Acid-base balance - Are we all over-acidified?
The acid-base balance and the influence of nutrition have been discussed for a long time. While conventional medicine only recognises acute acidosis (=acidosis), which can only occur in diseases such as diabetes or renal insufficiency and can quickly become life-threatening, naturopathic doctors and nutritionists repeatedly warn of a much more critical problem that often goes unnoticed for a long time: latent acidosis!
This can favour numerous diseases: In particular, the risk of all rheumatic diseases, cardiovascular diseases and osteoporosis increases significantly.
There are three ways you can protect yourself from hyperacidity:
1.Nutrition
You can de-acidify your body very effectively by eating a predominantly alkaline diet
.Minerals such as potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium and iron increase the alkalising effect of food.
Other minerals such as phosphorus, sulphur, chlorine, fluorine, iodine and silicon, as well as an excessively high protein content (especially the sulphur-containing amino acids cysteine and methionine), on the other hand, increase the acid load.
Foods are categorised accordingly as follows:
- Fresh vegetables (including potatoes), ripe fruit as well as dried fruit, herbs, spices and sprouts have a basic effect.
⇒ These should fill at least 80% of your plate - Neutral, on the other hand, are cooking oils, buttermilk and whey .
- Wholemeal and pseudograins, pulses (dried), nuts and seeds are among the "good" acidifiers ⇒ they can fill up to 20% of your diet .
You should completely eliminate the following foods from your diet, as they are among the "bad" acid producers in the acid-base balance:
- All animal products; especially from factory farming (eggs, meat, fish, cheese)
- Cereal products made from flour (baked goods and pasta such as cakes, biscuits, pasta and breakfast cereals such as cornflakes)
- Sugar (including all products containing it)
- Finished products of all kinds
- Alcohol
We deliberately refrain from showing tables, as these sometimes provide contradictory results. The acidifying or alkalising potential of a food is only assessed according to the pH value of the urine after consumption.
In contrast, the fact that every food and every person is individual is not taken into account:
This means that the mineral content, preparation method (e.g. raw/heated) or influencing factors such as degree of ripeness, long storage or individual tolerance are not taken into account.
Examples:
- White rice has a lower acid load than brown rice, although the latter is actually much healthier as it contains more vitamins and minerals.
- Unripe fruit (which is what most tropical fruit in German supermarkets is) is not alkalising, but acidifying.
- For a person with fructose intolerance, sun-ripened apples can also be very acidic.
2.Exercise
Acids can not only be excreted via the kidneys (urine), but also exhaled via the lungs. If you get enough exercise in the fresh air and also exercise regularly, you increase your breathing rate and can therefore exhale more acid and rebalance your acid-base balance. You should not overdo it with sport, however, as too much strain on the muscles can lead to an increase in lactate (lactic acid), which can even lead to acidosis. For this to happen, however, you would have to do high-performance sport every day and consciously ignore the body's signals (e.g. muscle pain). Incidentally, sore muscles have nothing to do with hyperacidity.
Why can stress make you "acidic?"- Hormones:
Constant stress increases the release of hormones such as cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline, which have an impact on breathing, the digestive system and blood circulation. If these bodily functions are impaired, acidosis can occur. Breathing: - Occupation
- Sleep
- Targeted relaxation
When we are stressed, our breathing often becomes hurried and shallow. As a result, not enough oxygen gets into the blood. However, this would be necessary to remove acidic metabolic products.
Our tips for a balanced acid-base balance:
Does your job stress you out? If it's limited to just a few days a year, that's not a problem. However, if your work regularly overloads you, it's time to consider whether there are other career alternatives - even if it means losing money at first. What is more important to you: health and enjoyment of life or money?
Are you one of those people who only get to sleep after midnight and are then woken up by the alarm clock at the earliest hour the next day? That shouldn't be the case. Make sure you get enough sleep. It should be at least 7-8 hours. Not only will you do something good for your acid-base balance, but you will also be fitter.
Whether it's yoga, meditation, a relaxing walk or listening to music - everyone finds different things particularly relaxing. Let these activities become a daily ritual
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