The human body is designed to function at a certain balance and equilibrium point. This balance is the key to your overall wellbeing and upsetting it can trigger fatal diseases. In this article, we tell you how to maintain acid-alkaline balance to keep diseases at bay.
What is the Acid-Alkaline Balance?
A farmer constantly monitors the pH value of his soil so that it gets him the desired yield. Likewise, the body is also designed to monitor the pH or potential hydrogen of the blood. The ph or the acid-alkaline balance measurement range from the values of 0 to 14:
- Seven is Neutral
- Below 7 is acidic
- Above 7 is alkaline
As is the case with common health barometers, balance is the key to everything. For an optimal cellular health, the pH of the blood is slightly alkaline and has to stay between the range of 7.365 to 7.45. At a cellular level, the pH should be maintained at 6.5 which is slightly acidic.
Organs responsible for maintaining your pH
There are two prime organs within your body that work hard to maintain the pH of the blood within the prescribed limits. One is the lungs that ensure you get more oxygen to alkalize the blood and sends out carbon-dioxide that is more acidic. Another is the kidney that filters your blood by excreting the excess acid from the system through urine or by absorbing more acid if the blood is too alkaline.
The Relationship with Acid-Alkaline Balance and your Health
You do not have to worry about maintaining the balance since your body is naturally designed to monitor it. But, you just need to give your body the right conditions to do its work. What really matters here is the pH of the residue or ash that is left behind in your blood after the food is metabolized.
Acidic ash and its impact on your health
If you eat more foods that leave an acidic ash, then your kidneys and lungs have to work harder to get into the right equilibrium. The scales get tipped and when the pH of the blood starts to drop, the alarm bell goes on and the buffer system gets into action. It immediately signals the release of calcium phosphate from the bones into the blood, so that the pH is restored to its right equilibrium.
The body saves you from the drop in the balance, but it does so at a cost. And that cost is the movement of calcium phosphate crystals in the blood that settles as deposits in the bones as bone spurs. It can settle in the joints leading to arthritis or it can settle in your kidneys as stones or gallbladder stones. It can also contribute to a build-up in the arterial walls or in the eye as glaucoma or cataract.
Top Ways to Support the Acid-Alkaline Balance
People today are feeding more acid into their system in the form of refined sugars, aerated drinks, processed foods, and factory farmed animal products. Sadly, this takes a toll on the body. Allergies, inflammation, constipation, bowel issues, cancer, and other chronic diseases thrive on this type of diet.
So, in order to give your body the right condition to maintain the balance naturally, you need to potentially tilt the scale in the alkaline direction. Food is medicine and medicine is food, so give your body what it needs by incorporating the following:
1. Start your day with a glass of lemon water and stay hydrated
You might be wondering that lemon is acidic in nature, but actually, the residue that lemon leaves after metabolizing in the body is more alkaline. You can drench your cells towards alkalinity each morning by having a cup of lukewarm water with freshly squeezed lemon. Also stay hydrated throughout the day by having more water, since water is neutral and has a pH of 7. It helps to alkalize the blood.
2. Breathe Fresh Air and get more Sunshine
Moldy environments will leave your body ingested with too much fungus. This, in turn, triggers an acidic state in the body. So, ensure that you breathe pure air and keep your surroundings clean. Likewise, get some sunshine for a dose of Vitamin D.
3. Stay away from Sugars, Caffeine, Meat, and Wheat
These four foods leave a very acidic residue in your body. Did you know that Coke has a pH of 2.6 and a cup of coffee with 2-3 teaspoons of sugar measures around the same pH? The same goes for wheat products as today’s wheat is hybrid-made and has a complex gluten structure that tends to support an acid environment.
4. Exercise, Manage Stress, Sleep Better and Avoid Toxics like Alcohol and Tobacco
Not just diet affects your pH. Too much or too little of exercise also promotes acid in your body. Also, an overage of anger, stress, drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol can create inflammation and acidity in the body. Your body should be acid where it should be like for example in the stomach, but not everywhere. Whether, it’s yoga, meditation, pranayama, strolls in the woods or counseling try to reduce the negativity around you to improve your cellular health.
5. Alkaline vs. Acid Foods
Not all acid is bad. Your body still needs some acid to maintain the delicate balance between the two. Too much alkaline in the body is also detrimental, so the key is maintaining the right balance. Your daily diet should focus to include 20-30% of acidic foods and 70-80% of alkaline foods. Below is the table of acidic foods vs alkaline foods:
Acid-Forming Foods: Sulphur, Phosphorous
20-30% |
Alkaline-Forming Foods – Magnesium, Calcium, Potassium and Sodium
70-80% |
Sugar | Lemon |
Meat | Dark Green Leafy Vegetables |
Aged Cheese | Fresh Cheese – Feta, Ricotta, and Cottage |
Caffeine | Organic Soy |
Other Grains | Millets, Quinoa, Amaranth, Buckwheat |
Other Legumes | Lentils and Lima Beans |
Other Nuts | Almonds, Brazil Nuts |
Wheat | Spelt and Kamut |
Pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds |
Combine food Wisely
Ideally, 20-30% of the acid forming foods should come from grains like wheat, rice, legumes, and other nuts. And the rest should be your vegetables, greens and alternate grains that preserve the balance.
At the end of the day, it is the combination of the food we eat, the environment we live in and your outlook on life that will determine how healthy you will be.
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This article is very informative.it is holistic healthcare.
Mixed food having more water neither sweet nor bitter etc. To be eaten.
Very informative article . And just enough content to understand the subject
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