The Importance of Maintaing Your Body's Internal pH

I want to write a small article stressing the importance of maintaining the body's internal pH since this is something that gets overlooked a lot in my opinion. pH is very briefly a level of the acidity/alkalinity of the body (or anything for that matter), and the body maintains an internal pH of roughly 7.365. A huge amount of medical conditions arise in the body as a result of a drop in pH towards a more acidic value. Given the modern fast-paced lifestyle filled with fast food, pollution and stress this comes as no surprise.

Some of the most acid forming foods are protein, sugar, alcohol, coffee and tea. Yeah, coffee, I think a little part of me just died. Given that we'd basically stop functioning without protein, the solution isn't obviously to stop consuming it. What needs to be done is a balancing of internal pH. Vegetables are the most naturally occurring food source that help to stabilize an acidic environment. Diets high in acid-forming foods cause the body to use minerals to maintain the pH which can be taxing in the long run, resulting in various medical conditions.

Research has demonstrated that an alkali environment is needed for the body to repair and detoxify itself. Acidosis in the body has been shown to contribute to at least the following few conditions: kidney stones, immune deficiency, yeast/fungal overgrowth, depression, headaches, joint pain, stomach acid etc.

Here are a few resources and pointers to take away from all this.

1) An excellent book talking about all this and providing recipes: The pH Miracle - Robert. O Young and Shelley Redford Young.

http://www.amazon.com/pH-Miracle-Balance-Reclaim-Health/dp/B001Q3M5SU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1283737541&sr=8-1

2) Add lemon to your water - An easy way to balance out your internal pH. You might think lemons are acidic but they produce an alkaline residue when digested.

3) Eat as many vegetable as you can, period. The more veggies, the more alkaline your body will be, not to mention the tons of other nutrients it will be getting. As a general rule I try and aim for as many colors as I can when it comes to veggies. Remember, variety is the key.



4) Here's a list showing different foods that are acidic or alkaline. You might be surprised at the amount of food we consume on a daily basis that is naturally acidic.


https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOrZYjO22y36h8IycE0Z3Q7-WudeEg0KR5vbazSNGW2UF5G63RbRFrZx0EahHWD9_2uEKWfHyE7FxvohKEtISaxsKnBNSYeSixtdAf4TMelvV6rWiNAzsz8xJt17mcWuycWTX77GQwBoLm/s1600/alkaline_list.gif

Now even though you see things on the acidic side such as blueberries, cheese, milk and chocolate, it doesn't automatically mean that we should eliminate them from our diet. They each serve their own purpose in promoting a healthy body. Blueberries are bursting with antioxidants, cheese and milk offer very high quality protein and chocolate contains cocoa which apart from containing antioxidants also lowers blood pressure and improves blood flow.

http://www.trans4mind.com/nutrition/pH.html