Excess acidity is a condition that
weakens all body systems. Excess acidity forces the body to borrow
minerals including calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium
from vital organs, bones and teeth to buffer (neutralize) the acid
and safely remove it from the body.
As a result, the body can suffer severe
and prolonged corrosion due to high acidity a condition that
may go undetected for years.
Acidosis leads to serious problems with
major organs such as the liver, heart or kidneys. In this article,
we will be looking into some of the reasons as to why we should
avoid acidosis.
1. It leads to
Weight Gain and Diabetes
An acidic pH may result in weight problems such as
diabetes and obesity.
When our body is too acidic, we suffer from
a condition known as Insulin Resistance. This forces excessive
insulin to be produced. As a result, the body is flooded with so
much insulin that it diligently converts every calorie into fat.
It is very likely that an acid pH, from an
imbalanced diet, produces a condition, which stimulates the
predetermined genetic response to starvation and famine. Thereafter,
the body will have to increasingly hoard every calorie consumed and
store it as fat.
Some people believe that an acid pH immediately
signals the powerful genetic response to an impending
famine,directly interpreting with the all important and very
sensitive Insulin-Glucagon Axis. When this happens, it makes the body
produce more insulin than usual, and in turn, produce more fats and
store it.
On the other hand, a healthy and
slightly alkaline pH will yield normal fat burning metabolic
activities, making no demands on the body to produce extra insulin
and make fats.
As such, this allows fat to be burned and
naturally lost. A healthy pH diet is also less likely to have any
yo-yo effects, or rebounding from a diet with additional weight
gain.
We should try to maintain a healthy slightly alkaline pH
so as to allow fats to be burned normally for energy, rather than
hoarded and stored under the mistaken biochemical belief of an
impending famine.
Acidosis also disrupts the insulin
producing pancreatic beta cells.
These beta cells are especially
sensitive to pH and cannot survive if the body is too acidic. When
this occurs, beta cells will lose phase with one another. Their
cellular communication will be thwarted and the body's immune system
will start to over-respond. Stress within the cells will increase,
making them more difficult to perform adequately and survive.
2. It accelerates
Free-Radical Damage and
Premature Aging
Acidosis leads to partial
lipid breakdown and destructive oxidative cascades accelerating free
radical damage of cell walls and intracellular membrane structures.
In this process, many healthy cells are
destroyed.
Acidosis is the first step towards premature
aging and accelerated oxidative cascades of cell wall destruction.
Signs of acidosis may include wrinkling, age spots, failing hormonal
systems, interfering with eyesight, memory, and a host of other
age-related phenomena.
Unwanted wastes not properly eliminated
from the body actually poison the cells .
3. It Disrupts Lipid and Fatty Acid
Metabolism
Acidosis generally disrupts lipid and
fatty acid, which are involved in nerve and brain function.
This disruption causes neurological problems such as MS, MD
as well as problems with hormonal balance within the endocrine
system.
An acidic environment also
causes LDL-cholesterol to be laid down at an accelerated
rate in
the heart, inappropriately lining and clogging up the vascular
network.
In other words,
an acid pH initiates electrostatic potential, damaging arterial
walls, which in turn initiates a PDGF-dependent immune response,
causing cholesterol oxidation and the formation of plaque with heavy
metals.
4. It Corrodes Arteries,
Veins, and Heart Tissues
Like acid eating into marble, acidosis erodes and
eats into cell wall membranes of the heart, arteries and veins.
During this process of erosion, our heart structures and inter
connective tissues are weakened.
All living tissues are sensitive to their chemical
environment. The muscle cells of the heart are no different. The
entire cardiovascular system is directly affected by blood plasma pH
and works as one large working "system of tubular muscles" to carry
blood and nutrients to all living tissue in the body.
The
pumping of the heart drives blood through the arteries, veins and
capillary beds and helps to regulate blood pressure and the flow of
blood circulation.
The heart is normal when the pH of blood plasma is
slightly alkaline, having a pH of 7.35 to 7.41. When the heart
plasma drops to a pH of less than 7.35, it gradually erodes away the
smooth muscle tissues of the inner walls of the arteries and veins,
as well as the heart itself. This process will start to weaken the
structural composition of the heart, arterial and venous walls,
causing lesions and microscopic tearing throughout its
framework.
At the same time, an acid pH destabilizes free ionic
balances within circulation, increasing the populations of
positively charges particles (cations, an ion with a positive charge
of electricity: H , Ca ) which directly interfere with the muscle
contractility (contraction and relaxation) of the heart and arteries
.
Acid pH changes of blood are
now thought to result in the following:
A. Development of arteriosclerosis (hardening of the
arteries)
B. Aneurysm (widening and ballooning of artery
walls)
C. Arrhythmias (abnormal rhythms of the heart including
tachycardia)
D. Myocardial infarction (heart attacks)
E.
Strokes (a cardiovascular accident).
The structural weakening of the cardiocascularity
also creates irregularities of
blood pressure, which further
exacerbates the above problems.
5. It Alters
the Energy Metabolism and Reserve.
When your body has an acidic pH, it will prevent
efficient cellular and body metabolism. Acidosis results in chemical
ionic disturbances, interfering with cellular communications and
functions. Acidosis reduces plus calcium binding of plasma proteins,
therefore reducing the effectiveness of this intracellular signal.
It also
results in a disease of calcium cations (positive
calcium) entry through positive
calcium channels.
This leads
to a reduction of cardiac contractibility, or the ability of the
heart to pump efficiently and rhythmically.
Positive calcium and hydrogen regulate the
activities of intracellular proteins and are driven out of the cells
by the "Sodium-Potassium pump" (Na-K pump).
This pump provides a
strong incentive for sodium to be driven into cells. It also
regulates the amount of both sodium and potassium in the body
stores, and uses as much as 25 percent of our caloric input
daily.
Positive calcium exchanges the plus sodium, being
forced out of cells, but naturally, the electrochemical gradient for
positive calcium favors both positive hydrogen and positive calcium
entry into cells, as there is less calcium and positive
hydrogen
in cells than in the extra-cellular fluids. In extra-cellular
fluids, there is 10 times more the amount of positive
sodium.
In acidic solutions, less plus sodium is available,
therefore slowing down the processing and induction of nutritional
items going into the cells. This increases positive hydrogen and
calcium buildup within the plasma, making it more available to
electro-statically bind with LDL-Cholesterol.
As a result, with free positive calcium populations
and channels being disrupted, calcium may become inordinately
leached from the bone masses.
This causes osteoporosis. In a
nutshell, an acidic pH drains us of energy and disallows stored
energy reserves to be used.
6.) It Slows the
Delivery of Oxygen into the cell.
Acidosis reduces oxygen in the blood. As all living
tissues, especially the heart and brain need oxygen to function; a
lack of it will lead to eventual death.
Having an acidic pH will
reduce the amount of oxygen that is delivered to the cells. They
will eventually die.
Diseases Associated with
Acidosis.
It is important to note that the body's biochemistry is an
important but just one of many tools to help the physician
understand the whole body.
pH in an of itself is not a diagnostic
tool and is not a medical diagnosis as a disease entity.
What then happens when the
body is too acidic? An acidic balance will:
1. Decrease the
body's ability to absorb minerals and other
nutrients
2. Decrease energy
production in the cells
3. Decrease the
body's ability to repair damaged cells
4. Decrease the
body's ability to detoxify heavy metals
5. Enable tumor
cells to thrive
6. Make the body more susceptible to fatigue
and illness.
Some people who have high
acidity levels tend to exhibit these symptoms such as:anxiety,
diarrhea, dilated pupils, extroverted behavior, fatigue in early
morning, headaches, hyperactivity, hyper sexuality, insomnia,
nervousness, rapid heartbeat, restless legs, shortness of breath,
strong appetite, high blood pressure, warm dry hands and feet.
Most of the time, the body
becomes acidic due to a diet rich in acids, emotional stress, toxic
overload, and/or immune reactions or any process that deprives the
cells of oxygen and other nutrients.
When this happens, the body
will try to compensate for acidic pH by using alkaline
minerals
such as calcium. As a result, calcium is removed from the bones,
causing osteoporosis.
Acidosis, which is an
extended time in the acid pH state, can result in rheumatoid
arthritis, diabetes, lupus, tuberculosis, osteoporosis, high blood
pressure and most cancers.
Two main factors leading to
cancer are an acidic pH and a lack of oxygen.
As such, are we
able to manipulate these two factors so as to prevent and control
cancer?
Everyone knows that cancer needs an acidic and low oxygen
environment to survive and flourish. Research has
proven that terminal cancer patients
have an acidity level of
1,000 times more than normal healthy people. The vast majority of
terminal cancer patients have a very acidic pH.
Why is this so?
The reason is simple.
Without oxygen, glucose undergoing fermentation becomes lactic acid.
This causes the pH of the cell to drop to 7.0.
In more advance
cancer cases, the pH level falls further to 6.5. Sometimes, the
level can even fall to 6.0 and 5.7 or lower.
The basic truth is
that our bodies simply cannot fight diseases if our pH is not
properly balanced.
About
The Author
Michael Lam, M.D., M.P.H.,
A.B.A.A.M. is a specialist in Preventive and Anti-Aging Medicine. He
is currently the Director of Medical Education at the
Academy of
Anti-Aging Research, U.S.A. He received his Bachelor of Science
degree from Oregon State University, and his Doctor of Medicine
degree from
Loma Linda University School of Medicine,
California. He also holds a Masters of Public Health degree
and is Board Certification in Anti-aging Medicine by the
American Board of Anti-Aging Medicine. Dr. Lam pioneered the
formulation of the three clinical phases of aging as well as the
concept of diagnosis and treatment
of sub-clinical age related
degenerative diseases to deter the aging process. Dr. Lam has been
published extensively in this field.
He is the author of The Five
Proven Secrets to Longevity (available on-line). He also serves as
editor of the Journal of Anti-Aging Research. |
