The Acidic Body

Remember back in Chemistry class when you took those strips of paper and dunked them in different solutions to see what color they turned. Then you compared what color the paper was to a chart and wrote down the pH of the different solutions. This is probably a subject you thought you would never need to know much about, but what pH your body is at effects your health. The more acidic your body is the more likely you are to suffer from various symptoms and diseases.

What makes your body acidic you may ask? Some things that cause you to be more acidic include highly processed foods, sugar, alcohol, coffee, soda, most bottled water, STRESS, and most meats. What are some symptoms of being too acidic? Early signs include bloating, headaches, constipation, anxiety, unexplained fatigue, acne, PMS, low sex drive, cold hands and feet, joint pain and mucous in your head and chest to name a few. As you continue to get more acidic symptoms can progress to bacterial infections, allergies and asthma, yeast infections, insomnia, depression, foggy brain, eczema, and inflammation and swelling to name a few. And if you let your acidity levels get severe problems include rheumatoid arthritis and cancers among other diseases.

So how do you keep your body from reaching these high levels of acidity you may ask? Lifestyle and diet are how you fight off high acid levels. You must want to get better! Vegetables are your number one food defense to alkalize your body. The darker and leafier the better! Beans and legumes are another source of alkaline food. You can find many charts of alkaline versus acidic foods online. (http://www.acidalkalinediet.com/Alkaline-Foods-Chart.htm) When it comes to lifestyle taking care of yourself and including stress reducing activities are a must! Many people also don’t realize how acidic the water they drink is, drinking at least half your body weight in ounces of alkaline water is another important way to keep your body alkaline rather than acidic.

If you have any questions on alkaline/acid balance in the body don’t hesitate to set up an appointment to talk to us!