Most of you have probably heard of the Alkaline diet, as it is touted by many celebrities, including Doctor Oz (can you see me rolling my eyes?). The alkaline diet comes with the idea that consuming foods that produce an alkaline ash as opposed to acidic ash are better for your health. For those of you that skipped chemistry, pH refers to the power of hydrogen scale, and a level of 0 is completely acidic, and level of 14 completely basic or alkaline. Neutral pH would be a 7. Some professionals claim that acid forming foods can contribute to cancer, osteoporosis, and acidosis (the kiss of death apparently--more on this bogus claim read here: http://www.acidalkalinediet.net/alkaline-foods.php).  See the below chart for an idea of which foods are acid forming, and which are alkaline forming.
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http://www.doctoroz.com/article/25-alkaline-promoting-foods

http://foodandnonsense.com/

 Those who praise/follow the diet recommend testing the pH of your urine to determine how "healthy" you are. While it is possible to change the pH of our urine, it is not very indicative of overall health. While we can change the pH of our urine based on what we eat, we cannot change the pH of our blood. Our blood pH is highly regulated, and acidosis is a very rare and serious condition that most people do not need to worry about. I have read some believers in the diet claim that cancer thrives in acidity-- the truth is that cancer cells actually create an acidic environment, but are not caused from acidity in the body.

 Another interesting fact, is that the human body has many different levels of pH throughout our various tissues. Our stomach is acidic to help aid in digestion, and the skin and vagina have relatively low pH to protect against microbial growth. In fact, becoming too alkaline could contribute to candida and yeast overgrowth. Yikes.  In fact, caprylic acid, found in the acid forming coconut oil, can be used to treat yeast overgrowth and other health problems caused from candida. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21830350)


While the Alkaline diet is essentially BS-- it is probably one of the better ones that I have encountered. In fact, sticking to this diet will probably make you feel better than you already do. It asks you to avoid things like coffee, soda, refined grains, alcohol and processed sugars. The concerning thing about this diet is that many of the alkaline foods are quite high in sugars, and those with gut issues, diabetes, and weight control problems should be careful to choose a variety of fruits and vegetables and monitor carbohydrate intake. Many high protein foods, like fish and meats, are considered to be acidic, but in moderation these contribute to a healthy diet. Oily fish, like salmon, tuna, and trout actually contain anti-inflammatory omega 3 fatty acids and nuts provide us with protein, fat, and fiber. Dairy is also acidic, but some people, including myself, do quite well on dairy.

My recommendations:

• Take a multivitamin. Soils may have altered pH levels that can affect the mineral content and therefore the nutrition of our foods. This should be more concerning that the pH of our urine.
• Control gut health by introducing unsweetened kefir and coconut oil in moderation
• Consume a wide variety of natural unprocessed foods
• Some people do well on low carbohydrate diets, and others on moderate to high carbohydrate diets. Find out what works for you, but always include lots of vegetables! 
• A green supplement is a good way to get in extra nutrition, but not because it will make your body more alkaline 
• If you've overdone it on the alcohol, pop, or processed foods, eat nutrition dense and hydrating foods and try to keep to moderation most of the time
• Beware of what you read and don't trust a fad diet!