Monday, March 2, 2009

The Alkaline-Acid Issue

Based on an interesting article on the Web, all kinds of food can be categorized into three: alkaline-forming foods, acid forming foods and neutral foods. It is relevant to take note of these categories because all activities carried out by the body are acidic in nature and an alkaline environment is necessary to carry these out.

Our body cells take in oxygen and nutrients and expel toxins. In an acidic environment, our cells will not be able to do so and we will eventually get sick. Acid forming foods, they say, are seriously injurious to health.


Take note – acid forming foods are like poison because diseases thrive in an acidic environment created by such foods. In a highly acidic environment our immune system gets overwhelmed with various forms of micro-organisms which attack our vital organs, leaving them unable to carry out normal body functions.

High on the acid forming food chart is animal flesh – meat like beef, lamb, chicken, fish and oysters leave an acid ash in the body – the residue that food leaves in the human body after it is metabolized. No more than 20% of our food intake should be acid forming foods. The remaining 80% should be in the alkaline forming category.

So here’s a list of some of the more common acid forming foods on our everyday meals – animal fats and vegetable oils (except olive oil which is not acid forming), corn, lentils, winter squash, cooked spinach, cranberries, blueberries, wheat, barley, bread, macaroni, rice, noodles, cheese, butter, ice cream, milk (except soy milk), walnuts, cashew nuts, peanuts, pecans (except almonds), sugar, corn syrup (except stevia) alcoholic drinks, tea, coffee, soda, vinegar and processed foods.

That’s quite a long list. And as a fair warning – acid forming foods will take us to our grave – so let’s look at the 80% alkaline forming foods for balance.

Here’s a list – fruits like apples, bananas, grapefruit, oranges, pineapple, raisins, blackberries, dates, vegetables like broccoli, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, eggplant, mushrooms, squash, turnips, buckwheat, sprouted beans, sprouted seeds, chestnuts, fresh coconuts, molasses, maple syrup and honey.

The Web offers a more comprehensive list of acid forming and alkaline forming foods. You can bet that I have downloaded this checklist to make sure that the 20%-80% ratio will always get into the picture while I play around with my wok and pans.

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