pH of RFs; Blueberries (WAS: 7 Best & 7 Worst Foods for Health & Longevity)

[Guest guest]

rawfood [rawfood ] On Behalf Of

melanieburtis

Monday, August 07, 2006 7:39 PM

rawfood

[Raw Food] Re: 7 Best & 7 Worst Foods for Health & Longevity

 

> Seven Best and Seven Worst Foods for Health and Longevity

 

> Blueberries (as one of the best)

 

QUESTION: I have heard that blueberries either are extremely acidic or leave an

extremely

acidic ash in the body after ingestion and assimilation which is very unhealthy

for us so I

have been avoiding them; what and where is the " truth " ?

 

Melanie

_____

 

Hi Melanie and all,

 

Great question, points to a major source of confusion. If you remove the word

" extremely " from

the above, then you are closer to the truth.

 

Acidity of a food BEFORE digestion strongly influences what is required to

digest that food. For

example, proteins (e.g., animal foods, broccoli) are acidic in nature (made of

amino ACIDS), and

they therefore require a particular environment and materials to be broken down,

or digested. We

call this environment " stomach " and the materials " stomach secretions " .

 

Then at the END of the digestive process, there is an " ash " , a residue. This is

actually a

chemistry term, and from a chemistry perspective, this ash is of the same nature

as the ashes

left over from a burning fire. That is, they both result from breakdown of

material using

oxidation. The one (digestion) uses low-temperature chemistry, the other, heat

(fire). (As an

aside, the calorie model of thermomechanical energy requires this connection.)

 

Whenever there is a chemical " burning " process, the resulting ash has a

particular mineral

content; this content determines its overall place on the pH scale, i.e.,

whether it is

" alkaline " or " acid " ash. From a physiological perspective, the body can capture

and use the ash

(the physical material), and the pH of the ash determines whether or not it is

" alkalizing " to

the body. In other words, the pH indicates whether there a preponderance of

alkalizing or

acidifying minerals in the ash.

 

Each food, at the end of its respective digestive process, leaves a particular

ash, that is, a

particular residue, and this residue is characterized by a specific pH. Most RF

teachers have

been taught, and therefore repeat, that raw foods are alkalizing to the body,

cooked foods

acidifying. In other words, and probably without even being aware of it, they

endorse the

proposition that heating changes the mineral content of the food. And there is

some truth to

this idea. But not all cooked foods are acidifying, and not all RFs are

alkalizing, to humans.

 

Among the raw foods, additional factors influence the composition of the

digestive ash. Among

these factors:

 

- Maturity (ripeness for fruits) of the food. In the case of fruits, the last

portion of the

ripening process, IF ON THE PLANT, involves a large buildup of sugars, vitamins,

minerals, etc.

An unripe fruit, regardless of what fruit, is likely to be either less

alkalizing, or actually

acidifying, to the body. This applies in varying degrees to ALL fruits.

 

- Digestive health = efficiency. As one might expect, the digestive process

itself plays a

significant role in determining the content, and therefore the pH, of the

digestive ash. In a

very " clean " , healthy person, the chemical burning process is efficient and

generally complete,

leaving a small quantity of the " right " ash for a particular food. But in a less

" clean " person,

the process is less efficient, often considerably so, and the resulting ash is

likely to be

filled with crap (used here as a technical term , and probably with a

different and usually

lower (more acid) pH than would be the case with the same food in a healthy

person.

 

- The food itself. First, let's keep in mind that 7 is neutral on the pH scale,

and that almost

all RFs leave a digestive ash in the 6s or 7s. This is why pH adjusts fairly

slowly over time:

pH change is a " fine " process, not a gross process involving large, rapid

swings. The

differential simply is not present to cause wide, rapid variances.

 

In general, fruits and veggies are regarded as alkalizing, nuts and seeds close

to neutral and

mildly acidifying. But a few fruits, even ripe, sit right close to that midpoint

of 7 on the pH

scale. And blueberries are among these. And if the berries are even slightly

underripe, they are

indeed acidifying to the body.

 

Probably more than you wanted to know ...

 

Best to all,

Elchanan

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Elchanan! You explain ph & ashes so well. I actually want to know

more, please!

Would you say one should avoid blueberries, or are they ok in moderation

because of their otherwise high nutritional value??? (Maybe they should be

eaten alone, like melons, or with citrus?)

Thanks again,

Tiffany Lohr

 

" INFO @ Vibrant Life " <VLinfo wrote:

[rawfood ] On Behalf Of melanieburtis

Monday, August 07, 2006 7:39 PM

rawfood

[Raw Food] Re: 7 Best & 7 Worst Foods for Health & Longevity

 

> Seven Best and Seven Worst Foods for Health and Longevity

> Blueberries (as one of the best)

 

QUESTION: I have heard that blueberries either are extremely acidic or leave an

extremely acidic ash in the body after ingestion and assimilation which is very

unhealthy for us so I have been avoiding them; what and where is the " truth " ?

Melanie

_____

 

Hi Melanie and all,

Great question, points to a major source of confusion. If you remove the word

" extremely " from the above, then you are closer to the truth.

Acidity of a food BEFORE digestion strongly influences what is required to

digest that food. For example, proteins (e.g., animal foods, broccoli) are

acidic in nature (made of amino ACIDS), and they therefore require a particular

environment and materials to be broken down, or digested. We call this

environment " stomach " and the materials " stomach secretions " .

Then at the END of the digestive process, there is an " ash " , a residue. This is

actually a chemistry term, and from a chemistry perspective, this ash is of the

same nature as the ashes left over from a burning fire. That is, they both

result from breakdown of material using oxidation. The one (digestion) uses

low-temperature chemistry, the other, heat (fire). (As an aside, the calorie

model of thermomechanical energy requires this connection.)

Whenever there is a chemical " burning " process, the resulting ash has a

particular mineral content; this content determines its overall place on the pH

scale, i.e., whether it is " alkaline " or " acid " ash. From a physiological

perspective, the body can capture and use the ash (the physical material), and

the pH of the ash determines whether or not it is " alkalizing " to the body. In

other words, the pH indicates whether there a preponderance of alkalizing or

acidifying minerals in the ash.

Each food, at the end of its respective digestive process, leaves a particular

ash, that is, a particular residue, and this residue is characterized by a

specific pH. Most RF teachers have been taught, and therefore repeat, that raw

foods are alkalizing to the body, cooked foods acidifying. In other words, and

probably without even being aware of it, they endorse the proposition that

heating changes the mineral content of the food. And there is some truth to this

idea. But not all cooked foods are acidifying, and not all RFs are alkalizing,

to humans.

Among the raw foods, additional factors influence the composition of the

digestive ash. Among these factors:

- Maturity (ripeness for fruits) of the food. In the case of fruits, the last

portion of the

ripening process, IF ON THE PLANT, involves a large buildup of sugars, vitamins,

minerals, etc. An unripe fruit, regardless of what fruit, is likely to be

either less alkalizing, or actually acidifying, to the body. This applies in

varying degrees to ALL fruits.

- Digestive health = efficiency. As one might expect, the digestive process

itself plays a significant role in determining the content, and therefore the

pH, of the digestive ash. In a very " clean " , healthy person, the chemical

burning process is efficient and generally complete, leaving a small quantity of

the " right " ash for a particular food. But in a less " clean " person, the process

is less efficient, often considerably so, and the resulting ash is likely to be

filled with crap (used here as a technical term , and probably with a

different and usually lower (more acid) pH than would be the case with the same

food in a healthy person.

- The food itself. First, let's keep in mind that 7 is neutral on the pH scale,

and that almost all RFs leave a digestive ash in the 6s or 7s. This is why pH

adjusts fairly slowly over time: pH change is a " fine " process, not a gross

process involving large, rapid swings. The differential simply is not present to

cause wide, rapid variances.

In general, fruits and veggies are regarded as alkalizing, nuts and seeds close

to neutral and mildly acidifying. But a few fruits, even ripe, sit right close

to that midpoint of 7 on the pH scale. And blueberries are among these. And if

the berries are even slightly underripe, they are indeed acidifying to the body.

Probably more than you wanted to know ...

Best to all,

Elchanan

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

 

rawfood [rawfood ] On Behalf Of

Tiffany

Tuesday, August 08, 2006 2:17 PM

rawfood

Re: [Raw Food] pH of RFs; Blueberries (WAS: 7 Best & 7 Worst Foods for

Health &

Longevity)

 

Thanks, Elchanan! You explain ph & ashes so well. I actually want to know

more, please!

Would you say one should avoid blueberries, or are they ok in moderation

because of their

otherwise high nutritional value??? (Maybe they should be eaten alone, like

melons, or with

citrus?)

Thanks again,

Tiffany Lohr

________________

Hi Tiffany,

No reason at all to avoid blueberries. The way I approach this with people, in

general, is to

suggest that you form your diet using sweet fruits as the base. These are

bananas, dates, figs,

apricots, persimmons, melons (except cantaloupe, unless it is REALLY ripe). Then

add tender

greens and whatever additional fruits you wish.

 

Examples of additional fruits ...

 

Subacid -- pits and cores -- apples, pears, mangos, also grapes

 

Acid -- citrus, tomatoes, berries (including blue), kiwi

 

Veggie fruits -- cucumber, zucchini, squash, etc.

 

As usual, wild, then organic (or better, if you have good relationships with

some farmers), are

better than commercial. And ripe -- unripe fruit causes people lots of problems,

acid-forming,

and upsets the stomach.

 

And the usual guidelines for food combining work well .. mix acid fruits with

other acid fruits,

subacid fruits, greens.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Elchanan

 

PS pH, lowercase " p " , uppercase " H " . Means " potential for hydrogen " . E

[Guest guest]

rawfood , Tiffany <bluelairess wrote:

>

> Thanks, Elchanan! You explain ph & ashes so well. I actually want to know

more, please!

 

I second that sentiment -- a big thank you, Elchanan.

 

Melanie

[Guest guest]

 

rawfood [ <rawfood >

rawfood ]

On Behalf Of melanieburtis

Tuesday, August 08, 2006 9:28 PM

rawfood

[Raw Food] Re: pH of RFs; Blueberries (WAS: 7 Best & 7 Worst Foods for

Health &

Longevity)

rawfood , Tiffany <bluelairess wrote:

>

> Thanks, Elchanan! You explain ph & ashes so well. I actually want to know

more, please!

 

I second that sentiment -- a big thank you, Elchanan.

Melanie

_____

 

Wow, thanks to you both! I'll write more on Thursday or Friday, after the

teleconference

tomorrow evening. I have to at least pretend to focus on preparing :) (Just

kidding, we're

going to share some nice ideas.)