By Barbara Rotthaler
Editor’s Note: I’m so glad Barbara wrote this article, because it reminded me of a book I read in 2002, Alkalize or Die (1991), by Theodore A. Baroody. I read a review that said, “discover the underlying causes of nearly all disease, both physical and mental. Discover how a change in diet, exercise, color, and music (among other things), can bring your body back into perfect balance. You really can be alive again, and without the need for medical drugs and artificial stimulants. I believe this book to be a great work, and a must read for anyone interesting in living to their optimum health and energy levels.” Unfortunately for me, reading doesn’t mean doing, so I was very pleased that Barbara brought this to my attention again.
Over-acidity in the body is the cause of many illnesses and ailments. It is the great success in our conventional medicine that it can conquer life-threatening situations. But for most chronic ailments, besides symptomatic relief, there is no real cure available. More and more we realize that young people are not healthy anymore, even though they have in their diet all the life-important substances such as fat, carbohydrates, proteins, minerals and vitamins. Therefore, the problem cannot be explained by lack of nutrients. What is the problem?
It is all about balance. The universe operates by keeping opposites in balance, and the universe contained within your body is no exception. When imbalance occurs, we get signs of disease: low energy, fatigue, poor digestion, excess weight, foggy thinking, aches and pains as well as major disorders.
When you look around you, see that most people with our modern lifestyles are suffering from imbalance. They just don't feel healthy, and it is almost common for many people to fill their days and weeks with doctor visits. We have forgotten that it is natural to live - and to die - healthy.
The obvious clue is that the top three killers (cancer, heart disease and diabetes), as well as most of the other ailments, are directly linked to diet. The problem is that while diet is the key not only to slimness and overall health, it has to be a diet that properly balances our body chemistry. But each and every one of the diets we have tried – including not just the "average American diet" but also such supposedly healthful regimens as low fat diets, the food pyramid, and vegetarianism – create imbalanced body chemistry. Most important in this regard is the balance between alkalinity and acidity. (It is all about finding the right balance between alkalinity
and acidity)
The role of the ph–level
The ph level of our internal fluids affects every cell and function in our bodies. The strength of acids and alkaline substances is measured in the so-called “ph value.” The scale reaches from 1 to 14. The neutral point is 7. Everything below 7 is acid, above alkaline.
All chemical reactions need optimal conditions under which they can function in the best way. If the ph level is out of its balance, the reactions of the metabolism are reduced or totally limited. Because of its importance, our body has many different possibilities to keep that fragile system in constant order. The mechanisms are working automatically; we are not aware of them. The problem is that acidity itself is constantly created by the activity of our metabolism, but alkalinity is not, which is necessary to neutralize the acidity. Alkalinity has to come almost entirely from "outside" of the body.
Sources of alkalinity are, for example, oxygen, which we get through our breathing. Therefore, being active…moving the body and exercising…is very important. It increases the circulation of all fluids in the body and provides more oxygen because of deeper breathing.
Another source is food, which creates alkalinity in the metabolic process. Very important: It has nothing to do with the taste of food – in fact – our sour lemons are a most potent alkalizing source.
What is the cause of over-acidity?
The answer is very simple: As I said before, it is our sedentary, stressful, modern lifestyle in connection with an unhealthy diet that creates over-acidity. The goal is to create the proper environment in your body by eating the proper balance of alkaline and acid foods. That means 60 to 70 % of your diet must be alkalizing foods, like green vegetables and fruits. That leaves much smaller portions of acid foods (such as meat, sweets and grains) on your plates. The recommendation for a healthy diet is for 60 to 70 % of your intake to be fruits and vegetables.
Forget calories and fat grams. Forget cholesterol counts or any of the other markers of health you are used to at the doctor's office. It turns out that most important to your health is how acidic or alkaline your tissue is.
I recommend that you write down what you eat on a regular day, breakfast, lunch, supper and inbetween. Mark fruit and vegetables green and the rest yellow, including coffee and alcohol. See where you are.
Why does over-acidity cause problems in our body?
Consequences of over-acidity can be either demineralization, acidity accumulation in the tissue or dysfunction of the immune system. We know today that these factors play an important role in degenerative and inflammatory illnesses.
Chronic over-acidity corrodes body tissues, and, if left unchecked, will interrupt all cellular activities and functions, from the beating of your heart to the neural firing of your brain. It will accumulate in and around your joints, the arteries, in the connective tissue, etc. The sharp burning pain for example that you feel around your painful joints are little tiny acid crystals. Not only uric acid, that we all know about because of creating gout, but also nitric acid, sulfuric acid, lactic acid, etc. In other words, over-acidity interferes with life itself. In many cases it is the root of sickness.
Conventional medicine rejects the alkaline/acidity theory as being the cause of many of our illnesses. In intensive care or in emergency situations doctors know that acidity and alkalinity has to be stabilized as one of the first actions to save one's life. But as soon as the acute crisis is over, the subject is virtually not addressed anymore.
Contrary to that, in Alternative and Natural Medicine it is one of the major focuses to eliminate and flush out over-acidity, which is seen as the cause of many of our illnesses. De-acidification or Inner Cleansing cures are the best and easiest way to bring back a state of well being.
Over and over again, in Natural Medicine we have witnessed joy, relief and renewed peace of mind in those who have turned a serious or chronic illness around, those who lost weight they have been battling for years, those whose cholesterol levels dropped, skin cleared up, itching stopped and energy returned and people whose aches and pains disappeared.
Many of our old age ailments don't have to exist.
A lot of medicinal drugs and costly treatments can be avoided when the metabolism is corrected for the ph balance
How to re-establish the balance between alkalinity and acidity
So…how do you stop the overload of acidity and what specific types of food help to alkalize the body?
You don't have to change your lifestyle completely to bring back the metabolic balance between alkalinity and acidity in your body. If you work here and there a little bit on old habits, then you will improve the balance automatically and you will feel much better.
Short summary of what leads to over acidity:
Most of the acidity in our body comes from the metabolism itself, through food and digestion.
Food can contain acidity or can create acidity. The Importance for the organism is that the acidity oxidizes easily and therefore disappears from the body very fast (e.g. sour fruits), or it will convert into heavy acidity (e.g. sulfuric acid).
Therefore, even food like meat, that is originally alkaline, can turn into acidity during the metabolic process.
External causes of over-acidity are:
Insufficient intake of alkaline food.
Insufficient intake of necessary substances like oxygen, minerals, trace elements, vitamins.
Over activity of the sympathetic nervous system
Internal causes of over-acidity are:
Chronic malfunction and dysbiosis of the intestines (bloated feeling, gas etc.)
Lack of enzymes
Inhibited function of the kidneys
Dysfunction of the stomach
The treatments are:
Reduction of acid-producing intake
Inhibition of acidity production in the metabolism
Elimination of acidity in the body
Normalizing the metabolism
Increased intake of alkaline-producing substances through food and minerals.
Each of these points contains single steps, but all together lead to a general healthy life style.
1. Elimination of acidity-creating food
This includes everything sweet, white flour, cheese, meat, poultry, and fish. Canned vegetables belong to this group because the preservation process eliminates important minerals. Also creating acidity is alcohol, coffee, Coca Cola, all sweet drinks, and black tea (if steeped less than 5 minutes). There are only a few foods, fats for example, that have a neutral metabolic reaction.
General suggestions:
Drink one cup of coffee less today and slowly reduce it more and more. You might react with headaches the first days. Black tea is stimulating too; the effect is slower but longer lasting – so be careful with black tea in the afternoon or late at night. It could cause sleep problems.
Try to avoid alcoholic and sweet beverages in general. At least don't drink alcohol every evening.
Eat less meat and poultry – but instead eat bigger portions of vegetables.
Avoid cane food.
If you need the effect of coffee to be fit, go earlier to bed, avoid heavy food (digestion process consumes energy!). Do a cold arm bath or dry brushing of the skin to stimulate the circulation. Use tiger balm or any other peppermint essential oil on your temples for refreshment.
2. Inhibition of acidity in the metabolism
There are two particular factors that are important to know: (1) the stressful life style of our times leads to an overworked sympathetic nervous system and that causes acidity in the body. (2) The dysfunction of our intestines causes too much acidity in general. Minimizing stress and creating healthy intestines should be a major goal.
3. Elimination of acidity in the body:
Use: Hydro therapy with warm-cold alternating showers or arm or foot baths, dry brushing of the skin (increases lymphatic fluidity), de-acidification baths with alkaline salts like Baking soda or Epsom salts. (The body tries to keep the balance between "inside" and "outside"). The bath helps to soften hard skin particles, tight muscles and also lessens arthritic pain. You may have heard about the healing effect from health spas all over the world! It is because of the minerals!
Sauna
Poultices, especially on liver and abdominal area.
Drinking of 2.5 liters (about 80 ounces) of water, mineral water or /and herbal teas for kidney support.
If you are sweating or exercising, you have to drink even more liquid. Ice cold drinks should be avoided because they disturb and affect the nervous system in the digestive tract.
Ideal herbal teas are dandelion, stinging nettle, horsetail, fennel, anis and chamomile…all have a relaxing function on the digestive system. All herbal teas have a strong alkalizing effect (except fruit teas like jamaica tea) and are highly recommended.
Have an "alkaline day" occasionally - maybe once a week. For example fresh pressed fruit or vegetable juices, salads and/or vegetables. By the way: potatoes belong to the group of alkalizing food and you can have them together with vegetables on such a day.
Exercising and sport. This is the most elegant and efficient way of eliminating the over-acidity. Deeper and more profound breathing releases carbon monoxide and the better circulation helps to get rid of old acidity deposits. But be careful: don't overdo it – or you will get a reverse effect by creating too much lactic acid in the muscles. If you are not used to a lot of physical activity, then start slowly; e.g., walk more instead of using the car. During whatever activity you choose, you still should be able to talk. Not being able to breathe through your nose anymore is a signal that there is not enough oxygen supply for the systems. So it’s better to slow down.
4. Normalizing the metabolism
In an over-acidic condition where most of the organ systems already operate on the edge of their capacity, it is more difficult to bring back the balance between alkalinity and acidity. In this situation it is recommended to go on an "Inner cleansing or detoxification cure" (published in an earlier issue of inFocus.)
In addition to the steps I have mentioned, the recuperation of intestines, liver and kidneys as well as the release of acidity and sludge from the connective tissue, muscles and joints have to be a major focus.
5. Increased intake of alkaline substances through food and minerals
For good health, it is recommended that 70% of all food should have an alkalizing effect (most fruit and vegetables).
Remember, it has nothing to do with the taste. Sour lemons and citrus fruit are one of the strongest "alkalizers." But you always have to check your personal tolerance to food. Some people just don't do well with sour fruits. In other more severe cases of over–acidity, it is best to supplement the system with a special combination of different minerals like sodium bicarbonate, magnesium carbonate, etc. These products should not be taken on a regular basis and only in agreement with your physician or naturopath.
Please keep in mind, that there are many factors that lead to health problems and there are also many possibilities and ways to bring back health. The balance of alkalinity and acidity is just one of them. Nevertheless, it is one of the most effective and easiest ways to improve your health.
Information or questions: Barbara Rotthaler, German licensed Naturopath,
Tel. 01- 376 766 1987, e-mail: b_rotthaler@hotmail.com, www.geocities.com/rotthaler.health/ Barbara’s office is in the Lake Chapala area of Mexico, in the city of San Antonio Tlayacapan near the city of Ajijic.
Barbara Rotthaler has been one of FOM's Expert Speakers and is originally from Bavaria, Germany, has lived in Mexico since 1997. Barbara has a practice in San Antonio Tlayacapan, a village on the shores of Lake Chapala. She sees clients, offers health lectures and works in a clinic for Natural Medicine in Guadalajara. She is a Naturopath, Homeopath Massage therapist for deep tissue and trigger point massage, reflexology and lymphatic drainage.
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