pHood™

Your diet’s acid test

Scientific Evidence for Musculoskeleltal, Bariatric, and Sports Nutrition (CRC Press 2006) equips people to grow muscle, build bone, and burn fat. In all the tiny, complicated details of metabolism emerges a wonderfully simple message – eat pHood^™.

In short, the S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) doesn’t make good chemistry. It creates acid in the blood at a rate of one milli-equivalent of acid per kilogram of body weight per day. This is approximately 60 milli-equivalents of acid a day that is not formed from the diets of our ancestors.

According to my medical training acidic diets should have no adverse effect on human physiology, because the lungs and kidneys clear excess acid. However, clinical evidence and the research outlined in the textbook suggest otherwise. The body doesn’t wait for the lungs and kidneys to neutralize dietary acid. It draws on bone mineral reserves to do the job. In other words, the body dissolves the calcium from bones to offset the acid from the S.A.D.

The untoward effects of an acidic diet do not appear to be limited to bone. The slight shift in blood pH makes enzymes work less effectively, demanding more nutrients needed for muscle growth and maintenance. In other words, acidic diets cause calories which should be spent on building muscle to be stored as body fat. When patients tell me that they have weak bones even though they take calcium, that they are susceptible to muscle strains, or they want to build muscle and burn fat, I start with a simple recommendation – Eat pHood^™!

PHood^™ is the term I coined to describe an alkaline diet, one that does not generate acid. PHood^™ is simply a prescription for a diet high in base-forming foods which are vegetables, fruits, spices, nuts, and seeds and low in acid-forming foods which are sugar, flour, refined grains, legumes, dairy, and meats.

My patients have found additional information on citrus and juice to be helpful. Even though citrus is acidic by pH, it does not give the bloodstream an acidic load. In fact, the fiber and vitamins make whole citrus alkalinizing in keeping with other fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately fruit juices are highly processed and sweetened so that they are acid-forming sugar water.

Those who drink fruits and vegetables should use a blender instead of a juicer. Here’s why.

Juicing keeps the fruit sugar and removes the fruit fiber, whereas blending keeps the fiber. Fiber slows down the rate at which fruit sugar enters the bloodstream, improves the glycemic index, and reduces the acid load. Get pHiber!

It’s easier to over-drink juice than blended fruits and vegetables. A juice glass is 6 ounces, the equivalent of 1-2 fruits. More than the juice of 2 fruits is too much sugar for anyone. The high glycemic load can negate fruit’s alkalinizing effect.

Many of the vitamins in fruits and vegetables are fat-soluble such as carotene in carrots and lycopene in tomatoes. Juices generally don’t have enough dietary fat to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins. Blends generally have the needed fat if milk, yogurt, nuts, flax, or fish oil is added.

For those who are inclined to measure things, yes, there is an acid test. I equip patients with pH paper to test their urine. Eat pHood^™ and the first urine sample in the morning should range in pH from 6.5 and 7.5. S.A.D. diets usually result in a lower morning urine pH. Alternatively, take my word that pHood^™ works and notice an upsurge in fitness.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 4th, 2009 at 4:16 pm and is filed under Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.