The Alkaline Diet and Acidic Food
What is an acidic food? The answer is not as simple as you might think. Some people want to avoid acidic food because they adhere to the alkaline diet. Other people avoid these foods because they suffer from heartburn or acid reflux.
Nevertheless, irrespective of their reasons, people often become greatly confused because they do not distinguish between foods that are inherently acidic, and foods that cause the body to become more acidic.
The Difference Between Acidic and Acidifying
An acidic food is a food that has an low pH before it has been eaten and digested. For instance, if you took the juice from a lemon and applied it to a piece of pH test paper, the paper would turn a different color to show an acid pH of less than 7.0.
Life would be easy if all acidic foods caused the body to become more acidic, as well. However, this is not necessarily the case.
For example, most types of vinegar are both acidic and acidifying. But there is one exception: Apple cider vinegar is actually an alkalizing food because it is relatively rich in minerals.
On the other hand, you wouldn’t think of sweet rolls or ice cream as an acidic food. Just the same, both of these foods have an acidifying effect on the body.
Both heartburn and acid reflux are often the result of the excessive production of stomach acid, in which case eating an acidic food can make these problems worse. But what most people don’t know is that too little stomach acid can also lead to heartburn and other digestive problems. Since this is the case, some people actually find it beneficial to drink a small quantity of apple cider vinegar mixed with water before a meal.
The bottom line about acidic food is that you don’t need to avoid it completely. The key to the alkaline diet is achieving balance.
Beth Shimanovsky answers questions about health for the Alkaline Diet Blog. Stop by now to download a free acid alkaline food chart and to learn more about acidic food.
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Tags:Diet And Exercise