Alkaline versus Acid Body Chemistry
Alkaline versus Acid Body Chemistry: Why you need to be more Alkaline to stay healthy!
By Kevin R. Miller, DC
The purpose of this article is to make the more complicated ideas of body chemistry and its affect on your health easier to grasp, and (hopefully) allow you to apply these concepts to your own bodies. Please pass the information along to loved ones as it will make a profound impact on your body’s future!
As a chiropractor, many people only think of me a “body mechanic”: working solely on the frame of the body (vertebrae, muscles, ligaments), with the understanding that when the body is in optimal alignment it functions optimally, heals quicker and, as a result, minimizes your symptoms.
Well that is only one-third of my job!
I am also a “body chemist” too! As some people know I was a chemist prior to chiropractic and I have found that my knowledge in laboratory chemistry also applies nicely to the most miraculous laboratory in the world: the human body.
Most people have the same gut reaction when they hear the topic of chemistry: YUCK! Bad experiences in high school or college chemistry have turned millions of people away from this wonderful and fascinating subject, especially as it applies to the human body.
OUR BODIES ARE LIVING LABORATORIES
We are alive and breathing right now because the food we eat is “burned” in the cells of our bodies mixed with the right amounts of oxygen from our lungs. The heat produced causes other reactions to occur, which produces more heat, which causes more chemical reactions to occur and so on and so on…..until the last products that are left are carbon dioxide, water and an ash residue. Sound familiar? Our fireplaces and automobiles work the same way except that the food they use are wood and gasoline, respectively. I spent several years learning the complicated series of bodily chemical reactions in biochemistry classes. But you do not need to know these reactions to understand your personal body chemistry!
All you need to know is four simple concepts regarding the ash residue that is left over after our food is burned:
CONCEPT Number One: The ash can be neutral, acid or alkaline in its chemistry.
What is it mean to neutral, acid or alkaline? The answer to this question is not simple, but let me try to simplify it. Think of acidity or alkalinity to be similar to hot or cold, or loud or soft. It is merely away of describing a state of the ash, one extreme or another with neutral being in the middle. As we measure heat with degrees and sound with decibels, ash residues that are acid, neutral or alkaline are measured by a “thermometer” called pH. There is special paper called pH paper that, when touching a residue will change to specific colors depending on the pH. I can test any body fluid’s pH by touching it to the correct pH paper and comparing the color to a color scale that comes with the paper, like reading a thermometer. It turns out that neutral is given a pH reading of 7 and anything that is acidic will have a pH value that is lower than 7 and anything that is alkaline will have a pH reading that is larger than 7.
CONCEPT Number Two: Certain foods will always burn out into an acidic ash and other foods will always burn into an alkaline ash.
Which foods do what? Here is a rule of thumb of health that needs to be committed to memory:
Acid producing foods tend to be MEATS, PASTAS, DAIRY, GRAINS, and NUTS.
Alkaline producing foods tend to be FRUITS and VEGETABLES.
CONCEPT Number Three: We need to eat a diet in which there is an alkaline to acid ratio of approximately 70 to 75% alkaline to 25 to 30% acid in the ash produced at the end of the burning.
Now ask yourself, “Is my diet about 3/4 fruits and vegetables and 1/4 meat, breads, dairy products, pastas and/or grains?” Honestly now! I am guessing you are saying just the OPPOSITE! Now you must be thinking, “I have eaten “backwards” all my life so far and there is nothing really wrong with me so your rule must be wrong!” Well hear me out. I am not saying that eating backwards will make you die an early death. What I am saying is that eating the correct amounts of alkaline to acid foods will add years to your life and life to your years. I am talking about the QUALITY of your life. Backwards-eating people will, if they life long enough, are guaranteed to have more chronic problems as they get older (arthritis, muscle pains, osteoporosis, gall bladder dysfunction, headaches) as well as a tendency to hurt themselves easier and more often compared to a person who follows rule number three. And that is the tip of the health iceberg too!
What kind of people tend to be backwards eaters and therefore have more of the problems described above? The answer is: most all of my patients when they first see me and I’m pretty sure most Americans in general. Yes, Americans are the unhealthiest people in the world. Modern medicine may prolong our lives but the QUALITY is horrid! And most people think that their health issues are merely because they are getting older and cannot be affected by their diets.
CONCEPT Number Four: Think of acid foods as protein-rich foods and alkaline foods as Calcium-rich foods.
The acid ash foods described above all have the following in common: they contain PROTEIN. Protein breaks into acid residues at the end of the line. Fruits and vegetables all contain higher amounts of ions like Calcium which is what makes them alkaline. Excessive amounts of acid ash are akin to having a fire in the body. Too much fire and your body must try to put it out! The only way to put out the fire is by neutralizing it with, you might have guessed, Calcium or alkaline material. What happens if you don’t have enough alkaline material, like Calcium ions to put out the fire? Your body will rob Peter to pay Paul! Meaning, your body will take away Calcium from places where Calcium should be in high quantities, namely BONES and MUSCLES! Decades of robbing your body’s bones of Calcium to put out a fire high in protein rich foods leads to the ubiquitous OSTEOPOROSIS and ARTHRITIS. Years of robbing your muscles of the Calcium it needs to cause relaxation of the muscles causes SPASM and PAIN.
WHAT IS THE SOLUTION TO YOUR BACKWARDS EATING THEN?
There are two possibilities:
One: You totally change your diet around and start to eat three quarters of the food you eat as fruits and vegetables and one third as meats, breads, dairy, pastas, and nuts. I have found many people say they can do this but in reality (yes I know the reality!) it is difficult to impossible to do this task.
Two: You add supplemental Alkaline type products to your diet to “force the scales” in favor of the correct balance. The specific supplements that contain highly concentrated alkaline material that can be purchased in my office is:
ALKAGREEN and CORAL CALCIUM
Alkagreen is basically concentrated green barley. Yes, it is the stuff that dairy cows eat and is loaded with Calcium! After all, cows eat barley and not milk and they give the milk we drink (which would be a super source of Calcium if there wasn’t so much protein in milk that neutralizes the effects of the Calcium).
Coral Calcium is the best absorbed form of Calcium compared to other forms of Calcium. Please see my article on why not all Calcium is created equal to know why the coral form of Calcium is the only form you should use.
Any questions regarding this article? Come and ask me at one of your office adjustments or email me.
