If you’re looking for a diet plan to lose weight, try the popular alkaline diet for its various health benefits. Not only does this healthy meal plan promote weight loss, but helps prevent cancer. Despite its health benefits, some diet experts claim this diet can alter your blood pH level. However, this belief has been debunked as alkaline’s impact on the blood is insignificant.
The Alkaline Diet and Cancer
The idea behind the alkaline diet restricts the consumption of certain foods as they can affect pH or acid levels in the body. To be precise, this diet centers on high-alkaline foods with a pH level above seven to improve or maintain good health. However, the speculations that cancer and the alkaline diet share a connection are unfounded.
Researchers have discovered that cancer cells are more likely to grow in acidic environments, proving the statement false. In theory, your body may become less hospital for cancer to flourish due to the foods in the alkaline diet. Keep in mind, however, that any studies regarding alkaline dieting and cancer growth were conducted in environments that didn’t account for the human body’s complexity.
Health Benefits
Again, dietary changes don’t alter your blood pH levels as they’re tightly regulated in this body. So, while these changes can affect your saliva or urine pH level, they don’t impact your blood pH levels. Therefore, the central claim of the alkaline diet’s harmful health risks is false. With the alkaline diet, you gain healthier eating habits by consuming more water, vegetables, and fruit, while cutting out processed foods, sugar, meat, and alcohol. Due to its focus on consuming whole foods, you’ll improve your health without affecting your pH levels.
Another great health benefit from the alkaline diet is decreased chronic inflammation, which can cause cancer and DNA damage. That’s why, adding anti-inflammatory foods to your meals is highly important to reduce your risk of cancer. Regarding alkaline water, its advertising may be misleading as many commercial products are just mineral water, which may alter the PH in your urine or saliva but not your blood.
Monitoring pH Levels
Basically, your pH level measures the alkalinity or acidity of a substance, ranging between 0 and 14. Particularly, the stomach has a high acidic pH level of 1.5-2.0, which makes sense as stomach acid breaks down food. Although the body can balance numerous pH levels, the blood pH can cause complications if impacted by certain diseases like ketoacidosis. Besides the blood, ensure your urine pH level is above seven as this shows it’s alkaline. With that said, remember that the human body is complex and that pH levels can vary within the body. More than that, people can have differences in pH levels and not develop any health issues.
Mainly, your body regulates your blood pH by maintaining a constant level to keep you healthy. Fortunately, food consumption doesn’t have much impact on your blood pH. In fact, any changes that occur are usually temporary and small. However, the alkaline diet can affect your urine’s pH level. Depending on the food you eat, your urine’s pH level can become more alkaline or acidic.
This process shows the body’s blood pH regulation by removing harmful acids through urination. Still, despite the alkaline diet’s potential influence, urine pH isn’t a good source to determine health or your body’s pH overall. What’s more? Other factors beyond diets may be contributing to any health problem.
Final Thoughts
When on an alkaline diet, you’ll typically eat foods with alkaline ash consisting of calcium, potassium, and magnesium. Instead, you can enjoy fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes as they have alkaline properties Conversely, you’ll limit your consumption of acidic foods high in sulfur, phosphate, and protein such as dairy, poultry, and meat. Moreover, you can still consume natural foods such as starches, sugars, and natural fats, but in moderation.
By centering plant-based foods, you’ll experience a rich variety of fruits, nuts, whole grains, and vegetables that may greatly improve your overall health. So, as you learn about the alkaline diet, you should first contact a doctor to discuss any health benefits and risks. From there, you and your doctor can develop the best diet plan that promotes healthy eating and addresses your needs. Also if you happen to live in Arizona, you live in the most alkaline state in the country!
Disclaimer: This article is intended simply to provide information. It does not replace the medical advice of a physician or other medical professional. Please speak with your doctor or therapist if you have any questions or concerns.
