Acidosis

[quigley]

Just something for everyone to consider when constructing their cutting/bulking diets

Acidosis is a state which most people in the western world are experiencing to some degree. Basically it means that due to lifestyle factors, mainly what you eat, your body has accumulated more acid/toxins than it as able to eliminate. This puts your immune system under pressure, and all colds, infections, virus's and most diseases can be traced back to this original underlying state.

The nature of sickness in all forms, is that is needs two environmental factors to thrive. The first is a lack of oxygen, the second, an acidic environment.

In particular reference to bulking, many, many body builders are filling their diets with severely acidic foods. Wheat (bread, pasta) meat (lamb, chicken, beef, pork), dairy (especially milk)

On the other hand, vegetables and fruits, alkaline and oxygenating in nature, are often lacking.

Those who do include them, eat their fruit with meats and carbs. They slow the digestion of fruit by doing this, resulting in fermentation, and the fruits alkaline benefits are lost. Vegetables are grossly under eaten.

Multi vitamins are good, but they don't provide the alkalizing effect of real vegetables and fruit.

Long term, acidosis can be traced to every health problem your more than likely to encounter.

My advice is to, firstly not neglect alkaline foods in your dietary routines. Keep your fruit separate, and have substantial amounts of vegetables with your main meals, in addition to your multi, fish oils.

Get a hold a decent water filter. most water we drink is dead. if you can get a microwater filter which makes the water alkaline and puts oxygen in to hunt free radicals, it will make a huge difference. Drink LOTS of it.

Also, every fortnight, take one to two days out to consume nothing but alkaline water and fruit and veg. U can pig out on enough fruit and veg (including potatoes and sweet potatoes and peas and corns!!) that you'll get enough calories to not hinder any gains etc, but this simple habit will give your immune system a respite to recover and alkalize regularly, making sure your toxicity levels dont ever exceed the capabilites of your immune system.

Hope that helps someone

 

[krogtaar]

scivation has a book with a lot of good info on this, and lists common acidic and basic foods.

im not so sure what you say about oxidation is right...oxygen + fuel source -> water + CO2, which i believer is acidic in solution.

fruits and veggies have anti oxidents, which prevent oxygen radicals from reacting with stuff i believe

 

[quigley]

no, im quite sure oxygen is a free radical hunter. For anything to be acidic it has to have H- ion, alkaline is OH-. Notice the addition of Oxygen

For example, cancer...terrible disease, and like every other disease, thrives in acidic, non oxygenated evnironments. One of the treatments employed by doctors is to take patients blood, infuse it with oxygen, and put it back into the body. The oxygen then goes to work against the cancer.


Oxygen is very vital to our bodies, hence our need to breathe it in to survive. a common treatment administered by naturopaths to sick patients is a glass of water with a few drops of peroxide. In water the peroxide reacts releasing its oxygen molecules to act as free radical hunters when drunk.

again, when we feed our bodies predominantly with acidic foods, out tisse and blood oxygen levels fall dramatically, reducing our defence against disease and pathogens.


Free radicals are molecules produced when your body breaks down food. Your correct in that the food is oxidized, but that does not involve free oxygen molecules, but H20 and enzymes. Its the resulting, acidic substance which is created from acidic foods that oxygen hunts and destroys. Like i mentioned earlier these by products usually cary the H- charge which Oxygen can neutralise. anti-oxidants are involved in the process of food breakdown to inhibit the release of free radical substances, hence why their called antioxidants.

 

[mbj0186]

How do you come to the conclusion that fruits are alkaline? The majority of fruits are actually acidic in nature. I agree that many vegetables are considered alkaline, but fruits?

Oxygen may in fact be a free radical scavenger, but it may also just as easily be a free radical producer. Superoxide radicals are actually considered one of the most potent oxidizing compounds in the body, leading to cellular damage. Most anti-oxidants are going to come from fruits and vegetables, so in my opinion any negative effects from the "acidic" fruit are minimal compared to the benefits of receiving the anti-oxidants contained within them.

Superoxide radicals are plentiful in the body, as they are byproducts of cellular respiration (mitochondrial) and hence we are constantly being bombarded with free radicals. And, the body is pretty efficient at neutralizing these compounds (unless you lack superoxide dismutase, an important enzyme in neutralizing superoxide radicals). Maybe you could explain in a little more detail about the concept I'm not understanding???

no, im quite sure oxygen is a free radical hunter. For anything to be acidic it has to have H- ion, alkaline is OH-. Notice the addition of Oxygen

For example, cancer...terrible disease, and like every other disease, thrives in acidic, non oxygenated evnironments. One of the treatments employed by doctors is to take patients blood, infuse it with oxygen, and put it back into the body. The oxygen then goes to work against the cancer.


Oxygen is very vital to our bodies, hence our need to breathe it in to survive. a common treatment administered by naturopaths to sick patients is a glass of water with a few drops of peroxide. In water the peroxide reacts releasing its oxygen molecules to act as free radical hunters when drunk.

again, when we feed our bodies predominantly with acidic foods, out tisse and blood oxygen levels fall dramatically, reducing our defence against disease and pathogens.


Free radicals are molecules produced when your body breaks down food. Your correct in that the food is oxidized, but that does not involve free oxygen molecules, but H20 and enzymes. Its the resulting, acidic substance which is created from acidic foods that oxygen hunts and destroys. Like i mentioned earlier these by products usually cary the H- charge which Oxygen can neutralise. anti-oxidants are involved in the process of food breakdown to inhibit the release of free radical substances, hence why their called antioxidants.

 

[Rodja]

Here is a nice article by Berardi on food pH and acidosis.

http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/bases.htm

 

[mbj0186]

A piece of the article: "Negative nitrogen balance (high concentrations of nitrogen in urine). Glutamine is responsible for binding hydrogen ions to form ammonium. Since hydrogen ions are acidic, glutamine acts much like calcium to neutralize the body's acidosis. Since skeletal muscle contains the body's largest glutamine store, metabolic acidosis causes muscle breakdown to liberate glutamine from the muscle. The amino acids from this muscle breakdown are then excreted, causing a net loss of muscle protein. (2,7)".

Here's what I've learned: In reality, Glutamine does not literally cause the binding of hydrogen ions to form ammonium. Nitrogenous wastes from the breakdown of amino acids (NH3 groups or ammonium ions) are transferred to Glutamate to form Glutamine in tissues. Glutamine then donates this NH3 group to metabolites in the urea cycle to form urea, which is excreted in the urine. The hydrogen ions are not essentially floating around unbound causing a state of acidosis. The body is VERY efficient at regulating highly acidic compounds obtained from endogenous or dietary sources. Another source of ammonia is the glucose-alanine cycle in which alanine (generated from skeletal muscle protein breakdown) is transported to the liver and deaminated to eventually form urea, just as with glutamine. So, glutamine is important for regulating ammonia levels within the body, but is NOT directly involved in binding free hydrogen ions. Also, a state of acidosis does not necessarily cause skeletal muscle breakdown, leading to negative nitrogen balance. An inadequate intake of calories or protein causes skeletal muscle breakdown to provide substrates for glucose production by the liver, since not enough is being provided by diet. This may lead to a minute temporary increase in acidosis, but as stated just previously, glutamine and alanine are essential transporters of ammonia groups and hence keep the body's pH balanced by the eventual formation of urea.

To sum it up, more research is needed to determine if high intake of acidic foods can actually exceed the body's capacity for regulating pH, and thus preventing disease. His theory sounds good, but until research establishes a sound clinical correlation between highly acidic foods and development of disease, I will remain skeptical. Great post by the way!!! It's always interesting to hear new perspectives!!!

 

[quigley]

How do you come to the conclusion that fruits are alkaline? The majority of fruits are actually acidic in nature. I agree that many vegetables are considered alkaline, but fruits?

Oxygen may in fact be a free radical scavenger, but it may also just as easily be a free radical producer. Superoxide radicals are actually considered one of the most potent oxidizing compounds in the body, leading to cellular damage. Most anti-oxidants are going to come from fruits and vegetables, so in my opinion any negative effects from the "acidic" fruit are minimal compared to the benefits of receiving the anti-oxidants contained within them.

Superoxide radicals are plentiful in the body, as they are byproducts of cellular respiration (mitochondrial) and hence we are constantly being bombarded with free radicals. And, the body is pretty efficient at neutralizing these compounds (unless you lack superoxide dismutase, an important enzyme in neutralizing superoxide radicals). Maybe you could explain in a little more detail about the concept I'm not understanding???

Yes most fruits are acidic when they enter your mouth, but its not the state of the food when it enters your body, but rather when digested, which by a foods acidity or alkalinity is determined. For example a lemon is highly acidic, but when digested, the reaction is highly alkaline.

Just like pasta may not be acidic as it enters your mouth, but when its digested, the result is very acidic.

High acidicty levels, and also high levels of yeast and wheat and meat eaten by body builders, can lead to a variety of illnesses related to candida.