What does hyperacidity have to do with your diet and what is an alkaline diet? We explain everything you need to know and present you with the advantages, information, and a list of the most important alkaline foods.
Basic nutrition is trendy. This is based on the thesis that the body “over acidifies” due to too many acid-producing components in daily food. You can counteract this with an alkaline diet.
BUNTE explains which foods are alkaline, how you can integrate them into your diet, and why the sour-tasting lemon in particular is defined as an alkaline food.
Basics: What is an alkaline food?
An unbalanced acid-base balance can result in health-damaging consequences. Representatives of the alkaline diet, therefore, rely on low-acid and alkaline foods.
The aim of alkaline nutrition is to stabilize the acid-base balance, relieve the regulatory mechanisms and prevent over-acidification.
Too much acid in the body can potentially lead to various diseases or chronic conditions such as:
- neurodermatitis
- Osteoarthritis
- osteoporosis
- sleep disorders
- cardiac arrhythmias
- allergies and even cancer.
Some alternative medicine practitioners attribute almost every disease to hyperacidity. In order to avoid these, so-called alkaline foods are used in the alkaline diet.
However, the effect of alkaline nutrition has not yet been scientifically proven. Our body also has some highly efficient mechanisms and organs (such as the kidneys or liver) that prevent acidosis.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ACIDIC AND ALKALINE FOODS?
Alkaline foods include foods that stimulate alkaline formation in the body or supply your body with alkaline minerals. They are therefore also referred to as “base-forming”.
The acid-base diagram does not show the acidity of the food. It is a constructed value relating to the components into which food is broken down through digestion and metabolism.
For example, lemons are naturally acidic due to their high levels of fruit acids and vitamin C – ascorbic acid. But: The fruit acids are broken down quickly in the body. After that, substances with a basic effect, such as the minerals potassium and magnesium, predominate.
This means that if more alkaline than acidic products remains after the digestion and breakdown of food, this food is classified as alkaline.
Using lemons as an example: They provide the body with the basic minerals magnesium and potassium – hence the final term “base-forming”.
Many types of vegetables and fruit, herbs, mushrooms, sprouts, seedlings and almonds also fall under the category of alkaline foods .
Fruit and vegetables differ in base content. Alkaline foods are divided into strongly alkaline and medium to weakly alkaline foods.
For example, spinach, carrots, celery, dark leaf salads (e.g. rocket), string beans, cauliflower, savoy cabbage, fresh peas, tomatoes, cucumbers, beets, kidney beans, and bananas have a strongly alkaline effect. Most types of fruit are classified as weakly to moderately basic.
Acidic or acid-forming foods should be largely avoided in alkaline nutrition, as they can negatively affect the acid-base balance in the body. This category includes milk and dairy products, fish, meat, eggs, sweets, and grains, among others.
GOOD AND BAD ACIDIFIERS
- Good acidifiers are very nutritious and healthy – but you should enjoy them in moderation and always combine them with alkaline-forming foods.
These include whole grain cereals and products, oats/ oat flakes , legumes , whole grain rice, millet , nuts (e.g. hazelnuts, walnuts, macadamia nuts and Brazil nuts), oilseeds ( linseed , sesame – but also sunflower and pumpkin seeds, chia and poppy seeds) , pseudocereals ( amaranth , quinoa and buckwheat) or tofu .
Vegetable oils and high-quality fats are among the neutral foods: for example olive, linseed, pumpkin seed or hemp oil, organic butter and ghee .
- “ Bad acidifiers ” include all highly processed products and fast food. They should be avoided consistently or only consumed in exceptional cases.
These include: convenience products and beverages, dairy products, grain products made from white flour (e.g. cakes, pastries, pasta, cereals), products made from gluten (vegetarian Bolognese, cold cuts or seitan), heavily processed soy products (minced meat substitute or soy protein), products containing industrial sugar, alcohol and Coffee and other caffeinated beverages.
OVERVIEW: GOOD AND BAD ACIDIFIERS
| Good acidifiers | Bad acidifiers |
| Cereals: rye, barley, spelled, corn | Meat and meat products: sausage, ham, offal |
| Grain products: couscous , bulgur, oatmeal | Fish and seafood: salmon, herring, shrimp |
| Pseudo-cereals: amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat | Grain products made from white flour: pasta, baked goods, cereals |
| Legumes: chickpeas , soybeans, beans, lentils, peas | Milk and dairy products: yoghurt , cottage cheese, pudding |
| Tofu and fermented soy products: tempeh , miso | Owner |
| Oilseeds: pumpkin seeds, flaxseed, poppy, sesame, hemp |
highly hydrogenated fats (margarine, spreadable fats)
|
| cocoa and raw cocoa powder | Alcohol, soft drinks, sodas, caffeine |
| nuts | highly processed products: ready meals, sauces, etc. |
