Why Alkaline Foods Might Keep You Healthy

Dr. Jeffrey Klass, a licensed Naturopathic Physician and Mary Coyle, a homeopathic practioner spoke at NAA-NYC Metro Chapter last month. One thing that I took away from the lecture was how a person’s body being acid or alkaline influences their susceptibility to getting sick. Basically, bacteria and viruses thrive in an acidic environment. Sugar, wheat and meat all increase acidity in the body. Most fruits and vegetables decrease acidity and increase alkalinity. Sugar promotes an acidic environment allowing bugs to take hold. While sugar in my household on Halloween is a given, if you wake up with a cough or a cold, you don’t get any sugar until you are better.

Interestingly, body acidity is implicated in many diseases and many diseases can be signs of long-term acidity. Osteoporosis, digestive problems, poor immunity, arthritis, kidney diseases and gout, and cancer can all be triggered by long-term acidity according to one website, awaytofitness.com. While no one knows what causes cancer, the macrobiotic diet that some have found helpful is based on the Acid & Alkaline theory written about by Herman Aihara. I found at chimachine4u.com that “At a pH slightly above 7.4 cancer becomes dormant and at a pH 8.5 cancer cells will die while healthy cells will live.” There is a food chart at essence-of-life.com that has a list of alkaline foods. Interestingly, probiotics are alkaline!

But, my mantra has always been “Theory is one thing, reality is another.” Listen to your body. I just want to give people tools so they can try to shift their health away from sickness toward health.