Archive for May, 2010

In Part 1 (Health Tip #648) we talked about how animal sourced foods were the single most dangerous foods a person could consume, being the cause or contributing cause of some 90% of all physical problems being experienced. Specifically we talked about the FAT contained in animal sourced foods that clog the arteries, contributing to high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes. Health Tip #648 is available in its entirety in the Health Tip Archives at Hallelujah Acres.

In Part 2 (Health Tip #649) we discussed how the ACID in animal sourced foods cause acid stomach and heartburn, and how antacids neutralize the acid necessary to properly digest food, leading to a multitude of digestive problems and more.

In this Health Tip we are going to talk about pH and the affect acid foods have upon our bone structure and how these acid foods cause osteoporosis (low bone density). To better understand pH, let’s look at a few facts concerning acidity and alkalinity before we go any further:

EVERYTHING WE PLACE WITHIN THE BODY AFFECTS pH

The pH scale runs from “0” (extremely acid) to “14” (extremely alkaline). A pH of 0-6.9 is acid; 7 is neutral, 7.1 to 14, is alkaline. Each unit increases by the factor of 10. To neutralize 1 part of acid requires 10 parts of alkalinity.

Everything we place into our mouth in the form of food, drink or drug, has either an acidifying or alkalizing effect upon the body’s pH (acid/alkaline balance).

Some body fluids must be kept acid for proper digestion (i.e. stomach fluids), while other body fluids must be kept alkaline (i.e. blood). Thus it is important that all body fluids maintain proper pH (acid/alkaline balance).  Maintaining proper pH in all body parts and functions is not difficult if we eat the 100% plant based, predominantly alkaline diet God told us to eat in Genesis 1:29. But if we eat those acidifying foods found outside a plant based diet, potential for problems and great harm arise.

ACIDIFYING FOODS & DRUGS

• All flesh foods are highly acidic – beef, pork, chicken, and fish (including salmon)
• All dairy foods are highly acidic, with cheese being the most acidic)
• Refined sugar is highly acidic
• Beer has a pH of 3.9 – 4.2 pH) and coffee a pH of 4.7 (both extremely acidic)
• Chocolate has a pH of 3.7, one of the most acidic things one can consume next to:
• Soft drinks have a pH ranging from 2.3 to 3.5, so acidic it eats away tooth enamel.
• Almost all drugs are acidic
• Most grains are acidic – especially wheat and wheat flour products

ALKALIZING FOODS

Almost all plant sourced foods leave an alkaline ash and thus have an ALKALIZING effect on the body. Barley Grass is one of the most alkalizing foods. Other alkalizing foods would include avocados, beets, carrots, all greens, almonds, and sunflower seeds, and even flax oil. A few plant foods leave an acid ash – blueberries, cranberries, plums, prunes, some nuts, seeds, and legumes.

Since all substances placed into the mouth have a pH value, it is easy to see how various food and drink items either acidify or alkalize the body and thus have a dramatic effect upon our health, digestion, blood, life, and longevity.

IF THE BLOOD BECOMES EVEN SLIGHTLY ACID THE BODY DIES

Few people realize that if the pH (the acid/alkaline balance) of the blood drops below 7.0 and (into the acid range), the body becomes first catatonic, then comatose, and then the person dies. Interestingly, if the body’s pH rises above 7.45 it can lead to excessive alkalosis and even death if not quickly corrected. Maintaining proper blood pH is essential for keeping us alive and well on planet earth.

SURVIVAL IS THE BODY’S MOST IMPORTANT TASK

Our body’s primary responsibility is survival – that is keeping us alive. Thankfully, that’s the way God designed us and usually works quite well without our help. But in order for the body to keep us alive and well it must have our cooperation.

The very foundation of our life is the blood that courses through the arteries and veins of our body. Concerning this blood, the bible has the following to say in Leviticus 17:11:

“FOR THE LIFE OF THE FLESH IS IN THE BLOOD. . . . “

As we have already learned above, if the pH of the blood drops below 7.0, or into the acid range, we die. In order to keep us alive, the body is constantly striving to keep the bloods pH in that alkaline range and if the body does not have our cooperation in this, it must take that responsibility into its own hands and do the very best it can under the circumstances to keep that blood alkaline at all times lest we die.

Everything we eat, following digestion, leaves either an acid or alkaline ash. As we learned above, almost all plant sourced foods, especially deep green leafy vegetables, have an alkalizing effect on the body. While all animal sourced foods leave an acid ash after digestion, as does refined sugar, many grains, and all drugs (though they don’t go through the digestive process).

BONE DENSITY IS DETERMINED BY WHAT WE EAT

If we consume a plant based (alkaline) diet, the diet God told us we should consume in Genesis 1:29, the pH of the blood is kept automatically in the alkaline zone. But when we consume a highly acidic diet, a diet containing lots of animal sourced foods, refined sugar and acid grains, the body has to find a way to neutralize all of that acidity in order to prevent the bloods pH from dropping into the acid zone which would cause our death.

When a person continues consuming all of these acid foods, and taking into their body all those acid producing drugs (all addictive drugs, including sugar, alcohol, caffeine, chocolate, are highly acidic), the body has got to find a way to neutralize all of that acidity. So what does the body have available in order to perform this task? The answer is – “alkalizing minerals”.

The most alkalizing of all minerals found within the body, in greatest quantity, is calcium. So the body, in an effort to neutralize all the acidity we are placing into it, starts drawing calcium from the bones (99% of all the calcium in the body is found in the bones). As calcium is drawn from the bones, it begins to make the bones porous (a thinning of density process), thus causing what we call osteoporosis.

OSTEOPOROSIS IS THE CRUEL RESULT OF AN ACID DIET

This removal of calcium from the bones is a slow process, but over time, if the person continues consuming a highly acidifying diet, the bones thin, often resulting in a person falling and breaking a bone, or possibly a bone will just break for no apparent reason.

Probably the most feared of this bone thinning process called osteoporosis are hip fractures. Fractures of the wrists and even vertebrae are also related to osteoporosis. In America, over 70% of all the fractures occurring in people over the age of 45 are caused by osteoporosis (low bone density).

In fact, some 1.3 million osteoporosis related fractures occur in the United States each and every year. In 1995, the annual medical cost for osteoporotic fractures among those over the age 65 was 13.8 billion dollars. However, in addition to cost, these fractures, especially hip fractures, can significantly decrease quality of life and often set into motion a rapid deterioration of health leading to death.

And to think that if only that person had not consumed all those acid foods and drugs, and rather consumed a plant based (Genesis 1:29) diet, along with some resistant and weight bearing exercises, this type of problem would never have occurred.

HOW DOES THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY TREAT OSTEOPOROSIS

When the medical community sees that the body is losing bone density, rather than looking for what is causing the body to lose this density, the medical community tells the patient they need to increase their calcium intake. But increasing calcium intake will not fix the problem because increasing calcium intake does not deal with the root cause of the problem.

The dairy industry tells us that we must consume more calcium rich dairy foods to keep our bones strong to prevent osteoporosis. But what they don’t tell us is that because of the acidity of the dairy, the body will excrete more calcium from the bones than it takes in from the dairy. Nor will the taking of calcium supplements improve the problem.

In fact, the inorganic calcium found in these calcium supplements can lead to the building of stones in the kidney and gallbladder along with this calcium joining with cholesterol to form plaque and hardening of the arteries. Anyone who has ever had a kidney or gallbladder stone and had it analyzed knows that the stone is almost always comprised of predominantly calcium.

HOW TO PREVENT AND CORRECT OSTEOPOROSIS

Osteoporosis can be prevented and low bone density even reversed by a simple change in diet and lifestyle. However, in order to prevent osteoporosis or further bone thinning, a person must realize that only they have the power to make it happen.  Following are things a person must do if they desire a strong, high density bone structure.

1. Change diet from a high animal based, sugar laden diet, to a 100% plant based diet. All high protein, acid forming foods should be totally eliminated and replaced with a highly alkalizing diet such as The Hallelujah Diet. The most alkalizing foods are your green leafy vegetables and cereal grasses. For instance, a cup of kale contains 179 mg of calcium; turnip greens 249 mg; collard greens 357 mg. (I have been on this alkalizing diet for the past 34 years.)
2. Include in each day’s activities a time for stretching, resistant, load bearing and aerobic exercising. (I personally try to include all of these exercises into my busy schedule each and every day of my life.)
3. Make sure to get abundant sunshine or else take a vitamin D3 supplement, because the body cannot utilize calcium, no matter how much is in the body if it does not have adequate vitamin D required to absorb the calcium. (I personally take 5,000mg of vitamin D daily, plus try to get as much sunshine on my body each day as practical.)

ADAM AND EVE HAD NO BONE DENSITY PROBLEMS

I can guarantee you that Adam and Eve had no bone density issues because they consumed a diet that consisted of 100% plant based alkalizing foods and they spent considerable time in the sun. I know that they spent a lot of time in the sun because the bible says: “And they were both naked . . . .” (See Genesis 2:25).

The Hallelujah Acres diet and lifestyle because it consists of almost 100% plant based alkalizing foods, promotes daily exercise along with sun exposure and vitamin D supplementation, not only prevents thinning of the bones but will also help restore osteoporotic bones to hardness.

I have personally been on the Hallelujah Diet for 34 years now, and am currently 76-years of age. Three years ago at the age of 73, I fell from the top of a six foot ladder, breaking the fall somewhat with my arms, while my head (left eye and forehead in particular) landed full force on a landscape railroad tie, and I broke not a bone. Can you imagine what would have been the result of that fall at the age of 73 if I had not previously been on the alkalizing Hallelujah Acres diet?

Just recently, at the age of 76 as I was walking backward pulling a hose, I tripped over something and fell backward very hard. Nothing broke! There was no pain! I just got up, dusted myself off and continued walking backward pulling the hose, only being a little more careful to look behind me to prevent another fall. But friends, I have no fear of falling while many people my age and some lots younger have a great fear of falling.

As a boy, my mother used to say to me from time to time – “You are what you eat.” But it has only been in recent years that I have fully understood the implications of what mother was saying.

In closing, I want to say to all our dear friends reading this “YOU ARE (or will become) WHAT YOU EAT.”

And don’t forget – “I STILL LOVE YOU!”

Next week, the good Lord willing and if the creeks don’t rise too high, we will talk about the potential for harm the high amounts of protein found in animal sourced foods can have upon the body.