What Are The Contributions Of An Acid-alkaline Diet

The alkaline diet is a very fashionable type of diet. This is based on favoring the consumption of foods that can influence the body’s pH. A variant of this diet is the acid-alkaline diet, focused on balancing the consumption of acidic and alkalizing products.

However, it should be noted that experts debate a lot about the effectiveness of these types of diets. Many of them argue that they are not based on solid evidence, so they would not be suitable for health.

Against the alkaline diet

Following an exclusively alkaline diet has certain drawbacks. Some of them are the following:

• First of all, the alkaline diet does not detoxify or purify the body. At most, it will make us go to the bathroom more regularly and with more consistent stools.
• On the other hand, neither cheeses nor yogurts should be ingested, or at least not regularly, since they are acidic products. You can live without dairy, but we must not forget that they are not bad and provide fat-soluble vitamins, probiotic elements and calcium among many other things.

• The alkaline diet ensures that eating meat, fish or eggs is detrimental to the alkaline pH. However, this is not proven, as much as it is not advisable to abuse them. There is evidence that confirms that the intake of this type of product is positive for the functioning of the human body.
• The notion that this diet improves health due to its alkalizing effects is still up for debate. To date there are no reliable studies to back up these claims. What is recognized is that it encourages the consumption of more fruits and vegetables.

To reduce this type of disadvantage and avoid problems derived from an incorrect diet, the acid-alkaline diet arises.

These types of guidelines try to avoid the inconveniences of an alkaline diet, in order to balance the body’s pH and help a healthier diet. It should be noted that there is no evidence that food can modify the pH of the human body.

How to follow an acid-alkaline diet

In order to follow this type of diet, it will be important to follow some tips, such as the following:

1. Don’t focus on acidic foods

On the one hand, meat and pasta, or fish and rice, with a cake for dessert and coffee, is not a recommended menu. This is because it is made up entirely of acidifying foods. The same can be said for a meal of pasta and tomato sauce accompanied by a sugary dessert.

By adding a good amount of vegetables to these meals in the form of salads, either raw or cooked, the contribution of alkaline foods would compensate, at least in part, that of acids.

What is clear is that the intake of vegetables in large quantities is positive for health, according to a study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.

These vegetables are sometimes present in other foods. However, they generally exist in such small quantities that their effect is negligible.

2. Greater amount of alkalis than acids

Likewise, it will be important that the ratio between base-or alkaline-producing foods and acid-producing foods should always lean in favor of alkalizing foods.

In this way, acids can be neutralized at the intestinal or tissue level, without the body having to resort to reserves.

3. Favor alkalis in people with acidity

In turn, there are some people who are metabolically weak against acids. This means that your body does not have all the necessary resources to properly neutralize them. In turn, this situation causes the well-known discomfort of heartburn.

The more exhausted or weak the organism is, the less basic reserves it has at the disposal of the balancing system, and the less it is capable of oxidizing acids.

By introducing few acids, the body relieves itself in its efforts to maintain acid-base balance.

4. You should always add alkaline foods

On the other hand, consuming exclusively fruit or yogurt, or drinking only buttermilk, is strongly discouraged. Well,  the contribution of acid is not compensated by any food base, which will force the body to extract it from its tissues. Despite this, experts say that the intake of fermented dairy is very healthy for the intestinal microbiota.

The risks of demineralization disorders resulting from this are very significant. These will, on the other hand, be quickly experienced by the affected person, in the form of a sudden decrease in vitality, irritation of the teeth, a feeling of cold or muscle aches.

5. Don’t eat acidic foods too often

Finally, a person who suffers from metabolic weakness against acids, but who is in acid-alkaline balance, can face an abrupt intake of acids. This can happen, for example, after eating too much fruit.

This is so because, in the case of a single event, the acid-alkaline balance will not be compromised and no acidification disorder will arise.

Acid-alkaline diet, a method with little evidence

With this type of acid-alkaline diet we can avoid the possible problems derived from following an exclusively alkaline diet. In this way, the body’s pH will be more balanced, with a consequent healthier diet.