Dr. Ted here! So, does eating an “Alkaline Diet” affect your blood pH or not? Promoters of the diet say, Of course! Opponents say, No! Well, what’s the scoop?
Opponents tout the idea that it’s impossible to eat anything in quantities large enough to change the blood pH, so it doesn’t matter if you eat alkaline minerals. Well, yes and no. True, the blood pH varies ever so slightly ranging from 7.35-7.45 and doesn’t shift after a meal. On the surface this seems to be logical and damaging to those “veggie eater” beliefs. If the blood doesn’t shift after consuming heavy acid-producing foods, the idea of blood pH being related to diet is suspect…on the surface.
To clarify the discussion – or look at the whole story – you must dig deeper into the relationship of minerals and blood pH. The blood is buffered by systems designed to keep it within that narrow pH range I mentioned above. Buffering systems use minerals to do their job. Any deviation from this function leads to coma and death. Minerals, specifically those found in vegetables, are alkaline, easily absorbed into the blood stream and, more importantly, used for the buffer systems, which keep the blood pH in balance. The challenge is that when our diet consists of mainly acid-producing foods, we tax the buffering systems to various degrees and, over time, we actually begin to deplete the overall system balance and suffer the effects of mineral depletion. Again, we build up the acid and deplete the alkaline minerals over time.
The acid waste from the digestion of foods we regularly consume, such as meats and grains, requires alkaline minerals to either transform or buffer it in order to eliminate it from our bodies. If this doesn’t happen, we suffer from things like indigestion, bowel irritation, bladder inflammation, joint pain, and a host of degenerative effects from the excess acid.
It’s the absorption of these stored alkaline minerals, which keeps the buffering system in balance and the blood pH exact. Having an abundance of alkaline minerals available at all times is critical to our buffering system and critical to overall survival.
Keep in mind, most people do not get adequate mineralization from the foods they eat, either because of the choice of food they consume or inadequate techniques used for growing the food they consume. Our soil is mineral depleted, and so is our food. The bottom line is: we need the alkaline minerals to live a healthy life. When you look at the whole picture, the Alkaline Diet is no hoax! It absolutely contributes to a healthy body and a healthy life!