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Explore Lessons from the Orchard by Dr. David Klein

The human body must maintain its fluids at a slightly alkaline pH in order to survive. Neutral pH is 7.0; acid pH is below 7.0; alkaline pH is above 7.0. The bloodstream pH must be maintained within a pH range of 7.35 to 7.45; blood pH outside that range results in death.

The term “pH” means “potential hydrogen.” Substances in aqueous solution are determined to be either alkaline or acidic, according to their predominance of hydroxyl (OH-) vs. hydrogen (H+) ions. Hydroxyl ions are negative and alkalizing; hydrogen ions are positive and acidifying. The pH scale is logarithmic. This means that each pH point below 7.0 is 10 times more acidic than the next higher value. For example, pH 5.0 is 10 times more acidic than pH 6.0 and 100 times more acidic than pH 7.0. Likewise, pH 9.0 is ten times more alkaline than pH 8.0 and 100 times more alkaline than pH 7.0.

Acidifying factors include:

1. Acid-forming foods

2. Food decomposition in the gut (typically caused by poor food combining)

3. Exercise

4. Stress (mental and emotional)

Metabolic waste acids are produced in every cell. This requires a sufficient reserve of alkaline minerals in the body for their neutralization. Under normal conditions, acid wastes are minimal and easily neutralized and transported to the organs of elimination. Our kidneys are adept at eliminating excess alkaline minerals.

Woman with osteoporosis stooped over — Photographed is a woman with osteoporosis. Acid waste causes the body to strip calcium from the bones to buffer overacidity, promoting osteoporosis.

When faced with excessive acidifying factors, the body must work extra hard to buffer the acid wastes, preserve alkaline homeostasis and eliminate acid wastes from the bloodstream, cells, tissues and organs. Extreme, chronic acid waste loads force the body to resort to buffering the acidity with its limited reserve of calcium, its most abundant alkalizing mineral reserve, which is stored mostly in the bones. This undesirable condition is the leading cause of osteoporosis. Attempting to thwart osteoporosis with calcium-rich foods that contain predominantly acid-forming minerals such as milk, cheese and fish actually causes further osteoporosis. A chronic acidic condition (“acidosis”) constantly stresses the body, resulting in weak electrochemical energy conduction, low bio-energetic vibration, physical and mental enervation, debilitating disease, physical degeneration, rapid aging and death.

The primary acidifying (or acid-forming) dietary factors are as follows:

Any and all animal foods and products: meat (including fish and fowl) and dairy (butter, cheese, cream, eggs, milk and yogurt)
All grains and flour products except amaranth, millet and quinoa
All beans/legumes except fresh lima beans, fresh peas, green beans, soybeans and sprouted beans/legumes
All nuts and seeds except almonds, chestnuts, fresh coconuts, pine nuts (pignolias) and sesame
White sugar, high-fructose corn syrup and some other sweeteners
Carbonated soft drinks
Coffee
Alcoholic beverages, tobacco and other drugs
Processed sugar

Except for blueberries, cranberries, plums and prunes, all raw fruits and vegetables are alkaline-forming (or alkalizing). Alkalizing foods promote high biochemical conduction and sustained vibrant health. Extreme alkalinity, or “alkalosis,” is a rare condition. Except for serious health failure such as end-stage cancer, only in the instance of kidney failure could alkalosis be an issue, and even then there would be other far more serious issues to contend with. The alkalosis at that point would be a symptom, not a disease. Thus, it is apparent that a diet of predominantly fruits and vegetables is safe, health-promoting and should comprise the bulk of our diet.

Foods are not classified as acidifying or alkalizing based on the pH of their juices in the raw state. For example, oranges, limes, pineapples, peaches and tomatoes contain acidic juices; however, they are not acid-forming but alkalizing on the basis of their alkalizing mineral composition and metabolic end reaction. Their acidic juices are easily diluted and neutralized by our alkaline digestive secretions before they enter the bloodstream.

Foods are determined to be acidifying/acid-forming or alkalizing/alkaline-forming on the basis of their metabolic end reaction in our bodies. That means that after the nutrients from a food are utilized in the cells, the resulting waste fluid pH is either acidic or alkaline. This is a function of each food’s mineral composition. Certain minerals create acidity in aqueous solution; others create alkalinity. Foods with predominantly acid-forming minerals impart acidity to the cells and metabolic waste stream. Foods with predominantly alkaline-forming minerals impart alkalinity to the cells and metabolic waste stream.

The primary acid-forming minerals are: phosphorus, sulfur, chlorine, iodine, bromine, fluorine, copper and silicon. The primary alkaline-forming minerals are: calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, iron and manganese.

The following information was extracted with permission from the book Composition and Facts About Foods and Their Relationship to the Human Body by Ford Heritage, published by Health Research:

Alkalinity-Acidity of Foods in Metabolic Reaction

After foods are eaten they are oxidized in the body, resulting in the formation of a residue or ash. In this residue, if the minerals sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium predominate over sulfur, phosphorus, chlorine and un-combusted organic acid radicals, they are designated as “alkaline ash” foods. The converse of this is true for foods designated as “acid ash.”

Numerical values of alkalinity or acidity were determined in long, painstaking analytical laboratory work. The concentrations of the various elements were determined separately and then computed in terms of equivalents. The excess at one group of minerals over the other is expressed as cubic centimeters of normal acid or base (alkaline) per 100 grams of edible food. The values obtained are called degrees of acidity or alkalinity.