This material is derived from work published by Howard Hay, M.D., Daniel C. Monro, M.D., L.M. Rogers, M.D. and George Goodheart, D.C.'s observations from over fifty years in practice. Dr. Goodheart was perhaps one of the finest clinicians of our generation and practiced well into his 80’s. It was a great loss to mankind when he died in March 2008 at 89 years of age.
When we eat what we eat has a lot to do with how much good we get from it.
The proper combination of foods has had much said on it and there has been some controversy. From all the known facts and informed opinions leads to one conclusion. Despite encountering resistance from those to whom the idea is a new one, those to whom eating bread and potatoes with meats seems so natural that they can't accept the thought that such a combination is a bad one. Many of our oldest habits are unsound and should be changed, not lightly or for a whim, but with convincing reason.
The theory of dietetics is based upon the hypothesis that inadequate absorption of food causes degeneration of tissue, and that for perfect metabolism do not combine foods high in starches with food high in proteins or fats in the same meal. It is, of course, impossible not to combine proteins and carbohydrates in the same meal. Practically all foods have some protein, some carbohydrate or some fat. However, a meal can be predominantly protein or predominantly carbohydrate.
The contention of these doctors is that a combination of high protein and high starches inhibits the absorption of all the nutritive factors of foods and results in an unnecessary burden upon the entire digestive apparatus.
Thus, it is possible to eat large quantities of nutritious foods and get no benefit at all from them if we eat other foods at the same time that interfere with the proper digestion of vitamin and mineral bearing foods. If we eat cheese, rich in calcium, and at the time it reaches our small intestine, an alkaline digestive process is going on there, then very little (if any) of that calcium will be available to us. The calcium will make a chemical combination with the alkali and become non-absorbable, it will pass through and out of our body unused! No matter how much cheese we eat, we may still suffer from calcium deficiency--if the calcium is not absorbed. But if this food reaches the small intestine when an acid condition is present, much of the calcium will be utilized.
It is well known that many illnesses are due to deficiencies of certain essential food factors--vitamins and minerals. These deficiencies produce degeneration of certain tissues, and this degeneration results in loss of resistance. Infections then invade us and produce disease. It is not enough to have the essential elements in the food we eat--they must actually be utilized by our bodies, they must be available to our tissues.
Obviously then, we must be certain that when we eat cheese, our small intestine will be acid and not alkaline. But How? The answer is clear and incontrovertible: by not eating any high carbohydrates at the same time.
When we eat carbohydrates - starches and sugars - our small intestine becomes alkaline, and a condition is created by which essential factors in other foods cannot be used. These same carbohydrates may interfere with the digestion of certain proteins in the stomach itself, and partially digested protein food actually becomes toxic material. Research has found that proteins may be split up by imperfect digestion into large protein molecules that may be absorbed into circulation as macro-molecules, which then initiate a cascade of immunologic reactions that can cause symptoms and disease. Instead of being split up into smaller molecules (amino acids) proteins eaten with carbohydrates may actually become toxic due to incomplete digestion, absorption to our tissues, such as, the allergy producing and poisonous amines.
These are two distinctly different types of digestion: an acid digestion for proteins (meat, fish, eggs, and cheese) and an alkaline digestion for carbohydrates (sugars and starches).
All physiologists agree that proteins are digested largely in the stomach , by the gastric juice, which is acid in reaction. One of the most important constituents of the gastric juice is hydrochloric acid. Another important ingredient of gastric juice is pepsin, which splits protein only in an acid medium. In other words the stomach must be acid in order to digest protein.
Carbohydrates, on the other hand, are not digested in the stomach, but are digested largely in the small intestine, principally by the pancreas secretions, which are alkaline. One of the most important constituents of this process is amylase, which splits the starch only in an alkaline medium. On their way through the stomach to the small intestine, the carbohydrates not only inhibit the secretion of hydrochloric acid in the stomach but also combine with some of the free hydrochloric acid there.
Fats follow a different course - they leave the stomach largely unchanged and upon entering the small intestine cause the gall bladder to empty bile into the small intestine. Bile emulsifies the fat and releases fatty acids, which can neutralize alkaline secretions in the small intestine. If these fatty acids are produced in the intestine while carbohydrates are being digested there, the alkaline secretions that are part of the carbohydrate digestion will be neutralized, and the action of the amylase will be inhibited. The undigested carbohydrates will be left free to ferment and produce gas.
Hence the following rule, which is not only logical and physiologically sound, but has been proved highly valuable by clinical observation:
RULE 1: Do not combine pure fats (butter, cream, bacon fat) with high starches (potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, cereal, sweets) at any one meal. If you're having primarily carbohydrates at a meal don't eat any fats. If you're having potatoes for lunch and a sweet dessert, don't put butter or sour cream on your potatoes. Likewise, if you're having fats don't eat any carbohydrates. If you're having bacon or eggs for breakfast, don't eat cereal or bread.
In the past many physicians have practiced this rule unconsciously, by advising patients to cut out all fats and high starches, or greatly restrict them. Obviously this produced good results, because patients who ate neither could not combine pure fats and high starches. But, with a restriction of fats there was always the serious danger of running into a deficiency of essential fat-soluble vitamins and fatty acids. Neither fats nor starches have to be eliminated or restricted on that basis in most cases. Simply eat them at different times.
Interesting evidence that the high starches and pure fats are incompatible came as a sidelight from the observations of Dr. Joslin in his famous diabetic clinic in Boston. He established the fact that if you cut down in high fats in diabetic diets, you can add more carbohydrates without getting any increase of sugar in the urine; without increasing insulin, if it is an insulin case.
Primitive man did not eat fats with carbohydrates. The food had fat in the animal meat; but in millions of years he never found lumps of pure fat attached to any vegetable (carbohydrate) foods. As he evolved he never needed to digest fats and starches at the same meal - he never developed such mechanism - and today we still haven't any.
Eat fats with meats, or with any other proteins - fish, eggs or cheese. In fact you must be sure to eat fats with meat, they not only can be combined but they must be combined.
One of the most important studies ever made on an exclusive high protein and fat diet, was conducted by explorers Vilhjalmur Stefansson and Karsten Andersen. The purpose of the test was to demonstrate that man could live on a purely animal diet in our climate for an indefinite time, and in this case it was extended over a period of one full year. The conclusions reached by this study were: (a) It is possible for man to live for long periods on meat alone. (b) No ill effects whatever were recorded. (c) The diet, in order to be adequate had to contain large quantities of fat, some liver, and that lean meat alone was not tolerated. (d) The tissues of one animal contain everything that is essential for another animal, in this case, man.
Important clinical observations in this test support the thesis that there is greater absorption of foodstuffs when eaten in the proper combinations. There was much greater absorption, no gas and a distinct simplification of putrefactive organisms in the intestine. There was no constipation. A further important observation was that both men showed no increase in blood pressure, and one of them actually showed a decrease of 20mm in his systolic pressure.
This experience and its conclusion was that fats and proteins are an excellent combination. Since protein is digested largely in the stomach by acids, and since the pepsin only works in an acid medium, when pepsin and protein get into the small intestine, if fats are being digested there at the same time and they have liberated enough fatty acid to acidify the intestine and prolong the action of pepsin so that the digestion of the protein would be carried further. Fats, proteins, acids, they all go together and help each other. Associate in your mind: fats with proteins with acids.
It's a different story with carbohydrates. Carbohydrates (starches and sugars) are digested by alkalies. Naturally, if any acid is combined with carbohydrates it will tend to neutralize the alkaline digestive juices they need. The more acid present, the more alkaline secretion will be required to neutralize the acid before it can begin to digest the carbohydrates.
RULE 2: Don't combine acids and carbohydrates. Don't take buttermilk, orange juice, lemon juice, grapefruit juice or vinegar at any meal that also includes high starches and sugars.
Patients have often said they "can not take orange juice because it causes an acid stomach." On questioning they have had it at breakfast with cereals, toast or other carbohydrates. When told to take it alone or with protein foods only, they did so with great satisfaction and no bad effects.
If you have had trouble with orange juice, just try it with bacon and eggs only.
It should be remembered, of course, that many healthy people combine orange juice and starches without feeling any distress or evidence of impaired digestion. But the impairment goes on just the same! Every time a healthy person combines acids and starches he is making trouble for his digestion, he is getting less value from his foods, and he is hurting himself. The body has remarkable ability to adjust itself to the most terrible treatment. You have heard many people exclaim, "I have the digestion of a horse," or, "I could eat nails and it wouldn't hurt me." Fifteen years later some of these people are wrecks.
RULE 3: Do not combine high proteins (meat, fish, eggs or cheese) with high starches (potatoes, cereals, breads, sweets) at the same meal.
This prohibition is based not only on extensive clinical findings but also on sound physiology. Let us review the evidence. We know that proteins require acid for their digestion in the stomach. We know that carbohydrates require alkalies for their digestion in the small intestine.
Some years ago in a Mayo Clinic study on sugars two things were made clear:
1. Sugars inhibit the secretion of the hydrochloric acid in the stomach.
2. Sugars combine with the free hydrochloric acid in the stomach.
Both of these actions, by lessening the amount of hydrochloric acid in the stomach, interfere with the digestion of proteins, which must have that acid. Conversely, if proteins are being digested in the stomach and there is more acid there for the sugar to combine with (pick up and take along to the small intestine), then it will require just so much more alkaline secretion from the pancreas to neutralize the extra acid before it goes to work on the sugar. And the same is true of starches that are potential sugars. Not only do the sugars interfere with the digestion of the proteins, but the proteins make more difficult the digestion of the sugars!
In a study reported in the American Journal of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition (1936) a graph showed the acidity of the stomach contents at varying times from five subjects; first after protein meals, then after starch meals, then after a combined protein and starch meal. After the meals, the stomach contents of the protein meal were most acid, the starch meal least acid and the mixed meal half way between.
100 c.c. of the protein meal stomach contents required 60 c.c. of the alkaline solution to neutralize the free acid, and the graph was going up sharply.
100 c.c. of the starch meal contents required only 20 c.c. of the alkaline solution to neutralize the free acid and the graph was falling rapidly.
100 c.c. of the mixed meal stomach contents required 40 c.c. of the alkaline solution to neutralize its acid, and the graph was coming down very slowly.
This means that when the starch meal entered the small intestine comparatively little alkali would be required to neutralize the acid it had "picked up" in the stomach, but when the mixed meal reached the small intestine just twice as much alkaline pancreatic secretion would be needed to neutralize its acid before starch digestion could begin.
It is also clear that when the mixed meal was eaten, the proteins in it were being digested under difficult conditions. Instead of the normal acidity required, as shown by the all-protein meal, the acidity was reduced. The starches cut the acidity to one-third less! Just such conditions are most likely to produce imperfectly split up proteins - the large toxic protein molecule.
When high proteins and high carbohydrates are mixed, this investigation proves, there is not enough acid to digest the protein part readily, and too much acid to digest the starch readily.
Now the bad effects of this abuse are not always immediately apparent. The digestion of youth has abundant juices but improper food combination places an extra burden. If we deplete that abundance, dip into our reserve power of accommodation, by the time we reach mid adulthood impaired digestion is evident. This may not make itself known by distressing symptoms, but the digestion is nevertheless chemically impaired. This contributes to an increasing deficiency of food elements, and that, in turn, leads to more tissue degeneration. Minor disturbances are directly created, serious diseases are made more probable, and one more obstacle is raised to our being able to live a full, long life of glowing health. Those with perfect health at present, please take note.
Nearly all foods contain some starch elements and some protein elements. This fact has misled many doctors since it seems to indicate the mixture of starches and proteins is natural and therefore presumably healthful.
Meat does contain carbohydrate - but in a form unlike other carbohydrates - glycogen. This is a carbohydrate was eaten by the animal and then metabolized and stored in its muscles. Little digestion, if any, on our part is required to make this sugar ready to be absorbed - it is ready to be absorbed as soon as it is liberated from the protein of the meat.
Similarly, the amount of protein in starchy vegetables is small indeed in proportion, and because of its negligible quantity presents none of the difficulties in digestion that result from combining large quantities of high protein with high starches.
While man, as he evolved, developed two types of digestion for the types of food he ate, other animals confined themselves to one type of food and correspondingly one type of digestion. What do they show us?
Herbivorous animals, such as the cow or sheep, eating only vegetable food, have specialized on alkaline digestion. They are equipped to eat large quantities of food in proportion to their size, compared to humans. They all first alkalinize their food by prolonged chewing (their saliva being alkali), and they all rechew their food (chewing the cud). They all have a large sack or pouch where man has his tiny appendix.
Carnivorous animals, such as lions or wild dogs, have specialized acid digestion. They bolt their food in large pieces and chew it as little as possible, if at all. Actually the less they chew it, the better it is for them. An experimental study was carried out at the Mayo Clinic in which dogs were fed meat fed in large chunks or meat ground up, and the contents of the small intestine examined for the results of digestion. The big pieces were digested far better than the ground meat.
It is highly significant that meat-eating animals have no appendix or a very small one. Man, with his small appendix, seems on this basis to fit the meat-eating animals, rather than the herbivorous animals with their large pouches. Our inability to handle starches and sugars advantageously seems to stem from fundamental physical sources. This parallels the findings from which the Page Fundamental Diet plan was developed and has been borne out over several decades.
With the atrophy of our appendix, we lost our ability to get enough protein from vegetable sources to produce the bet possible physical man. We cannot chew our cud.
According to Goodheart, when we eat meat, we should chew it as little as possible; but when we, like herbivorous animals, eat vegetable food, we should, like them, chew well and thoroughly.
Americans are notoriously calcium-deficient. Not because we don't eat foods rich in calcium, but largely because we don't eat them in combination or form in which the calcium can be assimilated. Animals never eat high proteins and high carbohydrates at the same meal. They have excellent teeth, they have strong bones, and they take no calcium supplements.
As mentioned earlier improperly digested proteins which, instead of splitting up into their proper end-products, split up into intermediate or large protein molecules that are actually toxic. Some of these molecules are the substance called histamine, an irritant and vasodilator associated with allergies such hay fever, asthma, eczema, coryza, migraine headaches and general malaise. Goodheart observations gave him unmistakable indications that mixed diets (combinations of fats with starches or high proteins with high carbohydrates) produce more histamine in the system than the combinations he recommended.
Histaminase is a substance developed from the intestines of certain food animals, it has the property of splitting up histamine and thus destroying its toxic effect. It serves as a way of testing for histamine and for finding the extent bad food combinations produce toxic results. Goodheart found that when patients eat a mixed meal, they require more histaminase to control their symptoms than when they eat proteins only or carbohydrates only! He concluded that the mixed diet produced more histamine! Many allergic patients, in fact, lost their symptoms entirely by simply avoiding bad food combinations; they actually lost their hay fever or headaches by eating the kind of meals he recommended. However, as soon as they slipped and ate an unwise meal, back came the symptoms.
Although theoretical physiology, laboratory tests and other research confirm it, your own experience must be equally convincing for you.
Extracts from the adrenal gland controls allergic reactions. According to Goodheart, the adrenal gland takes care of the normal amount of histamine produced in the body; but when years of improper food habits have given us certain deficiencies and degeneration's, the combination of excess histamine and food deficiencies depletes the adrenal glands, the control is lost, allergic reactions appear more readily and we are well on our way to serious bodily degeneration. The evidence on histamine production alone was sufficient to justify his recommendations on the food combinations!
The Amino Acids
Not all proteins are of equal value in nutrition. Proteins vary widely in chemical composition and in their ability to satisfy the body's requirement of nitrogen; they vary in the degree to which they supply the amino acids essential for tissue building and tissue repair. Ten amino acids have been shown to be essential to human nutrition and must be consumed in the diet since they can not be manufactured by humans.
The value of any protein is measured by its ability to supply some or all of these essential amino acids. A protein is called complete if it supplies all of essential amino acids. Unfortunately few proteins are ideal and therefore the diet must be properly varied from not only the muscle tissue of animals but also the connective tissues and tissues from their organs, plus eggs. Eating in this manner will usually supply all the essential amino acids in sufficient quantity.
Goodheart's Dietary Rules for Health
The general rule is to be sure you eat enough of the vital food elements; and be sure you eat them in the right combinations.
1. Eat all kinds of meats, fish, eggs, leafy vegetables, citrus fruits (and carbohydrates only if you must) as the safest way to avoid deficiencies.
2. Do not combine pure fats (butter, cream or bacon) with high starches (potatoes, cereals, breads, cakes or sweets) in any one meal.
3. Do not combine acids (citrus juice, vinegar, buttermilk) with high starches at any one meal.
4. Do not combine high proteins (meats, fish eggs, cheese) with high starches at any one meal.
5. Eat fats freely with proteins and acid solutions.
6. Be sure you get enough of each essential nutritional element as follows:
a. Meat, fish, fowl and eggs: One serving of each, or two servings of one per day with butter or other fat.
b. Milk, buttermilk, or cheese: Two glasses of raw organic milk or buttermilk, or two and one-half ounces of cheese a day (or one glass of milk or buttermilk plus an ounce or more of cheese).
c. Raw, low-starch fruits and raw green and yellow vegetables: Two servings a day or one large salad bowl a day.
d. 1 or 2 tablespoonfuls of a plain cod liver oil, or its equivalent in other fish liver oils, or their concentrates in capsules. But if you use capsules, then be sure to take plenty butter fats and cream; your liver must have fats, if it is going to make bile for you.
e. If you are a carbohydrate eater, supplement with yeast or other equivalent Vitamin B Complex. Other natural fats and oils may also be necessary as the fact remains that natural fats and oils are absolutely necessary in ample quantities for natural, healthy metabolism.
How quickly you feel noticeable improvement depends largely on how good your health is to begin with, and how bad your eating habits have been in the past.
1. If you are now in fine health, have been eating plenty of protein, have no digestive troubles, no marked deficiencies, you may experience no detectable effects of this diet in one month's time. But you will later. If you will come around in ten years' time I can tell if you have been following perfect eating habits by just looking at you.
2. If you now suffer from occasional flatulence, indigestion, "acidity" and gas, a month on this regimen with no cheating will work wonders. Your ailments will probably disappear.
3. If you now feel "all right" but sluggish and under par, if you have been eating unwisely--too much carbohydrates and not enough of the other food factors - you will experience a new feeling of wellbeing and full health which perhaps you did not believe possible.
Be certain to eat enough high proteins without fear of eating too much unless you have no control over your appetite or have a specific medical condition that dictates otherwise. Although you may continue to exist on a relatively low protein intake, there is ample evidence that a more liberal intake favors the development of better physique and improvement of general health. Any excess of proteins, above your body's requirement for growth and repair of tissue is used as body heat and energy.
Referenced from http://www.drkaslow.com/html/food_combining.html on 211009
For more information see the Acid Base Forum at http://www.saeure-basen-forum.de/. In particular, there is a detailed list of acid and alkaline foods at http://www.saeure-basen-forum.de/pdf/IPEV-Food_table.pdf .
The following information is reprinted from this page http://www.saeure-basen-forum.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=52 .
From the European Journal of Nutrition 40 (2001)
Editorial
Eur J Nutr (2001) 40:187-188
Original article PDF-Download (67 KB)
Friedrich Manz:
History of nutrition and acid-base physiology.
Eur J Nutr (2001) 40:189-199
Original article PDF-Download (349 KB)
L. Frassetto , R. C. Morris, Jr. , D. E. Sellmeyer , K. Todd , A. Sebastian:
Diet, evolution and aging. The pathophysiologic effects of the post-agricultural inversion of the potassium-to-sodium and base-to-chloride ratios in the human diet.
Eur J Nutr (2001) 40:200-213
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Thomas Remer:
Influence of nutrition on acid-base balance - metabolic aspects.
Eur J Nutr (2001) 40:214-220
Original article PDF-Download (613 KB)
Hermann Kalhoff, Friedrich Manz:
Nutrition, acid-base status and growth in early childhood.
Eur J Nutr (2001) 40:221-230
Original article PDF-Download (539 KB)
Katherine L. Tucker, Marian T. Hannan, Douglas P. Kiel:
The acid-base hypothesis: diet and bone in the Framingham Osteoporosis Study.
Eur J Nutr (2001) 40:231-237
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David A. Bushinsky:
Acid-base imbalance and the skeleton.
Eur J Nutr (2001) 40:238-244
Original article PDF-Download (319 KB)
Jean-Luc Riond:
Animal nutrition and acid-base balance.
Eur J Nutr (2001) 40:245-254
Original article PDF-Download (679 KB)
H. Kiwull-Schöne, H. Kalhoff, F. Manz, L. Diekmann, P. Kiwull:
Minimal-invasive approach to study pulmonary, metabolic and renal responses to alimentary acid-base changes in conscious rabbits.
Eur J Nutr (2001) 40:255-259
Original article PDF-Download (439 KB)
Referenced from http://www.alkalizeforhealth.net/Lacidbasebalance.htm on 131009
If your saliva is too acid you may wish to increase the alkalinity of your body. Ways to do this include:
1. Eat mostly alkaline foods. The general "rule of thumb" is to eat 20% acid foods and 80% alkaline foods. Minimize the "strongly acid" foods.
It is the sulphur in the concentrated protein of meat, fish, eggs and hard cheese, and phosphorous in meat and soft drinks that makes these foods so acidic.
Fats and oils have a neutral pH, neither acid nor alkaline. Plant-based beverages (tea, coffee, cocoa, herbal teas, beer, wine, juices of fruits and vegetables) are generally mildly alkaline. The above summary is based on a detailed Acid Base Food Table you can download. If you want more information, there are some articles you can read here 1, 2, 3. The most economical cesium dietary supplement we have found is cesium carbonate powder available from here.
The healthiest dairy products to consume have never been pasteurized or homogenized. Look for "raw" milk, and cheese made from raw milk. The healthiest way to consume grains and legumes is in the form of sprouts.
2. Supplement your diet with alkaline minerals. The main alkaline minerals in the body are calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium. These minerals complement each other. For example, calcium is needed to contract a muscle and magnesium is needed to relax it. At a cellular level, your cells maintain a balance of potassium inside and sodium outside, but this pumping of potassium and sodium requires magnesium. The calcium concentration in cells is controlled by sodium. All four of these minerals work together in the body. Problems arise in the body when one or more of the minerals are deficient or when the minerals are out of balance with each other.
People in North America tend to consume too much calcium and sodium and insufficient magnesium and potassium. This is often reflected in urine tests which show calcium and sodium being excreted while magnesium and potassium are being retained. (This is why we are not interested in urine pH. An alkaline urine simply shows that some alkaline minerals are being discarded by the body. Of much greater interest is the pH of saliva, which reflects your success in creating an alkaline condition within your body.)
In the North American diet, excess calcium is coming primarily from dairy products, and excess sodium is coming from "prepared foods" that are loaded with salt. Largely missing from the diet are magnesium and potassium that would come from eating fruits and vegetables. A diet based on fruits and vegetables, grains and legumes, with a small amount of dairy, would give the body all four of the alkaline minerals in better balance. This is the diet we recommend in point number 1 above. Given that the kidneys will excrete excess minerals and retain what the body needs, it is not necessary to be overly concerned about consuming "right" amounts of calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium. Just make sure that your diet contains all four of the alkaline minerals in reasonable balance.
Bones and teeth are made from calcium phosphate. You can consume calcium in the form of bone meal or calcium hydroxyapatite which contain the needed phosphate, or you can take your calcium with a separate source of phosphate, such as lecithin. To preserve your bones and teeth it is good to consume at least one gram of calcium and one tablespoon of lecithin daily. We mention lecithin in several places on this website because it provides many benefits to the body. Vitamin D is needed for absorption and utilization of calcium, and doctors are recommending more (the Canadian Cancer Society recommends at least 1,000 IU daily for all Canadians) as the benefits of vitamin D become known. Teeth are held in the gums by connective tissue, and formation of connective tissue needs vitamin C. About 3 or 4 grams of vitamin C daily is required to prevent receding gums and the formation of pockets between the teeth and gums.
Tooth enamel is rebuilt both from within and without by an enzyme called adenosine diphosphatase. This enzyme is one of dozens of enzymes in the body that are inactivated by fluoride. It is best to avoid all sources of fluoride.
The positively charged H+ ion in acid saliva will pull the negatively charged phosphate ion right out of the tooth. Alkaline saliva is necessary to preserve and rebuild tooth enamel. Drink acidic liquids (eg. lemonade) through a straw to minimize contact with the teeth. Rinse the mouth with water after consuming an acidic food or liquid.
Calcium supplements generally contain some magnesium, but it seems that more is needed. Magnesium supplements are readily available on the Internet. You can use services such as www.shopzilla.com to find the lowest price. Or take a tablespoon of "milk of magnesia" (available from drugstores) before going to bed. There is evidence that magnesium helps to prevent cancer. After nine months, women on magnesium supplements increased bone density by about 11%. - Journal of Nutritional Medicine, 1991; 2:165-178.
One teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) can be mixed with water and taken morning and evening. If you take your vitamin C in the form of crystals, you can mix a teaspoon of vitamin C crystals with the teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate. Add water and wait until the fizzing stops before drinking it. The sodium bicarbonate will neutralize the acidity of the vitamin C. (Make sure your baking soda does NOT contain aluminum. You may need to buy it from a health food store.) Alternatively, there is a nutritional supplement that contains vitamin C buffered as magnesium ascorbate, sodium ascorbate, calcium ascorbate, and potassium ascorbate as well as other nutrients designed to heal the arteries and prevent heart disease. Highly recommended!
If you want to eat salt, use unrefined sea salt. It is gray in color and comes in large crystals. Put it in a grinder and keep it on the dining table beside the pepper grinder.
Dr. Gerson (page 246) gave his cancer patients a 10% potassium solution. Perhaps you can find a potassium drink in your local health food store. Potassium tablets are commonly available. Potassium chloride is often found in grocery stores as a dietary salt alternative to sodium chloride. Search on the Internet for a suppliers of potassium chloride, potassium bicarbonate, potassium citrate, and potassium iodide if you cannot find them locally.
Salts of the alkaline minerals cesium, rubidium and potassium have been found by Dr. Brewer to be particularly effective in fighting cancer.
"A mass spectrographic analysis of cancer cells showed that the cell membrane readily attached cesium, rubidium and potassium, and transmitted these elements with their associated molecules into the cancer cell. In contrast cancer membranes did not transmit sodium, magnesium, and calcium into the cell: the amount of calcium within a cancer cell is only about 1% of that for normal cells. Potassium transports glucose into the cell. Calcium and magnesium transport oxygen into the cell. As a consequence of the above, oxygen cannot enter cancer cells so the glucose which is normally burned to carbon dioxide and water undergoes fermentation to form lactic acid within the cell. This anaerobic condition was pointed out by Warburg, as early as 1924.
Potassium, and especially rubidium and cesium are the most basic of the elements. When they are taken up by the cancer cells they will thus raise the pH of the cells. Since they are very strong bases as compared to the weak lactic acid it is possible that the pH will be raised to values in the 8.5 to 9 range. In this range the life of the cancer cell is short, being a matter of days at the most. The dead cancer cells are then absorbed by the body fluids and eventually eliminated from the system." - Dr. Brewer, High pH Cancer Therapy With Cesium, page 5.
While it is well known that calcium needs vitamin D in order to be absorbed and utilized, most people in northern climates tend to be deficient in vitamin D, particularly in winter. Even in summer, recent advice from the medical profession to avoid the sun and to block ultraviolet light from reaching the skin through the use of sunscreens leads to vitamin D deficiency. Better advice is to experience the sun in moderation in all seasons. Stay out of the sun during the hottest part of a summer day, but otherwise utilize the sunlight to maximize your vitamin D production. Plus, consume vitamin D dietary supplements in all seasons. There is evidence that vitamin D helps prevent cancer. A good source of vitamin D is fish oil. Fish oil also contains vitamin A, and there is evidence that vitamin A helps cure leukemia. Leukemia is the most common childhood cancer, affecting children as young as two or three years of age. Why not give your children a spoonful of cod liver oil each day?
While it is commonly understood that the body needs calcium to build bones, what is not generally known is bones are a complex matrix of many different minerals and if all the required minerals are not present then strong bones cannot be built. There are at least 18 key bone-building nutrients essential for optimum bone health. The implication is that it is easier to destroy bone through excess acidity in the body than it is to rebuild bone. Furthermore, as farm soils become depleted of many trace minerals the foods grown on these soils contain less and less of the required nutrients. At last count, the human body requires 90 different nutrients for optimum health, and the list is growing year by year. A good nutritional supplement is no longer optional.
Healthy Joints
Magnesium is a precursor to an important substance in the body called hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid levels in the body are higher in people whose diet contains an abundance of magnesium. Hyaluronic acid is necessary for connective tissue formation and helps maintain healthy joints, prevent skin wrinkles, prevent hernias, and promote the healing of wounds and surgical incisions.
An abundance of B vitamins, is also necessary for healthy joints. Absorption of B vitamins is facilitated by beneficial bacteria in the intestines. Many drugs interfere with these beneficial bacteria. For more information see Dr. David Williams Alternatives October 2006. (Editor's note: The use of niacinamide (the amide form of vitamin B3) to reverse arthritis and joint pain, and rebuild damaged cartilage was discovered by Dr. William Kaufman in the 1930's. Dr. Kaufman divided the total daily dose into ten small doses to be taken periodically through the waking hours in order to maintain a constant level of the vitamin in the blood. For more information do an Internet search for "niacinamide arthritis kaufman".) Niacinamide supplementation may also help prevent type 1 diabetes.
Dietary supplementation with DMG (Dimethylglycine) improves oxygen utilization throughout the body, and is particularly useful in areas such as joints which receive little oxygen. People with many different joint problems are found to respond favorably to DMG.
Dietary supplementation with SAMe (S-adenosylmethionine) and B vitamins (folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12) helps reduce pain and inflammation while rebuilding cartilage.
This combination of B vitamins, DMG, and SAMe works magic in many areas of the body, helping to prevent cancer and metastases, heal the arteries, cleanse the liver, strengthen the immune system, reverse the damaging effects of aging and much more. Many people may already have sufficient DMG and SAMe in their body, with their utilization hindered only by insufficient B vitamins (folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12). We would suggest starting with B vitamin supplementation, followed if needed by DMG supplementation because it is inexpensive. Some of the DMG will be converted by the body into SAMe. Save the more costly SAMe supplementation for last and only if necessary. Diagram of the metabolic pathways.
Folic acid is the synthetic form of folate. Folate gets its name from the Latin word "folium" because it is found in leafy greens (foliage), which are also a good source of magnesium.
3. Supplement your diet with freshly made fruit and vegetable juices. As a treatment for cancer, some doctors recommend one 8 oz glass per hour for every waking hour of the day. We could never eat the amount of nutrition we drink with these juices.
4. Learn and practice Transcendental Meditation (TM). TM is a non-dietary way to increase the alkalinity of your body. TM gives a level of rest twice as deep as sleep and is an effective antidote to stress. Stress is insidious because it affects us 24 hours each day. Stress causes the heart to beat too fast, the muscles to be too tense, the entire metabolism to be too fast. Metabolic waste products are acids (lactic acid, uric acid, etc.), which is one reason why dissolving stress increases the alkalinity of the body. The effectiveness of TM is evidenced by a 53% reduction in overall health care costs and a 55% reduction in cancer (Psychosomatic Medicine 49 (1987): 493-507, American Journal of Managed Care Volume 3, Number 1, (1997): 135-144).
The above 4 ways to increase the alkalinity of your body should be effective for most people. If you have difficulty becoming alkaline, here are eight more ways for you to try.
5. As people age, the digestive system weakens. The result can be nutritional deficiencies in the body, even when the diet is adequate. It is not just what you eat, but what you absorb that is important. Chew each bite of food until it is liquid before swallowing it. Smaller meals are easier to digest. To improve your digestion, it may be helpful to take supplementary hydrochloric acid (in the form of "betaine hydrochloride"), digestive enzymes and bile with each meal. Bromelain (the enzyme in fresh pineapple) and papain (the enzyme found in fresh papaya) are very helpful. We suggest eating fresh pineapple and papaya regularly.
6. Bypass your digestive system by adding minerals to your bath or foot bath or rubbing them on your skin. Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) can be added to your bath or foot bath. Magnesium chloride brine from seawater, called "magnesium oil" (8 oz spray, 64 oz bottle) can be added to your bath or rubbed on your skin. If you have a problem with muscle cramps, try rubbing magnesium oil on the skin over the cramped muscle, or drink some milk of magnesia, or both. Iodine is another important anti-cancer nutrient that will be absorbed through the skin. DMSO is a natural solvent that the body uses as a nutrient. DMSO when rubbed on the skin will carry other nutrients into the body. Another way to bypass the digestive system is sublingual absorption of nutrients. Sublingual vitamin B12 (methylcobalamin) tablets, for example, are the best way to absorb this nutrient. Vegetarians and the elderly should supplement with vitamin B12 daily. Vitamin B12 is needed for a healthy nervous system. Many health problems experienced by the elderly are actually due to vitamin B12 deficiency.
7. Blood is a colloidal solution. The overall negative electrical charge (called zeta potential) in the blood is what keeps the cells and nutrients in suspension (like charges repel each other). When the negative electrical charge becomes weak, then particles in blood tend to clump together and fall out of solution. Plaques form on artery walls, in the brain and other places. The blood loses its capacity to carry nutrients. The value of the nutrients you consume is lost if the blood cannot transport them. About half the population has badly sludged blood (the cells have coagulated), and most of the remainder have some degree of sludging. Everyone needs to learn how to maximize their zeta potential and the nutrient carrying capacity of their blood.
One lab found that best results in reducing intravascular coagulation were obtained by drinking 8 glasses per day of reverse osmosis filtered water with a mix of potassium citrate and potassium bicarbonate added sufficient to raise the pH of the water to 8.0 to 8.4. The minerals MUST be taken with the water in order to be effective, because dehydration is also a factor. Potassium works better than sodium to reduce intravascular coagulation, in fact too much sodium in the diet is part of the problem. The lab recommends that everyone replace table salt with a mixture of 60% potassium chloride and 40% sodium chloride to better reflect the potassium/sodium balance found in foods.
The recommendations of this lab are remarkably similar to Dr. Gerson's cancer therapy which includes drinking one glass of freshly made fruit or vegetable juice (high in potassium) each waking hour of the day supplemented with a 10% potassium solution. This suggests that Dr. Gerson's therapy strengthens the nutrient carrying capacity of the blood.
To increase your zeta potential you must avoid aluminum. Aluminum is used in water treatment plants to cause materials to settle out of solution. It does this by reducing the zeta potential. In your body aluminum does the same thing. Aluminum is found in municipally treated water, cooking utensils, vaccinations, non-clumping salt, baking powder, anti-perspirants, antacids, drugs (read the label carefully), soft drinks and other canned goods where the plastic liner has cracked during sealing, and in other unexpected places. A reverse osmosis water filter can remove aluminum from your drinking water. Malic acid removes aluminum from the body. Malic acid is found in apples and apple cider vinegar.
Sodium and calcium decrease zeta potential. Potassium increases zeta potential. The form of potassium that has maximum effect on zeta potential is called potassium citrate. Potassium citrate is available on the Internet. You can read more about zeta potential here. (Editor's note: Citric acid combines with alkaline minerals to form citrate. Citric acid is readily available in citrus fruits and their juices.)
8. Proper kidney function is essential to good health. All nutrients in the blood are filtered out by the kidneys. Then only nutrients the body wants are re-admitted to the blood through the kidney membrane. This way the body needs to know only what it requires.
Proper functioning of the kidney membrane is needed for nutrients to be available to the body. "The fine filter systems in the kidneys consist of extremely thin lipoid membranes which contain unsaturated fats existing there because, as filters, their surface activity is essential." - Budwig page 16.
Kidneys are damaged by the standard American diet which contains an abundance of unhealthy fats and oils such as hydrogenated oils, oils heated to high temperature, rancid oils, and most of the modern vegetable oils. Particularly helpful to healthy kidney function are coconut oil and flax oil. See our page on healthy fats and oils.
Omega 3 essential oil available from flax oil and ground flax seeds is probably the most common dietary deficiency today, and this unsaturated oil is required for proper kidney function. In fact, Dr. Johanna Budwig had good success treating cancer patients with a mixture of flax oil and quark (a kind of cottage cheese).
Also required for proper kidney function is drinking lots of water or fresh juices.
9. A nutrient called DMG (Dimethylglycine) together with supplemental B vitamins (folic acid, B6 and B12) improves oxygen utilization within cells which reduces lactic acid formation, thereby increasing the alkalinity of the body. Supplementing the diet with DMG and B vitamins yields many health benefits including cancer prevention, inhibition of cancer metastases, improved heart health, increased energy, improved oxygenation of the tissues, improved mental functioning, and prevention of many of the damaging effects of aging. DMG and B vitamins are very economical and we recommend this for everyone.
10. There is an intestinal disorder known as celiac disease that disrupts the ability to absorb calcium and vitamin D as well as other nutrients. Many people with osteoporosis actually have celiac disease. Celiac disease is the result of intolerance to the gluten in wheat, barley, oats and rye. Following a gluten-free diet may improve both digestion and bone density. If you are having difficulty increasing your alkalinity, you might try a gluten-free diet for a few weeks or months to see if it helps. Gluten-free grains include brown rice, wild rice, amaranth, quinoa, and buckwheat.
The most sensitive and specific blood test for gluten/gliadin sensitivity that's presently available is called the tissue transgluaminase (tTG) test. It's the one I've used since it became available. Others include the endomysial antibodies (EMA) test and the antigliadin antibodies (AGA) test. These two screening techniques check for specific antibodies produced in the body after ingesting grains. The EMA tests measures mostly "short-lived" antibodies and the AGA test checks "longer-lived" antibodies.
- Dr. Jonathan V. Wright
11. Unhealthy intestinal bacteria and yeasts excrete lactic acid and other organic acids that are absorbed by the body and turn the blood acidic. This situation is often associated with inflamed and swollen intestines that are less able to absorb nutrients. People who are unable to alkalize their body using steps one to four above may be helped by the Specific Carbohydrate Diet that denies unhealthy intestinal flora and fauna the undigested carbohydrates that they eat. The Specific Carbohydrate Diet is explained in the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle by Elaine Gottschall.
12. Populations of bacteria, fungi, etc. may be thriving throughout your body without causing acute disease, yet producing inflammation and copious acid waste products. These stealth infections may underlie a variety of degenerative conditions. Bacteria are found in arthritic joints, arterial plaque, and many other places. Reducing these populations by strengthening your immune system, hyperthermia, exercise, meditation, electro-medicine and other means can help alkalize your body and free up immune system resources to fight cancer.
Osteoporosis Drugs Backfire
Women taking bisphosphonate osteoporosis drugs (such as Fosamax) for over five years are experiencing severe fractures with little or no provocation. Since these drugs accumulate in the bones, even stopping taking the drugs will not prevent problems from occurring in millions of women.
These drugs interfere with the natural process of bone destruction and rebuilding. During weight bearing exercise, tiny cracks appear in the bone. The natural process of bone repair involves dissolving the damaged bone and rebuilding it stronger than before.
By preventing the destruction of bone, the drugs produce an increase in bone density at the expense of non-repair of cracks. In time the cracks accumulate, eventually resulting in fractures with little or no provocation.
- New England Journal of Medicine, March 20, 2008, Volume 358:1304-1306.
- Journal of Bone Joint Surgery, 2007 Mar;89(3):349-53.
- The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2005 Vol. 90, No. 3 1294-1301 (For more information see all the citations at the end of this article).
"Any stressor that the mind or body interprets and internalizes as too much to deal with, leaves an acid residue. Even a mild stressor can cause a partial or total acid-forming reaction," Alkalize or Die, Dr. Theodore A. Baroody, Jr., 1993, Eclectic Press, Waynesville, NC 28786, page 157.
"Adjusting a cancer victim's pH is an absolute must at the start of any treatment, whether orthodox or wholistic (non-toxic). I consider it a gross oversight that this major modality has been ignored for so long. Could it have been overlooked because the cost is only about five cents a day?" What I Would Do If I Had Cancer Again, Carson E. Pierce, N.D., 1996, page 89.
Referenced from http://www.alkalizeforhealth.net/salivaphtest.htm on 131009
A simple test you can do to measure your susceptibility to cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, and many other degenerative diseases.
How to Do the Saliva pH Test
Wait at least 2 hours after eating. Fill your mouth with saliva and then swallow it. Do this again to help ensure that the saliva is clean. Then the third time, put some saliva onto pH paper.
The pH paper should turn blue. This indicates that your saliva is slightly alkaline at a healthy pH of 7.4. If it is not blue, compare the color with the chart that comes with the pH paper. If your saliva is acid (below pH of 7.0) wait two hours and repeat the test.
Where to Get pH Paper
It would be good if health food stores and pharmacies would stock pH paper. Why not go to your local health food store or pharmacy and suggest this to them? There are many suppliers of pH paper. Look for laboratory suppliers in the phone book. You want narrow range pH paper measuring pH 4.5 to 7.5 or pH 4.5 to 8.5. One source is Micro Essential Laboratory Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11210 telephone 718-338-3618. They will send you a catalogue. When sending a container of pH paper through the mail to a friend, a single roll dispenser (catalog #334 that measures pH 4.5 - 7.5) is quite sturdy and should not break. However, the Jumbo strips (catalog #3827) in the more fragile plastic tube container are larger and easier to read. These pH strips to measure acid/alkaline balance belong in every family medicine kit, right beside the thermometer to measure body temperature.
Saliva pH and Cancer
"When healthy, the pH of blood is 7.4, the pH of spinal fluid is 7.4, and the pH of saliva is 7.4. Thus the pH of saliva parallels the extra cellular fluid...pH test of saliva represents the most consistent and most definitive physical sign of the ionic calcium deficiency syndrome...The pH of the non-deficient and healthy person is in the 7.5 (dark blue) to 7.1 (blue) slightly alkaline range. The range from 6.5 (blue-green) which is weakly acidic to 4.5 (light yellow) which is strongly acidic represents states from mildly deficient to strongly deficient, respectively. Most children are dark blue, a pH of 7.5. Over half of adults are green-yellow, a pH of 6.5 or lower, reflecting the calcium deficiency of aging and lifestyle defects. Cancer patients are usually a bright yellow, a pH of 4.5, especially when terminal." The Calcium Factor: The Scientific Secret of Health and Youth, by Robert R. Barefoot and Carl J. Reich, M.D., Gilliland Printing Inc., Arkansas City, Kansas, 1996.
The Importance of Acid and Alkaline Balance for Health
Virtually all degenerative diseases including cancer, heart disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, kidney and gall stones, and tooth decay are associated with excess acidity in the body. While the body has a homeostatic mechanism that maintains a constant pH 7.4 in the blood, this mechanism works by depositing and withdrawing acid and alkaline minerals from other locations including the bones, soft tissues, body fluids and saliva. Therefore, the pH of these other tissues can fluctuate greatly. The pH of saliva offers a window through which you can see the overall pH balance in your body.
Cancer cannot exist in an alkaline environment. All forms of arthritis are associated with excess acidity. Acid in the body dissolves both teeth and bones. Whatever health situation you are faced with, you can monitor your progress toward a proper acid/alkaline balance by testing your saliva pH.
What are Acid and Alkaline?
Water (H2O) ionizes into hydrogen (H+) and hydroxyl (OH-) ions. When these ions are in equal proportions, the pH is a neutral 7. When there are more H+ ions than OH- ions then the water is said to be acid. If OH- ions outnumber the H+ ions then the water is alkaline. The pH scale goes from 0 to 14 and is logarithmic, which means that each step is ten times the previous. In other words, a pH of 4.5 is 10 times more acid than 5.5, 100 times more acid than 6.5 and 1,000 times more acid than 7.5.
Acid and Alkaline Minerals and Foods
Minerals with a negative electrical charge are attracted to the H+ ion. These are called acid minerals. Acid minerals include: chlorine (Cl-), sulfur (S-), phosphorus (P-), and they form hydrochloric acid (HCl), sulfuric acid (H2SO4), and phosphoric acid (H3PO4). Minerals with a positive electrical charge are attracted to the negatively charged OH- ion. These are called alkaline minerals. Nutritionally important alkaline minerals include calcium (Ca+), potassium (K+), magnesium (Mg+), and sodium (Na+). (Cancer patients tend to have an excess of sodium. - Gerson page 97). Also important for cancer treatment and prevention are the alkaline trace minerals rubidium and cesium.
To determine if a food is acid or alkaline, it is burned and the ash is mixed with water. If the solution is acid or alkaline then the food is called acid or alkaline. Ash is the mineral content of the food. This method removes organic acids and bases. It seems surprising that a lemon or grapefruit would be considered alkaline, but It is the effect of the food on the physiology AFTER it has been digested and metabolized that we are interested in. The residual effect of food on the acid/alkaline balance in the body is determined by the mineral content of the food.
Referenced from http://www.alkalizeforhealth.net/salivaphtest.htm on 131009
Most people do not realize the importance of electrolytes in their bodies. Electrolytes are vital to health, they are the building blocks of life. An electrolyte is a substance whose molecules split into electrically charged particles or ions when melted or dissolved. In this form, the ions then become capable of conducting electricity-an ionic solute and play an important role in regulating body processes. Life begins with electrolytes and all cellular structures become alive through their activity. Some of these are potassium, sodium, hydrogen, calcium, and magnesium.
Electrolytic balance, or homeostasis, helps keep the body and the entire cardiovascular system healthy. It also assists in the normalization of either high or low blood pressure, in conjunction with other treatments, because osmosis, or the fluid pressure and presence of electrolytes on the inside and outside of cell walls, is controlled by mineral availability.
In order to absorb and use calcium the body needs vitamin D, magnesium and trace minerals including copper. Too much vitamin A or E, potassium, phytic or oxalic acids (from grains and certain vegetables) will upset calcium metabolism and decrease its availability.
Magnesium
Magnesium maintains calcium in its ionized form in the body, keeping it in solution and assisting in its absorption. It discourages the release of hormones that extract calcium from the bones and influences the release and production of calcium depositing hormones. When minerals are out of solution in the body, and their co-factors are deficient, this may contribute to osteoarthritis and kidney stones. One in ten Americans suffer from kidney stones and the physicians freely admit they don't know why this problem is increasing. Patients are told to avoid calcium, when what they really need is education about diet and mineral balance, trace minerals and magnesium. The latest research shows that the right kind of calcium with its synergistic factors actually helps to prevent kidney stones.
Some of the latest popular diets don't provide the body with enough trace minerals or bio-available chromium and for this reason Dr. Jeffrey Bland encourages trace element supplementation whenever food is limited or 'meal replacement' powders are used. He notes that minerals work together and the body has to take in (and be able to use) minerals such as manganese, zinc, copper, and selenium in order for chromium to be active.
Chromium
Chromium aids the body's blood sugar metabolism and fat burning. Acting as a co-factor to insulin, chromium is involved in energy production, muscle development, fat and cholesterol metabolism and the regulation of blood sugar. It also allows the body to hold on to more muscle during calorie reduced diets by promoting the entrance of glucose and amino acids into the cells to make muscle. Biologically active chromium helps in the reduction of sugar cravings through its action with insulin and blood sugar. It also helps insulin transport the amino acid tryptophan into the brain for serotonin synthesis.
Boron
Boron decreases the urinary excretion of calcium and magnesium, increases blood levels of estrogen and testosterone, and is now thought to be necessary for the synthesis and secretion of estrogen, vitamin D and other hormones. Silica (silicon) influences the uptake of calcium in the bones and can be transmuted to calcium in the body. And zinc aids calcium absorption.
Iron
Iron deficiency is the greatest single mineral deficiency worldwide, and most women are walking a thin line between sufficiency and deficiency. A deficiency of iron produces fatigue, lethargy and lack of stamina accompanied by a general seizing up of the mental equipment and a feeling that the legs have turned to lead. Many changes take place in the body from the diminished nutritional state after a prolonged and drastic diet. There may be increased sodium and water retention (edema), increased insulin production (lowering of the blood sugar), and altered intracellular enzyme activity and breakdown rates of muscle and adipose tissue. Cardiac arrhythmia, (abnormal heartbeat) experienced by some people during a drastic bout of dieting may also have its roots in deficiencies of essential minerals.
Minerals dissolved in water exert a protection against heart disease, cancer and other diseases. In 1973, The Lancet Medical Journal published a paper showing the correlation between low intake of minerals, especially magnesium, and heart disease. A 1992 study in the European Heart Journal looked at 76 communities in Sweden to see if there was a relationship between water hardness and mortality from ischemic heart disease and stroke.
The data collected showed that diversity in the water minerals from community to community accounted for 14 percent of the variation in stroke mortality and 41 percent of the variation in ischemic heart disease. At first glance these figures seem improbable, as they only relate to water mineral levels and not to foods which are a much more significant source. The key to this lies in the fact that minerals dissolved in water are far more bio-available than those present in food. Natural practitioners stress that mineral bio-availability is more important than the amount of minerals consumed, and the results of this study help to confirm it.
Scientists agree that minerals dissolved in water become easier for the body to absorb and use. When in solution the minerals are in an 'evolved', more bio-available state, and if the essential minerals are present, little or none of any toxic element will be absorbed.
Mineral balance is critical especially for the athlete. For example, if copper is in short supply, iron utilization will decline and produce symptoms like fatigue and lack of stamina. In addition, the high volume oxygen intake during athletic exertion oxidizes blood cells faster than normal and increases the chance of anemia.
A high intake of meat and other proteins leads to an increase in the metabolic rate, part of which is achieved due to calcium and magnesium excretion. Loss of both these minerals can result in cramping, spasms and irregular heart beat. Iron deficiency interferes with the formation of special enzymes in the body that affect muscle function.
Not only are soils lacking trace minerals including zinc, but also macro-minerals like calcium and magnesium. Sufficient intake of all these minerals stops aluminum from accumulating in the brain. It is known that the brains of Alzheimer's patients contain abnormally high levels of aluminum. Aluminum has an enzyme inhibitory potential and, recent research shows that aluminum deposits prevent the brain from using vitamin B-12, which, in turn, prevents it from making acetylcholine-even when there is choline in the diet. A lack of acetylcholine allows the brain to accumulate a nerve hardening and strangling protein called beta-amyloid (Scienc, October9, 1992). Alzheimer's disease is characterized by a degeneration and tangling of the brain's nerve terminals.
We know that minerals, especially in the electrolyte form, act in the transmission of brain and nerve impulses and are vital for maintaining a placid disposition and sharp intellect. We also know that certain trace and macro minerals prevent the uptake of toxic trace elements like lead which decreases mental ability. Missing trace elements, including zinc with its synergistic factors, and B complex, excessive toxic elements like aluminum and lead, as well as low blood sugar may well be the key in the 'mystery' of ADD and hyperactivity.
David Watts, D.C. Ph.D., writes in the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine that, "...a deficient intake of an element can allow toxic accumulation of another element. Small amounts of cadmium intake can accumulate to a point of toxicity in the presence of marginal or deficient zinc intake." Our bodies react a little like the plants and need a balance of minerals-otherwise excessive levels of toxic minerals can be taken up by the cells and tissues. We can relate this to our current health crisis when we understand that essential minerals protect us by preventing plants and the body from taking up toxic minerals.
According to Dr. Jerry Olarsch, "As we become deficient in trace minerals, the cell walls weaken and become irregular in shape, and their pH is upset. As the cell wall pressure breaks down, a virus can attack the weak spot and break in. If the cell's pH is unbalanced it becomes host to the virus, bacteria and so on, and this is the beginning of disease, whether it is a cold or cancer".
Electrolyte balance is the critical factor. There is nothing else in nature which keeps cells round and strong. The body's pH and cell health, in addition to immune system strength, is the ultimate weapon against disease. This can only come about through mineralization and the proper hydration of the body.
The energies in water can be extremely powerful and can be involved in the conversion or transmutation of minerals to another form. Minerals dissolved in water are considerably more bio-available than those present in food because they are in solution. Water is the ultimate mineral solvent and when structured and clustered (ionized), breaks them down into their free ionic state where they become electrically charged. In this form they are more easily absorbed through the walls of the gastrointestinal tract and by the cells.
The mind and body's reaction to stress propels a flood of adrenal hormones, including noradrenaline, into the bloodstream, with a resulting increase in the production of chemicals transmitting nerve impulses in the body. These transmitters are primarily electrolytes or trace minerals. This drains electrolyte reserves and compromises the body's ability to detoxify both the stress hormones, and the free radicals.
The body, mind and spirit are so intricately connected and complex that only a small fraction of who we are is explainable in strict scientific terms. Medicine often misses the intangible bit. Our desire for a fast cure, preferably one pill and the job's done, has created the kind of doctoring which now dominates medicine. People take very little responsibility for their own well-being and consequently, take no interest in their health until it deteriorates. We can't blame the medical profession for our healthcare situation as the real responsibility rests with us.
We are 'medicating' our sick soils and plants in much the same way that we are medicating ourselves. The result is also degeneration and a deeper reliance on more and more chemicals or more and more drugs. It is an interesting parallel, a kind of chemical and drug addiction. Dr. Bernard Jensen writes, "We cannot heal a person through symptomatic relief. We must go to the root of the problem�to the cell itself-where electrolytes are at work giving life. It is here that the real healing can begin."
Referenced: Gillian Martlew N.D., Electrolytes-The Spark of Life
http://www.waternutrition.com/spark.html
