When we digest foods, like proteins, that produce acids, these are quickly buffered by bi-carbonate ions in the blood to produce carbondioxide, which is exhaled through the lungs, and salts, which are excreted by the kidneys. Carbondioxide is an acid and its exhalation by the lungs is the biggest manner of acid elimination from the body. During the process of excretion, the kidneys produce ‘new’ bi-carbonate that was initially used to buffer the acid. This creates a sustainable cycle in which the body is able to maintain the pH of the blood, with no involvement from the bones whatsoever.

Supplementing with potassium salts has been noted, to have beneficial effect on markers for bone health but only for the first few weeks.
Even observational studies have not found any correlation between dietary acid load and bone mineral density (BMD) or between urine pH and BMD or fracture risk. Actually a high protein intake, animal protein in particular, has been strongly associated with better bone health as a 2009 meta analysis in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition of 6 different studies has found.

Also assumptions that acid forming diet causes muscle wasting, as it increases nitrogen in the urine, are again not true. Protein actually increases the body’s ability to excrete acid, and also higher acid diet has been found to improve nitrogen balance.

Now coming to the claim that an alkaline diet can cure cancer, this theory too is incorrect, as cancer cells have been shown to grow quite well in a slightly alkaline environment such as at pH 7.4, the body’s normal tissue pH.

Of course cancer cells grow better in an acidic environment, but the causality is reversed. Once a tumour develops, it creates its own acidic environment through up-regulated glycolysis and reduced circulation, so the pH of the patient’s blood no longer determines the pH of the cancer.

Even links to other illnesses like hypertension, obesity and insulin resistance have not been found to be valid.
The original Inuit diet, like many other diets of even other hunter gatherers, was primarily acid forming. Yet despite their high intake of animal foods they maintained excellent health.

The seeming benefits of eating alkaline foods could be because such fresh foods often displace nutrient poor processed foods and grains and dairy from the diet.

Between the scientific evidence (or lack thereof) and the anthropological research, it is clear that the acid load of our diet doesn’t negatively impact healthy people. However, for those with renal failure or similar conditions that affect kidney function, manipulation of urine pH in the treatment of those conditions by eating an alkaline diet is something that may be considered.

Your diet should also be low in foods that create free-radicals and high in anti-oxidants that fight them. What constitutes a healthy diet has been more a matter of opinion than of science because there have been few good studies to settle the issue. But a paper in The New England journal of Medicine describes a well-designed, randomized, controlled study of human nutrition. They tested three diets: a Low-fat diet, a High-fat diet, a ‘Low-carbohydrate – high protein’ regimen commonly called the Atkins diet (somewhat modified herein), and the ‘Mediterranean’ diet, which includes lots of olive oil, grains, fruits, nuts and fish and little meat or dairy products.

The two-year study found that both the ’Mediterranean’ and the ‘Low-carbohydrate’ diets are better for weight loss than a low-fat regimen and have other beneficial effects as well.

The Low – Carb had the greatest increase in HDL, the so-called good cholesterol. C-reactive protein levels, a risk marker for heart disease and other illnesses, decreased in both the Low – Carb and ‘Mediterranean’, but not in the ’Low-fat’. In short, the researchers found that both the ‘Mediterranean’ and Low – Carb diets are effective alternatives to the Low-fat regimen for weight loss and are just as safe, but the Low – Carb is most effective. This regimen recommends starting with the modified Low-Carb Diet and moving on to the High Fat, High Fibre, Moderate protein and low to very low carb Ketogenic Diet, which is really a sub-set of the Low¬Carb diet.

Excess sugar intake, large quantities of fruit (fructose), too many carbohydrates and processed foods that contain all these as well as
Transfats and, too much Omega-6, all contribute to health problems.

(See – ‘Effects of Sugar and Carbohydrates in our Diet’, ‘Benefits of Fruit?’ and ‘Cooking Methods, Transfats & Cooking Oils’).
The human body needs healthful fats and high quality protein for proper function. Replace some carbohydrates with more saturated fats. Fat is more satisfying than carbohydrates. Coconut and coconut oil is good. So is butter and ghee derived from organic milk from grass fed cattle and eggs from organic pastured hens and meat from grass fed sources. The generally available milk, eggs and meat may have too much antibiotics, hormones and avidin in them and should be chosen only when organic products are not available. (See ‘Effects of Milk’ and ‘Food – Fat – Energy Cycle’).

Increasing fat content, and doing so earlier in the meal, blunts the glycemic response much more than protein. So eat good fat, preferably as a starter before the main course, say – 3 to 4 Brazil nuts or 6 to 8 almonds with a tablespoon of almond butter (or ghee) and also as the first thing upon waking.

For fastest fat loss, minimize your blood sugar jumps above 100 mg/dL to no more than two per day. The feast day is the exception.
To do so on other days:

• • Eat decent quantities of fat at each larger meal. Saturated fat is fine if the meat is untreated with antibiotics and hormones. Ghee is not only very good, it also helps reduce unwanted cholesterol.
  • Spend at least 30 mins eating lunch and dinner. Breakfast and tiffins tend to be smaller and may thus be consumed more quickly.
  • Experiment with cinnamon and lemon juice just prior to or during meals. (See – ‘Glossary’)

Protein also helps to curb sweet cravings and does not cause spikes in blood sugar levels as Carbs do. How much protein is enough or too much? Eating 2 or 3 gms of protein per Kg of body weight is an enormous overload for anyone other than body builders and some athletes. For most people about 1 gm of protein per Kg of lean body weight should be enough. Perhaps slightly more, say 1.3 to 1.5 gm/Kg in the initial stage of the diet. Your desired lean body weight could be taken as your goal weight.

Such a diet is termed the Low-Carb diet (which actually is a Low¬Carb, High-Fat or LCHF diet) and if the fat in the diet is further increased, the protein moderated and the carbs and calories further restricted, it becomes the Ketogenic diet. Hence, do replace the Proteins and Carbs with healthful fats but do watch the Omega-3 to Omega-6 ratio and avoid Transfats. Doing this will paradoxically cause your body to reduce blood fat levels due to the calorie deficit, and also increase the good cholesterol (HDL) levels.

In order to properly understand the many options you can choose from, to vary and make your diet more effective and appetizing, and to better understand the adverse effect on your health of many of the food choices you would have been making so far, you should study the ‘Understanding’ sections and Notes about the diet, later in this Guide.

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