A newborn baby is an alkaline little being. The baby’s body tissue is clean and fresh- the smell of an infant confirms that. As time goes by the cells in the baby’s body become more acid and start to show their age. The tissues, bones and every part of the baby’s body slowly become more acidic and lose their newborn perfection. The body of an aged and sick person is highly polluted with toxic acid waste, both within the cells and outside the cells in all organs, tissues, bones and fluids. You can smell them.
The buildup of acid body toxins is a characteristic of ageing: your cells produce waste products, your digestive system produces waste products and the environment leaches toxins into your body. Your health and ageing reflect how completely you can get rid of all these toxins, and what level remains in your cells and tissues. The process of ageing starts from the beginning of life and takes place even if there is no pollution in your food or environment.
Even in a perfect world, the baby’s body still produces waste products that must be eliminated. For example, food, metabolism and the production of energy all produce waste products.If you can keep your skin and other organs, glands, muscles and all other body tissues at the same level of alkalinity they were when you were a child, you will not age.When a woman becomes pregnant, her foetus gets priority in the allocation of her alkaline salts. Particularly while she is sleeping, there can be a rapid reduction in the level of her alkaline minerals, and her blood can become slightly more acid. She can feel awful – this is called morning sickness.
Many other aspects of life add to the toxic load on your body. Stress creates enormous levels of toxins, and pollution in all its forms adds to the load, as does smoking, alcohol, tea, coffee, medications, and drugs (both recreational and pharmaceutical). Initial signs of body tissue acidity include:
- skin problems such as acne, eczema, psoriasis and hives
- bad breath and a white-coated tongue
- anxiety, depression, agitation, panic attacks, dizziness, headaches
- feeling tired, needing excessive sleep, weakness, low energy or hyperactivityâ— general aches and pains, muscular and joint pains
- a feeling of nausea and malaise
- premenstrual or menstrual cramping
- loss of libido
- diarrhoea or constipation, heartburn, bloating, strong smelling or dark coloured urine
- rapid or irregular heartbeat, poor circulation and cold hands and feet, shortness of breath
- food and chemical allergiesAdvanced or long-term signs of body tissue acidity include:
- osteoporosis
- cancers
- heart and circulatory disease
- poor immunity resulting in fungal and bacterial infections
- baldness
- diabetes
- arthritis, gout, kidney diseases and stones in the liver or gall bladder
- chronic digestive problems
- eye diseases
- allergies and asthma
- severe mental disturbances, multiple sclerosis, migraines
A proven way of slowing ageing is to reduce the amount of food you eat . If you eat less food the total amount of toxins from your food will be lower as there is less excess food to be processed, stored and eliminated. You can correct body acidity (intra and extracellular toxic acid waste) by eating a primarily alkaline diet, drinking alkaline water, and by following other alkaline-forming life changes such as exercise, deep breathing, relaxation, meditation, and having an accepting, playful, thankful and positive attitude to life.
MEASURING YOUR BODY ACIDITY (PH)
It is difficult to measure the pH of most body tissues without taking a biopsy. If you look at a piece of aged, acid tissue under a microscope, you will see clumps of toxic fat, un-discarded metabolic wastes, brown pigments called lipofuscin, streaks of fibre and other degeneration. Ideally, your urine and saliva should have a pH of 6.4. Their pH can vary by the hour, depending on what you have just eaten, your general level of health, and previous buildups of acidity.
The pH of your urine, saliva and blood are not a good indicator of the acidity of your body’s tissues and their cells. pH (potential hydrogen) is a measure of acidity or alkalinity. Your body tissues, and in particular your blood, require a precise pH level for good health. If your blood varies even slightly from its normal pH level, you will rapidly become ill.
Long-term acidity will result in a variety of degenerative diseases or even death.It is necessary to eat at least some acid-forming foods; in any case, it is virtually impossible to avoid all of them. The point to bear in mind is the net effect of your diet and lifestyle. If you live a busy, stressed life in a polluted city in a warm to hot climate, then a strongly alkaline-forming diet is essential to combat all these acid effects.If you eat a very acid food, you can counter its effect by eating a strongly alkaline food. For example, if you have some beef, cheese, eggs or refined bread, the acid can be neutralised with fresh vegetables.
You don’t necessarily have to eat the acid or alkaline foods together in the same meal. You can offset an acid meal hours later, after it has been digested, with a melon. If a meal consists of 10% concentrated protein and 90% vegetables, then overall it will be neutral to slightly alkaline. The most alkaline-forming food is enzyme-rich and in its natural state. It is fresh, organic, raw, wild and ripe.
Conversely, your food will be more acid-forming if it is:
- cooked (especially fried or deep-fried). Burned or browned food is highly acid-forming, especially toasted crispy cheeseâ— preserved, canned, smoked or dried
- sweetened
- grown with chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilisers)
- old, rather than fresh
- refined or finely milled, with husks, kernels or other nutritious parts removed
- unripe, especially if it was unripe when it was picked
- frozen
- contains manufactured chemicals such as preservatives, stabilisers, flavour enhancers, colours or emulsifiers
ACID / ALKALINE FORMING FOODS
VERY ALKALINE
- Raw, Fresh, Wild/Organic, Ripe picked. The most alkalising are lemons and melons, followed by dates, figs, limes, mangoes and pawpaw/papaya. The only acid-forming fruits are tomatoes, pomegranates, cranberries, plums and prunes.
- Slow-squeezed fresh fruit, vegetable and herb juices. (Commercially produced bottled juices bought in the supermarket are acid-forming)
- Raw vegetables (except potato), seaweeds. The best are asparagus, parsley, all kinds of seaweed and watercress. Potatoes are acid-forming, but much less so when eaten with their skins.
SLIGHTLY ALKALINE
- Fresh herbs
- Raw fruit
- Beans, grains and seeds- sprouted. Dried beans are mildly acid-forming, but after they are sprouted, they are mildly alkaline-forming. Fresh beans and peas are alkaline-forming, especially if they are green.
- Dried herbs, herbal teas
- Lightly cooked vegetables
- Raw nuts. Almonds are slightly alkaline-forming, but all other nuts are acid-forming. Roasting them makes them more acid, and harder to digest. Soaking nuts for a few hours makes them more alkaline-forming
- Fresh spices -Most spices (especially ginger) are slightly alkaline-forming
- the fresher they are the better.
- Honey, natural fruit sugars
- Natural sugars, such as brown rice syrup, honey and dried sugar cane juice are slightly alkaline-forming. Any form of processing makes them acid-forming.
NEUTRAL
- Vegetable oils. Vegetable oils are all neutral, with olive oil being slightly alkaline-forming. Fresh cold cold-pressed seed oils that have never been heated are slightly alkaline.
- Soybean products- soy milk, tofu, soy cheese. The fermented soy products miso and tamari are alkaline-forming, but soy sauce is acid.
- Boiled beans
- Roasted nuts
SLIGHTLY ACID
- Whole grains, raw seeds, brown rice
- Grains and seeds are acid-forming, with the exception of amaranth, millet and quinoa, which are neutral. When they are sprouted, they all become alkaline-forming. Bleached, refined white flours and fluffy short-grain white rice are extremely acidforming. Arrowroot flour is a good alkaline-forming substitute for other flours and thickeners.
- Wholegrain breads, whole cereals, heavy pasta
- Supermarket bottled fruit juices reconstituted
- Fish and shellfish. All meat fish and poultry is very acid-forming. Of these, fish and shellfish are the least acid, followed by organic or wild birds and small animals.
- Tea, coffee
- Poultry
- Fine wine, hand made beers
- Butter, cheese, cream, milk, eggs
- Refined breads, cakes, biscuits, white rice, light pasta, potato
- All grains in the form of breads, cereals and pastas are very acid-forming. Wheat is the worst. If the grains have been sprouted before cooking, or are whole and unrefined, this reduces their acidity.
- Salt (refined), white vinegar, tomato sauce, supermarket mayonnaise
- Apple cider or brown rice vinegar is slightly alkaline-forming and is a good digestive aid. White household vinegar is strongly acid-forming and should be avoided.
- Red meat
- White sugar, artificial sweeteners, drugs, cheap alcoholic drinks. White table sugar is very acidic, a poison if taken in quantity. Artificial sweeteners are much worse stay away from them! The most acidic alcoholic drinks are the cheap, strong, mass-produced spirits, beers and wines. Fine wines, beers and brews hand-made with organic ingredients are better, but still very acid-forming.
- Soft drinks, both sugared and diet.
- Sports drinks
- Caffeinated or carbonated soft drinks (sodas) are the worst of all. They contain sugars or artificial sweeteners in concentration, phosphoric acid and a variety of other toxic chemicals. They leave a complex acid waste after being digested and rob your body of oxygen. A typical glass of cola has a highly acidic pH of 2.5.
VERY ACID
- Cooked, unripe, sweetened, preserved, canned, frozen, smoked, dried.
- Grown with, or contains any kind of manufactured chemicals
- Old, Refined, Burned, Deep-fried, Browned
OTHER FACTORS
Your mental state and emotions have an important effect on your body’s acidity or alkalinity. You are an electrochemical, energy-based being. Stress and strong, particularly negative, emotions increase your body’s acidity and the acidity of your urine. Physical trauma or injury or an accident is very acid-producing, as are emotional loss, conflict and excessive burdens.
Mental stress can be more damaging than physical stress because there is no rest from it. The ongoing stress creates severe body acidity, which makes you feel even worse, and further adds to the stress. It is a vicious cycle which can be broken by rest, meditation, an alkaline diet, and drinking alkaline water.
If you live in a cold climate, you need more warming, yang, and acid foods, according to the Taoists. In contrast, if you live in a hot climate take special care to eat an alkaline diet. The same applies to the foods you eat in winter and summer, especially if there is a wide variation in temperature.
Eating light salads and dates on a hot day is a good idea. Most fresh fruits and vegetables, and sprouted beans and grains are yin, cooling and alkaline-forming. Strong sunlight is acid-forming, and you should take care to avoid excessive exposure. Living or working in a central city is very acid-forming, mainly because of the vehicle exhaust, noise and electrical pollution. Tobacco products are acid-forming, as are virtually all prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicines. Smoking or exposure to a smoky atmosphere robs your body of oxygen, lowering its pH.
These factors add to the toxic acid-forming load that decreases our energy, ages our bodies, and eventually causes a range of degenerative diseases. Getting obsessively serious about following the rules is the worst thing you can do. Relax and enjoy your life. If you make time for your health, you will gain many additional youthful years. If you have no time to spare, your ill health will take that time.
First published in Issue 67, 2004. © of Conscious Living Co-creations Pty Ltd 2008. All rights reserved
