Acid-Base Value and Human Health

One of the basic goals of the body in order to function properly is to maintain the proper balance of acidity and alkalinity (pH) in the blood and other body fluids. If you happened to catch one of the infomercials on TV trying to hawk products to correct acid-base imbalances, you probably found the presentation of the acid-alkaline theory of disease intriguing. Basically the premise is that many diseases including cancer are caused by excess acid accumulation in the body. The information presented on TV was often taken a bit out of context and included ridiculous claims. Nonetheless, there is accumulating evidence that certain disease states like osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, and many others are in fact influenced considerably by the dietary acid-alkaline balance. For example, in osteoporosis may be the result of a chronic intake of acid-forming foods consistently outweighing the intake of alkaline foods leading to the bone being constantly not allowed to give up their alkaline minerals (calcium and magnesium) in order to buffer the excess acid. Read more