Sunday, April 19, 2009

Alkaline acid diet science

In the U.K., medical advice suggests we should eat five or more servings of fresh fruit and vegetables every day. The alkaline acid diet simply takes this advice a stage further.

The alkaline acid diet involves basing your diet around vegetables, citrus fruit, nuts, tubers, and legumes (alkaline foods) and steering clear of grains, dairy products, meat, excess salt, caffeine and alcohol (acid foods). Regardless of the term alkaline acid diet, most of you would likely agree that reducing the amount of so called acid foods while at the same time increasing consumption of alkaline foods is a good thing.

After scouring the internet I am beginning to discover some actual science upon which the alkaline acid diet is based. The science suggests that increasing the alkali content of the diet may attenuate bone loss in healthy older adults.

Eating more alkaline foods, or simply healthy foods, like vegetables as we all know is considered better than an acid diet of processed foods which often have high sugar and salt content.

The clinical experiment, quoted above, while not explicitly comparing an alkaline diet to an acid diet does suggest that the same benefits derived from dietary alkaline supplementation could also be observed by moving from the acid diet end of the spectrum to the alkaline diet side.

This study found that doses of bicarbonate reduced the amount of calcium excreted and had a positive effect on bone resorption - the process by which bones are broken down and calcium transferred to the blood stream.

Scientific information that backs up some of the claims made about the alkaline acid diet is reassuring. If a less acidic diet can play a part in reducing the breakdown of bone tissue it could be argued that the alkaline acid diet even promotes longevity. The study that this article about the alkaline diet is based on does not discuss how to lose weight fast. It's focus was more about the overall condition of the body.

Not only that but from my own experiences moving away from an acid diet and now eating and drinking much more vegetables, I feel I am becoming much healthier. Put simply, I just feel better physically and mentally!

So there is scientific evidence supporting the alkaline acid diet. Undoubtedly there will be more available which just makes me more determined to find it as I proceed with my own alkaline acid diet.

Reference:
Bess Dawson-Hughes et al. Treatment with Potassium Bicarbonate Lowers Calcium Excretion and Bone Resorption in Older Men and Women in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & metabolism

1 comment:

  1. I've been reading up on acid-alkaline balance too after knowing very little about it and can't believe that this isn't as much in the media as the flip side (high acid diets) such as Atkins, etc. Even to just compare the two or discuss how pH balance affects the body. Anyway, I pass along a recommendation to check out BetterBones dot com for an excellent set of articles on pH and bone health. It's the best and most readable I've found thus far. Here is a list of ALKALINE-FORMING FOODS

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