTER 2- GOOD HEALTH AND ACID-ALKALINE FOOD

Following a strict alkaline diet provides a huge number of benefits to your body. Issues concerning chronic health may arise in your body due to over-acidity, while a diet of alkaline-rich foods is able to prevent these problems from happening. It is therefore important to have some knowledge regarding the acid and disease link in order to keep your body strong and fit.

Of course, any type of diet requires an immense understanding of the do’s and don’ts in order to succeed. Oftentimes, a lot of people undergoing a diet do so because they want to lose weight and maintain their overall health at the same time. It is important to remember that there are a lot of factors to consider whenever you decide to adopt an acid alkaline diet.

The acid and disease link will benefit those who are actively finding a way to avoid health issues. In terms of making the alkaline diet effective, one must remember that foods rich in carbohydrates and sugars heavily affect pH balance. In this scenario, the acid level is imbalanced. Therefore, it is important to limit the consumption of sugar-rich foods so as to avoid health risks like skin and heart defects. Calcium-related complications may also arise from the intake of such foods.

If, on the occasion, the acid level becomes imbalanced, one must consume foods that are able to form alkaline and acid within the body’s confinements. Note that there are numerous foods in the market that are low in sugar content. Examples are citrus fruits and potatoes. Other acid-neutralizing foods are