Contents Cover Image Title Page Introduction Part One DEFINING ACIDITY 1 What Is Acid–Alkaline Balance? WHAT IS AN ACID? WHAT IS AN ALKALINE? HOW ACIDITY IS MEASURED DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STRONG AND WEAK ACIDS pH AND HEALTH HOW THE BODY DEFENDS ITSELF AGAINST ACIDIFICATION THE BUFFER SYSTEM HOW ACIDIFICATION MAKES THE BODY SICK ILLNESSES CAUSED BY ACIDIFICATION ACIDOSIS: A WIDESPREAD PROBLEM HEALING THE PROBLEMS CAUSED BY ACIDIFICATION 2 Detecting Acidification TEST 1: ANALYSIS OF URINARY pH TEST 2: ANALYSIS OF SYMPTOMS TEST 3: FOOD ANALYSIS TEST 4: LIFESTYLE ANALYSIS TEST 5: EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION TEST 6: DETECTING INABILITY TO METABOLIZE ACIDS Part Two DIMINISHING ACIDIFICATION THROUGH DIET 3 Acidifying, Alkalizing, and Weak-Acid Foods ACIDIFYING FOODS ALKALIZING FOODS WEAK-ACID FOODS EIGHT RULES FOR AN ACID–ALKALINE BALANCED DIET 4 Classifying the Acidification Potential of Foods FRESH FRUITS DRIED FRUITS OLEAGINOUS FRUITS VEGETABLES CEREAL GRAINS DAIRY PRODUCTS MEAT AND FISH LEGUMINOUS PLANTS (BEANS) BEVERAGES 5 Acidifying Meals and Alkalizing Alternatives BREAKFAST MIDMORNING SNACK BREAK LUNCH MIDAFTERNOON SNACK OR TEA EVENING MEAL Part Three NEUTRALIZING AND ELIMINATING ACIDS 6 Water and Deacidification WATER AND THE PRODUCTION AND ELIMINATION OF ACIDS ALKALINE WATER AND DEACIDIFICATION 7 Alkaline Supplements COMPOSITION OF ALKALINE SUPPLEMENTS ALKALINE SUPPLEMENT INTOLERANCE ALKALINE SUPPLEMENT DOSAGES MONTHLY MONITORING LENGTH OF TREATMENT 8 Other Important Supplements GREEN FOOD ENZYME SUPPLEMENTS PREBIOTICS AND PROBIOTICS ANTIOXIDANTS 9 Draining Acids ACID DRAINAGE THROUGH THE KIDNEYS ACID DRAINAGE THROUGH THE SKIN ACID DRAINAGE THROUGH THE LUNGS INTESTINAL DRAINAGE ARE FASTS AND MONO DIETS EFFECTIVE METHODS OF DEACIDIFICATION? SAMPLE ALKALINE AND DETOXIFYING DIET 10 Alkaline Energy Boosters Urinary pH Record Resources Footnotes About the Author About Inner Traditions • Bear & Company Copyright & Permissions Introduction The importance of the body’s acid–alkaline balance to overall health is being recognized by an increasing number of patients and therapists. In my book L’équilibre acido-basique (Geneva: Editions Jouvence, 1991), I explained what this balance is and how to correct it when it is lost in order to restore good health. Experience has shown the need for a more detailed examination of certain points to make this corrective therapy easier to implement for the reader, including how to interpret urine pH measurements, choose corrective foods, create alkaline menus, decide dosages for alkaline supplements, and so forth. The purpose of The Acid–Alkaline Diet for Optimum Health is to shed new light where needed. In this respect it is an eminently practical book. While it will stand perfectly well on its own, it also makes the ideal complement to L’équilibre acido-basique. This book consists of three parts, each corresponding to one of the major questions about acid–alkaline balance. 1. How do I know if I have an acid problem? Following a brief definition of the acidity problem, part one explains what tests are available, how to perform them, and, most importantly, how to interpret them. 2. How do I lower acidity through diet? Diet plays a fundamental role in acid–alkaline balance. Part two provides detailed lists of foods that are alkalizing, foods that are acidifying, and weak- acid foods; a classification of foods according to their acidifying properties; guidelines for a balanced diet; an analysis of currently popular but acidifying meals; and numerous suggestions for alkaline-based menus. 3. How do I neutralize and eliminate acids? Treatments using alkaline supplements—which are often applied incorrectly— are explained in part three in detail: dosages, how long a treatment should last, how to monitor the effectiveness of a supplement, what products are available, and so forth. Also explained is how to drain acids from the body and rejuvenate it with alkaline energy boosters. By following the guidelines offered in this book, readers affected by acid problems will be working actively toward the recovery of their good health. I wish you every success. Note: The fresh cheese called for in this book can be any of a large number of cheeses that have not been ripened and thus are intended for immediate consumption. American cottage cheese is on this list, as are ricotta, mozzarella, quark, fromage blanc, neufchâtel, and queso blanco. Especially prevalent in the recommendations in this book is fromage blanc for its spreadability; its consistency is also good for mixing with fruits and preserves. Fromage blanc is now available in many health food stores and supermarkets. Good substitutes for fromage blanc are fresh goat cheese, neufchâtel, and soft cream cheese, preferably the low-fat variety. Cheeses and dairy foods that have a higher whey content will become more acidic as they age—this is why cottage cheese can be found listed as both an alkaline and an acid food. Generally the firmer large-curd cottage cheese will be more alkaline. Consumers should also be aware of the expiration date on the container, as the acidity of cottage cheese increases with age. Part One DEFINING ACIDITY 1 What Is Acid–Alkaline Balance? The substances the body uses for building and functioning are quite numerous: there are approximately twenty amino acids, several dozen sugars and fatty acids, approximately forty vitamins, and one hundred or so minerals and trace elements. Each of these substances plays one or several specific roles in the body. Despite the extreme diversity of these substances, it is possible to classify them in two major groups: basic (or alkaline) substances and acid substances. These two different groups of substances have opposing but complementary characteristics. To be healthy, the body needs both. When alkalines and acids are present in equal quantities, the acid–alkaline balance is achieved. Many organic balances are necessary for good health: those between activity and rest, inhalation and exhalation, venous and arterial blood, energy intake and expenditure, and the production and elimination of toxins. Just as it is detrimental to disturb any one of these balances—for example, to eat more than the body needs or not rest enough to make up for daily activity—an excess of either acid or alkaline substances is very harmful to health. WHAT IS AN ACID? If you have ever bitten into a lemon or eaten rhubarb you know the most obvious characteristic of an acid: its taste. But acidic foods also stimulate salivation to dilute the acid, which brings out another property of acids—their harsh, even corrosive, nature. We take advantage of this latter property in everyday life in many ways. Vinegar dissolves the calcium deposits that can form in pots and sinks, and some of today’s cleaning products partially owe their cleansing qualities to the acids they contain. The corrosive nature of acids is also demonstrated by the well- known experiment of soaking a piece of meat or a coin in a cola-based beverage. After several days the meat will have dissolved totally and the surface of the coin will be scarred and pitted. Chemically, acids are defined as substances that release hydrogen ions when dissolved in water. Some acids give off more hydrogen ions than others. Rhubarb and lemons, for example, are much more acidic than strawberries or tomatoes, which are also acidic foods. Taste is not an infallible means for determining that a food is acidic, because acids can be partially neutralized and their taste obscured by the presence of other substances. Meat and cereal grains are not acidic to the taste, but they are very acidifying foods. The degree of acidity of a substance is measured by determining its pH (see “How Acidity Is Measured”). It is also possible to identify a food as acidic by analyzing its mineral content. In fact, minerals can be divided into the same two basic groups: acidic and alkaline. The principal acidic minerals are sulfur, chlorine, phosphorus, fluoride, iodine, and silicon. When a substance contains more acidic than alkaline minerals it is said to be acidic. Accordingly, mineral waters, which contain both types of mineral, are said to be alkaline when alkaline minerals, such as calcium and magnesium, predominate and acidic when sulfur, chlorine, or carbon dioxide prevail. A food rich in phosphorus—hazelnuts, for example—is more acidic than one that contains less phosphorus, like almonds. WHAT IS AN ALKALINE? Unlike acidic substances, alkaline substances in solution with water give up few or no hydrogen ions. The fewer hydrogen ions they release the less acidic they are—or, in other words, the more alkaline. Also unlike acids, alkaline elements have no corrosive properties. They are “gentle” substances. Whereas lemon juice causes a sharp burning sensation if applied to a cut, milk does not. Alkaline substances can counter problems caused by acids. Potato juice, for example, soothes the pains of an acid stomach, and milk in large quantities can be an effective method of neutralizing the corrosiveness of acidic poisons swallowed by accident. Alkaline foods have little or no acidic taste. In the most-alkaline foods, such as bananas, almonds, and fresh milk, not even the slightest trace of an acidic