Alkaline vs Acidic Forming Foods

Have you heard that cancer cannot survive in an alkaline environment?

Some people claim that an acidic environment in the body causes disease and that an alkaline (or basic) diet is the only way to fix this. The prescribed ratio for the alkaline diet is 80% “alkaline-forming foods” and 20% “acid-forming foods.”

The alkaline-forming foods include many fruits and vegetables. Grains have been identified as “slightly acid-forming,” and the highest acid-forming foods were meat, fish, dairy, sugar, salt, alcohol, and anything that contains caffeine. When you break it down, the alkaline diet sounds reasonable. It’s hard to argue with a diet that encourages eating more fruits and vegetables and less sugar, alcohol, and meat. But, the details do matter.

The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14, with 7 being neutral, anything less than 7 being acidic, and anything over 7 being basic (aka, alkaline).

Every organ in the body has a different pH range needed for the organ to function and pH values vary greatly within the body. Some organs are acidic and some are alkaline. This was my first clue that shifting the body’s pH one direction or another might not be a good idea. 

Your stomach, for example, is highly acidic (a pH of 1.5-3.5) because hydrochloric acid is needed to break down food. Your blood pH has a slightly alkaline pH within a very narrow range (7.35-7.45). A change in blood pH anywhere outside of this will cause you to end up in the hospital extremely sick and in extreme cases you will likely end up on dialysis or life support. So even if you could change your diet to shift your blood pH, it might not be a good idea.

You can’t change most of your body’s pH with diet – the exception is your urine and saliva.

Your body tightly regulates the pH in every organ, whether using secretions from your stomach, gallbladder, liver, or kidneys. Any rise or fall in pH sets off a chain reaction that your body quickly works to correct. If you eat too many acidic foods (or too many alkaline foods), your body will recalibrate to balance your pH to keep you alive.

The alkaline diet is healthy because it’s based on real and unprocessed foods, but it has absolutely nothing to do with being acidic or alkaline. If you want to follow the diet, you can and if you choose to, you will probably eat better.