Paying attention to the quality and amount of food we eat (a la the Paleo and/or Zone Diets) pays dividends in the helping our bodies keep a healthy acid-base relationship.  According to Dr. Loren Coradin’s post on Acid-Base Balance, the goal is to avoid a net-acid load on our kidneys.  Our kidneys detect the overall pH of the food to be acidic, our bodies buffer it by pulling from the alkaline stores of the body, the largest of which being the Calcium salt stored within our bones.  Every time we eat a meal that has an overall acidic load, we’re depleting our bones of precious Calcium.  So what types of food are acidic and which are basic?  The same Acid-Base Balance article on thepaleodiet.com also has a chart listing many common foods and their acid or base load on our kidneys.  Take a look and you’ll notice that fruits and vegetables all produce basic loads in our bodies that help offset the acidic load the meats and fats of the meal.  So remember to load up on veggies and fruits at each meal!

REST DAY 1.3.10