The acid-alkaline myth

The idea that some foods – like meat – lower the pH in the body and lead to disease is a myth. Here's an interview with Paleo advocate, popular blogger and integrative medicine practitioner Chris Kresser.

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[chrismitretodis]

The first thing he says about busting the myth people who follow the alkaline diet also agree lol. The alkaline diet isn’t about trying to change your blood that’s the 5 minute alkaline diet google. He stopped at that lol. If he did 10+ minutes research you would learn that the alkaline diet is not about changing the blood since you can’t. It’s about asking the question why are you eating foods completely contrary to your ph. All your doing is putting your body under an insane amounts of stress to convert these foods which it always will into the proper ph. You’re body converts the acidic food into the proper ph but to what risk? That’s why diseases are formed etc because your body is basically being given really bad fuel and forced to aggressively convert it leaving it unprotected. The alkaline diet is about eating foods that much up with the ph in your body. And that’s the health claim. The alkaline diet isn’t debunked. The opposers fail to understand its basis beside the myth it starts off with due to insufficient research. Aka 10+ minutes. Most people are so stupid they tend to make a claim after 5 minutes of research. Which by definition is idiotic. I just started the alkaline diet and I have no problems. Arthritis is healing, inflammation is a joke and My anxiety is cured. This guy is one of many doctors to advocate industry propaganda studies to do with meat and dairy but is against the industry based propaganda to do with sugar and processed food. Let’s not forget those bias studies saying meat and dairy are good also say processed sugar and food is good. Think about that for a second lol.

[wotan]

This guy totally contradicts himself at 1:40 and then 2:20 admits there are acid forming foods then goes on to say that they don't exist.

[lordbyron]

What we eat doesnt affect our blood PH. But it will affect our blood pressure, kidney function, liver function, triglycerides, brain function, inflammation, digestion, weight loss, and muscle growth but not our PH.

[ninobrown]

Why would a scientist or Dr want to promote something that's stopping sickness and stopping people from buying products? That's like a drug dealer promoting rehab. Sickness is big business 😷

[jaylescane]

Dr. Sebi is the real deal this guy is a joke

[stangeriam]

Your forgetting the lymphatic system..volume wise compared to blood is 75% to 25%.
saliva ph testing is like "surface rust" in comparing it to the bodies sewer system
(lymph). Some seem to forget that our body is an energy system, and blockages will
cause a loss of energy flow (disease).
Meat is comprised of cells, blood, and lymphatic waste.
Our digestive tract is much longer than that of a carnivore..and our stomach acid is
not as strong of acidic nature as that of a carnivore.
In nature, what is our physical nature closest to? thats right..the primates..
and what do they primarily live off of?...ya..thats right.. vegetation.
Just some common sense..

[qjnxssv]

Your pH ca absolutely be changed by diet. I drank alkaline water from my local spring for about 3 years. The past few month I've had severe heart palpitations and confusion. I went to ER thinking I was having a stroke. My pH was way too high and my body was shutting down. I'm very healthy and I changed my pH from water. I had no energy and felt like I was having a heart attack. Don't tell people diet doesn't matter.

[corpuscallosum]

Anyone interested in Acid-alkaline Myth should watch Dr. Eric Berg's " Understand Acid, alkaline...." and also Markus Rothkranz's interview of J Sloane. Only after I saw those 2 then I understand PH homeostasis, like insulin level, is our very intricate survival mechanism and was so misunderstood and exploited. This interview seems too generalized with hidden agenda. An alkaline body is as much troublesome as acidic. Our bodies are divided into so many different areas in order to obtain a homeostatic health under our ATP triad, brain, guts and adrenal. Thanks to the real healers

[winningallthetime]

Wow he is not completely honest. He does not mention the fact that the animal products most people consume are contaminated with pesticide's and products and growth hormones. So doing some like the Paleo diet can be very tricky nowadays.

[timewoundsallheelsever]

Any unbalanced diet, diet contaminated with toxins and diet in too big quantities all make the organs work harder which on the long run causes premature damage to them.

[patconner]

Ok yes, the blood pH doesn't change much, but the other fluids in the body can and do.   When urine pH is constantly acid, the kidneys are working hard to get rid of acids, but they can't maintain that 100%. So excess acids start to be stored in fluids in the body and this is where health is affected. The cell, as almost all biological life, is designed to function in a certain pH range. As these acids build up, the pH changes and the cells will start to malfunction. Cells malfunction, then tissue, then organs, then systems.
 It happens the same on the alkaline end of the spectrum. That's why it is a myth that alkaline equals good health. Like everything else it is balance.
  One diet does not fit everyone. The paleo diet tends to be too much protein for most people. Too much protein means excess nitrogen. Excess nitrogen in the blood will cause the blood to thicken and make the heart pump harder causing heart stress. So now you have stress on the kidneys constantly trying to get rid of excess acids, plus stress on the heart having to pump harder. Plus, since nitrogen is an electrolyte, now there is probably excess conductivity which will cause a whole host of additional negative health issues.

[ShaneRaric]

I have heard this meme a lot. Everyone debunking alkaline vs acid suggests that it doesn't affect your blood ph, but it does affect your urine ph. So how does that jive when the kidneys cleanse the blood? They are taking the Acid or Alkaline substance from your blood. Right?

[marcoalexander]

I love how people are are all experts on diet and always have bogus "studies" to back up their claims. What i have found is that if you study something, you will always find the answer to be what you want it to be... I have stopped eating meat for years now and i am still alive... try eating nothing but meat and see what happens to you... There is a common sense real life "study" you can do... The Inuit of the Canadian Arctic thrived on fish, seal, walrus and whale meat. Their average life expectancy....substantially lower.

[seller]

Lymphatic system is over worked removing the excess acids from too much protein and dairy.

[Chickentownship]

LOL, He is debunking the view that eating acidic is bad, while he makes money selling a book that is promoting that kind of to sell a book....

[CineFutbol]

I want to know if you need calcium for your ph level in your stomach to be normal?

[kristenholmes]

One of the things I appreciate about Chris Kresser is that sometime back he spoke out against intermittent fasting, then published a retraction. He may have to do that again here. I listened to this because it's good to keep my mind flexible and consider where I may be wrong about something, but his rationales against alkalizing are just wrong. I'm totally with you, Chris, on Paleo and Weston Price, but we don't live like our ancestors did and we face unique challenges that require specific adaptations. To your points:

1. The entire community of people who alkalize recognize that it's *not* about alkalizing the blood. Everyone knows that the blood pH is very tightly regulated, by necessity. My blood pH is no doubt normal as we speak, but my salivary pH a few weeks ago was 5.8 - are you telling me that's a safe salivary pH? A pH of 5.8 is ~70x more acidic than a pH of 7.4. A pH of 5.5 will start to dissolve enamel, the hardest substance in the body. Do you believe that a salivary pH of 5.8 is *not* contributing to the disastrous, recalcitrant periodontal disease I have, even while taking vitamin K2/A/D, eating organ meat daily, laser root planing treatment, and so much more?

2. Osteoporosis: the studies you refer to are only assessing for a correlation between calcium in the urine and acidity of the food you are eating; but what you are citing doesn't tell us how a more acidic systemic pH impacts osteoporosis. However, when your tissues are appropriately alkaline, you don't need to consume much calcium at all, because you retain all minerals well and store calcium (with the help of K2) in the bones. It is well known that acid dissolves bone. Much more interesting would be if you looked at studies that compared overall alkaline status to all-cause morbidity/mortality. I'm not a vegetarian nor do I believe in that, but you can't deny that in large scale population studies, they live longer and have better health outcomes. It's possible that it's acid/alkaline balance, rather than meat consumption vs vegetarian.

3. You say that cancer creates acidity, and doesn't result from acidity. That's a false dichotomy; these ideas aren't mutually exclusive. Cancerous tissue is, by definition, tissue cells that have *converted* from healthy oxidative metabolism (aerobic metabolism) to *anaerobic* metabolism (lactic-acid producing). How does this original malignant transformation occur? When tissue cells are bathed in acidity long-term, they are simultaneously bathed in a *low oxygen* environment (low pH = low O2 delivery to tissues). So they eventually convert to anaerobic metabolism by necessity. Now, they have become acid producers...but they didn't throw the first punch. However, "cancer cells" (as identified by genetics) do not appear to undergo malignant transformation to anaerobic metabolism until they are in an unhealthy environment, most especially involving a low-pH - and therefore low-oxygen - environment. I recommend the work of Dr. Mark Sircus if you want to go deeper into this subject, and after listening to your interview twice, with respect, I would recommend that. Regards, Dr. Kristen Holmes

[angelluisll]

I discover a long time ago that among the scientific community there has always been controversy. As long as people have the freedom to think, and dare to challenge the established norm, there will always be controversies. This only represents humanity at it`s best intentions. Even the best of us, can be wrong.

[Shefvier]

"something as simple as what we eat" men, we ARE what we eat.

[myfrequencies]

The pH stays about the same, sure. But no-one (among the deniers anyway) talk about HOW the body maintains this pH.

I you have a vessel filled with neutral liquid & you add small quantities of acid liquid over time. In order to maintain neutrality there would have to be someone else adding equal quantities of alkaline liquid over time. So if we're eating an acidic diet (one including significant quantities of refined sugar, alcohol, meat, dairy etc). Where do we think the alkalinity to balance this diet comes from?