Categories: Wellness Blog

by floodlightseo

Share

Categories: Wellness Blog

by floodlightseo

Share

Hello everyone, hopefully this crazy rainy weather will subside soon and we can enjoy summer weather. We’ve had a lot of patients in the last few weeks ask “how can you make your body pH more neutral”. Given the recent popularity we decided to discuss acidity in the body for this week’s article.

Risks of High pH

The body’s pH balance strongly influences the risk for osteoporosis, sarcopenia (muscle loss), fractures, and kidney stone formation. There are also links to diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, thyroid problems, cancer and other insidious conditions. When the body’s fluids become too acidic, minerals are pulled out of bones and tissues to compensate. This, in the long term, leads to thinner bones and lower muscle mass.

Overly acidic tissues also make one susceptible to inflammation (a known risk for many chronic diseases), impair enzymatic reactions in cells and overload the lymphatic system, impeding the body’s natural detoxification process.

Balancing Out Your pH

It can be surprising to people when they say they eat healthy and we test them in the office for their pH balance and they find out that they are acidic. You always have to have a balance of what foods you eat. You should be eating both acidic and alkaline foods but most people eat more of an acidic diet.

We have a really good table of alkaline and acidic foods (see chart below) so that you can see what’s need to better balance your diet.

For you to be neutral, your body should have a pH of 7.0. When you start balancing out your diet you can take a pH test to see whether you need to eat more acidic food if your diet is too alkaline or visa versa.

The human body is an amazing thing but when you introduce it to too much of a certain thing, it will lack in another. The body will find other means to get the minerals or vitamins it requires (ie: taking it out of our bones or muscles). To prevent that from happening you need to start paying attention to your diet!

Not only should you look at your diet, but also to your spine. When you are too acidic, you become more prone to injury, your body is inflamed, and you can take longer to heal when injured. This, in turn, often causes issues longer down the road. Chiropractors focus on balancing out the body and making sure you maintain a perfect balance. Make sure you consult with a chiropractor, or leave comments below, if you have questions about you pH or your diet.

Alkaline Chart

…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.

Related Posts

View all