Alkaline Foods — Should You Eat Them?
Yes, but not for the reasons you think
Have you come across rows and rows of alkaline water in the supermarket aisle and wondered what the fuss was all about?
The dozens of brands of alkaline water out there certainly seem to point to a sizable and still-growing market. Between 2013 and 2018, sales grew by more than 12 percent annually and are expected to top US$4 billion by 2023. Nevertheless, the buzz has died down somewhat in the last couple of years, perhaps as a result of consumer complaints and criticism about the lack of scientific evidence to support the manufacturers’ health claims.
The Alkaline Diet
Alkaline water is part of a broader nutrition plan known as the Alkaline Diet, where the overarching idea is that the pH of our body affects our health.
Advocates of the Alkaline Diet argue that as our body metabolizes the food we eat, it leaves behind an “ash” residue, which can be acidic, neutral, or alkaline. They believe that acidic ash is harmful to the body, while alkaline ash has protective properties.
The Alkaline Diet, therefore, calls for the replacement of acidic foods (or more accurately, foods that purportedly produce acidic ash) with alkaline ones to improve one’s health.
