Alkalinity, beyond diet

Alkalinity has become a fundamental aspect of keeping our bodies healthy. It is a term directly linked to good eating habits, but in reality, it includes healthy routines that cover all kinds of fields: from emotional balance to physical activity.

“There are many other factors that can cause us to become acidic“, says Maria Romeralo, nutritional consultant at SHA Wellness Clinic. We have to escape from this acidification if we don’t want to suffer from such unwanted symptoms as depression, irritability, digestive disorders, breathing difficulties, skin problems, osteoporosis or hypertension.

Alkalinity is a key concept associated with blood pH levels, something that will give us a measure of how alkaline our bodies are. The value of this pH ranges from 0 to 14. If it is below 7, it is considered acidic; if it exceeds 7, it is alkaline.

And what should we do to maintain the alkalinity of our body at optimal levels? Below we review the most critical factors:

1. Food: the basis of everything

New nutritional trends are already beginning to take into account the degree of alkalinity of the food we eat. It is the basis for keeping away the unwanted acidosis, source of so many problems.

As Maria Romeralo explains, the basis of alkalising nutrition would be that “based on balanced foods“. For example, whole grains should always be present in our diet. Legumes are also a source of fibre, as well as seasonal fruit and vegetables. Other essential foods in our kitchen would be algae, fermented foods such as miso or sauerkraut, seeds and nuts or olive oil.

Perhaps it is time to review your diet. Recent studies suggest that many of the traditional diets add a component of acidosis to our bodies.

2. Stress and the danger of chronification

It’s a fact: stress and anxiety acidify our bodies. Stress works as an alert mechanism to cope with difficult situations in our lives with higher intensity. But when that state of alert is prolonged more than necessary, it generates a chronic acidosis that causes the adrenal glands to work harder and causes such pernicious symptoms as decalcification, exhaustion, obesity or high blood pressure.

“It is essential to know how to manage stress. We can eat a very healthy diet, but if we suffer high levels of stress, our condition will be one of acidity“, assures María Romeralo.

3. Excess medication (and self-medication)

It is worth remembering the famous phrase of Hippocrates, the father of medicine: “Let your medicine be your food and the food be your medicine“.

“There are times when taking medicine is inevitable, but most of the time, it is abused by human beings. Take paracetamol for a headache, ibuprofen to reduce inflammation, antacids for digestive problems. Most of the time these symptoms disappear with a change in habits,” warns Maria Romeralo.

4. Chemical consumption and processed food

“It’s certainly another factor that favours acidosis. We are talking, for example, about artificial sweeteners, colourings, preservatives. So abundant in processed food“, explains the SHA Wellness Clinic expert.

In industrialised countries, up to 80% of the population suffers from irregularities in the acid-base balance of their bodies, and much of the blame lies with a poor diet associated with the consumption of processed and ultra-processed products.

Food additives are in many of these foods that appear in eye-catching and attractive bags that promise “irresistible” flavours. We are talking about colours, preservatives, antioxidants, emulsifiers, flavour enhancers, synthetic sweeteners. We don’t need them.

5. Negative thoughts: healthy mind, healthy body

“Another factor to observe in any organism prone to acidosis is the frequency with which one has negative thoughts. In addition to a correct diet, we need to have emotional stability,” warns Maria Romeralo.

It is something well studied over the years by psychosomatics, all the organic alterations that have their origin in negative emotions and pessimistic thoughts. It is demonstrated that a person of irritable or negative character in his vital perspectives will end up developing sooner than later high levels of acidosis in his organism.

6. Physical activity as a pH vitamin

“Another significant factor that can contribute to the acidification of the body is the lack of physical exercise,” says the expert from SHA Wellness Clinic.

It does not take science to see how a sedentary body performs most of its functions much more slowly than an active body. It is not a question of compulsive sport, but of a plan that starts with the performance of any physical activity, however small. It is about keeping the body “alive” and thus activating the metabolism to eliminate toxins.