Alkalinity and Acidity

Getting in Balance – Alkalinity and Acidity

Human blood pH should be slightly alkaline ( 7.35 – 7.45 ).  Below or above this range means symptoms and disease.

A pH of 7.0 is neutral.  A pH below 7.0 is acidic.  A pH above 7.0 is alkaline.

An acidic pH can occur from, an acid forming diet, emotional stress, toxic overload, and/or immune reactions or any process that deprives the cells of oxygen and other nutrients.  The body will try to compensate for acidic pH by using alkaline minerals.  If the diet does not contain enough minerals to compensate, a build up of acids in the cells will occur.

An acidic balance will:  decrease the body’s ability to absorb minerals and other nutrients, decrease the energy production in the cells, decrease it’s ability to repair damaged cells, decrease it’s ability to detoxify heavy metals, make tumor cells thrive, and make it more susceptible to fatigue and illness.  A blood pH of 6.9, which is only slightly acidic, can induce coma and death.

The reason acidosis is more common in our society is mostly due to the typical American diet, which is far too high in acid producing animal products like meat, eggs and dairy, and far too low in alkaline producing foods like fresh vegetables.  

Additionally, we eat acid producing processed foods like white flour and sugar and drink acid producing beverages like coffee and soft drinks.  We use too many drugs, which are acid forming; and we use artificial chemical sweetners like NutraSweet, Spoonful, Sweet ‘N Low, Equal, or Aspartame, which are poison and extremely acid forming.  One of the best things we can do to correct an overly acid body is to clean up the diet and lifestyle.

To maintain health, the diet should consist of 60% alkaline forming foods and 40% acid forming foods.  To restore health, the diet should consist of 80% alkaline forming foods and 20% acid forming foods.

Generally, alkaline forming foods include: most fruits, green vegetables, peas, beans, lentils, spices, herbs and seasonings, and seeds and nuts.

Generally, acid forming foods include: meat, fish, poultry, eggs, grains, and legumes.

In its natural state, the body is slightly alkaline. It must maintain this slightly alkaline state for your very survival, and has developed complex mechanisms to ensure that this balance is maintained.

Most of us are natural alkaline producers in our early years. This is why many children can get away with eating an imbalanced diet and still be healthy and slender right up until they are in their twenties.

But as we reach our thirties and forties, the majority of us have become overly acidic. That’s because nearly everything we are exposed to – foods, environmental toxins, even stress – contribute to an acidic condition in our bodies, and our natural buffer systems become less efficient over time at neutralizing that acid. We go from being in a more or less continuous alkaline state to having chronic acidosis, or chronic excess acidity.

An imbalanced pH affects all cellular activity in the body, leading to the progression of most degenerative diseases, including acid reflux or indigestion, gout, cardiovascular disease and heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholestorol levels, kidney stones, urinary incontinence, arthritis, osteoporosis, cancer, diabetes, systemic weight gain and obesity.

An imbalanced body pH can also be at the root of many common symptoms such as constipation, digestive problems, heartburn, headaches, frequent colds, fatigue, and sleeplessness, just to mention a few.

A list of Acid / Alkaline Forming Foods

Alkaline Forming Foods VEGETABLES Garlic Asparagus Fermented Veggies Watercress Beets Broccoli Brussel sprouts Cabbage Carrot Cauliflower Celery Chard Chlorella Collard Greens Cucumber Eggplant Kale Kohlrabi Lettuce Mushrooms Mustard Greens Dulce Dandelions Edible Flowers Onions Parsnips (high glycemic) Peas Peppers Pumpkin Rutabaga Sea Veggies Spirulina Sprouts Squashes Alfalfa Barley Grass Wheat Grass Wild Greens Nightshade Veggies FRUITS Apple Apricot Avocado Banana (high glycemic) Cantaloupe Cherries Currants Dates/Figs Grapes Grapefruit Lime Honeydew Melon Nectarine Orange Lemon Peach Pear Pineapple All Berries Tangerine Tomato Tropical Fruits Watermelon PROTEIN Eggs (poached) Whey Protein Powder Cottage Cheese Chicken Breast Yogurt Almonds Chestnuts Tofu (fermented) Flax Seeds Pumpkin Seeds Tempeh (fermented) Squash Seeds Sunflower Seeds Millet Sprouted Seeds Nuts OTHER Apple Cider Vinegar Bee Pollen Lecithin Granules Probiotic Cultures Green Juices Veggies Juices Fresh Fruit Juice Organic Milk (unpasteurized) Mineral Water Alkaline Antioxidant Water Green Tea Herbal Tea Dandelion Tea Ginseng Tea Banchi Tea Kombucha SWEETENERS Stevia Ki Sweet SPICES/SEASONINGS Cinnamon Curry Ginger Mustard Chili Pepper Sea Salt Miso Tamari All Herbs ORIENTAL VEGETABLES Maitake Daikon Dandelion Root Shitake Kombu Reishi Nori Umeboshi Wakame Sea Veggies

Acid Forming Foods FATS & OILS Avocado Oil Canola Oil Corn Oil Hemp Seed Oil Flax Oil Lard Olive Oil Safflower Oil Sesame Oil Sunflower Oil FRUITS Cranberries GRAINS Rice Cakes Wheat Cakes Amaranth Barley Buckwheat Corn Oats (rolled) Quinoa Rice (all) Rye Spelt Kamut Wheat Hemp Seed Flour DAIRY Cheese, Cow Cheese, Goat Cheese, Processed Cheese, Sheep Milk Butter NUTS & BUTTERS Cashews Brazil Nuts Peanuts Peanut Butter Pecans Tahini Walnuts ANIMAL PROTEIN Beef Carp Clams Fish Lamb Lobster Mussels Oyster Pork Rabbit Salmon Shrimp Scallops Tuna Turkey Venison PASTA (WHITE) Noodles Macaroni Spaghetti OTHER Distilled Vinegar Wheat Germ Potatoes DRUGS & CHEMICALS Aspartame Chemicals Drugs, Medicinal Drugs, Psychedelic Pesticides Herbicides ALCOHOL Beer Spirits Hard Liquor Wine BEANS & LEGUMES Black Beans Chick Peas Green Peas Kidney Beans Lentils Lima Beans Pinto Beans Red Beans Soy Beans Soy Milk White Beans Rice Milk Almond Milk

 Also Read Below:

12 Reasons to Avoid Acids and Stay Alkaline

Alkalining Lemon Water

More Ranked Foods: Alkaline (pH)  to  Acidic (pH)

Alkaline:  Meditation, Prayer, Peace, Kindness & Love	Acid:  Overwork, Anger, Fear, Jealousy & Stress
Extremely Alkaline Forming Foods – pH 8.5 to 9.0	Extremely Acid Forming Foods – pH 5.0 to 5.5
9.0  Lemons 1, Watermelon 2   8.5  Agar Agar 3, Cantaloupe, Cayenne (Capsicum) 4, Dried dates & figs, Kelp, Karengo, Kudzu root, Limes, Mango, Melons, Papaya, Parsley 5, Seedless grapes (sweet), Watercress, Seaweeds         Asparagus 6, Endive, Kiwifruit, Fruit juices 7, Grapes (sweet), Passion fruit, Pears (sweet), Pineapple, Raisins, Umeboshi plum, Vegetable juices 8	5.0  Artificial sweeteners   5.5  Beef, Carbonated soft drinks & fizzy drinks 38, Cigarettes (tailor made), Drugs, Flour (white, wheat) 39, Goat, Lamb, Pastries & cakes from white flour, Pork, Sugar (white) 40         Beer 34, Brown sugar 35, Chicken, Deer, Chocolate, Coffee 36, Custard with white sugar, Jams, Jellies, Liquor 37, Pasta (white), Rabbit, Semolina, Table salt refined and iodized, Tea black, Turkey, Wheat bread, White rice, White vinegar (processed).
Moderate Alkaline – pH 7.5 to 8.0	Moderate Acid – pH 6.0 to 6.5
8.0  Apples (sweet), Apricots, Alfalfa sprouts 9, Arrowroot, Flour 10, Avocados, Bananas (ripe), Berries, Carrots, Celery, Currants, Dates & figs (fresh), Garlic 11, Gooseberry, Grapes (less sweet), Grapefruit, Guavas, Herbs (leafy green), Lettuce (leafy green), Nectarine, Peaches (sweet), Pears (less sweet), Peas (fresh sweet), Persimmon, Pumpkin (sweet), Sea salt (vegetable) 12, Spinach   7.5  Apples (sour), Bamboo shoots, Beans (fresh green), Beets, Bell Pepper, Broccoli, Cabbage;Cauli, Carob 13, Daikon, Ginger (fresh), Grapes (sour), Kale, Kohlrabi, Lettuce (pale green), Oranges, Parsnip, Peaches (less sweet), Peas (less sweet), Potatoes & skin, Pumpkin (less sweet), Raspberry, Sapote, Strawberry, Squash 14, Sweet corn (fresh), Tamari 15, Turnip, Vinegar (apple cider) 16	6.0  Cigarette tobacco (roll your own), Cream of Wheat (unrefined), Fish, Fruit juices with sugar, Maple syrup (processed), Molasses (sulphured), Pickles (commercial), Breads (refined) of corn, oats, rice & rye, Cereals (refined) eg weetbix, corn flakes, Shellfish, Wheat germ, Whole Wheat foods 32, Wine 33, Yogurt (sweetened)   6.5  Bananas (green), Buckwheat, Cheeses (sharp), Corn & rice breads, Egg whole (cooked hard), Ketchup, Mayonnaise, Oats, Pasta (whole grain), Pastry (wholegrain & honey), Peanuts, Potatoes (with no skins), Popcorn (with salt & butter), Rice (basmati), Rice (brown), Soy sauce (commercial), Tapioca, Wheat bread (sprouted organic)
Slightly Alkaline to Neutral pH 7.0	Slightly Acid to Neutral pH 7.0
7.0  Almonds 17, Artichokes (Jerusalem), Barley-Malt (sweetener-Bronner), Brown Rice Syrup, Brussel Sprouts, Cherries, Coconut (fresh), Cucumbers, Egg plant, Honey (raw), Leeks, Miso, Mushrooms, Okra, Olives ripe 18, Onions, Pickles 19, (home made), Radish, Sea salt 20, Spices 21, Taro, Tomatoes (sweet), Vinegar (sweet brown rice), Water Chestnut         Amaranth, Artichoke (globe), Chestnuts (dry roasted), Egg yolks (soft cooked), Essene bread 22, Goat’s milk and whey (raw) 23, Horseradish, Mayonnaise (home made), Millet, Olive oil, Quinoa, Rhubarb, Sesame seeds (whole) 24, Soy beans (dry), Soy cheese, Soy milk, Sprouted grains 25, Tempeh, Tofu, Tomatoes (less sweet), Yeast (nutritional flakes)	7.0  Barley malt syrup, Barley, Bran, Cashews, Cereals (unrefined with honey-fruit-maple syrup), Cornmeal, Cranberries 30, Fructose, Honey (pasteurized), Lentils, Macadamias, Maple syrup (unprocessed), Milk (homogenized) and most processed dairy products, Molasses (unsulphered organic) 31, Nutmeg, Mustard, Pistachios, Popcorn & butter (plain), Rice or wheat crackers (unrefined), Rye (grain), Rye bread (organic sprouted), Seeds (pumpkin & sunflower), Walnuts         Blueberries, Brazil nuts, Butter (salted), Cheeses (mild & crumbly) 28, Crackers (unrefined rye), Dried beans (mung, adzuki, pinto, kidney, garbanzo) 29, Dry coconut, Egg whites, Goats milk (homogenized), Olives (pickled), Pecans, Plums 30, Prunes 30, Spelt