As nutritional approaches are being employed more in both medical treatment and research several important concepts have been revived. One of them is the acid/base balance. One of the most important concepts in holistic medicine is homeostasis. The body needs to maintain a balance in order to be in good health. It maintains the acid/base balance through buffers in the blood, through the excretion of carbon dioxide through the lungs and the filtration of acids and waste through the kidneys.
Food combining recognizes that foods can have an acidifying or alkalizing effect on the body. Acidifying foods are generally, but not always, those foods that have a high protein but low water content. Meat would be the exception to this with both a high water and protein content. Also acidifying foods have a higher proportion of nonmetallic elements such as sulfur, phosphorous and chlorine. These elements react within the body to produce acids.
Alkalizing foods are those foods that tend to have a high water content compared to their protein content. They also contain a higher proportion of metallic elements such as potassium, sodium, magnesium, iron and calcium. It needs to be noted what is being referred to here are foods that have acidifying or alkalizing properties. Foods that are acidic aren’t necessarily acidifying. Plus there is no such thing as a truly alkaline food. Alkalizing foods are those that can neutralize the effect of acidic foods within the body. Human blood is generally between 7.3 to 7.5 on the pH scale with 7 being neutral. No food has a pH value above 7.
The goal is to help the body maintain the balance in the blood by eating more alkalizing foods then acidic ones. It is generally accepted that you should eat four times as much alkalizing foods than acidifying ones. For one thing, foods that are rich in water and tend to be more alkalizing are easier to digest. In fact constipation is a sign that the body’s acid/base balance is being upset.
The acid/base balance also brings up a good point against eating excessive amounts of animal protein. The body can easily convert unused carbohydrates to glycogen for later use but it can’t do the same with protein. The body will attempt to convert some into glucose but the rest will from byproducts such as urea with which the body has to deal. Too much urea can lead to the production of acidic urine. This not only puts excess strain on the kidneys and liver but can also remove calcium from the body contributing to osteoporosis over time.
In addition to eating more alkalizing foods one can eat frequent small meals throughout the day. Eliminate smoking and cut down on coffee, tea and alcohol. Chewing your food thoroughly and not rushing through your meal are also important because they will aid in digestion. There are so many things people can do to improve their health and starting with nutrition is the first place to start.
