and vegetables, if we don’ t balance them with grains or protein foods, can also cause a temporary alkaline excess; but this condition is usually promptly remedied by the subconscious wisdom of our bodies, which sends us in a pendulum swing on a cookie binge. Many of my vegetarian students have reported going through just such an experience. It is reassuring to know that we do indeed have such a subconscious guardian of our health, that our body always tries to return of its own accord to its correct form and balance. Even collectively we share that trait, for ethnic dietary systems are invariably balanced in the acid-alkaline sense. For example: THE WESTERN DIET
ACID BUFFERS ALKALINE Sugar Butter Coffee Flour Milk Fruit Eggs Cheeses Salad, potatoes Meat Salt THE JAPANESE DIET Rice Tofu Scallions, Fish Miso Daikon, burdock
Soy Sauce Sea weeds
THE ITALIAN DIET Pasta |
Cheese |
Cooked tomatoes, |
Veal |
|
garlic, zucchini, eggplant |
THE YOGIC DIET Honey |
Milk products |
Fruit |
Nuts |
|
Vegetables |
Bread |
|
|
Specific nutritional programs often exhibit a similar intrinsic sensitivity to the subtle acid-alkaline relationship. For example, from an acid-alkaline viewpoint it makes sense that
• Popular high-protein diets( acid-forming) that allow a minimum of alkalizing vegetables also forbid the acidifying carbohydrates( sugar, flour, and grain), yet allow coffee and salt, both alkalizers. 10
• Raw-food diets( alkalizing) allow honey and nuts( acid-forming), yet forbid coffee and salt( both alkalizing).
• A diet such as macrobiotics that is high in whole grains( acidifying) also recommends the frequent use of seaweeds( strong alkalizers because of their mineral content) and salty condiments.
• A high protein and sugar intake( such as in the standard American diet) requires a high intake of calcium( buffering mineral) to forestall bone demineralization from its acidifying effects. You may find that many other nutritional traditions or customs begin to make a lot more sense when you keep in mind the model of acid-alkaline opposites. For example: What is behind the common practice of adding a pinch of salt to the flour in baked goods? Why does sugar balance both coffee and salt? Why do people put salt on meat?( Notice that from an expansive-contractive viewpoint, such practices seem unbalanced.) Why do people eat meat and potatoes? Or mix tuna and vegetables? I’ m refraining at this point from giving you suggestions about what you should or shouldn’ t eat, and I’ m certainly not advocating the consumption of sugar, salt, and coffee. My goal is to help you understand how food works. Once you do, you will be able to decide for yourself whether you should eat more acid-forming foods or more alkalizing ones, simply by attuning yourself to the signals of your own body. For pointers on this, see chapter seven, in part two of this book.