3 ms·

More evidence for the health benefits of an alkaline diet.

by pdog 9y ago

trendia 9y ago
Maybe, if the alkaline diet reduces acidity of the brain. However, if the acidity is the result of increased energy production or a failure of the cleaning mechanisms of the brain (as one of the study authors suggests), then the alkaline diet might not be sufficient to reduce brain acidity. Further, we don't know whether acidity is the cause or the result of the disease. If it is a result of the disease, then reducing acidity may not affect symptoms of schizophrenia, much as eliminating beta amyloid does not guarantee a reduction in symptoms of Alzheimer's
scythe 9y ago
The benefits people colloquially explain as due to an "alkaline" diet are mostly related to consumption of potassium. The thing is that "alkaline" does not accurately describe what is going on with these diets, because eating food is not at all like mixing chemicals in a jar. Furthermore, as any chemist knows, the K+ ion is actually an acid, but because it acts as a counterion for stronger bases, higher potassium leads to higher blood pH. The idea is basically folk wisdom which is transmitting the findings of studies like this one: https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/87/5/2008/2846608 https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/87/5/2008/2846608 Because consumption of K+, Mg2+, and Ca2+ decreases calcium excretion, whereas consumption of Na+ and sulfur increases it, and because calcium is more soluble in acidic solutions and less soluble in alkaline solutions, there was a tendency to refer to the former as "alkaline" and the latter as "acidic". This is infuriating to people who know enough chemistry to know that Mg2+ is in fact much more acidic than Na+. I am an amateur, but I've put a decent amount of time towards making sense of this, and it appears to me that it's mostly potassium, and to a lesser extent calcium and magnesium, that explains what is really going on here.
travmatt 9y ago
Isn't the body very good at maintaining homeostasis? Meaning you could eat an alkaline diet, but if your body composition is such that you have such a given acidic composition then your body has processes to maintain whatever it's 'normal' is.
- rando444 9y ago
  Exactly. And many home remedies that actually work rely on the opposite technique. In this case, you'd try an acidic diet in order to coerce your body's natural processes to bring yourself to a more normal pH. Obviously I don't know if that would work, but nobody can really say one way or the other without doing some proper research.
ceedan 9y ago
I wouldn't make that conclusion. The alkaline diet is based on some really suspect science. Testing the pH of your urine in order to determine the overall pH of your body is flawed. Believing that your body even has an overall pH is flawed.

More evidence for the health benefits of an alkaline diet.

by pdog 9y ago

More evidence for the health benefits of an alkaline diet.

Maybe, if the alkaline diet reduces acidity of the brain. However, if the acidity is the result of increased energy production or a failure of the cleaning mechanisms of the brain (as one of the study authors suggests), then the alkaline diet might not be sufficient to reduce brain acidity. Further, we don't know whether acidity is the cause or the result of the disease. If it is a result of the disease, then reducing acidity may not affect symptoms of schizophrenia, much as eliminating beta amyloid does not guarantee a reduction in symptoms of Alzheimer's

scythe 9y ago

The benefits people colloquially explain as due to an "alkaline" diet are mostly related to consumption of potassium. The thing is that "alkaline" does not accurately describe what is going on with these diets, because eating food is not at all like mixing chemicals in a jar. Furthermore, as any chemist knows, the K+ ion is actually an acid, but because it acts as a counterion for stronger bases, higher potassium leads to higher blood pH. The idea is basically folk wisdom which is transmitting the findings of studies like this one: https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/87/5/2008/2846608 https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/87/5/2008/2846608 Because consumption of K+, Mg2+, and Ca2+ decreases calcium excretion, whereas consumption of Na+ and sulfur increases it, and because calcium is more soluble in acidic solutions and less soluble in alkaline solutions, there was a tendency to refer to the former as "alkaline" and the latter as "acidic". This is infuriating to people who know enough chemistry to know that Mg2+ is in fact much more acidic than Na+. I am an amateur, but I've put a decent amount of time towards making sense of this, and it appears to me that it's mostly potassium, and to a lesser extent calcium and magnesium, that explains what is really going on here.

travmatt 9y ago

Isn't the body very good at maintaining homeostasis? Meaning you could eat an alkaline diet, but if your body composition is such that you have such a given acidic composition then your body has processes to maintain whatever it's 'normal' is.

rando444 9y ago
Exactly. And many home remedies that actually work rely on the opposite technique. In this case, you'd try an acidic diet in order to coerce your body's natural processes to bring yourself to a more normal pH. Obviously I don't know if that would work, but nobody can really say one way or the other without doing some proper research.

ceedan 9y ago

I wouldn't make that conclusion. The alkaline diet is based on some really suspect science. Testing the pH of your urine in order to determine the overall pH of your body is flawed. Believing that your body even has an overall pH is flawed.