What is pH Balance?
It is a way of measuring the acidity or alkalinity of a substance on a scale of zero to fourteen, with a pH of seven being considered “neutral.” A pH that is lower than seven is considered acidic and a pH above seven is alkaline. For every unit a solution moves up or down on the pH balance scale, it registers a tenfold increase in the degree that it is acid or alkaline.
How Can Alkaline Foods Affect Your Overall Health?
It has been found that pH balance plays an important role in your total well-being because bacteria, viruses, yeast, and other harmful organisms thrive when the blood system is more acidic. So, maintaining a pH balance on the alkaline end of the scale can create an uninviting environment for the very things that might make you sick. That’s why consuming more alkaline foods than acid foods can be very beneficial to your overall fitness.
As consumers learn more about nutrition, many are realizing that a specific ratio of alkaline foods to acid foods determines pH balance and overall health. Human blood registers about 7.4 on the pH scale, which means that it is naturally alkaline. In order to maintain this level, the body needs the proper balance of alkaline foods to acid foods.
What Should You Eat for Proper pH Balance?
The best alkaline foods to consume are fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices. Simple seasonings like sea salt, cinnamon and oregano can be good choices. Leafy green vegetables such as lettuce, spinach and beet greens are excellent alkaline foods. Carrots, peppers, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and other orange or yellow vegetables will also help alkalize your diet. There are a few fruits and vegetables that are considered to be acid foods, so try to limit your intake of plums, corn, green olives, and cranberries. It is interesting to note that ripe bananas are fine alkaline foods, but green bananas are more acidic. Also, this may seem at odds with traditional thinking, but citrus fruits are usually known to be naturally alkaline. Keep in mind that we are talking about the pH balance these foods register once they have been digested.
What are Acid Foods?
It is important to remember that you do need some acid foods to satisfy a nutritional balance. Most experts recommend a diet made up primarily of alkaline foods, but about twenty percent of your consumption should be acidic. Common acid foods are pasta, meats and fish. Of course, coffee, sodas, sugars and alcohol can really tip pH balance to the acid side of the scale. Other items that may be healthy might also be acid forming, such as nuts, whole grains and beans. This doesn’t mean you should stop eating them. It just means that you should be aware of the balance of alkaline foods to acid foods that you consume on a daily basis.
In summary, a diet that consists primarily of fruits and vegetables will give you the best chance for a healthy pH balance. However, it is important to remember that some acid foods are as essential as the many choices you can make for adding alkaline foods to your daily routine.
How Diet Affects Body pH
The various foods and beverages you consume release either alkaline or acidic residues into your body when your body digests them. As these residues are released into your body, your body attempts to filter the residues out and maintain proper body pH balance. So if, for example, you eat a lot of acid producing foods like meat, cheese, and sweets, your kidneys would pull minerals from your body like potassium, magnesium, calcium, and sodium to counteract the acid and keep your body pH in check.
By being careful about food pH and consuming foods that are more in-line with your slightly alkaline body pH, you can ease the strain on your kidneys and lessen the need for your body to surrender important minerals in the name of maintaining body pH. Examples of alkaline-producing foods are fresh vegetables, some fruits, nuts, and legumes.
Foods to Eat to Maintain pH Balance
Maintaining the proper pH balance in your body may sound technical and difficult, but in reality, it is quite simple. First, understand that your body needs to maintain a slightly alkaline environment to survive and thrive. Then adjust your diet to eat more foods that have an alkaline effect on your body. This does not mean you should totally avoid acid producing foods, just limit them. Your diet should not cause your body to become too alkaline or too acidic. For pH, it’s all about balance.
Foods to eat to maintain pH balance include a certain amount of alkaline forming foods and a certain amount of acid forming foods. In general, you should aim for 75-80 percent alkaline forming foods and 20-25 percent acid forming foods. Pure, distilled water is typically neither acid forming nor alkaline forming.
Alkaline forming foods are mostly vegetables like asparagus, artichokes, lettuce, onion, peas, spinach, carrots, green beans, and broccoli, to name a few. Fruits include lemon, tomato, avocado, and grapefruit. Other alkaline forming foods are sprouts, legumes, nuts, seeds, herbal tea, and vegetable juice.
To maintain pH balance, you should eat a minimal amount of acid forming foods. Examples of acid forming foods are meats, poultry, most seafood, sweets, white bread, white pasta, chocolate, coffee, soda, fruit juice, and most oils. You don’t have to totally avoid eating these foods to maintain pH balance, but keep these foods within the 20-25 percent proportion of your diet. |
