If you value staying healthy, learning more about acid and alkaline foods is one of the most important things you can do to.

The last time you may recall hearing anything about acid or alkaline was probably in science class.

Basically acids and alkaline are opposites.

There is a simple pH scale used to rate how alkaline or acid something is. Of course we are talking about food so nothing will be too acidic to be very corrosive or too alkaline to be caustic.

The scale starts at the acid end represented by zero and ends at the alkaline end at 14, in the middle ZERO is neutral.

The acid and alkaline foods you eat is the most important factor to living a long and healthy life, other than the obvious things like air, water and sunlight or exercise.

When you are healthy the pH of your blood should be very close to 7.25 or 7.4. This is slightly alkaline or salty. Foods that are ‘alkaline producing’ in your body contain trace minerals, which are nutritional cofactors essential for the cellular absorption of vitamins.

Foods that are ‘acid producing’ must be neutralized so that a healthy alkaline balance is maintained. Alkaline foods neutralize acid foods . . .

If you eat too many acid producing foods like animal protein, saturated fats and refined sugars you may use up all your salty minerals that keep you slightly alkaline.

Once your minerals are depleted from your blood a state of low oxygen may set in called acidosis.

Bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi and cancer cells crave an acid environment.

If you fail to eat enough plant-based foods which provide cofactors of minerals, enzymes and vitamins, then your immune system is forced to ‘borrow’ salty minerals from your tissues, teeth and bone.

People with high serum calcium have a problem. Their blood is full of calcium, not from eating alkaline plant-based foods, but because the calcium salt has been extracted from your body’s store rooms of minerals.

Eating acid producing foods can bankrupt your body of minerals necessary to make stomach acid. This is why so many people suffer from acid reflux, not because they make too much stomach acid, but rather, because they make too little.

Acid reflux and other health issues can be a simple alkaline food deficiency . . .

Your gallbladder, liver, kidneys and pancreas all depend on you eating alkaline producing foods to provide mineral cofactors, enzymes and nutrients. Eating acid producing foods like milk, which is 87% casein or animal protein, weakens bone density, reduces nutrient absorption and can lead to degenerative disorders like acid reflux disease, hiatal hernia and dastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD.)

You were born to heal,

Todd M. Faass

Health Advocate

If you suffer from acid reflux, acid indigestion, acidosis, digestive upset, dyspepsia, flatulence or heartburn you should know not to eat foods high in animal fat, wheat gluten or refined sugar or salt, to name a few.

On the other hand do you know what foods you can eat that will help prevent or cure your acid reflux, heartburn dilemma?

This whole acid causing food thing can be a little confusing, but I?m going to clear that up for you real fast today. I get a lot of people asking me about this, but it?s really quite simple to understand. You see many foods that are ?acidic? actually create an ?alkaline? condition inside your body and alkaline is good, that?s what you want.

This includes heirloom tomatoes, organic lemons and oranges . . . basically all citrus fruits. Once you know this, the rest is straight forward.

Now that we have that cleared up let?s take a closer look at what having an ?acid condition? or an ?alkaline condition? really means and why it?s important to know.

A Comparison: Acid Vs. Alkaline

First, an acid or alkaline state are opposite poles on a scale measured according to the ?pH,? which is short for ?potential of hydrogen.? Pure, living mineral water, which is made of hydrogen and oxygen, should have a natural pH of 7.0 representing the neutral, or half way mark on the pH scale.

A neutral 7.0 pH is neither in an acid or alkaline state. When the pH reading drops below 7.0 it?s considered to have an acidic pH and when the pH reading rises above 7.0 it is said to have an alkaline pH. So as you can see the entire pH scale is only from 1.0 pH being the most acidic to 14.0 pH reading being the most alkaline.

Your optimum health depends on you having a slightly alkaline reading, a 7.4 pH is good. This will naturally fluctuate from 6.5 to a 7.5 pH depending upon the time of day, your metabolic cycle and what you just eat.

The pH reading of your blood, urine and saliva determines your health.

Your urine will naturally become temporarily acidic in the morning because that?s when you carry the most acid waste.

If your blood pH becomes too acidic the hemoglobin is destroyed making it impossible for your red blood cells to carry oxygen to your cells. This is called acidosis and ignored will cause illness, cancer and even sudden death.

Perhaps now you can see why eating the wrong foods could cause an illness like acid reflux disease.

Bottom line is you need to know which foods will cure acid reflux and most of them are alkaline foods that create a slightly alkaline pH, the one exception being citrus fruits as I mentioned above.

German researchers discovered eating acid forming foods flushes the magnesium out of your kidneys, leading to magnesium deficiency. Magnesium is vital for heart health, for proper gastric acid balance and helps maintain optimum pH levels. So naturally, food rich with magnesium and other minerals will qualify as alkaline producing foods. Actually most raw green plants are rich in alkaline minerals.

Here?s a list of 9 very alkaline foods:

• Organic bananas or plantains
• Organic dark chocolate (70%+)
• Organic figs
• Natural mineral water
• Fresh squeezed orange juice
• Organic potatoes
• Organic spinach, kale or collards
• Seeded watermelon
• Organic dandelion greens

I hope you?ve found this information useful. On a final note, keep in mind that anything with refined sugar in it will tend to give your urine a more acidic pH. I would suggest supplementing with agave nectar, raw palm sugar or raw honey, at least these provide a lower glycemic load and provide useful minerals, vitamins and cofactors, whereas refined sugar and artificial sweeteners actually deplete these.

Live well,

Todd M. Faass?

Health Ecologist