Alkaline Diet

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The Alkaline diet (also known as the alkaline ash diet, alkaline acid diet and the acid alkaline diet) is a diet based the theory that certain foods, when consumed, leave an alkaline residue, or ash. Minerals containing elements like calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, copper, are the said to be the principal components of the ash, as they are incombustible. Foods are thus classified[citation needed] as alkaline, acid or neutral according to the pH of the solution created with their ash in water. One of the most famous proponents of the alkaline diet is Robert Young, who has come under scrutiny from the National Council Against Health Fraud.



In general, the diet involves eating certain fresh citrus and other low-sugar fruits, vegetables, tubers, nuts, and legumes and avoiding grains, dairy, meat, sugar, alcohol, caffeine and fungi. Such a diet is alleged to help to maintain the balance of the slight alkalinity (7.35-7.45) of blood without stressing the body's regulators of acid-base homeostasis.[citation needed]



Proponents suggest adhering to the alkaline diet might prevent cancer, fatigue, obesity and allergies. However, there is little to support these claims beyond some evidence suggesting that an alkaline diet might aid bone health, and some evidence that cancer cells grow more quickly in an acidic solution in a lab setting. There is little scientific evidence to support the wide-ranging health claims of the alkaline diet proponents.



A similar theory, called the Hay diet, was developed by the American physician William Howard Hay in the 1920s. A later theory, called nutripathy, was developed by another American, Gary A. Martin, in the 1970s. Others who have promulgated alkaline-acid diets include Edgar Cayce, D. C. Jarvis, Robert Young, Herman Aihara, Fred Shadian, and Victor A. Marcial-Vega.[citation needed]



The theory behind the alkaline diet is not widely accepted by the medical community.



References



^ National Council Against Health Fraud, "Consumer Health Digest #05-14", accessed Feb. 17, 2010



^ The Alkavorian Approach to Optimal Health, by Robert and Shelly Young



^ Sigrid Jehle, Antonella Zanetti, Jrgen Muser, Henry N. Hulter, and Reto Krapf. Partial Neutralization of the Acidogenic Western Diet with Potassium Citrate Increases Bone Mass in Postmenopausal Women with Osteopenia, Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, Nov 2006; 17: 3213-22.



^ Sebastian A, Frassetto LA, Merriam RL, Sellmeyer D, Morris RC Jr. An evolutionary perspective on the acid-base effects of diet. In Acid-Base Disorders and Their Treatment, Gennari, J, et al., eds. Marcel Dekker, Inc. 2002, 2005.



^ Dawson-Hughes, Bess., Tufts University; the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Jan 2008.



^ Alkaline Diets and Cancer: Fact or Fiction?, by Stephanie Vangsness, R.D., L.D.N. Intelihealth, published May 3, 2006; accessed July 17, 2008.



^ Urine/Saliva pH Testing: Another Gimmick to Sell You Something, Stephen Barrett, M.D. ,Quackwatch link



^ Aihara, Herman, Acid and Alkaline, Macrobiotic Foundation, 1986. available online ISBN 091886044X



^ Alkaline Diets and Cancer: Fact or Fiction?, by Stephanie Vangsness, R.D., L.D.N. Intelihealth, published May 3, 2006; accessed July 17, 2008.



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