The Nity Gritty of pH.. Acid vs. Alkaline

Alright... First of all I want to state that I think it is impossible to only eat foods that qualify as alkaline, so my objective here is not to point of what "we" are doing wrong, rather, help educate you in HOPES that you will make better food choices. I believe everyone's body processes for differently according to our own chemistry, however, keep an open mind and really be honest with yourself and what you are putting in your mouth and how is effects you mentally and physically.. ok here we go...

So, there is this thing called the pH scale.. remember chemistry in high school?! yeah, that old thing...
Well our bodies work on an internal pH scale as well. The body performs at its best when the blood pH is at 7.35-7.48. You are still in the "safer zone" if you test at 6.25 and up.  Different foods carry different acidic or alkaline levels... of course typically fruits and veggies are highly alkaline and more of the processed foods and meats are acidic. (check my last post for a brief outline).

An acidic body is said to be much more susceptible to diseases, cancers etc. because your pH level is acidic and in essence toxic. An acidic body does not have healthy cell function, intercellular fluids. Acidity in not only caused by food either, we are exposed to acidic crap all the time. There are constantly new pollutants and chemicals introduced to our food, air an water all the time...ick. Also, once we hit 40 and beyond, our buffering system begins to falter, making it increasingly difficult to maintain that optimal pH. I do believe though, that by shifting some of the foods you eat and drink NOW, you can help counteract SOME of that..  Take for example, drinking more water!!!! Its so annoying to hear that over and over in health magazines etc..drink more water blah friggin blaaaahhh.. Ok, well here's a little wake up call regarding that boring water: ***The human body is 78% water and our cells are 98% water... so, if you are dehydrated because you aren't properly hydrating what do u think happens to your body.. Lets say you grab a soda instead.. hmpfff well, soda had a pH level of 2.5 SIMILAR TO BATTERY ACID! MMMM Refreshing huh??? I bet. Well, it would take you 32 glasses of filtered water to counteract that soda... RAD... so what will you be drinking more of??? BTW, The conversion of how much water you are supposed to drink is this... take your body weight, divide it in half and thats what you drink in ounces...
I am 120 lbs.. cut that in half 60.. i drink 60 ounces of water a day. Adjust it according to how active you are, but thats the norm.
Now, lets get real here.. i am not going eat only salads for the rest of my life, my husband would kill me, so be realistic.. you do need some acidity in your diet too.. A balanced diet for the average person is 60% alkaline and 40% acidic. If you are recovering from some illness, adjust it to an 80/20 ratio.

So aren't lemon acidic Steph, because you told us to drink lemon water? Well, yes lemons are acidic, but once the citric acid is digested, it becomes alkaline.. so having lemon in your water is an easy way to add alkalinity through the day.

So anyways, thats a short shpiel... I say take what you can from this info and see what you can do slightly different with your choices. If anything, drink more water...

Mahalo,  LadyCoats xo