CALCIUM & THE ACID/ALKALINE CONNECTION

(Continued from last week)

          While most of the new USDA visuals were a slight improvement over the old “Four Food Groups” square, it was the chart by the Physicians for Responsible Medicine that challenged the old paradigm. As more studies became available, many researchers began to arrive at ground-breaking conclusions: the American diet, with its emphasis on animal protein and dairy, may be the major cause of many diseases of “civilization”, such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes2, which questioned the authority of these older USDA-approved charts.  

          The conclusions reached by some studies (The China Study, the Harvard Study, etc.) talk as well about the relationship between osteoporosis and ingesting too much animal protein and dairy products. The most industrially advanced countries (the U.S., New Zealand, Australia, and most Western European nations) consume the most dairy yet have the highest fracture rates, while in parts of Africa and Asia where few dairy foods and no calcium supplements are consumed, the fracture rates are 50 to 70% less!

          There are plenty of calcium-rich foods available within the plant kingdom. Some plant foods that are high in calcium include: dried figs, tofu, almonds, broccoli, collards, kale, beans, sesame seeds, sweet potato, onions and raisins. Tofu has more calcium (about 250 mg. per ½ cup serving) than milk, yogurt, and cheese, and is alkaline rather than acid-producing.

          Even vegetarians who have given up flesh food and eggs often rely on hard cheeses to boost their calcium and protein. But hard cheeses such as cheddar are among the most acid-producing. Eating cheese for its calcium content is counter-productive, because it also causes an over-acid condition in our bodies, which eventually robs our bones of calcium, defeating the purpose of consuming cheese in the first place.

          There is an obvious reason for this, as was explained way back in 1922 by Professor Arnold Ehret in his oddly-named book: PROF. ARNOLD EHRET’S MUCUSLESS DIET HEALING SYSTEM. He had studied charts created by a physiological chemist, Ragnar Berg of the special laboratory for food research at Dr. Lahmann’s sanitarium in Germany. Berg had assigned foods a number according to their ability to cause an acid or alkaline reaction in the body. While Professor Ehret was a little eccentric and extreme in his teachings, the tables have been rediscovered by contemporary researchers and seem to concur with their findings. Also: The American diet is so full of acid-rich foods that the kidneys cannot excrete the sulfur fast enough, and it turns into sulfuric acid in our livers. As we grow older and our metabolism slows down, it becomes increasingly difficult for the kidneys and liver to process all the excess acid from a diet high in animal products. Our bodies then try to neutralize some of the toxins by looting our bones! This is because the bones are primarily composed of minerals such as calcium phosphate and calcium carbonate, which are alkaline in nature.

          The following chart shows some foods that boost alkali in the body, and can be used to replace the acid-forming foods:

ACID-FORMING:                                    ALKALI-BOOSTING:

Pasta                                                             Potatoes

Soda                                                             Fruit Juice

Meat & Poultry                                            Tofu

Beer                                                              Wine

          A growing number of physicians think that consuming FRUITS and VEGGIES can help to balance out the over-acid pH of the blood, which should have a pH that is slightly alkaline.

          Fruits and veggies that are rich in potassium, such as bananas, apricots and spinach are especially helpful. Tomatoes and oranges, although we think of them as acidic, also help to alkalinize the blood. But if we consume a diet high in animal protein, our bodies have to work harder to achieve the proper pH. As an example, it takes 3 servings of fruits and veggies to neutralize the acid in just one serving of flesh food. Also, a diet too high in starchy carbohydrates without enough fruit and veggies can also be problematic. It takes 2 servings of fruits and veggies to neutralize the acid in one serving of pasta or other grain.

          Another factor in the calcium equation is that calcium is not just an isolated mineral that works by itself. New studies show that calcium (living, plant-based calcium) works with 16 other nutrients that our bodies need for healthy bones, 15 of which are easily available from plant sources: phosphorus, magnesium, fluoride, silica, zinc, manganese, copper, boron, potassium, vitamin D, vitamin C, vitamin A, vitaminB6, folic acid, and vitamin K. The 16^th other nutrient, vitamin B12, is also available in limited amounts within the plant kingdom (tempeh, uncooked fermented veggies, nutritional yeast).

          We can conclude from all of this information that it would be difficult to consume too many fruits and veggies, no matter whether we are on the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) or the Grateful Living American Diet (G.L.A.D.)

References:

 “Natural Solutions” periodical: July/August 2009: “The Calcium Myth” (pp.57-62)

“U.S. News & World Report”: October 30, 2000: “Could Diet Attack BONES? It’s a Beef about Meat” (p. 62)

“Reader’s Digest” periodical: March, 2009: “A New Way to Keep Bones Strong” (pp. 65-66)

PROF. ARNOLD EHRET’S MUCUSLESS DIET HEALING SYSTEM: 1922 (16^TH Edition, published 1972, by Ehret Literature Publishing Co., Beaumont, CA)