Facts About Acidic Food
However, regardless of their motivation, people often become hopelessly confused because they neglect distinguish between foods that are inherently acidic, and foods that cause the body to become more acidic.
Understanding the Distinction Between Acidic and Acidifying
An acidic food is a food that has an low pH before it has been eaten and digested. For instance, if you took the juice from a lemon and applied it to a piece of pH test paper, the paper would turn a different color to show an acid pH of less than 7.0.
Life would be easy if all acidic foods caused the body to become more acidic, as well. However, this is not necessarily the case.
For example, most kinds of vinegar are both acidic and acidifying. But there is one notable exception: Apple cider vinegar is actually an alkalizing food because it is so rich in potassium.
On the other hand, you wouldn’t think of bread or milk as an acidic food. However, both of these foods have an acidifying effect on the body.
Both heartburn and acid reflux are often the result of the overproduction of stomach acid, in which case eating an acidic food can make these symptoms worse. But what most people don’t know is that too little stomach acid can also result in heartburn and other digestive symptoms. Since this is the case, some people actually find it beneficial to drink a small glass of apple cider vinegar mixed with water before each meal.
The bottom line about acidic food is that you don’t need to avoid it completely. The key to the alkaline diet is achieving balance.
Beth Shimanovsky answers questions about health and nutrition for the | href=”http://www.alkalinediet.org/”>Alkaline Diet Blog. Check it out today to learn more about | href=”http://www.alkalinediet.org/acidic-food/acidic-food/”>acidic food.
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