Acid-Alkaline Balancing

Maintaining the human body's pH is extremely important. The pH of the human bloodstream is approximately 7.4. If the pH of the bloodstream increases or decreases by just a small amount, we will die. Lucky for us we store calcium, magnesium and other minerals in our bones that are used to buffer the acidity of our bloodstream. Our diet should be composed of about 80% alkaline-forming foods and 20% acid-forming foods. The standard American diet (SAD) is reversed at about 80% acid-forming and 20% alkaline-forming. The acid condition in the body that the SAD diet causes pulls calcium out of our bones to buffer the acidity of the bloodstream and can lead to osteopenia or osteoporosis. As has been proven frequently, the answer is not more calcium, but rather proper diet.
One thing that determines if a food is acid- or alkaline-forming is the mineral content or ash that is left over after the food has been digested. The following common minerals are alkaline-forming to the tissues in our body: calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium and sodium. Some acid-forming minerals are chlorine, phosphorus and sulfur. Another factor that determines how a food affects our pH is the protein level. Amino acids (building blocks of protein), when eaten to excess, cause our urine to become more acidic. The body then pulls alkaline minerals out of the bloodstream to buffer the pH of the urine. This process acidifies the body by stealing alkaline minerals such as calcium and magnesium. Another factor that must be considered is that other elements of foods besides minerals and protein levels, such as acids and sugars, can have an acidifying effect on the tissues of our bodies. So citrus foods and high acids and sugar may be acid-forming to us even though the scientific community classifies them as alkaline forming.
Whether the food is acidic or alkaline in the stomach has little to do with whether it has an acidifying or alkalinizing effect on the tissues of the body. Milk is alkaline in the stomach but acidifying to the tissues after digestion because it contains a high amount of protein (amino acids). In general, all animal meat, milk and eggs, common grains (wheat, rye, barley), and sugar are acid-forming, and almost all fresh, raw fruits and vegetables are alkaline-forming. I have included a chart for easy viewing. This chart is not 100% accurate, because the mineral content of different soils varies causing the mineral content of the food grown in it to vary as well.