The average American diet is acidic. We do not eat enough fruits and vegetables, and we eat a lot of meat. Not good, considering the fact that an overly acidic diet depletes the minerals in the body, causing our tissues to degrade to a lower quality. Greater acidity in the body has been linked to increased body fat, kidney stones, migraines, osteoporosis, loss of muscle mass, and cardiovascular disease. Many people develop severe chest pain which mimics a heart attack.
In the human body, a pH of 7 is neutral. Over 7 is alkaline, and under 7 is acidic. You can easily measure the acid in your system by purchasing pH test strips at health food stores and online. Make sure you search under health and personal care, or you come up with product which test your house and swimming pool pH levels.
Even though I personally have eaten a very balanced diet over the past 20 years, I still tend to register on the acidic side. Apparently, I end up with a build up of acid in my system, and since I have muscular dystrophy, I need to take an antacid that is not calcium based. I always look at my diet first, since it is the easiest way to control my own health. Now, 2 years after learning about acid in my diet, I can tell when I need to take an antacid. My energy level is low, I feel tired even when I get plenty of sleep, I have pains where my gall bladder used to be. Which makes me wonder if it caused gall stones. My doctor did not believe me when I said I did not eat a lot of fat, which is usually the cause of gall stones. (I switched to a woman doctor soon after that and she believed me) They have since found that one of the causes of muscular dystrophy is the body’s inability to properly metabolize fat.
Here is a link to my favorite chart for checking out my own diet – from Essence-of-Life.com.
I also like The AAA Diet which has all kinds of information about combining foods and lots of recipes.
pH stands for the power of hydrogen. The H is a capitol to indicate that it is an element. In chemistry, pH is the negative log of hydrogen ion concentration in a water-based solution. The pH scale is a logarithmic scale ranging from 1 – 14.
DivineLoveDivineLife 