Acidosis: The Modern Pandemic and Its Surprising Cure

by Heidi Stevenson

10 April 2010

The name acidosis sounds like a joke disease that kids would invent.

But, acidosis is deadly serious, with the emphasis on "deadly", and it's causing the greatest pandemic ever seen.

Acidosis leads to a host of chronic disorders, including acne, eczema, cancer, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, psoriasis, kidney failure, fatigue, diabetes, obesity, arthritis, premature aging, and more. In other words, acidosis is often the underlying problem of most modern chronic disases.

The primary cause of acidosis is poor diet, which is, of course, rampant in today's world. Unfortunately, even many people who think they're eating well suffer from an acid-base imbalance, resulting in an acidic system: acidosis.

The solution, though, is not obvious. One would think that, if too much acid is the problem, then you should eat nonacidic foods. That, though, will not help. The single best food for preventing or mitigating acidosis is a lemon!

The Cause of Acidosis

What Acidosis Isn't

As you're probably aware, a healthy body is in a state of homeostasis. That is, it's in equilibrium. There are several balances that must be kept, including magnesium-calcium, sodium-potassium, and acid-base. The single most important balance—the one that will cause your body to sacrifice everything else in an attempt to bring it back into harmony—is acid-base.

This has nothing to do with the acid in your stomach. You can—in fact, you must—have a very high level of gastric acid; it needs to be as strong as battery acid. The acid-base balance that's so critical to life is in your body's fluids, most obviously the blood. Inadequate gastric acid can, in fact, lead to acidosis by preventing adequate food absorption.

What Acidosis Is

Modern medicine considers normal blood pH to be between 7.35 and 7.45. Even very small changes can be deadly. If the pH drops below 7.2 or goes over 7.6, you'll probably die quickly.

A pH below 7.35 is defined as acidosis; over 7.45 means that your body is in alkalosis. Either one is an indication of severely bad health, but we hear about acidosis because it's far more common.

The pH balance is critical because it's basic to virtually all cellular activity. When it's off-kilter, primary cellular functions cannot take place. Hydrogen is a highly reactive atom that's found throughout the human body. It readily combines with other atoms, and is, therefore, a basic factor in the chemical reactions of metabolism.

pH is a measure of hydrogen ions. A hydrogen ion is without its sole electron, leaving it with a positive charge. The more free hydrogen ions, the higher the pH. If the blood pH is too high, the result is alkalosis, and if it's too low, it's acidosis.

How Acidosis Causes Chronic Health Problems*

The perfect blood pH is 7.365. Modern medicine's view is that anything within the range of 7.35 and 7.45 is fine. That, though, is probably not an accurate assessment. Remember that your body will do anything to keep the acid-base balance precise. If you are doing things that keep force your body to constantly work at keeping in homeostasis, you'll experience health problems.

It stands to reason that a diet that pushes the body into a constant state of acidity will result in negative effects on health—and, of course, that's what happens.

Your body buffers excess acid—too few free hydrogen ions—through several different methods. One is by interfering with another balance, calcium-phosphate. As a result of that, there will be less calcium available for metabolic processes. So, your body pulls calcium from where it's plentiful: bones and teeth.

You can see where this is going: Acidosis can result in osteoporosis and bad teeth through calcium loss.

Your kidneys can suffer because they're involved in maintaining the body's homeostatis. If they're overworked or otherwise stressed, the result can be kidney disease.

The lymphatic system does its part in removing excess acid, but it's limited in how much it can process. So, when it's overburdened, the excess acid gets dumped back into the bloodstream and the problem is multiplied—not to mention clogging a major waste disposal system so that toxins build up.

The skin is a major means of eliminating excess acid. So, another result of acidosis can be acne, eczema, and other skin conditions.

Ultimately, if the body cannot simply expell all the acid wastes, then it must store it. So, the excess ends up in fatty tissues. That makes your body require fat. So, to save your life in the short term, you may get fat. That is, of course, a common problem nowadays and a sign of severe underlying health problems. It's also probably related to early aging.

Part 2 discusses the acid-producing and alkalizing qualities of different foods, and other factors affecting the acid level in your body.

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