Why Is Your Body PH The Most Important Factor For Your Health?Your Body pH Is Affected By Almost Everything You Eat.Body pH has nothing to do with whether or not the food tastes acid. It’s about whether the food makes your blood more or less acid. (Not that your blood is ever acidic, but it can be closer to acid than it should.)
One of the most important ways to improve your health is to choose to eat more alkalising foods, less acidifying ones. You might be amazed at the number of health problems that clear up. If your blood pH is right, no bugs can live in your body. Bacteria, viruses, fungi - even cancer cells - all thrive in an over acidic body. Alkalize your body, and they will simply die off.
The acidity or alkalinity of a substance is measured by its pH, a number between 1 and 14, where 1 is most acid, 7 is neutral and 14 is most alkaline. Blood is slightly alkaline, with a pH of between 7.35 and 7.45. For optimum health, it’s best to have a blood pH between 7.4 and 7.5, as over-acidity is more of a problem than being too alkaline. Your body pH is constantly being adjusted. Exercise and most metabolic processes, including the digestion of some foods, lead to an increase in acidity of the blood. Excess acidity is dealt with in three ways: it is broken down and excreted to a certain extent; it is used up in stomach acid; and it is neutralised by alkalising minerals. These alkalizing minerals are mainly calcium, potassium, magnesium and sodium. If you don’t get enough of these in your diet, they will be taken from stores in your body. That means your bones and teeth! Given the average diet, it’s not surprising that osteoporosis and arthritis are so common among older people in western countries! So, which foods can help you lower your body pH? In general, proteins, starches and fats are acidifying foods. So all meat, fish and eggs are acidifying. Most fats and oils are acidifying, with the exception of butter, which is neutral. Nuts, seeds and pulses vary. Green beans and peas alkalise; while most dried pulses acidify your body. Sugar in any form is acid forming, as is alcohol. Grains in general are acidifying. The important exceptions to this are certain ancient grains such as quinoa and millet. (These marvellous foods are also complete proteins – that is, they contain all the essential amino acids.)
Foods that are rich in the alkalising minerals include the grains quinoa and millet, and most fruits and vegetables. Yes, once again we come down to that - eat more fruit and vegetables. You can’t get away from it – fruits and vegetables provide us with vitamins, minerals, dietary fibre - and they help to keep our blood pH alkaline! Try this alkalizing recipe for
Tabouleh salad,
using quinoa instead of bulghar wheat. It's a delicious way to lower your blood pH.
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