The theory behind the alkaline diet is that our bodies are healthier when our blood and urine are more alkaline, and that eating alkaline foods and drinking alkaline water causes our bodies to be more alkaline. It's often said that cancer and other major diseases can't exist in an alkaline environment. For reference, the pH scale ranges from 0 to 14 where 0 is the most acidic, 7 is neutral, and 14 is the most basic (alkaline). A normal blood pH ranges between 7.35 and 7.45, which is slightly alkaline. With all of that said, here's the big question:
Can Diet Effect Blood And Urine pH?
I will start by saying that diet can slightly affect urine pH; however, that's the less important claim of the alkaline diet, so I want to focus on blood pH. Food pH has very little impact on blood pH. [1] Our bodies keep an extremely tight control on blood pH. If it didn't, you most likely would not be alive to read this article in the first place.
To really drive this point home, there was an experiment that looked at giving sodium bicarbonate injections. After receiving injections, the pH of the blood had only increased by 1.29%. [2] As a side note, Robert Young (the guy who made tons of money from selling this diet), is going to jail for practicing medicine without a license, because he was giving sodium bicarbonate injections to cancer patients. (By the way, none of them outlived their original prognosis.)
Why The Alkaline Diet Works.
After bashing so hard on it, you may be surprised to hear me say that the alkaline diet works. The questions is, why does it work? Let's look at foods that you are supposed to eat vs foods you aren't supposed to eat with the alkaline diet:
If you will notice, everything on the Eat list are foods that are filling, nutrient dense, fiber dense foods, and have very few Calories, all of which are good for fat loss and health. The foods on the right are more Calorie dense and most of them lack the nutrients that the foods on the left have. Take a look at the carb based foods on this list and compare them to my Carb Pyramid below. You will notice that they line up perfectly. That said, here comes the line that my regular readers have been waiting for this whole time. There's nothing magic about the alkaline diet. The trick is that if you follow it, you will be putting yourself into a Calorie deficit and eating nutrient dense foods, which will cause you to lose weight and be healthier.
Now I can't end this section without pointing out the fact that the alkaline diet tells you to avoid meat and dairy which is bad advice. Quality, animal source protein is very important for fat loss and dairy has unique health benefits as well as also being good for fat loss.
Takeaway
Don't be tricked by fad diets. If you want to lose fat, eat fewer Calories. If you want to be healthier, eat nutrient dense foods. There is no quick fix. As I've said many times, the slow and steady approach really is the fastest way to shed fat, look better, and feel better.
Thank you so much for reading. I will be back next week with another fat loss topic. As always, God bless you AND your family and I'll see you next time.
References:
[1] Schwalfenberg, G. K. (2012). The Alkaline Diet: Is There Evidence That an Alkaline pH Diet Benefits Health? Journal of Environmental and Public Health, 2012, 727630. http://doi.org/10.1155/2012/727630
[2] Ostrea Jr., E. M., Odell, G. B. (1972) The influence of bicarbonate administration on blood pH in a “closed system”: Clinical implications. The Journal of Pediatrics, 1972, 80(4) 671-680. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3476(72)80073-8
