Acidosis is defined as: “a condition characterized by an abnormal increase in the acidity of the blood and extracellular fluids.” (World English Dictionary)
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 can lead to serious problems with major organs such as the liver, heart, and/or kidneys. Below are some reasons we should avoid acidosis.
- IT LEADS TO WEIGHT GAIN AND DIABETES
When our body is too acidic, we suffer from a condition know as Insulin Sensitivity, forcing excess insulin to be produces. As a result, the body 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.
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. 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 to allow fats to be burned normally for energy, rather than stored under the biochemical belief of a famine.
- IT ACCELERATES FREE-RADICAL DAMAGE AND PREMATURE AGING
Acidosis is the first step towards premature aging and destructive 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.
- 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 and problems with hormonal balance within the endocrine system
An acid environment also causes LDL-cholesterol (bad cholesterol) to be laid down at an accelerated rate in the heart, clogging up the vascular network.
- IT CORODES 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 interconnected tissues are weakened.
Acidic pH changes of blood are now thought to result in the following:
Development of arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries)
Aneurysm (widening and ballooning of artery walls)
Arrhythmias (abnormal rhythms of the heart including tachycardia)
Myocardial infraction (heart attacks)
Strokes (a cardiovascular accident)
The structural weakening of the cardiovascular system also creates irregularities of blood pressure, which further exacerbates the above problems.
- IT ALTERS THE ENERGY METABOLISM AND RESERVE
When your body has an acidic pH, it will prevent efficient cellular and body metabolism.
- IT SLOWS 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.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE BODY IS TOO ACIDIC? AN ACIDIC IMBALANCE WILL:
Decrease the body’s ability to absorb minerals and other nutrients
Decrease energy production in the cells
Decrease the body’s ability to repair damaged cells
Decrease the body’s ability to detoxify heavy metals
Enable tumor cells to thrive
Make the body more susceptible to fatigue and illness
People who have high acidity levels tend to exhibit symptoms such as: anxiety, diarrhea, dilated pupils, extroverted behavior, fatigue in the morning, headaches, hyperactivity, 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 an acidic diet, emotional stress, toxic overload, immune reactions or any process that deprives the cells of oxygen and other nutrients. As a result, the body tries to compensate by using minerals such as calcium which is removed from the bones causing osteoporosis.
Acidosis can result in rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, lupus, tuberculosis, osteoporosis, high blood pressures and most cancers.
2 main factors leading to cancer are an acidic pH and lack of oxygen. Without oxygen, glucose ferments and becomes lactic acid causing the pH of cells to drop to 7.0. More advanced cancers have pH levels that can fall to 5.7 or lower. The basic truth is that our bodies cannot fight diseases if our pH is not properly balanced.
Information provided by “Effects of Acidosis” by: Michael Lam, MD, MPH, ABAAM, a specialist in Preventative and Anti-Aging Medicine. Article information is provided by: HealthWaterLifestyle.com