Diet to Correct an Alkaline Imbalance

Acid alkaline balance is an often overlooked concept that can inadvertently lead to a number of health conditions, such as acid reflux disease and even osteoporosis. While you might have neglected the issue in the past, if you are currently suffering from an alkaline imbalance all you need do is make some simple dietary substitutions to restore the body's natural alkalinity.

Acid Alkaline Theory

Understand the theory behind an acid-alkaline imbalance to better understand how to implement a proper diet in your life. The pH scale is used to measure the acidity or alkalinity of any particular substance using a scale from zero to 14, with scores from 0 to 6.99 representing acidic compounds, a score of 7 representing a balanced compound, and a score from 7.01 to 14 representing alkaline compounds. The body's natural pH level is slightly alkaline (right around 7.3 on the scale), so your diet should consist of slightly more alkaline foods than acidic ones. Unfortunately, the reverse is often true, leading to an alkaline imbalance.

Correcting the Balance

Consume more foods that are rated as alkaline while consuming fewer foods that are rated as acidic to correct an alkaline imbalance. Generally speaking, the foods that are most alkaline are fruits and vegetables, while the foods that are most acidic includes meats, grains, and dairy products. So the only real step necessary to correct an alkaline imbalance is to substitute additional servings of fruits and vegetables for servings of meat, dairy and grains. Not all foods are created equal though--there are certain hyper-alkaline foods that you will want to eat almost every day, just as there are ultra-acidic foods that you will want to avoid at all costs. When measuring the alkalinity or acidic nature of a food, the PRAL (potential renal acid load) scale is used, with positive numbers indicating acidic foods and negative numbers indicating alkaline foods. Some of the more alkaline foods available include raisins (-21 on the PRAL scale), spinach (-14), figs (-14.1), white beans (-23.2), and lima beans (-18.3). Some examples of highly acidic foods include cheddar cheese (26), egg yolks (23), processed cheeses (28.7), and Parmesan cheese (34.2!). Substituting in the highly alkaline foods while removing highly acidic foods from your diet should go a long way toward helping to curb an alkaline imbalance.