THE FOOD PARADOX
Acidic Foods Can Have An Alkalizing Effect
It’s very important to understand that eating an acidic food does not automatically mean it makes your body more acidic. With the same premise, eating an alkaline food does not mean it will have an alkalizing effect on your body. Meat is alkaline. But, when ingested, meat releases acids that results in acidifying your body.
The Acidic Lemon
The primary example is the lemon. A lemon contains citric acid. Concentrated citric acid is pH 2, which is a strong acid that can eat through clothing.  But, guess what? Lemons, despite being acidic themselves, happen to push our bodies to be a little more alkaline. Here is the paradox. Our bodies react with some acidic foods to produce an alkaline state of health.

Acidic foods such as lemons, limes, grapefruits and apple cider vinegar* will alkalize your body. *Apple cider vinegar is high in acetic acid. This vinegar became very popular in around 2000 as our health awareness improved. At work, people would have a bottle of apple cider vinegar on their desk. Some individuals  would drink an ounce of apple cider vinegar every morning to kick start their day. Today, they are taking a shot of pure, organic coconut oil in the morning – for good health. I suppose together with the vinegar and coconut oil, you would get a very healthy cocktail -or- a coco-nutty salad dressing.

Why Do You Want To Alkalize Your Body?
According to the Alkaline Diet, when your blood and tissues are slightly on the alkaline side of their homeostatic pH range, your body works more efficiently. When your body is more on the acidic side, the body begins a cascade of imbalance, manifested as fatigue, sickness, weight gain, irritable gut and so on.

When we eat Alkaline “FORMING” Foods such as certain fruits, vegetables and other components in our diet and nutritional intake we can expect to experience the following: improved vitality, well-being and positive outlook, fewer colds and the flu, slow or reverse aging by promoting healthy cell growth. Is that enough incentive?

(be careful what you read) Cucumber leads in this Alkaline chart—> Alkaline foods . This chart shows cucumbers with PH 31.5. Wow! However, I read in many places that a cucumber has a PH level of 5.5. The same as beans. Here is another one: Soda = 2. Coffee = 4. Cucumber = 7. this means the PH level of foods will vary.  Blame it on the soil.  Garden soil can be amended to better meet the nutritional needs of plants. Adjusting pH is one component of the process. The best way to gauge nutrient and pH requirements is to test soil samples through a local county office or with a home kit. Furthermore, cucumbers need an acidic soil PH 6.0 – 7.0 to grow well.

Can You Have Too much Alkaline Food?

The nutrition you are missing out on (animal protein and  some fruits & veggies)
Now, the alkaline diet is not all bad. It does eliminate many foods that were already known to be bad for you including refined sugars, processed foods, and excessive meat/dairy consumption, but it also eliminates foods that can be very beneficial. Beans and legumes are a great source of phytonutrients, fiber, and protein; all of which have multiple benefits including cancer prevention. written by Dr. Zagst

I agree whole heartedly.  Dr.Zagst continues to say.  “Many alkaline diets prohibit fruit consumption; fruits are a great source of vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants that reduce inflammation within the body.“  This is where I fail to see his logic. Fruits are not necessarily prohibited in alkaline diets as you can see on the above chart.  However, people on pure alkaline diets will experience muscle loss.  Protein filled salmon, quinoa, almonds, egg yolks are loaded with amino acids, vitamins and healthy fats to maintain and build muscles. Eggs should be a primary food source in any lean muscle building nutrition plan.  I know, some of you pale faced vegans are rolling your eyes. Sorry, I just can not fathom living without fish or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.  Consuming 60% alkaline foods daily is recommended.

What is your alkaline level?
Take yous own litmus test to see you alkaline level. Place the litmus paper in your saliva one hour before a meal or 2 hours after a meal. And there you have it. We used litmus paper in high school chemistry class. Contact your local high school chemistry teacher, local labs or pharmacist to get litmus paper. You can test yourself periodically if you wish.

What are the top 7 alkaline foods?

DID YOU KNOW?: American children that are expected to live shorter lifespans than their parents. If current trends continue, 95 percent of Americans are expected to be overweight or obese within two decades. It’s been a long time since we lived as hunter-gatherers. It follows, then, that the fastest way to recover our natural health and vitality is to return to a way of eating and living that more closely matches with our genes and biology.