In attempts to improve nutrition and health, the Alkaline Diet (also known as the Acid-Alkaline diet) is a buzz among people with chronic diseases. According to the proponents of this diet, eating acid-forming foods can increase your risk for heart disease, cancer, or diabetes. The alkaline diet also claims to help you lose weight, boost your energy levels, and prevent the onset of these chronic conditions. Are you looking to optimize your nutrition and well-being with the Alkaline Diet? This article dives deeper into the mechanism of your body’s pH balance, the latest research on the Alkaline Diet, and the effects of eating alkaline vs acidic foods.
What You Need To Know:
- The acid-base balance of the blood allows it to function properly in order to deliver the necessary nutrients to the body. Blood buffer system and several organs including the lungs, kidneys, and brain neutralize the body’s pH level.
- The alkaline diet hypothesized that the food you eat can affect the blood pH levels of the body, resulting in a lower risk for chronic diseases. The diet promotes alkalinity and avoids acid-forming foods. It categorizes foods as acid or alkaline and limits food choices to fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, seeds, and whole grains.
- Despite promising claims of reducing the risk for chronic diseases, studies have shown that the alkaline diet does not have an effect on the pH levels of the blood. Marginally, it may influence the urine’s pH levels, but it still can not neutralize serum (blood) pH levels.
- Since the diet promotes nutritious and low calories foods, it may have alternate benefits like weight loss, cancer prevention, and improved kidney health.
- With its food restrictions and limitation, the Alkaline Diet is still considered unrealistic and unsustainable, and doing it long-term may result in nutrient deficiencies.
Maintaining the Body’s pH Balance
For your blood to function well and be able to deliver the components in your blood, it needs to maintain the right pH levels or the acid-base balance. Your kidneys, lungs, and the buffer systems in the blood have the physiological mechanism in order to achieve the normal pH levels which are around 7.35-7.40. Naturally, the blood is considered to be slightly alkaline or basic.
Your lungs control the release of carbon dioxide, the converted waste product when oxygen is used up. This is then delivered by the cells and taken out by your lungs through exhalation. On the other hand, your kidneys regulate the pH of the extracellular fluid. It excretes acids or bases in the blood to normalize pH level. All of the pH upkeeps are overseen and closely monitored by your brain.
What Happens When You Have An Imbalanced pH?
If your body fails to maintain the normal pH balance, it can result in either acidosis or alkalosis. In acidosis, the pH of the blood is low which leads to too much acid in the blood. Conversely, alkalosis happens when the blood’s pH levels are high and there is too much base in the blood. These conditions may happen as a result of problems in the lung or kidney, such as asthma, diabetes, kidney disease, and lung disease.
Can Nutrition Affect Your Blood pH Balance?
You’ve heard it before: “you are what you eat”. Not only does nutrition affect your physical appearance, it can also have an impact on your overall health. Since the nutrients delivered in the blood are taken mostly from food, many people are looking into their diets to help the body regulate its pH balance. Over the years, this idea of food influencing the body’s acid-base balance has evolved to a diet of its own.
The Alkaline Diet
The alkaline diet (also termed as the alkaline ash diet, alkaline acid diet, acid-ash diet, or acid-alkaline diet) considers the acidity or alkalinity byproducts of foods to neutralize the body’s pH balance. The aim of the diet is to increase the consumption of “alkaline foods” while decreasing those that are acid-forming.
It was based on the acid-ash hypothesis, which suggests that consuming acid-forming foods may result in negative health effects, particularly osteoporosis. According to the proponents of this diet, foods with alkaline compounds (pH = 7-14) are good for the health, while the accumulation of acidic food compounds (pH = 0-7) could result to chronic conditions.
The alkaline diet claims to reduce the risk for:
- Heart disease
- Diabetes
- Cancer
- Low energy levels
- Other chronic illnesses
What to Eat: Alkaline Vs Acidic Foods
Eat This: Alkaline Foods
Fruits and Vegetables
According to the diet, fruits and vegetables are the best foods to promote alkalinity. These include citrus fruits, tomatoes, avocado, mushrooms, broccoli, garlic, ginger, cabbage, celery, watermelon, and bananas.
Raw Foods
The alkaline diet favors raw and uncooked foods. Cooking may deplete the food’s alkalinizing materials. Instead, the diet promotes juicing or just lightly steaming fruits and vegetables.
Proteins from Plants
The alkaline diet prefers protein sources from nuts, seeds, and legumes. You can choose from almonds, tofu cashews, navy beans, lima beans, and most beans.
Carbohydrates from Whole Grains
Your best carbohydrate options are brown rice, oats, quinoa, millet, and buckwheat which promote alkalinity as well.
Not That: Acidic Foods
Proteins from Meats, Poultry, and Seafood
Meats from beef, pork, fish, poultry, and eggs, most especially those that are processed, are classified as acid-forming foods.
Carbohydrates from Cereals and Grains
Highly processed carbohydrates also tend to be acid-producing. These include commercially baked goods, breakfast cereals, bread with yeasts, and other meat products.
Dairy Products
Milk from dairy, especially whole milk, should be avoided in the alkaline diet as they also acid-forming foods.
Other Foods
In general, foods high in fat and sugar like chocolate, coffee, soda, and alcohol are also banned in the alkaline diet.
Latest Research on the Alkaline Diet
The acid-ash hypothesis was very promising when it first came out. But over the years, multiple studies have debunked the idea that consuming certain groups of food may have an effect on the serum pH of the body.
It’s a fact that different foods can produce either acidic or basic compounds when they are digested. These compounds can influence the pH levels of urine as a way to excrete the waste products and neutralize the blood pH. However, the effects of food on the urine levels are only somewhat variable. There are other factors that can contribute to its acidity.
In addition, scientific studies have proven over and over again that these acidic and alkaline compounds do not affect the pH levels of the blood. The reason your body can neutralize its own blood pH levels is because of its built-in buffer system. With a healthy body and regardless of what you eat and don’t eat, your body should be able to keep its internal pH levels.
Alternate Benefits To The Alkaline Diet
Although its claims hold no truth with regards to lowering the risk for chronic disease, following the alkaline diet can still promote good health. The foods included in the alkaline diet are very nutritious as it promotes increased consumption of fruits and vegetables.
Here are just some of the alternate benefits:
- Aid in weight loss
Fruits and vegetables are generally low in calories, which can lead you to shed your unwanted pounds.
- Promote kidney health
Restricting protein from meat and dairy can improve your kidney health. People with kidney problems often follow a lower-acid diet as it eases the symptoms and may even slow the course of their kidney disease.
- Lower cancer risk
The alkaline diet is against the consumption of high-fat and carcinogenic foods like processed meats. Taking this out from your diet can help in cancer prevention.
Despite some of its benefits, many nutrition experts and health practitioners still do not recommend following the alkaline diet. The restriction for food groups and limited food choices make the diet unrealistic and unsustainable. It’s still recommended to stick to a holistic eating plan that follows the principles of good nutrition: moderation, variety, and balance in the food you eat.
The Takeaway…
Neutralizing the pH levels of your body is vital in order for it to function properly. To maintain the pH levels, your lungs, kidneys, brain, and the blood buffer system all work together to reach the perfect acid-base balance. Problems in these organs may lead to an imbalance causing either alkalosis or acidosis.
Previously, the acid-ash hypothesis considered the association of nutrition and the body’s pH levels. A slightly basic blood pH is linked to reducing the risk of chronic disease. This is why the alkaline diet encourages to eat alkaline foods that do not produce acid compounds such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and whole grains.
However, studies have shown that diet does not have an effect on your body’s serum pH levels. It may have a small effect on your urine pH, but this is still considered variable as there are many other factors to note.
Alternately, the nutritious foods promoted in the alkaline diet can still have a positive impact on your health. These include weight loss, cancer prevention, and improved kidney health. Nevertheless, restricting your body to certain food groups for longer durations is still regarded as unrealistic and unsustainable. Aim to eat a holistic diet that follows moderation, variety, and balance instead.
