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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 reckon 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 thebody
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 burnt 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 slow 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.
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