pH

To be honest, I never really knew anything about this subject until recently. I knew about acid/alkaline from school, and more recently from being a pool owner. I cared about the pH of the water in my pool, but the thought never occurred to me that eating acid forming foods could be dangerous to my health. One day, while reading an article from my local health food store, they explained the relationship between acid forming foods and inflammation. Striking the right balance of acid/alkaline foods in our diet is essential to good health.

Foods are classified as acid-forming or alkalizing depending on the effect they have on the body. An acid-forming food contributes hydrogen ions to the body, making it more acidic. An alkalizing food removes hydrogen ions from the body, making it more alkaline. It is important to note that this classification is based on the effect foods have on the body after digestion, not on their own intrinsic acidity or alkalinity (or how they taste to us). A common misconception is that if a food tastes acidic, it has an acid-forming effect on the body. This is not necessarily true. Very often, an acidic-tasting food is alkalizing. Citric fruits are a good example. People say that lemons, for example, are "too acidic"; however, they are actually alkalizing because the minerals they leave behind after digestion help remove hydrogen ions, decreasing the acidity of the body. (Many people use the term "residue" or "ash" to explain the effect of a food on the body. A food with an acid ash after digestion contributes hydrogen ions, making the body more acidic; a food with an alkaline ash after digestion removes hydrogen ions, making the body more alkaline.)

In North America, we consume A LOT of acid forming foods, such as sugar, animal protein, and processed junk food. When we throw off our bodies pH, our body then leaches alkalizing minerals from our bones to restore our blood's pH to it's proper range. Also, over-acidity in the body tissues, is one of the basic causes of diseases, especially the arthritic and rheumatic diseases. Common symptoms of an unbalanced pH include heartburn (a burning sensation in the stomach and acid-tasting burps), bloating, belching, and feeling full after eating small amounts of food. Other symptoms could include insomnia, water retention, migraines, constipation with diarrhea, fatigue, and a burning sensation on the tongue and in the mouth. The solution is to eat more alkaline foods, like Veggie Power Soup, instead of acid forming foods.

Here is a list of common alkaline and acid forming foods.

...ALKALINE FOODS...		...ACIDIC FOODS...
ALKALIZING VEGETABLES Alfalfa Barley Grass Beet Greens Beets Broccoli Cabbage Carrot Cauliflower Celery Chard Greens Chlorella Collard Greens Cucumber Dandelions Dulce Edible Flowers Eggplant Fermented Veggies Garlic Green Beans Green Peas Kale Kohlrabi Lettuce Mushrooms Mustard Greens Nightshade Veggies Onions Parsnips (high glycemic) Peas Peppers Pumpkin Radishes Rutabaga Sea Veggies Spinach, green Spirulina Sprouts Sweet Potatoes Tomatoes Watercress Wheat Grass Wild Greens ALKALIZING ORIENTAL VEGETABLES Daikon Dandelion Root Kombu Maitake Nori Reishi Shitake Umeboshi Wakame ALKALIZING FRUITS Apple Apricot Avocado Banana (high glycemic) Berries Blackberries Cantaloupe Cherries, sour Coconut, fresh Currants Dates, dried Figs, dried Grapes Grapefruit Honeydew Melon Lemon Lime Muskmelons Nectarine Orange Peach Pear Pineapple Raisins Raspberries Rhubarb Strawberries Tangerine Tomato Tropical Fruits Umeboshi Plums Watermelon ALKALIZING PROTEIN Almonds Chestnuts Millet Tempeh (fermented) Tofu (fermented) Whey Protein Powder ALKALIZING SWEETENERS Stevia ALKALIZING SPICES & SEASONINGS Chili Pepper Cinnamon Curry Ginger Herbs (all) Miso Mustard Sea Salt Tamari ALKALIZING OTHER Alkaline Antioxidant Water Apple Cider Vinegar Bee Pollen Fresh Fruit Juice Green Juices Lecithin Granules Mineral Water Molasses, blackstrap Probiotic Cultures Soured Dairy Products Veggie Juices ALKALIZING MINERALS Calcium: pH 12 Cesium: pH 14 Magnesium: pH 9 Potassium: pH 14 Sodium: pH 14 Although it might seem that citrus fruits would have an acidifying effect on the body, the citric acid they contain actually has an alkalinizing effect in the system. Note that a food's acid or alkaline forming tendency in the body has nothing to do with the actual pH of the food itself. For example, lemons are very acidic, however the end products they produce after digestion and assimilation are very alkaline so, lemons are alkaline forming in the body. Likewise, meat will test alkaline before digestion, but it leaves very acidic residue in the body so, like nearly all animal products, meat is very acid forming.		ACIDIFYING VEGETABLES Corn Lentils Olives Winter Squash ACIDIFYING FRUITS Blueberries Canned or Glazed Fruits Cranberries Currants Plums** Prunes** ACIDIFYING GRAINS, GRAIN PRODUCTS Amaranth Barley Bran, oat Bran, wheat Bread Corn Cornstarch Crackers, soda Flour, wheat Flour, white Hemp Seed Flour Kamut Macaroni Noodles Oatmeal Oats (rolled) Quinoa Rice (all) Rice Cakes Rye Spaghetti Spelt Wheat Germ Wheat ACIDIFYING BEANS & LEGUMES Almond Milk Black Beans Chick Peas Green Peas Kidney Beans Lentils Pinto Beans Red Beans Rice Milk Soy Beans Soy Milk White Beans ACIDIFYING DAIRY Butter Cheese Cheese, Processed Ice Cream Ice Milk ACIDIFYING NUTS & BUTTERS Cashews Legumes Peanut Butter Peanuts Pecans Tahini Walnuts ACIDIFYING ANIMAL PROTEIN Bacon Beef Carp Clams Cod Corned Beef Fish Haddock Lamb Lobster Mussels Organ Meats Oyster Pike Pork Rabbit Salmon Sardines Sausage Scallops Shellfish Shrimp Tuna Turkey Veal Venison ACIDIFYING FATS & OILS Avacado Oil Butter Canola Oil Corn Oil Flax Oil Hemp Seed Oil Lard Olive Oil Safflower Oil Sesame Oil Sunflower Oil ACIDIFYING SWEETENERS Carob Corn Syrup Sugar ACIDIFYING ALCOHOL Beer Hard Liquor Spirits Wine ACIDIFYING OTHER FOODS Catsup Cocoa Coffee Mustard Pepper Soft Drinks Vinegar ACIDIFYING DRUGS & CHEMICALS Aspirin Chemicals Drugs, Medicinal Drugs, Psychedelic Herbicides Pesticides Tobacco ACIDIFYING JUNK FOOD Beer: pH 2.5 Coca-Cola: pH 2 Coffee: pH 4 ** These foods leave an alkaline ash but have an acidifying effect on the body.

* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease; research is ongoing.

Me Ka Aloha
- Elisabeth