The Organic Alkaline Diet & PH Balance in the Body

Throwback to days of the high school science class, one of the lessons we all had gone thru, was the pH balance – the acidity and basicity (alkalinity) of substances. Remember an experiment of an aqueous solution with the packet of the litmus paper with a color chart ranging from red to purple indicating the pH level on a scale of 0 to 14, where red color represents the strong acidic conditions (pH < 7), purple for strong alkaline properties (pH > 7) and green color in the middle of the chart for neutral (pH=7), so what is pH then? The term pH stands for “potential hydrogen” which is the amount of hydrogen ions in a particular solution, or in a nutshell, a measure of acidity or alkalinity of water soluble substances. The higher the content of ions, the more acidic the substance is, while the lower concentration of hydrogen ions, on the other hand, means the solution is more to basic (alkaline) condition.

The importance of pH balance in your body

A healthy and organic diet strengthens healthy cells, likewise, keeping a proper pH level in the body is essential to an overall health. Balance is everything. The human body is designed to maintain a very delicate pH balance in its functional systems – an aqueous solution in our body, apart from fluids and tissues, the most crucial one is in the blood.

The normal blood pH is tightly regulated between 7.35 and 7.45, slightly alkaline, this means that the amount of oxygen in the blood is up to the mark for all cells to function properly. When these fluids are maintained within this narrow pH range, our body’s immune system is operating in optimal conditions and is able to fight off illness and disease. Any increase or decrease in pH, even the slightest, can lead to a physical disorder and a whole range of aliments.

However, our body has a self-regulating control mechanism, called homeostatic system, that protect us from over acidification or alkalization of the body by making adjustments in extracellular fluid and tissue pH to neutralize the blood at a strict pH 7.4 or in between its normal acid-base balance.

One of the mechanisms to keep relatively constant blood pH in our body is by buffers dissolved in the blood, also called acid-base buffer system. Buffers are solutions that contain a weak acid and its conjugate base, or a weak base and its conjugate acid, which are capable of stabilizing pH in a solution.

A good buffer solution will have roughly equal concentrations of both conjugate acid and conjugate base, in which case, can resist pH change upon the addition of an acid or an alkali, even the small quantities, to control the pH balance in the body. A buffer works by replacing a strong acid or base with a weak one, for example, an acidic buffer will be released into the blood when it becomes too alkaline, and conversely, a basic buffer (alkaline) will play a role if the blood pH becomes too acidic.

Restoring pH Balance in the Body with an Organic Alkaline Diet

Unfortunately, however, modern diet, fast-paced life, and a sedentary lifestyle do have a significant impact on our health in a way that they put a heavy acidic burden in the body and our natural pH buffer system can’t always keep up. Our body has to work harder to maintain an appropriate pH level in the blood if there is too much acid load from external sources – food, stress, lack of exercise, etc.

All cells and organs work together by fluctuating in their range in order to constantly keep the blood in a slightly alkaline state, resulting in a gradual deterioration and premature aging in health. An acidic body is the encouragement of disease – specifically cancer.

Diet is probably the most critical cause of the metabolic acidosis in the body. An unhealthy eating habit or a bad diet, and certain kinds of food, including junk foods, processed and refined foods, meats, dairy products, sweetened beverages, carbonated drinks and alcohol, etc. are extremely acidic to our systems, as such, eating the alkaline way could possibly be the perfect way to balance our natural pH in the body.

Alkaline-forming foods include nearly all vegetables and fruits, nuts and seeds, and spices. We need to eat at least 75-80% alkaline-forming foods and a maximum of 20-25% acid forming foods to achieve the ideal acid-alkaline balance.

Eating an organic alkaline diet doesn’t have to be extreme or difficult, the easiest way to start is by incorporating or gradually increasing the amount of alkalizing foods in our daily diet. An alkaline body is a healthier body, we can expect to have a better digestive system, a stronger immune system, more energy reception, better mental focus and an overall greater sense of wellbeing in our physical body.

Here below is a list of some highly alkaline foods which mostly are leafy greens. Take into consideration, to always go for organic, uncontaminated and naturally clean produce since chemical residues, pesticides, germs and dirt in food can be toxic and harmful when they enter or contact the body:

• Spinach – a powerful antioxidant, rich in chlorophyll and high in calcium and vitamins
• Kale – “queen of green”, high in plant iron, calcium, vitamin K and is widely known for its antioxidant-rich and detoxifying goodness
• Swiss chard– provides mega nutrition benefits with vitamins that support cellular health
• Cucumber – contains alkaline minerals: calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, selenium, copper, manganese and zinc.
• Broccoli – rich in vitamin C and K, is an anti-inflammatory and a good source of antioxidants.