Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Food Alkaline or Acidic?

By Anthony Gutierrez

Food can be either acidic or alkaline and it is hard to tell which it is. An example of this is when lemons are digested the are more alkaline. Lemons are acidic before this digestion. To have a balanced raw food diet it is important to eat a significant amount of alkalizing foods.

Spinach, kale, collards, mustard greens and broccoli, the first green leafy vegetables, are great alkalizing agents. Wild edible grasses are also alkalizing.

Parsley, cilantro, basil, garlic and grasses such as wheat, and barley grass, sprouts and sea vegetables like kelp, nori, dulse, spirulina, blue green algae are alkalizing. To make the body more basic you should eat medicinal mushrooms like shitake, maitake and reishi.

Life is all about balance. This universal truth is especially profound when speaking of body pH levels. Body pH is the human bodys need to stay at a certain pH level. Levels of pH are measured on a scale from zero to 14, in which zero is very acidic, 7 is neutral, and 14 is very alkaline.

The pH of blood in the human body must remain at a slightly alkaline level of 7.35-7.45. In addition to maintaining blood pH, some of your bodys other fluids are maintained at different pH levels to keep you healthy. To sustain these pH levels throughout your body, your cells and organs are constantly working and filtering what you eat.

Bacteria, viruses, yeast and other harmful organisms thrive when the blood system is more acidic. It is important that the pH is balanced for your total well being. If the pH balance is on the alkaline end of the scale it creates an uninviting environment for things that make you ill. Consuming more alkaline foods than acid foods is important and 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.

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