But, according to Alkaline Diet supporters, if we eat foods that are more alkaline, we will be in harmony with the natural state the body seeks to maintain. This supposedly allows us to circumvent any additional stress our diet might put on the body.
Proponents of the diet would also have you test your urine regularly with pH strips, always making sure to keep yourself in the alkaline range.
There are a few problems with this theory. For one thing, we don’t “burn” energy the same way a car does. Instead, food undergoes a series of chemical reactions, and doesn’t produce “ash.”
Second, our blood pH is carefully controlled by our body, regardless of what we eat. We could add large amounts of acidic foods to our diet, such as lemon juice and vinegar, and never have a change in our blood’s acidity.
Like all other diet plans, the Alkaline Diet encourages some foods over others, and a lot of these suggestions are actually really good recommendations for the average person. The diet is almost completely vegetarian, and can be vegan friendly as it also eliminates dairy.
For more on veganism, check out my recent article on the subject.
The Alkaline diet’s website explains:
“The typical American diet is too high in acid-producing foods like meat, eggs, dairy, white flour and sugar. By following the [Alkaline Diet] instead, you will begin cleansing your body by flushing out acidic wastes caused by poor diet, environmental toxins, stress, drugs and other destructive substances”.
The most critical factor, and what everything hinges on in the Alkaline Diet is the idea that by eating the right foods, you will alter the pH levels of your blood. Put simply, this isn’t possible.
The pH of the blood simply does not change with diet. Does this render everything claimed about the efficacy of the Alkaline Diet false? Basically.
Food has virtually no effect whatsoever on changing your blood pH.
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