I had lunch yesterday at a local Vegan restaurant called Cafe Gratitude. I happened to be there while an “Alkaline Water” distributor discussed the benefits of “Alkaline Water” and therefore his product.

Being a Registered Nurse and having worked in hospitals for over a decade, I have the opportunity to actually SEE the pH of the blood and urine of many people close up and personal.
So, I already had a lot of questions with the inconsistencies of the argument- and the sales pitch at the cafe brought even more to mind when a serendipitous event occurred.
I came home immediately after the water talk to find This Article about Alkalinizing in my inbox and it inspired me to share my experiences that echo those of Dr. Ben Kim.

Inconsistency #1: You can alkalinize your body through eating

The body maintains a VERY tight pH range of the blood between 7.35-7.45 and it STAYS in that range. Anyone who is even REMOTELY out of that very tight range is SICK!!

I’m talking in the ICU kind of sick. These people are often on IV medications to keep their blood pressure from being too low, they have an overwhelming infection, or they are on (or close to) having to be on life support… I’m talking SICK! When patients are on life support and their blood is acidic at all- under 7.35- then the remedy for that is to turn the breathing rate up- voila! An easy fix for acidic blood. So, if breathing faster can make you more alkaline in a matter of seconds or minutes- why the obsession with the foods that you eat. This health trick is very well known in Eastern Traditions, although it is not well known in the West.

If you REALLY want to be alkaline, then EXERCISE-go for a run, Learn QiGong , or even just sit and breathe fast!!!

Inconsistency #2:  Lemon Juice vs Coca Cola …

The alkaline water presentation starts out with showing you the pH of a bunch of drinks- tap water, tea, soda and of course- their water. They go on to show how ‘bad’ sodas are because they are so acidic. But what they DON’T put on display is lemon juice. Lemon Juice and Sodas both have a pH of about 3- that’s VERY acidic. Yet EVERY resource on alkalinizing your body states that lemon juice, while acidic- somehow alkalinizes your body!

Now, I don’t know about you, but this sounds like nonsense to me.

Acid is acid.

Lemon juice doesn’t have any magical properties where ITS acid is different than OTHER acids.

Inconsistency #3: Alkaline water is good- antacids are bad…

Most folks who are educated about natural medicine will tell you that antacids are bad for you. The stomach is SUPPOSED to be a highly acidic environment. Manipulating that environment with antacids can cause all sorts of problems- from not killing the pathogens in your food to not absorbing calcium and Vitamin B-12. Another interesting problem in the alkaline water argument is that most alternative practitioners will actually recommend Hydrochloric Acid tablets to people who have heartburn or who have trouble digesting food! So, if the remedy for poor digestion is actually MORE acid- also the reason why it’s good to drink dilute lemon juice or apple cider vinegar- then why in the heck would you drink alkaline water at the same time!?

So while the acid/alkaline balance argument is full of holes…. HOWEVER, the METHODS that they use to support the argument, except for drinking alkaline water or taking baking soda, are completely valid. Let me explain… Eating the right foods- fruits, vegetables, whole grains etc makes a HUGE difference in your health. And Food-Based Healing to Reverse Disease, as is the basis of the alkalinity argument, SHOULD be the PRIMARY method of healing in our culture.
But sadly, we still rely on harmful pharmaceutical drugs to “manage” illness, when they don’t actually get to the ROOT of the problem.

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Immune System

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