The Alkaline Diet, which resurfaces periodically, proposes that consuming alkaline foods and beverages can reduce acidic compounds in the body, leading to positive health effects. This article examines the claims of the Alkaline Diet, its principles, and the scientific evidence either supporting or discrediting it.
What Is the Alkaline Diet?
The theory behind the alkaline diet is that eating acidic foods causes our bodies to produce acid, thus creating an acidic environment in our blood. Proponents of this diet believe that this acidic environment is detrimental, while eating alkaline foods can protect against these perceived harsh conditions and provide additional benefits.
The diet gained traction in 2013 when Victoria Beckham tweeted about an alkaline diet cookbook, followed by endorsements from celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston, Kirsten Dunst, and Jared Leto.
Understanding Acidity and Alkalinity
To understand the claims of the Alkaline Diet, it's necessary to grasp the basics of acids and bases. A neutral pH is around 7. An acid has a pH less than 7, while a base (alkaline) has a pH greater than 7. The normal serum pH of humans consistently lies between 7.35 and 7.45. This number remains steady due to natural buffer systems in our body, such as LDL binding acids from body fluids to be excreted into the urine, the lymphatic system removing toxic buildup from our tissues, and so on. With these checks and balances constantly at work, our pH level stays within this narrow range.
Dietary Guidelines
The Alkaline Diet involves specific restrictions on food choices.
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Allowed foods include most fruits, all vegetables, herbs, nuts, and seeds. Interestingly, citrus fruits, generally considered acidic, are considered alkaline-producing in this diet.
Foods to avoid include meat, poultry, fish, dairy, eggs, legumes, most grains, and processed foods. Proponents often advise eliminating caffeine and alcohol as well.
Foods considered neutral are natural fats, starches, and sugars.
Health Claims
The Alkaline Diet is often promoted as a solution for various health issues. Common beliefs include weight loss, boosted effectiveness of chemotherapy, osteoporosis and arthritis prevention, and defense against chronic kidney disease. Other claimed benefits include clearer skin and healthier hair, increased energy levels and mental clarity, reduced risk of cancer, and a boosted immune system.
Scientific Evaluation
There is little scientific evidence to fully support these claims. As mentioned earlier, our optimal blood pH stays around 7.4, regardless of our dietary intake. Food consumption does not significantly alter our bodies' ability to tightly regulate itself. We maintain this pH through respiration, urination, and other bodily functions. In fact, we need acid-containing foods to survive, making their elimination more of a detriment than an assistance. Although our pH can fluctuate slightly throughout the day (e.g., urine becoming more acidic after eating a large steak as the body works to remove it), it will always correct itself and return to its original pH level.
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Further discrediting the diet, its originator, Dr. Robert Young, faced jail time for practicing medicine without a license and was allegedly involved in a fraudulent scandal where he treated terminally ill cancer patients with baking soda infusions instead of traditional medical treatments. His book, The pH Miracle, claimed diseases are caused by acidity in the blood.
Potential Benefits
For the average person, there may be some benefits to following the Alkaline Diet, but not for the reasons it's typically promoted. The Alkaline Diet emphasizes a plant-based approach that cuts out high-fat protein, alcohol, and processed foods. Eating a plant-based diet and avoiding these items can aid in weight loss and offer some health benefits. However, these benefits are not created or taken away by the alkaline or acidic nature of the foods.
Implications and Recommendations
Health professionals advocate for a healthy lifestyle that includes a well-balanced diet and physical activity, as there is no magic elixir for health. The public should be wary of misinformation and consult with Primary Care Physicians and Clinical Dietitians, who can make sound decisions about health claims using evidence-based research.
Staying informed about nutrition trends like the Alkaline Diet can help individuals discern misinformation and make health-conscious decisions about their diets.
The Alkaline Diet: Debunked
The alkaline diet first surfaced in the early 2000s when Robert Young published a series of books, including The pH Miracle: Balance Your Diet, Reclaim Your Health. Despite the fact Young has been soundly discredited, the idea that the body is too acidic and can be fixed with alkaline foods caught on fast-and stuck.
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Andrea D’Ambrosio gets asked about the alkaline diet all the time. Like any fad diet, people are always intrigued by the promise of fast and easy weight loss,”says the registered dietitian and owner of Dietetic Directions in Kitchener, Ont. “The alkaline diet also grabs people’s attention with celebrity endorsements.” (Kate Hudson, Elle Macpherson, Victoria Beckham and, of course, Gwyneth Paltrow, have all raved about it.)
The alkaline diet is based on the premise that so-called “acid-producing” foods such as meat, fish, dairy products, sugar, caffeine and grains make the body too acidic, which can lead to weight gain, diabetes, cancer and heart disease. “The theory is that by cutting out ‘acidic’ foods and increasing the intake of ‘alkaline’ (or basic) foods like fruits and vegetables, you can restore the body’s equilibrium and improve energy and weight loss, as well as prevent chronic diseases,” D’Ambrosio says.
Proponents claim that when certain foods (meat, grains, diary, etc.) are broken down, they produce a metabolic waste or “ash” that can be either alkaline or acidic. Acidic ash (caused by so-called acidic foods) make your blood acidic and more vulnerable to disease.
Your body is constantly working to maintain a normal pH (a measurement of how acid or alkaline something is) of between 7.35 and 7.45 in the blood, which is slightly alkaline, Zentner says. “You need that balance to function-pH is to the body what temperature is to the planet.”
The two organs responsible for maintaining that delicate balance between alkalinity and acidity are the kidneys (by retaining or excreting hydrogen and bicarbonate, depending on what our body needs) and the lungs (by getting rid of carbon dioxide).
But can what we eat alter the pH levels in our bodies? Not in our blood or in our cells, where it matters, D’Ambrosio says.
Some parts of the body have a different pH, like the stomach, which has a pH of 2. “Stomach acid could burn a hole through a table,” Zentner says. Which means that, when it comes to eating more alkaline foods or chugging alkaline water, you’re just wasting your time-and your money. “Alkaline water might be alkaline in the bottle, but it’s not going to be alkaline once it hits your stomach.”
Zentner also questions why anyone would want to make it harder for their body to do its job. “It’s not possible to change the pH of your body with food and even if you could, it certainly wouldn’t be healthy.” In fact, alkalosis-when your body is too alkaline-is actually a condition that can cause nausea, vomiting, light-headedness, confusion and muscle spasms.
Medically speaking, the alkaline diet is unlikely to do you any serious physical harm, Zentner says. “However, it takes an emotional toll when it doesn’t work.”
D’Ambrosio adds that strict adherence to the alkaline diet could lead to a lack of essential vitamins, minerals and fibre. “Completely avoiding so many otherwise healthy foods (fish, eggs, meat, dairy, whole grains) means you may not be receiving balanced nutrition,” she says. “Plus, the idea of severely restricting a diet based on unreliable science is troublesome.”
Still, she adds that the one good thing about the alkaline diet is that it encourages people to eat fewer processed foods and more fruits and veggies. “The typical ‘Western diet’ tends to be high in processed foods and meats and low in fruit and vegetables,” she says. “And increasing fruit and vegetable consumption helps boost potassium and magnesium intake, which can protect you from high blood pressure and stroke.” While eating an alkaline diet itself isn’t going to help you maintain a healthy weight or protect you from disease, eating a balanced diet with lots of fruit and vegetables just might. In fact, the healthiest way to approach your diet is to think about what nutritious foods you can add, not what “forbidden” foods you have to give up.
But like most things that sound too good to be true, the alkaline diet is a prime example. All you have to do is avoid foods that the diet categorizes as acidic, limit neutral foods, and focus on more alkaline foods. And while the foods you eat can affect the pH of your urine, this is not the same as changing your blood pH. Moreover, alkaline diet proponents say that acidic foods leave behind an "acid ash" in the body, which may promote diseases like osteoporosis. The founder of the alkaline diet, Robert Young, made the false claim that the diet aids in cancer treatment. In some cases, a strict alkaline diet only caused muscle loss and back pain.
Just about the only health condition that an alkaline diet might help is kidney stones. Throughout the 20th century, researchers conducted numerous studies on pH levels in food and their effect on the kidneys.
Any time you cut food groups out of your diet, you need to be cautious, Beckerman says. For example, the alkaline diet cuts out some healthy food options such as eggs and fish while encouraging followers to adhere to strict diet rules. However, there is anecdotal evidence that the diet has helped people lose weight, stay healthy, and feel better. The alkaline diet won't change your body's pH level and could lead to nutritional deficiencies.
In Young’s book The pH Miracle, he details his belief that acidity in the blood causes disease. While your diet can affect the acidity of individual cells and your urine, it won’t change the pH of your blood. “Your body has a lot of checks and balances set into place in order to make sure that you blood pH stays in a particular range,” says Men’s Health nutrition advisor, Mike Roussell, Ph.D. “The idea that this pH is out of balance due to lifestyle factors is just that, an 'idea.’ It is an idea that was repeated so many times with such conviction that people started to believe it was true. But it isn't.
“The alkalinity of your diet might affect your health simply because alkaline-producing foods are generally plant-based. “The diet promotes eating a lot of vegetables, which is great but it warns against over consumption of protein which is fiction,” he says. Ultimately, the story of the alkaline diet is a huge lesson. “It’s what happens when you take a concept and turn it into a profit-making machine. A concept that has no context. Within the context of healthy eating, it has a seed of truth.
Alkaline Water: Does It Live Up to the Hype?
The internet is teeming with claims that alkaline water does everything from killing cancer cells to providing superior hydration.
“Ideally, I recommend water that’s at least [a pH of] 9.5,” writes Robert O. Young in his book The pH Miracle.
In June 2017, Young-who charged people thousands of dollars to attend his “pH Miracle” retreats-was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for practicing medicine without a license. He also admitted to having no college education. (His “Ph.D.” apparently came from a diploma mill.)
On the (0 to 14) pH scale, pure water is 7-that is, it’s neither acidic nor alkaline. Some companies sell water that is naturally alkaline (with a pH of 8 or 9) because it’s higher in potassium, magnesium, or calcium. You can also buy (expensive) machines that “electrolyze-reduce” water to make it alkaline. Or you can pick up an electrolyzed-reduced water-Essentia is a popular brand-at the supermarket.
Proponents claim that alkaline water kills cancer cells, banishes belly fat, lubricates joints, and more. Two of the most common and best-studied claims: it reduces acid reflux and improves hydration. But the evidence is skimpy:
The claim largely rests on one test-tube study in which alkaline water with a pH of 8.8 inactivated pepsin, a stomach enzyme that the study authors claim is responsible for the tissue damage caused by reflux.
“You can get a petri dish to a pH of 8.8, but that’s going to be pretty hard to do in the stomach, which is so acidic that it has a pH of 1.5 to 3.5,” says gastroenterologist Scott Gabbard, of the Cleveland Clinic. “It would probably take many liters of alkaline water to do so.” What’s more, says Gabbard, “pepsin helps digest proteins. I have multiple concerns about this research. I would have rejected this paper, had I been one of the peer reviewers.”
Don’t waste your money on alkaline water.