Acid/Alkaline Theory of Disease Is Nonsense

[Hero]

I'm interested in hearing people's opinions.

 

 

 

 

"Acid/Alkaline Theory of Disease Is Nonsense

Gabe Mirkin, M.D.

 

Have you seen advertisements for products such as coral calcium or alkaline water that are supposed to neutralize acid in your bloodstream? Taking calcium or drinking alkaline water does not affect blood acidity. Anyone who tells you that certain foods or supplements make your stomach or blood acidic does not understand nutrition.

 

You should not believe that it matters whether foods are acidic or alkaline, because no foods change the acidity of anything in your body except your urine. Your stomach is so acidic that no food can change its acidity. Citrus fruits, vinegar, and vitamins such as ascorbic acid or folic acid do not change the acidity of your stomach or your bloodstream. An entire bottle of calcium pills or antacids would not change the acidity of your stomach for more than a few minutes.

 

All foods that leave your stomach are acidic. Then they enter your intestines where secretions from your pancreas neutralize the stomach acids. So no matter what you eat, the food in stomach is acidic and the food in the intestines is alkaline.

 

You cannot change the acidity of any part of your body except your urine. Your bloodstream and organs control acidity in a very narrow range. Anything that changed acidity in your body would make you very sick and could even kill you. Promoters of these products claim that cancer cells cannot live in an alkaline environment and that is true, but neither can any of the other cells in your body.

 

All chemical reactions in your body are started by chemicals called enzymes. For example, if you convert chemical A to chemical B and release energy, enzymes must start these reactions. All enzymes function in a very narrow range of acidity. (The degree of acidity or alkalinity is expressed as "pH."). If your blood changes its acidity or alkalinity for any reason, it is quickly changed back to the normal pH or these enzymes would not function and the necessary chemical reactions would not proceed in your body.

 

For example, when you hold your breath, carbon dioxide accumulates in your bloodstream very rapidly and your blood turns acidic, and you will become uncomfortable or even pass out. This forces you to start breathing again immediately, and the pH returns to normal. If your kidneys are damaged and cannot regulate the acidity of your bloodstream, chemical reactions stop, poisons accumulate in your bloodstream, and you can die.

 

Certain foods can leave end-products called ash that can make your urine acid or alkaline, but urine is the only body fluid that can have its acidity changed by food or supplements. ALKALINE-ASH FOODS include fresh fruit and raw vegetables. ACID-ASH FOODS include ALL ANIMAL PRODUCTS, whole grains, beans and other seeds. These foods can change the acidity of your urine, but that's irrelevant since your urine is contained in your bladder and does not affect the pH of any other part of your body.

 

When you take in more protein than your body needs, your body cannot store it, so the excess amino acids are converted to organic acids that would acidify your blood. But your blood never becomes acidic because as soon as the proteins are converted to organic acids, calcium leaves your bones to neutralize the acid and prevent any change in pH. Because of this, many scientists think that taking in too much protein may weaken bones to cause osteoporosis.

 

Cranberries have been shown to help prevent recurrent urinary tract infections, but not because of their acidity. They contain chemicals that prevent bacteria from sticking to urinary tract cells.

 

Taking calcium supplements or drinking alkaline water will not change the pH of your blood. If you hear someone say that your body is too acidic and you should use their product to make it more alkaline, you would be wise not to believe anything else the person tells you.

 

________________

 

Dr. Mirkin is an associate clinical professor of pediatrics at Georgetown University School of Medicine and is board-certified in four specialties: allergy and immunology; sports medicine; pediatrics; and pediatric immunology. He practices medicine in Kensington, Maryland; produces and hosts a syndicated radio that can be heard online; publishes a monthly newsletter (The Mirkin Report); and has written books on sportsmedicine, weight control, and low-fat eating. His Web site contains reports on hundreds of topics.

 

Coral Calcium and Robert Barefoot ||| Quackwatch Home Page

 

This article was posted on February 6, 2003."

 

http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/DSH/coral2.html

[Odidnetne]

Before I even got to the point in the article about changing the pH in your blood being able to kill you, I thought to myself "If your blood strays barely any distance from ~7.44, you'll die."

 

I don't think it's possible to keep an alkaline body or any of that, but interesting the really garbage foods people ingest in places like America (soda, coffee) are harshly acidic.

[Guest]

Its not about blood alkalinity at all. No matter what blood will be alkaline but it does so by taking things from food or the body. You pick and choose.

[Zack]

Either way the body has to make its ph alkaline. Giving it alkaline-forming foods just makes that easier and less of a strain on the body.

[flanders77]

Either way the body has to make its ph alkaline. Giving it alkaline-forming foods just makes that easier and less of a strain on the body.

 

I second that!

Here is some info you maybe interested in...

[offense74]

We don't know exactly why certain foods are good for us and others are not. The alkaline-acidity theory is just another in the line of explanations to why we get sick by eating freedom fries and beef and get well by eating spinach and beans.

The fact that we don't know (not even the author of the article knows) why brings up all kinds of more or less imaginative conclutions.

But we do not know!!

[Veganitaliana]

Either way the body has to make its ph alkaline. Giving it alkaline-forming foods just makes that easier and less of a strain on the body.

 

I second that!

Here is some info you maybe interested in...

 

Thanks for the links. As a new raw vegan, I'm still playing catch-up with the information so I don't feel that I can contribute much yet. Ciao

[DV]

It would be almost impossible to determine if eating acidic vs. basic foods cause any long term health problems. The reason is because so many things affect the acid balance in the human body.

 

The main regulator of acid/base balance is the kidneys. The kidneys work to balance the blood pH by retaining or excreting charged electrolytes/minerals/compounds in the blood stream (including potassium, sodium, calcium, bicarbonate, urea, uric acid, amongst others). You can make your bloodstream temporarily more acidic by holding your breath and basic by hyperventilating. If you chronically hyperventilate or hypoventilate then your kidneys will correct any change in your blood pH over time. Antacids change your stomach pH, different drugs effect the retention and excretion of electrolytes, poor kidney function effects acid/base balance - and the list goes on and on.

 

When someone dies of an acid imbalance in the body it is not chronic (because your kidneys don't allow an imbalance) but sudden. The things that cause death due to blood acidity are things such as hypovolemia (massive bleeding or shock), kidney failure, septicemia (severe blood infection), ingestion of certain toxic substances, etc. Eating acidic foods will not change your blood pH but MAY change what your kidneys excrete or retain. I'm not sure what studies have been done to show if certain minerals are retained/excreted related to ingested foods.

 

About stomach acid and "live enzymes." There is no proof anywhere that you can use a plants enzymes to digest it rather than your own enzymes. Indeed, your stomach acid will neutralize any enzyme on contact due to its low pH. Your body uses HUMAN enzymes to break down food. And your body continues to produce digestive enzymes, red blood cells, white blood cells, etc. so long as you are alive. You don't "run out of enzymes and then start aging" any more than you run out of red blood cells and then die.

 

Thanks!

[xveganjoshx]

@ DV: I'm so happy to have a medical professional as a part of the forum. It's a breath of fresh air, so nice to have in the midst of what seems to be a fair amount of uninformed speculation.

[kjtten]

edited

[DV]

Thanks, Josh. I do bite my tongue (or keyboard) most of the time because I don't have the time to thoroughly research every murky topic that comes up and I don't like to answer things off the cuff (I have a compulsive need to know that I can back up everything I say with a reference). Also, we don't have all the answers to everything, so who am I to tell anyone what to believe. That said, some members seem to have a need to believe what they assume to be true about human physiology and "mainstream medicine" no matter how absurd it appears to someone who has studied those things. So I appreciate your comment but I try not to get into some discussions unless an opinion is requested. So this thread was perfect!

[flanders77]

It would be almost impossible to determine if eating acidic vs. basic foods cause any long term health problems. The reason is because so many things affect the acid balance in the human body.

I am curious: How do you explain that those persons (and nations) who consume a diet high in socalled acid-forming food like refined grain, dairy products and meat suffer of e.g. osteoporosis more often than e.g. vegans?

 

Eating acidic foods will not change your blood pH but MAY change what your kidneys excrete or retain. I'm not sure what studies have been done to show if certain minerals are retained/excreted related to ingested foods.

I second that the blood pH remains in a small range because of the body has buffering systems to control the pH and prevent acidosis and alkalosis. This system is the reason why humans can survive on almost any diet e.g. exclusively on meat. But there are epidemiological as well as other studies showing that especially calcium plays an important role in neutralizing acids and therefore is excreted to a much greater amount when e.g. a diet high in animal protein is consumed.

 

About stomach acid and "live enzymes." There is no proof anywhere that you can use a plants enzymes to digest it rather than your own enzymes. Indeed, your stomach acid will neutralize any enzyme on contact due to its low pH. Your body uses HUMAN enzymes to break down food. And your body continues to produce digestive enzymes, red blood cells, white blood cells, etc. so long as you are alive. You don't "run out of enzymes and then start aging" any more than you run out of red blood cells and then die.Thanks!

Just some thoughts: Maybe the way medical studies are done prevents them of showing what really happens.

Maybe medical studies on enzyme-survival did not take into consideration that enzymes are not found isolated but are part of the food. To test the survival of an enzyme by putting it into the stomach in isolated form and afterwards measure how much reaches the small intestines is not an adequate way to proceed and does not reflect reality in any way.

Also the pH in the stomach changes when you put food in.

And: The pH differs in the different regions of the stomach and the food may remain for a quite long time in the stomach so maybe the enzymes will "do their job" right in the stomach.

[DV]

On your first question, people consuming acid-forming foods and then suffering from more osteoporosis than vegans (?) would be a correlation at best but certainly not a causal effect. Therefore, I can't explain it any more than inner city children having a higher asthma rate than children in suburbs - is it pollution, poverty, diet, etc.?

 

On your second point, I believe that some studies have been done related to food intake and mineral excretion - I just don't know of them off-hand and haven't read any recently.

 

 

If medical studies somehow prevent showing what really happens then let's look at the non-medical studies that show what really happens. But I don't know of any studies that look at enzyme survival. However, it's not important because plants have enzymes for their purposes and we have enzymes for our own purposes. I won't get into a long discussion of enzymes because we all can google the word enzyme and read as much as we like. It's important to know the basics. Our bodies are constantly making certain proteins known as enzymes that act as catalysts (ie, they make something happen). We don't have a limited reserve like female eggs in ovaries. They are constantly being made. There are enzymes in our red blood cells, at our neuromuscular junctions and in our gastrointestinal tracts, to name a few.

 

Even if plant enzymes could aid in human digestion, then what proof is there that a feedback system exists to stop the saliva, stomach, pancreas or small intestine from producing certain enzymes based on foreign plant enzymes being present (which are not isolated and therefore not readily identified until digestion of the food begins)? What do these plant enzymes do? They are obviously the catalyst for some chemical or biological reaction by definition. Are we to believe that every raw plant food contains the same type of enzymes that aid in human digestion? We've identified the human enzymes of digestion. We have names for them, we know what acid range they work in and we know what compounds they break down into smaller compounds. I have yet to read about specific plant enzymes that have specific activity in the human digestive tract. Instead, I only read about "enzymes" as if that's to explain everything.

 

Sorry I got off track, Flanders. The whole topic of plant enzymes makes me crazy when I'm not laughing at it. I have yet to read a raw food or live food book/website that comes even close to explaining the "benefits" of plant enzymes in an educated manner.

 

Arrgghh. I have to go now and get off my soapbox!

[flanders77]

On your first question, people consuming acid-forming foods and then suffering from more osteoporosis than vegans (?) would be a correlation at best but certainly not a causal effect. Therefore, I can't explain it any more than inner city children having a higher asthma rate than children in suburbs - is it pollution, poverty, diet, etc.?

For me your statement reflects what medical professionals learn . IMO argueing away the effects of acid forming (usually animal) foods is not possible anymore. By statistical means many studies were able to eliminate the effect of other "circumstances" like smoking, genes, physical activity etc. Maybe you should read the china study and the refenrences Campbell provides. At one point of the book he says something like: A study cannot proof a hypothesis. But when study after study points into the same direction – at one point it should be admitted this direction might mostlikely represent reality.

 

On your second point, I believe that some studies have been done related to food intake and mineral excretion - I just don't know of them off-hand and haven't read any recently.

But if you do not know that does not mean there ain`t any studies, right?

 

If medical studies somehow prevent showing what really happens then let's look at the non-medical studies that show what really happens. But I don't know of any studies that look at enzyme survival.

However, it's not important because plants have enzymes for their purposes and we have enzymes for our own purposes. I won't get into a long discussion of enzymes because we all can google the word enzyme and read as much as we like. It's important to know the basics. Our bodies are constantly making certain proteins known as enzymes that act as catalysts (ie, they make something happen). We don't have a limited reserve like female eggs in ovaries. They are constantly being made. There are enzymes in our red blood cells, at our neuromuscular junctions and in our gastrointestinal tracts, to name a few. Even if plant enzymes could aid in human digestion, then what proof is there that a feedback system exists to stop the saliva, stomach, pancreas or small intestine from producing certain enzymes based on foreign plant enzymes being present (which are not isolated and therefore not readily identified until digestion of the food begins)?

I am glad you admit that you do not know exactly about enzymes.

But since you admit that:

- how can you be so sure that enzymes from plants are not necessary (helpful) for human digestion?

- how do you know enzymes are produced in adequate amounts however we live?

With so little knowledge why do you neglect the possibility that enzymes might be helpful and important?

 

What do these plant enzymes do? They are obviously the catalyst for some chemical or biological reaction by definition. Are we to believe that every raw plant food contains the same type of enzymes that aid in human digestion? We've identified the human enzymes of digestion. We have names for them, we know what acid range they work in and we know what compounds they break down into smaller compounds. I have yet to read about specific plant enzymes that have specific activity in the human digestive tract. Instead, I only read about "enzymes" as if that's to explain everything.

You give the answer in your questions.

Science already usus many different enzymes for its purposes (bromelin). So the power of enzymes in the human body is aknowledged quit well.

Maybe – since especially fruit and humans developed in a relationship some call symbiotical – the enzymes in fruit play a role in proper digestion of the "animals" consuming it.

 

Sorry I got off track, Flanders. The whole topic of plant enzymes makes me crazy when I'm not laughing at it. I have yet to read a raw food or live food book/website that comes even close to explaining the "benefits" of plant enzymes in an educated manner.

IMO we all have to admit that all "sciences" – wether we believe in conventional medical or life science – are only able to provide theories to explain reality and do studies that are not able to properly reflect the truth.

At this point it is a question of what one wants to believe and which theory is the most logical.

For me it really come down to this: Fruits are produced by the plants for purpose of reproduction. They are perfectly adapted to the "animals" eating it and by that helping the plant to reproduce. They provide the symbiotic partner with many important substances such as carbs, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and – of course – enzymes.

[DV]

Flanders, you make some very good points and we could debate this topic until we put every forum member to sleep. Since we'll be meeting in a few weeks, we can pick this discussion up in person if we so choose. Although I'd rather just enjoy your company.

[flanders77]

You are so right!

I think interesting discussions are possible about this subject. But there are times to discuss and times to enjoy eachothers company!