After reading on-line that acidic foods leach calcium from the bones, and alkaline foods do not, I copied a list of both alkaline and acidic foods and leave it on the fridge. According to my research, a diet of 75% alkaline and 25% acidic foods is a good balance for bone health.
Although I can't say I am following the 75%/25% ratio every day, I do try to cut down my consumption of acidic foods and balance my meals now. If I consume foods that are acidic (cereal and milk), I will balance it with an alkaline food (banana), and include it in my breakfast cereal.
I do the same thing with dinner, if I consume an acidic pork chop, I will balance it with an alkaline vegetable that perferrably contains calcium like collard greens.
Unfortunately many acidic foods contain calcium; like milk, some cheeses, beans, etc., so I am thinking that combining these foods with alkaline food choices might reduce the effect of the calcium leaching.
I would be interested to know if any of the posters on this board have visited nutritionists to get "bone healthy" meal plans.
What you are saying does make a lot of sense. I brought my diet coke intake down to 1 every other day,but I do drink a mug of coffee in the morning. I am going to make a list like you have and start balancing. Thanks,Mama Carlota
Wow Jacal5,
I finally found another person who has studied the effects of acidic foods vs alkaline.
there's a microbiologist who discovered this and has proved that by eating less acidic foods, there would be less disease in our body. He has a book out and his wife has also written a cook book explaining in detail how they first started changing the foods they were used to eating. first going from meats, to chicken to fish and then to tofu. one has to do it slowly rather than all at once so that it doesn't become difficult.
My significant other has met this scientist and has since, changed his diet. if it's too difficult to delete all the bad things, he says to at least incorporate the good and little by little you find yourself staying away from the unhealthy choices.
he also drinks super greens which is a powder substance you mix with water and has over 30 different types of minerals and supplements in it.
my S.O. has been using it for yrs now. he's tried to get me to change my way of eating but I wasn't ready.
but now that my bone density test came back stating that that I have osteoporisis and that I have to call my drs to make an appt to folllow up for treatment, I will now have to make that decision to change what I eat.
Did you find your back in horrible pain through the course of the yrs?
I never did anything about it until I couldn't bare it any longer and went to my pc who ordered an x-ray of spine. which showed "degenerative joint disease" which led to my gyno sending me for a bone density test.
I just hit surgical menopause last oct.of 2005. I"m 46 yrs old and am using the estrogen patch.
there is a family history of bone disease in my family. My mom had some type of it and fell and broke her hip. she was wheel chair bound for six yrs and never recieved a hip replacment. plus her knee cap had disintegrated.
we thought she just had arhritis and the surgeon came out to us after the surgery and was livid that we didn't know she had a bone disease.
to this day I can't remember what the dr said it was being it was almost 10 yrs ago it happened.
my older brother has "gorhams disease" which is "vanishing bone disease" which is a frightening thing to have. I just called him the other day to find out what the name of his disease is because the technician who did my bone density said I should find out. and that I should call my mothers surgeon to find out what type of bone disease she had.
then I knew before I walked out of that room that I was going to be hearing back from dr that something was going on.
I think it's time for me to eat less acidic and more alkaline.
so glad you posted that.
thanks,
Linda
Unfortunately, I have been suffering with muscolo-skeletal disorders for fifteen years now due to car accident, work injury, degeneration. I have constant chronic pain in my neck, upper back, lower back (sciatica), legs and feet,
Last year I fell on the street, landed on both knees, and have a torn ACL and miniscus, so I am in rehab for everything. Now it's hard for me to be as active as i was before the knee injury and do weight bearing exercises regularly, but I am trying to get along with a knee brace, tylenol, heat, topical rubs, etc.
It's possible that my degeneration problem is caused by not balancing an acidic (25%) and alkaline (75%)diet properly. It's a good idea to drink the greens formula, I don't know if it's low sodium, I have to watch my salt intake, it drives my wieght up so fast! I buy low sodium vegetable juice. I read that people who consume fruits and veggies have higher bone density.
The field of nutrition is so interesting, if I had to do it all over again, I would have gone to college to become licensed nutritionist, to help people, and now the money is good in that field, isn't wasn't in the past.
Thanks to both of you for responding so thankfully to my post!
Hope you all are still reading this thread. Have you read The China Study? It is a fantastic book based on the fact that China has virtually no heart disease, very little high cholesterol/blood pressure and so forth. Interestingly, there is a correlation with osteoperosis too.
It's so hard to find people who are looking for something beyond an easy, quick-fix. I've been on a self-imposed health-quest for almost a year now. Here's what I've learned about the whole acid thing.
Though the US has the highest level of calcium consumption in the world, we also have the third highest incidence of hip fracture, which is an indication of osteoperosis. The body functions best in an alkaline environment. When you eat/drink things that are acidic such as meats, soda pop (it's the acid, not the sugar), coffee, etc... your body seeks to neutralize the acid. The neutralizer that is in the biggest supply is calcium. And the biggest source is the bones. So the body takes it from the bones to neutralize that acid. Wahlah! The body is happy. But of course, over time, the bones are not!
I haven't heard of percentages of neutral vs. acidic foods to eat. I did quit my 2-3 Pepsi a day habit almost a year ago. I drink one occasionally now...maybe once every two months. I also gradually cut out meat. I started with pork and processed meats, then beef and so forth. I do occasionally eat chicken and fish, but usually only when I eat out. I am now working on cutting out dairy products. I have found that this is all a process, and we all have our own path toward healing. I did not do all of this for my bones. I had/have high cholesterol, blood pressure, degenerative disc disease, MS, herniated discs and so forth. Anyway- fun to share a little. It seems that in most forums, nutritional information gets shot down. But for me, I've given the medical route years of my time. I'm ready for a change!
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