Do you need a cup of coffee in the morning to get yourself out of bed? Do you find yourself craving food at odd times of day? Does your energy level seem to be waning with every passing month or year? It’s time to take action! Revitalize yourself and feel more energetic than ever by alkalizing your body.
It is easy to do, doesn’t require any radical change to your diet, and will have a more profound affect on your well-being than any standard “diet” could ever have.
Your body’s chemistry and the acid-alkaline balance
The human body is a very finely tuned machine. It is highly adaptable, to new environments and situations, but only when it’s internal environment is in balance. For example, the human body operates effectively when it is held at an internal temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Above 104 degrees, or below 97 degrees, and you will experience some significant problems. Your body is even more sensitive to acidic conditions, than it is to temperature.
The blood in your body, which makes up about 8% of its total weight, is a key regulator and indicator of your overall health. The blood is the medium through which oxygen and other nutrients are delivered to each and every cell in your body. In order for the blood to do its job effectively, it needs to be maintained in a very specific pH range. Specifically, a pH of 7.36-7.44; which is slightly alkaline. Even a minor deviation from this small range can be DEADLY.
You may remember from junior high science class that pH (and alkalinity) is measured on a 14 point scale, from 0 to 14; where a low score is extremely acid ic (e.g. hydrochloric acid) and a high score is extremely alkaline. Pure water is neural, with a score of seven. You’ve heard about acid rain and environmental conditions that are causing death of all life in many of our world’s great waterways. Now imagine the same thing happening to the waterways inside your body, i.e. your bloodsteam. It isn’t a pretty story, but there is something you can do to fix it, RIGHT NOW.
The foods you eat have a major impact on your body’s acid-alkaline balance. Digestion of processed foods, for example, will create acidic byproducts that flow into the bloodstream. The more processed foods (sugars, refined carbohydrates, etc.) you eat, the more acid-byproducts will be created and the more acidic your bloodstream will become.
In fact, it is not just processed foods that are acid-forming. Many animal products (e.g. high protein foods) starches and grains are also acid forming. Nitrogen, a byproduct of protein digestion, is acidic. Caffeine is also highly acid-forming.
On the contrary, fresh vegetables and fruits (especially citrus fruits like lemon) are highly alkalizing to the body. The most alkaline foods are leafy green vegetables (wheat grass, spinach, kale, etc.).
How do you know if your body is acidic or alkaline? You can test yourself by measuring the pH of your urine or saliva (less accurate) using pH strips from any pharmacy. The most accurate method is to test the blood. Most clinics that do blood-work should be able to do this for you. Of course, there is an even easier way to know if your body is alkaline. Just think about your diet. Are you consuming a lot of caffeine or alchohol? How about meat? How about breads, pasta or other starches? If so, youre body is probably struggling to keep itself in an alkaline state. The impact on your overwell wellness is too great to ignore.
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The impact of an out-of-balance body
As I said before, the human body is highly adaptable. A mildly acidic condition for a short period of time will not have a big affect on your body. However, most people have extremely poor diets and highly stressful lives, which leads to chronically acidic conditions. This can be devastating to your body and overall well-being. Some of the negative affects include:
- bloating and water retention
- acne and other skin conditions
- weak hair or nails
- trouble maintaining weight
- trouble losing weight
- joint pain
- headaches
- irritability
- cramps
- indigestion
- frequent colds
- allergies
Weight gain and/or loss are some of the more apparent conditions. Are you having trouble losing those final 10 pounds? Or are you having trouble gaining lean muscle mass? Your body might be in a chronically acidic state.
When the body is in a acidic state, it will do whatever it takes to protect itself. For some people, this means retaining water and fat close to the body organs to protect them from the acid. For others, this means flushing the body of water and excess weight to “purge” itself. If you are underweight or overweight, you could have an acidic condition in your body.
Furthermore, in acidic body environments, pathogens such as yeasts and bacteria will thrive in your digestive tracks. In fact, research has even shown that cancer cells thrive in acidic environments, but perish in alkaline environments. As these pathogens thrive in your body, they will steal away the precious nutrients and energy that should be going to your body! If you wonder why all the food you eat doesn’t seem to give you energy, here is your answer!
The body was created to hold a slightly alkaline state for a reason. It is in this state that it is highly disease resistant, capable of repairing itself and energetic. Luckily, you can take a few easy steps today to start the healing process.
Take action! Alkalize your body today!
Alkalizing your body does not have to take a radical change to your eating habits. The most important thing is that you take steps to add highly alkaline foods into your diet. GREEN VEGETABLES are the most highly alkaline foods on the planet. If you are going to have a steak for dinner (which is a highly acid-forming food) be sure to at least start off your meal with a big salad (with no cheese and light dressing), and have some steamed or fresh veggies as a side-dish instead of the baked potato (also acid-forming). This will help your body to counter-act the acidic byproducts with healthy alkaline byproducts.
Another tip is to supercharge your body with an ALKALIZING DRINK.
After a long night’s sleep, your body is often dehydrated and craving nutrients. Drinking some water with fresh-squeezed LEMON JUICE is highly alkalizing and nourishing for the body. In fact, you can get lemons anywhere: in a bar, restaurant or even at work. Just chop one up and create a highly alkalizing beverage. I often take fresh lemon water in the afternoon at work when my co-workers are running for a Starbucks. In fact, I’ve cut coffee completely out of my diet. I’ve found that once my body has detoxified from all the garbage I was putting in it, my need for caffeine has gone down a lot. This is not only healthier, but easier on your pocket-book than a twice daily latte habit!
Another way to super-charge your body, is to buy a GREENS POWEDER. There are many varieties out there, and most have dried greens from many sources, phytonutrients and lots of vitamins. You just stir a spoonful with some water or juice and you’re ready to go. I take 1-2 servings of a green drink every single day. In fact, I start off my day with one. I prefer to drink mine (I like the Greens First brand) on an empty stomach, about 1 hour before eating breakfast, right after waking up. Energise for life has a lot more information on produdcts for alklaine diets or general wellness. They also have a great blog with tips for getting and staying really healthy.
Lastly, if you are an athlete, you may be wondering how to keep the body alkaline while also getting in lots of protein every day. There are alkaline sources of protein, including tofu and lenils, certain nuts like almonds and brazil nuts and certain grains like Quinoa and Spelt. There are also some very good whole food supplements that are very high in protein. Personally, I take 1-2 servings of Vega every day. It tastes great, is highly alkalizing and is very high in protein (25 grams per 300 calorie serving).
In the end, I hope this article has peaked your interest in cleaning up your diet and really paying attention to what your body needs. Make a few small additions or changes to your diet and you are bound to see some incredible changes over the long term.
Note: I am not a doctor and this article is not meant to be medical advice. Please advice your physician before making any radical changes to you diet.
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You are right on the money when you say the body needs to be alkaline to be in the most healthy condition. Disease thrives on acidic conditions and can not survive in alkaline environment.
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I noticed you wrote that you can alkalize your body with lemon juice. If lemon juice is acidic how does it do this? Seems counter-intuitive but I’m sure there is an explanation.
Lemon juice itself is acidic but to your body it is alkaline once it has been digested. In the same way dairy is alkaline in nature but acidic to your body once processed. It has to do with the digestive process and the resultant effect it has on your blood chemistry.
I just wanted to add:
It has been proven that cancer can not survive in an alkaline environment. So, if you cleanse your body, and only put in alkaline, you’re body can not keep supplying acid…
No extremes in any direction. 20% acid foods, 80% alkaline foods.
The article is very informative. I am a writer of short articles which cover many topics and your article on getting the body more Alkaline is something that more people should be aware of. Thanks for your info.
As a scientist, I think your diet is a little bit silly, firstly the body keeps blood and all fluids in your body at very tight ph ranges using buffers, with the exception of the digestional tract which has a bit more leeway due to starting off with hydrochloric acid (ph 1-3) and by adding large amounts of alkali (although grats on adding lemon juice, protons have to go somewhere so either the food becomes less acidic by reacting with something else, making that thing into salts, or acidic) to your body you can cause serious digestive problems, thankfully very few of your suggestions are actually alkaline, thus your advice would neither do what you say, nor do any harm.
Best wishes
Corvidae Corvus
the body has three very powerful buffer systems that work continuously to maintain a pH of between 7.35 and 7.45. Eating certain foods will not change your bodies pH one bit. any excesses of base or acid will be passed out through your urine and altered through changes in respiration. Your body takes care of pH for you so dont worry about it. Eat lots of greens and fruit for many other reasons, but its got nothing to do with pH.
Ravi- Are you done with this blog?
What’s the situation?
Hey Ryan – no way!
I made a few of my older posts “sticky” so when people visit the homepage there is some relevant content that represents my more popular posts. Just testing this out to see if it is better for my readers.
You can scroll further down past the first few posts posts to see the most current posts.
Interesting and useful info – thanks for informing all of us. Emily
Nice one Ravi.
I loved this article first time around & I love it even more now!
You do an awesome job of putting it all into simple (& motivating) words. Oh and obviously you reference a couple of awesome sites in there too…
Have a great weekend
Ross
David April 10, 2009 at 4:02 pm wrote:
“the body has three very powerful buffer systems that work continuously to maintain a pH of between 7.35 and 7.45. Eating certain foods will not change your bodies pH one bit. any excesses of base or acid will be passed out through your urine and altered through changes in respiration. Your body takes care of pH for you so dont worry about it.”
What you have to worry about is where these powerful buffers are coming from. When the blood is in danger of becoming too acidic, the body resorts to such things as taking calcium from the bones and teeth in order to balance things out. That is, the human body attempts to survive ill-treatment by robbing less immediately vital areas (e.g., bones and teeth) to pay the price of abuses to the more immediately vital ones (e.g., the blood). However, the bill for the initial (dietary) abuse eventually comes due. In this case, in the form of osteoporosis, brittle bones, caries, etc., probably along with less than healthy nails and hair and other ill-effects (the formation of kidney stones as the body tries to eliminate the excess calcium).
Ridding your diet of excessively acidic foods and drinks (esp. colas) helps to reduce the workload on your body’s very excellent buffering systems. Prevention is always better than cure. It wouldn’t be a good idea however to lean TOO heavily to the alkaline side either (although that shouldn’t be a problem for most people).
*********
A fascinating aspect to blood pH level is the effect on it of hyperventilation. It is considered that hyperventilation may sometimes be an involuntary response to acidosis, or dangerously lowered blood pH levels, as hyperventilating results in lower CO2 concentrations in the blood, resulting in a higher (more alkaline) pH.
Some proponents of nose-breathing (there’s an article on nose-breathing on this site), however, consider that hyperventilation is also a side-effect of mouth-breathing (i.e., mouth-breathers blow off too much CO2, especially when at rest). If that’s true, then mouth-breathing would contribute to a chronic alkalosis (heightened blood pH level), necessitating an on-going acid blood buffering.
The Buteyko (nose-breathing) site offers:
“When we exercise we need more oxygen, and it is appropriate that we breathe more because at the same time our working muscles will produce more carbon dioxide. However, if we breathe in the same way when we are sitting quietly reading a book this will upset the vital balance between the two gas levels because we are not producing great quantities of carbon dioxide at this time…
…A constant shortfall in carbon dioxide leads the brain’s respiratory centre to accept this lower level as the normal marker point and then adjusts the breathing accordingly to keep carbon dioxide at this point.”
http://www.buteyko.co.nz/buteyko/work/hyperventilation.cfm
Perhaps that’s why people crave acidic foods and drinks in the first place. Perhaps they are offsetting a low CO2/blood pH habit, brought about by mouth-breathing. Perhaps deliberate nose-breathing is helpful in our overcoming such cravings and “addictions”. Perhaps we’ve been looking at the acid problem from the wrong angle.
Get the normal CO2 level in your blood sorted out (by nose-breathing) and a desire to consume a healthy diet may naturally follow.
How does lemon juice (pH=2.3, very acidic) “act like” a base (alkaline) in the human body?
There seems to be a persistent but undocumented claim circulating that LEMON JUICE ACTS LIKE AN ALKALINE BASE IN THE HUMAN BODY. How?
When a comment above suggested that the body’s buffers take care of pH, so one shouldn’t worry about the pH effects of eating certain foods, someone else replied, “The question is where those buffers come from”, since raising the pH of lemon juice implies lowering the pH of some other substance in the body to provide the ionic chemical reaction with lemon juice that renders it more acidic.
Well, yes. So if the body is a closed system and an acid is added, either the acid stays acid, or it makes the rest of the body’s fluids more acid when it steals ions and becomes more alkaline. But the body is a dynamic, open system and could be respirating, or ingesting other alkaline molecules (making lemon juice superfluous??) that are then exploited by the lemon juice, or robbing alkaline molecules already in the body and then urinating out the excess acids left behind in the form of those other molecules that are exploited by lemon juice to add ions to itself and become more alkaline.
Above, someone says, “It has to do with the digestive process”. Well, duh. But what? Please explain the exact chemical process, and explain what happens to the molecules that are left more acidic when their ions are stripped away in the service of converting lemon juice into a base solution in the body.
Please.
Boxcar: “How does lemon juice (pH=2.3, very acidic) “act like” a base (alkaline) in the human body?”
When you consume some food, that food obviously undergoes a chemical transformation, both in the course of digestion and, later, cellular respiration (converting food to energy).
The blood doesn’t receive chunks of lemon or drops of lemon juice (hey, you asked). When food is digested, the blood pH is altered, either toward acid or alkaline, by the introduction of elements such as calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium (alkaline), or chloride, phosphorus, and sulphur (acid). These are the ashes formed by the various foods (and remaining of your body – 2.5 kgs total + steam – after it is cremated).
Citrus fruit forms alkaline ash, or mainly alkaline ash, as, for example, does apple cider vinegar.
A cola (very acidic, pH 2.5), due to it being a phosphoric acid-based beverage, forms acid ash.
Of course, the above is a very simplified explanation. To understand the acid-base reactions that occur in the body, a person would probably have to be a chemist.
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid-base_reaction
Basically, it’s not what it is going in your mouth that counts, but what it results in or what reactions it causes after or via digestion. How all these lay web sites and other sources KNOW which foods result in which pH effect, I don’t know. Some Indian dude probably worked it out milenia ago, and the paperwork got lost in transit.
However, you don’t have to take anyone’s word for anything. You can get a pH meter and do some experiments on yourself.
Ultrarunner: I’m glad you took a stab at answering the question. When you say it would take a chemist to answer exactly, I agree, but we all know enough chemistry to know when smoke is being blown up our whatoosi. The first thing we learn in Chemistry 101 is that chemical reactions balance. What goes in must come out.
So the question before us is, “When you dissolve (digest) citric acid, which is extremely acidic and low pH (~2.3), into an aqueous solution such as the body, which has a fairly neutral (~6.8), how does the resulting solution become more alkaline (higher than 6.8)?
The answer is that it doesn’t because, chemically and physically, it’s not possible. “Lay” people, people without a basic knowledge of chemistry, are being hoodwinked by manipulators of their lack of knowledge into buying snake oil to cure an imaginary disease.
To make something more alkaline means adding a positively charged ion to it. H+ is the usual, simplest example. But since charge is conserved (chemical equations balance), that positive ion COMES FROM something in the body (solution) that was positively charged before digestion and, after digestion, is left more acidic.
Despite your examples, it doesn’t matter which elements are being digested (Ca, Mg, etc.): the same number of positive and negative ions remain after digestion as existed before, although they may be part of new, digested compounds.
_______
From your reference to Wikipedia, Ultrarunner, I quote:
H+ (aq) + OH? (aq) is in equilibrium with H2O
[that is, hydrogen ions in water plus OH ions in water balance out]
(In modern times, the use of H+ is regarded as a shorthand for H3O+, since it is now known that the bare proton H+ does not exist as a free species in solution.)
An acid is a compound that can donate a proton, and a base is a compound that can receive a proton. An acid-base reaction is thus the removal of a hydrogen ion from the acid and its addition to the base. This . . . refer[s] to the . . . removal of a hydrogen ion (H+).
For example, the removal of H+ from hydrochloric acid (HCl) [or, for the lemon juice question, citric acid] produces the chloride ion (Cl?), the conjugate base of the acid:
HCl ? H+ + Cl?
The addition of H+ to the hydroxide ion (OH?), a base, produces water (H2O), its conjugate acid:
H+ + OH? ? H2O
. . .
I think you can see the point that none of this type of ion-shifting could ever leave the body more alkaline than it started.
______
Finally, Ultrarunner, I challenge you to design an experiment that would demonstrate how ingesting a bagful of lemons would change the body’s pH, using only a pH meter to test the effects. I’m challenging you tongue-in-cheek: I assume that you made that suggestion facetiously, since you appear to be smart enough to know that you couldn’t just measure the pH of a person’s waste products.
Note: This website somehow translated all the minus signs, that mark negatively charged ions, into question marks.
In reading the posts and comments on this site, I’ve noticed that the trend is toward the friendly presentation and exchange of ideas and experience. There’s very little (if any) argument or argumentative debate. I don’t wish to be the one to change or interupt that trend. In any event, much of my input would be guesswork (as I suspect your would), and I see no point in getting into an battle of hunches.
Therefore, I’ll offer one response to your comments, and that’s it. You can have the last word if you so choose. That’s not to say that I’m not seeking the truth on this matter, or that I won’t continue to contribute to the discussion.
First, I don’t (and I expect you don’t) know enough chemistry to know when smoke is being blown up “our whatoosi” (for example, I always thought we had one each, but I might have learned that in biology class). I suspect it constantly is being so blown, and that we are many times entirely unaware of the draft.
You wrote: “So the question before us is, “When you dissolve (digest) citric acid, which is extremely acidic and low pH (~2.3), into an aqueous solution such as the body, which has a fairly neutral (~6.8), how does the resulting solution become more alkaline (higher than 6.8)?”
That is NOT the question before us, and that question is irrelevant here, as we are NOT “dissolving citric acid into an aqueous solution such as the body, which has a fairly neutral pH (~6.8).” We are introducing (not necessarily dissolving) lemon juice and pulp into the body, and “the body” doesn’t have a pH, but its parts have varying pHs.
Do you admit that there is a qualitative difference between lemons and citric acid? Can you supply us with the chemical composition of the interior of the average lemon? If you can, and will, we may continue with this particular course of investigation. If not, I don’t think you may ask such a question. If you get to equate a lemon with citric acid, I get to equate the human body with oxygen, or carbon or calcium. Neither would be correct, and doing either would make a nonsense of the discussion.
You: “The answer is that it doesn’t because, chemically and physically, it’s not possible. “Lay” people, people without a basic knowledge of chemistry, are being hoodwinked by manipulators of their lack of knowledge into buying snake oil to cure an imaginary disease.”
Rather than tell us what is not possible, please tell us what happens to lemon juice as it passes through the body. I’ll start you off. I squeeze a lemon and introduce the juice into my mouth…. then what happens? If you don’t know, then surely my guess is as good as yours? If so, wouldn’t it be more productive if you actually provided a guess, instead of just naysaying the guesses of others?
Meanwhile, I’d really like to see a business plan that laid out the snake-oil profit-making potential of promoting the sale of lemons as blood pH buffers, to include a description of the “imaginary disease” they are being promoted here as curing? Is this mass “hoodwinking” part of some underhand ploy by the International Lemon Marketing Board (ILMB)? Are you sure you believe some shady backroom conspiracy is manipulating the public’s general lack of chemistry knowledge in order to sell them lemons? Could those two little girls with the lemonade stand across the street be working for the Illuminati?
“To make something more alkaline means adding a positively charged ion to it. H+ is the usual, simplest example. But since charge is conserved (chemical equations balance), that positive ion COMES FROM something in the body (solution) that was positively charged before digestion and, after digestion, is left more acidic.”
Is it possible that the presence of citric acid somewhere, or the reaction of that acid with something else, allows the absorption of alkaline substances (from food) by the blood?
You: “Despite your examples, it doesn’t matter which elements are being digested (Ca, Mg, etc.): the same number of positive and negative ions remain after digestion as existed before, although they may be part of new, digested compounds.”
So, if I drink a glass of water (H2O) with a teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) dissolved in it, and I go for a run on a hot day, and later urinate, the same number of positive and negative ions – from that solution – remain in my body as existed when I “digested” that solution? If not, which ones remain, and in what number?
“I think you can see the point that none of this type of ion-shifting could ever leave the body more alkaline than it started.”
No, I can’t see that point. It is a fact that blood and other bodily fluid pH does fluctuate. Can you explain those fluctuations in terms of positive and negative ions? The human body amazes me. I stand in awe of its design and function. I don’t know how it does what it does, and, since people are still suffering disease and dying, I suspect the “experts” don’t either. Empirical evidence would suggest that my body functions and reacts to external stimulus and input somewhat differently than other people’s bodies. That, in itself, would give the lie to anyone’s claim to know how THE human body functions.
As such, I prefer to be “hoodwinked” into experiementing with my own body, in order to subjectively ascertain whether or not a given “snake oil” produces a beneficial effect. I don’t really care whether lemon juice makes my blood more alkaline or not, or whether “more” alkaline blood is a good thing or not. What I care about is whether or not drinking lemon juice makes me perform and feel better (a subjective evaluation).
“Finally, Ultrarunner, I challenge you to design an experiment that would demonstrate how ingesting a bagful of lemons would change the body’s pH, using only a pH meter to test the effects. I’m challenging you tongue-in-cheek: I assume that you made that suggestion facetiously, since you appear to be smart enough to know that you couldn’t just measure the pH of a person’s waste products.”
I guessed the challenge was issued tongue-in-cheek when you mentioned a “change the body’s pH”. Such an experiment could be designed, however, to test the effects on the blood’s, urine’s and saliva’s pH at various intervals after ingestion of the bagful of lemons. Of course, the results would have to be taken with a pinch of NaCl, given that the experimental environment in question would necessarily have to be seen as being a very complex one, where too many factors would be constantly in flux to allow for any scientific conclusion to be drawn specifically about the effects of the ingestion of the lemons.
I suggested the pH meter simply as a tool for ascertaining the pH level of various bodily fluids, with a view to comparing those levels to subjective evaluations of how you felt or performed. Something along the non-scientific lines of “Wow, that lemonade is really refreshing!”
Now, a question: Will the introduction of my acerbic wit into your consciousness make your response to me more acidic or less acidic than the previous one?
Me: “Get the normal CO2 level in your blood sorted out (by nose-breathing) and a desire to consume a healthy diet may naturally follow.”
I wonder if anyone can provide any experiential insight into whether the above has any truth? I know that in my own case, seeking a healthier diet followed my beginning to run long distance, and that such interest has been rekindled a few months after resuming hard training after each break. The more concerted my training effort, the greater my (seemingly from an unconscious base) interest in refining my dietary habits. I don’t consciously seek to make these changes due to some improvement I hope to make in my training, but rather am drawn to them, almost irresistably.
So, I run, and I begin to consider cutting out coffee, or I “happen to discover” or am sent articles on how cola is worse for me than I knew, or I am struck with a sudden desire to experiment with various aspects of my diet.
My instinct (sorry, I don’t have any links to offer for that) tells me that running training eventually helps to regulate my breathing. My research, influenced by my instinct, tells me that that probably has something to do with my breathing more into my lower lungs (as opposed to shallowly into my upper lungs – thus triggering the stress response and resulting in hyperventilation). Basically, I better regulate my blood CO2 levels. Then my mind invariably turns to dietary “improvements”.
I wonder then, if people generally show up for their first yoga class already on a vegan/vegetarian diet (as a continuation of a “health” trend begun with dietary changes), or they generally adopt such a diet after some time spent doing yoga? My instinct tells me that for most distance runners making such a change in their eating habits, the sequence would be breathing- diet.
So, which is discarded first, the chicken-breaths or the egg? If it’s the former, could further training our breathing result in our naturally discovering (being led to) our individually optimal diets?
To start at the end, I rather appreciate the introduction of your acerbic with into this discussion. I thought perhaps, in designing an experiment, you might suggest where I should stick the pH meter!
To continue with the beginning, I have no desire to argue pointlessly or in an unfriendly way, nor to have the last word, but I would like to have a dialogue that promotes increased understanding and the increase of actual knowledge. We certainly agree that opinions only get us so far.
I could have said “our collective whatoosi”, and perhaps I should have said “our whatoosis”, but I thought that it was possible that whatoosi is the plural form of whatoosus.
I may have fallaciously associated lemon juice with citric acid, omitting other parts of the lemon. I did so because lemon juice and citric acid are reported to have the same pH.
I agree that the body has varying pHs, but the Alkaline Body people seem to skip over that, too. My impression is that they are saying that we should have a more alkaline body overall, and they don’t seem to make distinctions about our different, interdependent systems.
So when we get to the point of “I put lemon juice in my mouth and then what happens?”, I agree, your guess is as good as mine. My only point, however badly made, is that it doesn’t make any sense that this acid would make your body more alkaline, either in certain parts or overall, as it passes through. I believe I did offer my guess, rather than just naysaying. If I wasn’t clear, my guess is that introducing acids into your body makes your body more acidic.
I think the next thing you say is a very good question. You ask, “Is it possible that the presence of citric acid somewhere, or the reaction of that acid with something else, allows the absorption of alkaline substances (from food) by the blood?” Correct me if I’m wrong, but you are suggesting that substances that otherwise would be unavailable to the body become available in the presence of lemon juice. That seems entirely possible. I have not seen that argument advanced by the Alkaline Body promoters.
The way you asked that question makes it clear you can see my point about adding acid to an aqueous solution, even if that example isn’t a chemically perfect analogy. So when we get to your next question about drinking bicarb in your water, running and then urinating, we are back to the issue of “Overall” or “Sum of the Parts”, in a different context. Can we agree that we have to look at all the parts, perhaps summing them all, and all the physical and molecular activities together, at the same time that we integrate the ever-elusive “all else being equal”, to isolate and quantify our experimental results?
I totally agree that different bodies react differently. That point completely undermines the hypothesis. Your next thought totally ignores the hypothesis. If all you care about is whether lemon juice makes you feel better, I can get along with that! But I only responded to this thread because people were claiming that lemon juice makes your (and mine, and everybody’s) body more alkaline! I don’t get that, and I disagree with that. I don’t disagree that it’s good to do things that help you perform and feel better!
In the end, I think we agree that there are criticisms that must not be ignored when people claim that lemon juice makes your body more alkaline. Whether that’s because the body is too complex to be properly measured or because an acid makes the cumulative pH of all one’s body parts more acidic, not more alkaline, and because the supporters of the Alkaline Body theory who also promote lemon juice as part of their therapy have not, to my knowledge, addressed these basic “lay” objections, I think we agree that the Alkaline Body / lemon juice supporters have not made their case.
In case that sounds like the last word, I also wish to remain open to you or anyone else who can address my original question and make the case that drinking lemon juice makes your body’s cumulative or overall pH more alkaline.
Thank you, Ultrarunner, for your acerbic wit and thoughtful response!
Ravi-
Glad to hear you’re still at it. It’s a great blog with a very committed community.
I’d love to chat sometime about you’ve been able to engaged such a passionate group!
Hope all is well.
Cheers,
Ryan
Boxcar, I only wonder if your original question is legitimate, here specifically, or even generally.
As you agree, the body is too complex an environemnt to lend itself to such a test. Does that mean we should dispense with all “It’s good for you” type observations?
I get the impression that the author of this blog makes many of his observations here based on instinct, personal experience, and self-experiments whose results are based in feeling and subjective evaluations of personal performance. I appreciate and welcome that input. The workings of the human body and mind are far too complex to be left to the scientists to explain. WE are each, far and away, the expert when it comes to our own individual bodies.
I feel the author, in making such statements as “Drinking some water with fresh-squeezed LEMON JUICE is highly alkalizing” is speaking from a place of belief – he heard that and believed it – rather than verifiable, scientific “fact” (if there ultimately is such a thing). I appreciate that also. We feel lots of things before they are verified (or not) to our senses. Sometimes, we only ever have the feeling. However, because no hard evidence follows, does not prove our feelings were unjustified or wrong.
I don’t agree that a blog author, or anyone else, necessarily has to provide scientific evidence for every claim he makes. What kind of a world would it be where that were necessary? There’s a difference between knowledge and wisdom. The former can be taught, the latter can’t. Wisdom is not built of verifiable fact, but good sense based on awareness and thoughtful evaluation of personal experience. Empirical evidence always arrives in single instances. The author describes his evidence and, I suspect, based on pure instinct (wisdom?), attributes his results to something. People probably return here looking for raw material with which to construct their own wisdom, via personal experimentation and observation. The author gives us food for thought. We don’t have to eat it.
I like this blog precisely because it doesn’t regurgitate “known” science. Science, although apparently sure that instinct exists and thrives in all other animals, has decided to deny its existence (or value) in man. For me, that is reason enough to continue my own experiments, the design of which is usually based on instinctive evaluation of other’s (sometimes they are scientists) reported experience, and the results of which are, most times, ascertained and evaluated based on feeling and subjective evaluation of performance.
Human beings have a tendency to want to label their discoveries. If the author decides to label his discovery that drinking lemon juice makes him feel better as “Alkalyzing his body”, what’s wrong with that? As we have seen, it would be nigh impossible (that’s scientific jargon for “impossible”) to prove him wrong (or right). Since he is not presenting his findings to the JAMA, he has no responsibility to “prove” anything to anyone. Caveat lector!
As it stands, I’ve decided to believe that drinking lemon juice has an alkalyzing effect on the body – or parts of the body, and that that effect is generally beneficial. You probably don’t want to get me started on how I believe that just having that belief is enough to provide me with a beneficial effect.
I believe we err when attempting to verify or justify how we feel by scientific or psuedo-scientific means. In this specific case, I feel it is enough to for a person to know (feel) that drinking lemon juice makes him feel or perform better. Since feeling better, or instinctively feeling healthier, or performing better is the desired end of the experimentation, testing the pH of bodily fluids is pointless (Use the force, Luke!). Attributing and labeling a believed intermediate cause (alkalyzing the body) for an effect (feeling better) seemingly brought about by a known cause (drinking lemon juice) is perhaps also pointless. However, humans feel the need to do it, and that may be point enough.
Disclaimer: I NEVER intend to consult with a doctor before I do anything. Who lived and made them boss?
I appreciate your point. I note that it’s not just this blog author who says lemon juice alkalinizes your body, whole books about the alkaline body include this lemon juice idea — which nobody seems prepared to prove, or even offer the slightest substantiation for.
Look, if people want to say that lemon juice tastes good, feels good going down, and makes people happy, great. Why throw in bad science?
Separately, I appreciate the placebo effect. Nevertheless, if Valvoline told you that drinking motor oil could be good for you, and it turned out that some people actually did report feeling better for a while after drinking motor oil, would you try it? That’s all I’m saying.
Lemon juice is a good and healthy thing. But please, people, stop saying that drinking one of the most acidic edible liquids around makes your body more alkaline. That’s about as logical, without some kind of substantiation, as drinking motor oil to lubricate your brain.
Hey Boxcar and Ultrarunner! Thanks for insightful comments. I make no claims to be a scientist
, and must say I’ve learn a lot by reading your perspectives. Thanks for sharing!
Ravi
Try these reading:
Your Body’s Many Cries for Water by Dr. Batmanghelidj
The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell,
Thomas M. Campbell II
Thanks for the info. While i can follow the chemistry of some of the foods discussed, i too am still a little confused about some of them.
Does seem a little strange to me that consuming acidic foods result in alkaline effect and the other way around.
I actually came across this by accident while trying to find information on alkaline foods to eat (to lower the pH of my stomach in any attempt to relieve/lessen acid reflux). Any suggestions on foods that would both be initially alkaline to reduce the pH of the stomach as well as have alkaline end products to help alkalize the body as a whole???
Lemon juice is high in vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant. (DISREGARD LAST)
Its true that our bodies are works of art, but when impurities are introduced; instead of taking on their place as works of art, they become the reason for our diminished quality of life. Our body in its natural state is at its strongest but when neglected becomes “our weakest” link and our greatest problem. Allow me to explain using the analogy of our liver.
One way our body stays sharp is through the use of its liver. As the liver removes certain contaminants from the blood stream (acting as the filter for our blood), by products of free radicals are formed locally in the liver. However, antioxidants, especially those found in citric foods like lemons and limes cleanse the liver of these free radicals, so that before they enter the blood stream, they are eliminated. If these free radicals were to enter the blood stream, they would combine with water (H2O) to create hydrogen peroxide or H2O2 and a number of other forms of ROSs to include 2O2- and 1O2-; the former of the group being a low level acid and an oxidizer reducing agent. Unfortunately, this reducing agent is notorious for reducing NO or Nitric Oxide, the body’s natural defense for regulating acidic blood, as well as the body’s overall blood flow. This is not good news if your blood PH levels are to remain alkaline, poised to accept greater amounts of oxygen an avoid oxygen breaking down into more free radicals.
As for the carbon dioxide in the muscles; oxygen replenishment through hemoglobin (helps to oxygenate blood) and then replenish muscles that are heavy in carbon dioxide. The CO2 in the muscles readily absorbs into the blood as the blood decreases in oxygen concentration, directly effecting the Ph, making it more acidic until the body can exhale the carbon dioxide after it passes through the heart and cardiovascular system.
Another thing can happen, though, with free radicals and H2O2; they harden the blood vessels, causing arteriscerlosis to set in, and then the inflammation or tearing of these arteries sets in when the vessels attempt to dilate and retract as the endolthelium regulates blood flow to meet oxygen requirements. Eventually, after enough tearing, the body releases white blood cells to the inflamed area to “repair” the tears from blood vessels. These cells when grouped together create plaque in the vessels, which impedes blood flow and creates high blood pressure, DIRECTLY creates more stress, and the subsequent release of more acid and free radicals into the blood, thus tipping off even more hardening of blood vessels, more localized tearing of them,and eventually, more inflammations.
NOTE: Under normal conditions (at rest) the antioxidant defense system within the body can easily handle free radicals that are produced. During times of increased oxygen flux (i.e. exercise), increased consumption of acidic foods, or the sudden inoperability of the liver, free radical production may exceed the body’s removal ability, ultimately resulting in lipid peroxidation and thus the need for citric fruits. Free radicals have been implicated as playing a role in the etiology of cardiovascular disease (free radicals get into the heart muscle), cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease.
What does this mean? This all means that during exceptionally high free radical introductions, cleansing the liver with citric fruits and sprouts will stave off the effects of stress and bad eating that are known to create acidic blood, blood that does not dissolve oxygen as easily becausse O2 is broken up by free radicals, both of which create muscle fatigue when muscles remain without their ideal levels of oxygen.
Other forms of muscle fatigue come from low counts of low blood cells (take folic acid to increase count), and also when hemoglobin in red blood cells binds with carbon monoxide instead of oxygen and/or low overall iron levels in the blood, not allowing for the steady state number of hemoglobin within the red blood cells.
PS, from http://www.herbsarespecial.com/:
To find out if a food is acid or alkaline, it is burned to ash (this can be compared to the burning of food that takes place when we digest food). Water is added to the ash residue to make a solution and then this is tested, to determine the concentration, or strength, of either acid or alkaline. The ash relates to the mineral content of the food. If the food is rich in alkaline minerals of calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, sodium and manganese, the pH will be alkaline. If the food has mainly acid minerals of phosphorus, chlorine, sulphur, silicon, iodine and fluorine it will create an acid state in the body, unless we have eaten sufficient alkaline foods to counteract this acid state. on account of blood circulation that is impeded by white blood cell build up.
Read here if you want to know more ATP and its role with giving the body its energy:
Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is an enzyme that is able to engulf and digest bacteria, protozoa, and cell wastes, and it is important to a functional, immune system. Coenzyme Q10 is another enzyme important to the body, with the ability to fight free radicals, provide energy to cells, and is able to strengthen the action of the antioxidant vitamin E. It is a catalyst to the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which serves as an energy source for many of the body’s biochemical processes and represents the reserve energy in the muscles. This enzyme is found in unprocessed grains (sprouts being a good source), also legumes, and brassicas.
Other sources:
http://www.exrx.net/Nutrition/Antioxidants/Introduction.html
http://www.squidoo.com/does-lemon-juice-detox-the-liver
Lemon juice is high in vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant. (DISREGARD LAST)
Its true that our bodies are works of art, but when impurities are introduced; instead of taking on their place as works of art, they become the reason for our diminished quality of life. Our body in its natural state is at its strongest but when neglected, it becomes “our weakest” link and our greatest problem. Allow me to explain using the analogy of our liver.
One way our body stays sharp is through the use of its liver. As the liver removes certain contaminants from the blood stream (acting as the filter for our blood), by products of free radicals are formed locally in the liver. However, antioxidants, especially those found in citric foods like lemons and limes cleanse the liver of these free radicals, so that before they enter the blood stream, they are eliminated. If these free radicals were to enter the blood stream, they would combine with water (H2O) to create hydrogen peroxide or H2O2 and a number of other forms of ROSs to include 2O2- and 1O2-; the former of the group being a low level acid and an oxidizer reducing agent. Unfortunately, this reducing agent is notorious for reducing NO or Nitric Oxide, the body’s natural defense for regulating acidic blood, as well as the body’s overall blood flow. This is not good news if your blood PH levels are to remain alkaline, poised to accept greater amounts of oxygen an avoid oxygen breaking down into more free radicals.
As for the carbon dioxide in the muscles; oxygen replenishment through hemoglobin (helps to oxygenate blood) and then replenish muscles that are heavy in carbon dioxide. The CO2 in the muscles readily absorbs into the blood as the blood decreases in oxygen concentration, directly effecting the Ph, making it more acidic until the body can exhale the carbon dioxide after it passes through the heart and cardiovascular system.
Another thing can happen, though, with free radicals and H2O2; they harden the blood vessels, causing arteriscerlosis to set in, and then the inflammation or tearing of these arteries sets in when the vessels attempt to dilate and retract as the endolthelium regulates blood flow to meet oxygen requirements. Eventually, after enough tearing, the body releases white blood cells to the inflamed area to “repair” the tears from blood vessels. These cells when grouped together create plaque in the vessels, which impedes blood flow and creates high blood pressure, DIRECTLY creates more stress, and the subsequent release of more acid and free radicals into the blood, thus tipping off even more hardening of blood vessels, more localized tearing of them,and eventually, more inflammations.
NOTE: Under normal conditions (at rest) the antioxidant defense system within the body can easily handle free radicals that are produced. During times of increased oxygen flux (i.e. exercise), increased consumption of acidic foods, or the sudden inoperability of the liver, free radical production may exceed the body’s removal ability, ultimately resulting in lipid peroxidation and thus the need for citric fruits. Free radicals have been implicated as playing a role in the etiology of cardiovascular disease (free radicals get into the heart muscle), cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease.
What does this mean? This all means that during exceptionally high free radical introductions, cleansing the liver with citric fruits and sprouts will stave off the effects of stress and bad eating that are known to create acidic blood, blood that does not dissolve oxygen as easily becausse O2 is broken up by free radicals, both of which create muscle fatigue when muscles remain without their ideal levels of oxygen.
Other forms of muscle fatigue come from low counts of low blood cells (take folic acid to increase count), and also when hemoglobin in red blood cells binds with carbon monoxide instead of oxygen and/or low overall iron levels in the blood, not allowing for the steady state number of hemoglobin within the red blood cells.
PS, from http://www.herbsarespecial.com/:
To find out if a food is acid or alkaline, it is burned to ash (this can be compared to the burning of food that takes place when we digest food). Water is added to the ash residue to make a solution and then this is tested, to determine the concentration, or strength, of either acid or alkaline. The ash relates to the mineral content of the food. If the food is rich in alkaline minerals of calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, sodium and manganese, the pH will be alkaline. If the food has mainly acid minerals of phosphorus, chlorine, sulphur, silicon, iodine and fluorine it will create an acid state in the body, unless we have eaten sufficient alkaline foods to counteract this acid state. on account of blood circulation that is impeded by white blood cell build up.
Read here if you want to know more ATP and its role with giving the body its energy:
Superoxide dismutase (SOD) is an enzyme that is able to engulf and digest bacteria, protozoa, and cell wastes, and it is important to a functional, immune system. Coenzyme Q10 is another enzyme important to the body, with the ability to fight free radicals, provide energy to cells, and is able to strengthen the action of the antioxidant vitamin E. It is a catalyst to the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which serves as an energy source for many of the body’s biochemical processes and represents the reserve energy in the muscles. This enzyme is found in unprocessed grains (sprouts being a good source), also legumes, and brassicas.
Other sources:
http://www.exrx.net/Nutrition/Antioxidants/Introduction.html
http://www.squidoo.com/does-lemon-juice-detox-the-liver
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