pH is an indicator of acid or alkaline conditions. Our bodies are either in an alkaline or acidic state. We choose which by the foods we eat. Generally, fruits and vegetables are alkaline. All protein, oils, fats, carbohydrates and sugars are acidic. The byproduct of our metabolism is acidic. Over the course of the day, our bodies will naturally become more acidic because the foods we have eaten has been processed. Our metabolism is constantly increasing the acidity levels in our bodies. I can go to bed at night with an alkaline body and wake up with a slightly acidic body due to the byproducts of my metabolism.
I’ve been asked the question, more than a few times, about citrus foods – oranges, limes, lemons, grapefruit, etc. They are composed of citric acid. However, it is not what a food is its original form, but what it becomes in our bodies. The sodium citrate becomes sodium bicarbonate after your body finishes its digestive processes. That acid from the fruit actually becomes alkaline in our bodies.
I went on the Atkins Diet in the early to mid-1990s. I read five books before starting this diet. I thought I knew all the risks and rewards. I lost a lot of weight – almost sixty lbs. – and kept it off for over six years. However, the foods I chose to eat were dairy, protein and fats – no fruits and vegetables. As a result of not properly choosing the right foods to eat, I developed a case of severe acidosis and did not realize it. Had I chosen to eat more fruits and vegetables and smaller portions of protein and fats, I would have maintained an alkaline body while on the Atkins Diet.
I had my first bone density test eight years after I adopted the Atkins Diet. I found out that I was in osteopenia. Osteopenia is a condition where bone density is lower than normal, but not yet at the stage of osteoporosis. This came as a big shock to me. Most of my life, I lifted weights and ran. It was a lifestyle routine I thought would keep me healthy (along with healthy, strong bones).
With some further research, I discovered when my body was acidic, my blood pH changed. Anything below seven is considered acidic, with pH getting stronger (more acidic) the closer it gets to one. Anything above seven is considered alkaline and increasing in alkalinity as the pH approaches fourteen. A pH of seven is considered neutral. Scientists have known for decades that an alkaline body prevents a disease from forming.
