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Acid & Alkaline, Hormones

Acid, Alkaline And Testosterone

If you remember back to school days, you may remember the acid & alkaline ph scale which goes from 1 to 14, pH7 being neutral. Our blood pH needs to be in a very tight range – between 7.35 and 7.45, which is slightly alkaline. If it falls below this, acidosis occurs which can depress the central nervous system, lead to coma and even death.

If it goes above this, alkalosis can occur. This is when your nerves become hyper sensitive and muscle spasms and convulsions can occur. This can also lead to death in severe cases.

An acidic environment in the body can also break down muscle tissue and bone density and cause testosterone levels to plummet. Did you know that as we age, apparently we’re not actually meant to shrink? We’re not designed to go back into the ground where we came from. (We didn’t come from the ground – I made that up.) Consuming a largely acid-producing diet is believed to contribute to bone density deterioration and osteoporosis. (A great way to prevent osteoporosis too, is resistance training and other forms of exercises that stress the bones like running and racket sports)

So what’s the answer? Thankfully, our body is very clever and maintains this blood PH range with a number of different processes. We can support it though, through maintaining a largely alkaline-forming diet, reducing stress, getting enough sleep and not over-exercising.

A lot of what we eat creates an acidic environment – the main ones being meat, refined carbohydrates (take a wide birth of these – the likely suspects being anything white), sugar (do try to minimise sugar intake – it’s the main cause of the obesity epidemic, insulin tolerance, inflammation, Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease, and some neurodegenerative disorders), high glycemic carbohydrates (including whole grains like bread, pasta, standard breakfast cereals), alcohol and other toxins, including artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and pesticides.

So what can you eat? Spinach and kale. That’s it.

Kidding –  obviously. Most fruits and vegetables are alkaline-producing so when you consume, say, meat, accompany it with vegetables – the combination is neutralising. The greener they are the better. What’s not good is consuming acid-producing foods on their own – such as a steak sandwich or hamburger – meat and bread is not a good combo! If you do love your burgers, make an extra effort to have tons of greens with it.

Here’s a list of alkaline-producing foods:

Wheatgrass – the most alkalising of all plants

Watermelon
Lemons
Cantaloupe
Celery
Limes
Mango
Honeydew
Papaya
Parsley
Seaweed
Sweet, seedless grapes
Watercress
Asparagus
Kiwi
Pears
Pineapple
Raisins
Vegetable juices
Apples
Apricots
Alfalfa sprouts
Avocados
Bananas
Garlic
Ginger
Peaches
Nectarines
Grapefruit
Oranges
Most herbs
Peas
Lettuce
Broccoli
Cauliflower

And he’s a list of acid-producing foods:

Alcohol
Fizzy drinks
Tobacco
Coffee
White sugar
Refined Salt
Artificial sweeteners
Antibiotics (and most drugs)
White flour products (including pasta)
Seafood
White vinegar
Barley
Most boxed cereals
Cheese
Most beans
Flesh meats
Most types of bread

Here’s a stinger: When I was living in LA earlier this year, I saw a presentation of the pH levels of the water supply. It was very acidic, largely attributable to the chlorine and a host of other chemicals found in the water supply. A few bottled waters were also acidic. Pure water is pH7 – neutral. Pure water is hard to come by though! This is why I am an advocate of alkalising my water and filtering it with a decent filter – given water is our life source. A Reverse Osmosis filter or similar fitted in your home is a wise move. Reverse Osmosis extracts the harmful hormones and other chemicals, but also the minerals, so make sure it’s one that replaces the minerals. Other than that, the best water is mountain spring water and best bought in glass bottles.

On the subject of drinks – most fizzy drinks are very acidic, at around 3.5. Their effect on the body is pretty harmful, not just for their insanely high sugar content and other unnatural ingredients. Vegetable juices rock! As does green tea, for a number of reasons including its anti-aging properties, its ability to slow the rate at which your body absorbs carbohydrates thus a lower blood sugar and insulin response (which causes fat storage), it helps burn fat and is an excellent antioxidant. Basically it’s awesome.

Water with fresh lemon juice is very alkalising and a brilliant way to start the day as it’s also a great liver cleanse.  While lemon is citric and acidic in nature, when it enters the body, it’s highly alkalising. Go figure.

Here’s what Dr Ben Kim has to say on the subject of acid & alkaline:

When people encourage you to “alkalize your blood,” most of them mean that you should eat plenty of foods that have an alkaline-forming effect on your system. The reason for making this suggestion is that the vast majority of highly processed foods – like white flour products and white sugar – have an acid-forming effect on your system, and if you spend years eating a poor diet that is mainly acid-forming, you will overwork some of the buffering systems mentioned above to a point where you could create undesirable changes in your health.

For example, your phosphate buffer system uses different phosphate ions in your body to neutralize strong acids and bases. About 85% of the phosphate ions that are used in your phosphate buffer system comes from calcium phosphate salts, which are structural components of your bones and teeth. If your body fluids are regularly exposed to large quantities of acid-forming foods and liquids, your body will draw upon its calcium phosphate reserves to supply your phosphate buffer system to neutralize the acid-forming effects of your diet. Over time, this may lead to structural weakness in your bones and teeth.

Drawing on your calcium phosphate reserves at a high rate can also increase the amount of calcium that is eliminated via your genito-urinary system, which is why a predominantly acid-forming diet can increase your risk of developing calcium-rich kidney stones.

This is just one example of how your buffering systems can be overtaxed to a point where you experience negative health consequences. Since your buffering systems have to work all the time anyway to neutralize the acids that are formed from everyday metabolic activities, it’s in your best interest to follow a diet that doesn’t create unnecessary work for your buffering systems. Read more here

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