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If you're feeling unwell, it may not be because of an acidic diet. Contrary to common belief, eating too many acidic foods doesn't change your blood pH. For better health, focus on consuming more alkaline foods like fruits and vegetables, but remember, if our blood pH shifted so easily, we'd face severe health issues.
Proponents of the alkaline diet claim that foods leave an ash residue that can alter your body’s pH, but this idea is a stretch. While it’s true that some foods leave residue, it doesn't drastically change your blood's acid levels. The core idea is to eat more alkaline foods like fruits and vegetables, and less acidic foods like meat, dairy, and alcohol. To clarify, normal blood pH is between 7.35 and 7.45, and if it falls outside this range, it can be life-threatening. As Chris Kresser points out:
Your body tightly controls the pH of your blood and extracellular fluid, and dietary changes cannot significantly affect it. High doses of sodium bicarbonate may raise blood pH temporarily, but this comes with unpleasant digestive side effects. Though there are cases where blood pH becomes too acidic (acidosis), this is caused by serious health issues like chronic kidney disease, not by the food you eat, whether it's a salad or a burger.
In essence, your kidneys regulate blood pH by filtering blood, buffering acids, and excreting excess acid through urine. If you eat foods like bacon and eggs, your body will expel more acid compared to someone who eats an apple. Alkaline dieters often point to their urine’s pH as proof of their beliefs, but urine pH is an unreliable indicator of overall body pH and health. It does, however, show that your kidneys are functioning as they should, flushing out waste your body doesn’t need.
Photo credit: Rob.Bertholf.
