1). Eat raw fruits and vegetables in the most alkaline range.
2). Remove strong acidifiers from the diet such as sodas, whole wheat, caffeine, tobacco, black tea, alcohol and red meat.
3). Drink Ionized water or mineral water.
It is important to understand that we are not talking about stomach acid or the pH of the stomach. We are talking about the pH of the body's fluids and tissues, which is an entirely different matter.
| Most Acid | Acid | Lowest Acid | FOOD CATEGORY | Lowest Alkaline | Alkaline | Most Alkaline |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NutraSweet, Equal, Aspartame, Sweet 'N Low | White Sugar, Brown Sugar | Processed Honey, Molasses | SWEETENERS | Raw Honey, Raw Sugar | Maple Syrup, Rice Syrup | Stevia |
| Blueberries, Cranberries, Prunes | Sour Cherries, Rhubarb | Plums, Processed Fruit Juices | FRUITS | Oranges, Bananas, Cherries, Pineapple, Peaches, Avocados | Dates, Figs, Melons, Grapes, Papaya, Kiwi, Berries, Apples, Pears, Raisins | Lemons, Watermelon, Limes, Grapefruit, Mangoes, Papayas |
| Chocolate | Potatoes (without skins), Pinto Beans, Navy Beans, Lima Beans | Cooked Spinach, Kidney Beans, String Beans | BEANS VEGETABLES LEGUMES | Carrots, Tomatoes, Fresh Corn, Mushrooms, Cabbage, Peas, Potato Skins, Olives, Soybeans, Tofu | Okra, Squash, Green Beans, Beets, Celery, Lettuce, Zucchini, Sweet Potato, Carob | Asparagus, Onions, Vegetable Juices, Parsley, Raw Spinach, Broccoli, Garlic |
| Peanuts, Walnuts | Pecans, Cashews | Pumpkin Seeds, Sunflower Seeds | NUTS SEEDS | Almonds | ||
| Corn Oil | OILS | Canola Oil | Flax Seed Oil | Olive Oil | ||
| Wheat, White Flour, Pastries, Pasta | White Rice, Corn, Buckwheat, Oats, Rye | Sprouted Wheat Bread, Spelt, Brown Rice | GRAINS CEREALS | Amaranth, Millet, Wild Rice, Quinoa | ||
| Beef, Pork, Shellfish | Turkey, Chicken, Lamb | Venison, Cold Water Fish | MEATS | |||
| Cheese, Homogenized Milk, Ice Cream | Raw Milk | Eggs, Butter, Yogurt, Buttermilk, Cottage Cheese | EGGS DAIRY | Soy Cheese, Soy Milk, Goat Milk, Goat Cheese, Whey | Breast Milk | |
| Beer, Soft Drinks | Coffee | Tea | BEVERAGES | Ginger Tea | Green Tea | Herb Teas, Lemon Water |
|
| ||||||||||||
| Avoid eating carbohydrates with acid fruits | This combination may neutralize your enzymes causing your food to putrefy. |
| Avoid eating concentrated proteins with concentrated carbohydrates | Remember the pizza? How it made you feel? Especially when you were tired? |
| Do not consume two concentrated proteins at the same meal | Two concentrated proteins of different character and composition (such as nuts and cheese) should not be combined. Gastric acidity, type, strength, and timing of secretions for various proteins is not uniform. Since concentrated protein is more difficult to digest than other food elements, incompatible combinations of two different concentrated proteins should be avoided. |
| Do not consume fats with proteins | Our need for concentrated fat is small and most protein foods already contain a good deal of fat. Fat has an inhibiting effect on digestive secretions and lessens the amount and activity of pepsin and hydrochloric acid necessary for the digestion of protein. Fat may lower the entire digestive tone more than 50%. |
| Use fats sparingly | Fats
inhibit the secretion of gastric juice. Except with avocado, fats used
with starch delay the passage of the starch from the stomach into the
intestine. When fats such as avocados or nuts are eaten with raw green
vegetables, their inhibiting effect on gastric secretion is counteracted
and digestion proceeds normally. AVOCADOS: Though not a high protein food, avocados contain more protein than milk. They are high in fat and the small percentage of protein they contain is of high biological value. They are best used with a salad meal. Eating avocados with salad enhances their digestability. The next best combination for avocado is to take it with subacid or acid fruit. It is even better when lettuce leaves and celery are eaten with the fruit and the avocado. Since the avocado is low in protein, it may also be used with potatoes or other starch foods, provided a green salad is included in the meal. Avocados should never be used with nuts, which are also high in fat. Fats other than nuts and avocados are not recommended for regular use. |
| Do not eat acid fruits with proteins | Citrus, tomatoes, pineapple, strawberries, and other acid fruits should not be eaten with nuts, cheese, eggs or meat. If you are ill, avoid acid fruits especially in juice form - but lemons and limes are always a great addition due to their enzyme content. |
| Do not combine sweet fruits with proteins, starches, or acid fruits | The sugars in sweet fruit should be free to leave the stomach within twenty minutes, and are apt to ferment if digestion is delayed by mixing with other foods. Sugar-starch combinations cause additional problems. When sugar is taken the mouth quickly fills with saliva, but no ptyalin is present. Ptyalin is essential for starch digestion. If starch is disguised by sugar, honey, molasses, or sweet fruit, digestion is impaired. Fermentation is inevitable if sugars of any kind are delayed in the stomach by the digestion of starch, protein, or acid fruit. Sugar also has a marked inhibiting effect on the flow of gastric juices. |
| Eat only one concentrated starch at a meal | This rule is more important as a means of avoiding overeating starches than avoiding a bad combination. Slightly starchy vegetables may be combined with more starchy vegetables such as carrots and potatoes, but not with combination foods such as grains and legumes. |
| Acid fruits may be used with subacid fruits | This combination is best made with less sweet subacid fruits. Never use acid fruits with sweet fruits. Tomatoes should not be combined with subacid fruit nor with any other kind of fruit. They are best combined with a salad meal at which no starches are served. |
| Subacid fruits may be used with sweet fruits | It is best to use the sweeter varieties of subacid fruits when making this combination. For people with poor digestion, bananas are best eaten alone. For others, bananas combine fairly well with dates, raisins, grapes, and other sweet fruit, and with green leafy vegetables such as lettuce and celery. Dried sweet fruits should be used sparingly, because the sugar concentration is naturally greater. It is best to have these fruits at a fruit meal combined with a salad of lettuce and celery. |
| Combine fruit only with lettuce and celery | These uncooked vegetables with a fruit meal may even enhance digestion of the fruit. |
| Salads combine very well with proteins or starches | Non starchy vegetables may be combined with proteins or starch. The green leafy vegetables combine very well with most other foods, and should form the major part of one's daily diet. Through the week, use as wide a variety of vegetables as possible. Lettuce and other green and non-starchy vegetables leave the stomach with little change. They pass through the stomach rapidly unless delayed by oily dressing or foods that require a more thorough gastric digestion. |
| Do not consume melons with any other foods | Many
people who have complained that melons did not agree with them have no
trouble when eating only melons at a meal. Melons are more than 90% liquid
and leave the stomach quickly if not delayed and fermented by combining
with other foods. Avoid over ripe fruit, this may cause digestive disturbances. |
| Sprouts | The best way to eat grains is as sprouts. When grains are sprouted, they come alive with enzymes and oxygen. They become a pre-digested food. Other seeds and legumes may be sprouted as well. |
| Water | You should drink alkaline water throughout the day. Do not allow your thirst to build up. Do not allow dehydration to occur. Do not drink a large amount at one time. It is better to have a smaller but continual flow of water for proper assimilation and detoxification. Don't dilute the natural enzymes in your body by drinking with meals. Water is a food, make it the best quality you can. Avoid distilled and chlorinated for health sake. |
Minerals Buffer Acids
- A recent study conducted at the University of California-San Francisco on
9,704 postmenopausal women showed that those who have higher acidity levels
(also called chronic acidosis) from a diet rich in animal foods are at greater
risk for lower bone density levels than those who have "normal" pH levels. The
researchers who carried out this study hypothesized that many of the hip
fractures prevalent among older women correlated to higher acidity from a diet
rich in animal foods and low in vegetables. The body apparently borrows calcium
from the bones in order to balance pH, and this calcium borrowing may result in
a decrease in bone density. -American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Jan. 2001,
Vol. 73, No.1, pp. 118-122.
Urine pH - Urinary pH
levels can indicate how well your body is assimilating minerals, especially
calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium. These are called the "acid buffers"
because they are used by the body to control acid levels. When acid levels begin
to increase, the body becomes less capable of excreting acid. It must either
store the acid in body tissues, or buffer it-that is, borrow minerals from
organs, bones, etc., in order to neutralize the increase in acidity. Urinary pH
should fluctuate between 6.0-6.4 in the morning and 6.4-7.0 in the evening.
Saliva pH - You'll also want to test the pH of your
saliva. The results of saliva testing can indicate the activity of digestive
enzymes in your body, especially the activity of the liver and the stomach. This
reveals the flow of enzymes running through your body and shows their effect on
all the body systems and your tissues. Some people will have acidic pH readings
from both urine and saliva-this is referred to as "double acid." Salivary pH
should stay between 6.4 and 6.8.
Get the facts on pH -
Herbal programs may work more effectively when the pH is in balance. Get more
from your supplementation program by balancing your pH. Read more on pH
balancing or order the new pH Balancing Simplified booklet to get the facts
about pH balancing. Order
Booklet
The Untold Truth Tape-pH Balancing Simplified features Senior National Manager Joan Vandergriff in a frank discussion about the importance of pH balancing and the health concerns associated with pH imbalance. Learn how pH influences the digestive, glandular, nervous, intestinal and immune systems. Discover how certain foods and environmental conditions can wreak havoc on pH balance. Hear Dr. William Cowden explain the science behind pH in the body, the seriousness of the health issues associated with high acid levels and much more. Get this valuable information today. Your health is in the balance! Order Untold Truth Tape
Over acidity, which can become a dangerous condition that weakens all body systems, is very common today. It gives rise to an internal environment conducive to disease, as opposed to a pH-balanced environment which allows normal body function necessary for the body to resist disease. A healthy body maintains adequate alkaline reserves to meet emergency demands. When access acids must be neutralized our alkaline reserves are depleted leaving the body in a weakened condition.
Keeping the Balance Right for Excellent Health
Your body is able to assimilate minerals and nutrients properly only when its pH is balanced. It is therefore possible for you to be taking healthy nutrients and yet be unable to absorb or use them. If you are not getting the results you expected from your nutritional or herbal program, look for an acid alkaline imbalance. Even the right herbal program may not work if your body's pH is out of balance.
What if I'm Acidic?
By far the most common imbalance seen in our society is over acidity. If your urine and/or saliva test below 6.5 pH start with steps 1, 2 and 3 below and continue adding steps until desired results are achieved. Be sure to monitor your progress with easy-to-use pH test strips:
1. Enzymes are essential: Take 1-2 capsules of Food Enzymes or Proactazyme with every meal. If you have both over-acid urine and saliva, also take 1-2 capsules of Protease Plus between meals on an empty stomach.
2. Correct calcium is needed: 1-2 small scoops of Coral Calcium each day. This is a very alkalizing form of calcium. Or, take 4-6 Skeletal Strength tablets daily. This contains a very absorbable calcium and magnesium. Children should use Chewable Calcium for Kids or liquid calcium.
3. Alkaline minerals are essential: Take 1 ounce of either Colloidal Minerals or Mineral Chi Tonic once daily, or take 1 teaspoon of Liquid Chlorophyll in water up to eight times daily.
4. Anything green is alkaline: Take Ultimate GreenZone or Herbal Potassium Combination according to label directions. Eat more fruits and vegetables and less animal products.
5. Vitamin A & D hold calcium in the body. Taking Vitamin A & D will help the body buffer acid.
6. What if my pH is still too acidic? As a temporary measure take 2 Stomach Comfort tablets twice daily between meals. (Not for long-term use.) Monitor your pH daily.
7. Cleanse as needed: Take a psyllium hulls supplement such as Psyllium Hulls Combination at bedtime to maintain regular bowel movements. Use Chinese Tiao He Cleanse or CleanStart twice a year for liver, bowel and kidney detoxification.
Get the book! Get a copy of the book Alkalize or Die by Dr. Baroody (see recommended reading below) and carefully follow his dietary recommendations choosing more foods that are alkaline-forming and less that are acid-forming. A healthy diet should consist of 80% alkaline-forming foods and 20% acid-forming foods.
What Causes Me to be Acidic?
The reason acidosis is more common in our society is mostly due to the typical American diet, which is far too high in acid-producing animal products like meat, eggs and dairy, and far too low in alkaline-producing foods like fresh vegetables. Additionally, we eat acid-producing processed foods like white flour and sugar and drink acid-producing beverages like coffee and soft drinks. We use too many drugs, which are acid-forming; and we use artificial chemical sweetners like NutraSweet, Equal, or aspartame, which are extremely acid-forming. One of the best things we can do to correct an overly-acid body is to clean up the diet and lifestyle. Refer to the recommended reading for specific help with diet and lifestyle.
What if I'm Overly-Alkaline?
Alkalinity is relatively rare, but if your urine and/or saliva consistently test above 7.0 pH, start with steps 1, 2 and 3 below and continue adding steps until the desired results are achieved.
Be sure to monitor your progress with easy-to-use pH test strips. You will notice that some of these steps are the same as those recommended above for an overly acidic condition. This is because such steps are balancing, tending to bring the pH back toward normal no matter which direction it has gone:
1. Enzymes are essential: Use 1-2 capsules of Proactazyme with each meal. For stronger enzymatic action in difficult cases add 1-2 capsules of Protease Plus between meals on an empty stomach.
2. Correct calcium is needed: Take 4-6 Skeletal Strength tablets daily.
3. Vitamin C: Use Timed-Release or Vitamin C Ascorbates. Use 3,000 mg or more, to maximum bowel tolerance. (If diarrhea occurs, reduce intake.)
4. Flax Seed Oil: Use 1 capsules of Flax Seed Oil 3 times a day or 2 tablespoons of oil daily.
5. Ultimate GreenZone: Follow label directions.
6. Cleanse as needed: Take a psyllium hulls supplement such as Psyllium Hulls Combination at bedtime to maintain regular bowel movements. Use Chinese Tiao He Cleanse or CleanStart twice a year for liver, bowel, and kidney detoxification.
Note that a food's acid or alkaline-forming tendency in the body has nothing to do with the actual pH of the food itself. For example, lemons are very acidic, however the end-products they produce after digestion and assimilation are very alkaline so lemons are alkaline-forming in the body.
Likewise, meat will test alkaline before digestion but it leaves very acidic residue in the body so, like nearly all animal products, meat is very acid-forming.
Recommended Reading:
Alkalize or Die by Dr. Theodore A. Baroody, Available at Amazon.com for $14.95.