Yes that’s Peter Tosh
You may or may not remember from high school chemistry class that pH is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of any substance; also known as an “acid” or “base”.
What many people don’t know is that your body’s internal pH, caused by the food you eat, affects your health.
This can be a bit confusing, so I’ll try to explain it simply.
Food can be classified as either acidic or alkaline in one of two ways.
The first way is before you eat it, like an orange sitting on the counter, which is acidic.
The second way is the residue or ash it leaves in your body after you eat it.
This residue left behind by food is basically minerals that are either acidic or alkaline.
So the effect that food has on your internal pH is what matters.
A general rule of thumb is: Alkaline is good for you. Acid is bad. (with some exceptions)
Oranges are acidic, but they leave alkalizing minerals in your body; so they’re good.
Milk is an alkaline base, but it’s actually acid-forming in your body.
Confused yet? Don’t worry, keep reading.
Why your body’s pH matters:
A host of illnesses like cancer and heart disease thrive in an acidic environment. Bacteria loves acidity as well.
If your diet consists of mostly animal products, cooked and processed food; then your internal pH is likely to be slightly acidic, as these are all acid forming foods.
Your body is constantly trying to maintain a normal pH balance as part of homeostasis, and one of the ways it does this is by leaching calcium from your bones and teeth to neutralize high acidity. People drink processed milk for protein and calcium to build “strong bones”, but milk is acid-forming. So the body ends up taking calcium from bones and teeth to balance out the acidity caused by milk. Kinda screwy right?
The optimal pH level for your body is 7.35-7.45, which is slightly more alkaline than acidic.
The solution is to eat more alkaline forming foods.
The Raw Vegan Diet is an all Alkaline Foods Diet. Many researchers have reported that cancer cannot live in an alkaline environment, which is why I adopted the raw vegan diet for 90 days as phase one of my anti-cancer strategy. But you don’t have to completely convert to raw veganism to be healthy.
Here’s what you need to know:
Acid-Forming Foods:
All Animal Products, Grains, Cooked food, and Processed food.
The worst acid forming foods are sugars, saturated fats, alcohol, and refined flour products like bread and pasta, and of course candy and junk food. Basically most of the stuff we all eat.
Take this healthy-sounding meal plan for example:
Eggs, bacon, toast, and cereal for breakfast: Acid.
Turkey Sandwich on wheat bread with yogurt for lunch: Acid
Chicken breast with pasta and cooked vegetables for dinner: Acid.
Alkaline Forming Foods:
Most Raw Organic Produce. I’m talking about fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, as well as some beans and legumes. Cooking veggies kill enzymes, destroys some nutrients, and increases acidity.
Alkaline Super Foods:
Tangerines, Pineapple, Raspberries, Watermelon, Limes, Lentils, Sweet Potatoes, Chlorophyll-rich dark green veggies like Broccoli, Asparagus and Kale, Green Powders made up of Wheat Grass, Barley Grass and Chlorella, Apple Cider Vinegar, Garlic, Sea Salt, and more! (chart link below)
Some mildly acid-forming foods like certain fruits, veggies, clean meats and raw dairy, as well as fermented foods like yogurt and kefir are not necessarily bad, but a diet made up of mostly acidic can be for some people.
Some super easy ways to add alkaline foods to your diet are:
-Squeeze a little lemon or lime juice in your water
-Drink a green powder supplement like Perfect Food every day
A good balance is 80% Alkaline Foods and 20% Acid-forming foods. Basically the 80/20 rule.
One way to look at it is if you eat 21 meals per week, 15 of them should ideally be vegetarian or vegan. Another idea along those lines that’s gaining in popularity is to be a Weekday Vegetarian. That’s where you eat super healthy all week and eat whatever you want on the weekend. Check out a great four minute video on this idea HERE.
There’s a printable reference chart of acid and alkaline forming foods HERE.
Some folks recommend pH Test Strips but I don’t, because I think they can be confusing and not an accurate reflection of what’s going on in your body.
The Acid-Alkaline Food Guide is a good resource you should check out.
Final Note: Depending on your cancer you may need an acidic diet instead.
Watch this interview to learn more about how highly acidic diets can heal certain types cancer.
(((c)))
Other posts about how I “Alkalize It”:
7 Reasons To Subscribe To My Blog
I once read about this in the book “The Chemistry of Success” and I wasn’t really sure what to think about it.
http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Success-Secrets-Peak-Performance/dp/1579595014
The difference is this book suggested a supplement of baking soda to help with your pH. Weird, but true. They also pointed out in the book that some people are naturally alkaline have more energy even though they eat badly.
All in all, I found the book to be too strange to follow and eventually got rid of figuring it was wrong, but it did make me think more about pH.
Your article gives a much better view point on the subject and makes it easier to approach. Thanks.
Hey Lysle thanks for the comment! I haven’t read that one, but baking soda is definitely an alkalizer. I’ve never taken it as a supplement.
Perhaps they’re on to something…
(((c)))
There is a doctor who uses baking soda to treat cancers Dr Simoncini.He uses a direct irrigation method if they are not in the digestive system. I think I saw him in a video on the Dr Mercola site
Great article! My body is definatly way more alkaline than it was 5 years ago, such an important process.
Hey, I don’t know if I’m going blind or not, but when I checked the alkaline – acid food list, I couldn’t find one common vegetable (or non-sweet fruit as in your “the giant cancer fighting salad” post), tomato. So if it really wasn’t there, do you know where it stands in this alkaline – acid matter? Tomatoes are such a varied thing. Home grown tomatoes tend to have a sweet, rich and strong taste, whereas basic grocery store tomatoes taste like acidic muddy water. I tend to use quite a lot of tomatoes. Canned ones too often (I suppose the metal taste, probably diluted from the can, doesn’t count for beneficial trace minerals). So info on tomatoes would be welcome.
Thank you!
Hi Otto
Tomatoes are definitely alkaline, but are best eaten alone or with non-starchy vegetables.
They tend to react with a lot of foods in your stomach causing excess stomach acid and indigestion.
Tomatoes and cucumber are great juice combo!
Lemon’s ph is around 2.3. Why would it be on the aklaline side of the chart?
Food can be classified as either acidic or alkaline in one of two ways.
The first way is before you eat it, like an orange sitting on the counter, which is acidic.
The second way is the residue (or ash) it leaves in your body after you eat it.
This ash residue left behind by food is basically minerals that are either acidic or alkaline.
The effect food has on your internal pH is what matters.
Lemon is an acidic fruit that has an alkalizing effect in your body.
Hey Chris, my wife has ovarian cancer and has decided to go this route as well, and I agree with it. However, as you know, this is a very unpopular decision with many familt members. On the subject of ph, my bro-in-law, sent me this:The pH issue is pure nonsense and pseudoscience. Not only does it have ZERO scientific support, there is plenty to show that it is not effective and CANNOT be effective. All of the test “they” do measures the pH of the URINE or SALIVA, which is NOT the same thing as changing the pH of the BLOOD.
Here is a good primer that has tons of extra info at the bottom: http://www.skepdic.com/…kalinediet.html
Another good informal write up: http://theness.com/…dy-ph-quackery/
A slightly more rigorous piece: http://sciencebasedpharmacy.wo…
Those are long, so here is a quick overview. The pH of the body is maintained RIGOROUSLY at 7.35-7.45 … Thats a very, very narrow window. Any number that varies significantly from these is a serious, life threatening medical condition. In the ER its one of the very first things we look for when someone’s heart has stopped… If we do happen to find that the person is acidic/basic, we do NOT order raw kale and asparagus STAT, it requires large doses of IV medications.
Are certain foods acidic/basic? Sure. But by the time they hit the stomach its a moot point because the stomach acid’s pH is around 3, and being that its a logarithmic scale thats about 100,000 times more acidic than any food you would eat.
I do not have an educated response to this other than, no it isn’t! Can you shed some light on this?
During the news interview I saw that you had read many different books on this topic. Which books would you recommend to read regarding brain tumors? Or if you remember anything that would be beneficial for brain tumors would be great. Thank you in advance.
Hi Lisa
I don’t have any specific book recommendations about brain tumors, but I do recommend several books in my Resources section.
There’s a link in the top menu bar
Just wondering,but can you alkalize tap water, with apple cider vinegar? I just bought the braggs brand.
I’m confused about the acid/alkaline thing also. Some say it doesn’t matter because it all goes thru your stomach anyway, others say it does matter. Certainly you can get increased stomach acid when eating certain things. So what you put in does affect your stomach at least. But beyond that? The blood? I don’t know.
What you say Chris? To the man whose wife has ovarian cancer?
Hi Chris it is said that cancer cant survive in Alkalize envioroment but how about Alkaline water?
There is this brand which is quite famous its called
AOX water and its in Singapore do help me out thanks
By the way how do I send u an email asking questions? Do I pay the 100 first?
Hi Alex, alkaline water may offer some benefit, but the machines are very expensive. A simple and very inexpensive way to alkalize your body is to add aluminum-free baking soda to water.
If you would like to become a coaching client follow the instructions here
http://chrisbeatcancer.com/coaching/
Hi Chris Would you be so kind to answer a few questions that have been bothering me for sometimes. I am 22 this year I have abdominal pain which are on and off I went to many docs all said its just pain no need xRay so I was thinking if I do need to pay for coaching
Is it possible that after I pay you can use Skype or Viber on smartphones because if I were to use land line it will cost a lot
God Bless.and I will pay for coaching in 2 weeks time
Hi Alex yes I can coach over Skype. No problem
wife has renal cell carcinoma, we are having removed however i am very concerned with getting her body to a healthier state through diet and supplements. did you watch your ph levels turing your protocol? or was your ph levels really important?
thanks
rodney
Hi Rodney I monitored my pH for a awhile but it never really changed.
I just focused on getting as many raw nutrients into my body every day as I could.
Hi Chris, I am very grateful for your blog and your testimony. As I mentioned I am fighting two cancers and by Gods grace I know everything will work out for his glory. My question is do you have a list of raw foods I can eat that are alkaline? I have been questioning things like citrus, apples, jalapenos, and some other foods. Do you eat any breads now? I miss my avocado sandwich. Thanks