One prerequisite for our well-being (inner harmony) is a balanced acid-base metabolism. When this is balanced, our metabolism functions optimally and we are at our most efficient. The acid-base balance influences bodily functions such as breathing, circulation, digestion, and our immune system. Here, I'd like to give you an overview of what acid-base balance means and how it can positively affect your health.
Acid-Base Balance: How the right diet can help you achieve it
Alkaline does not mean that the food has an alkaline pH value, as we know it from soap. Also, acid-forming foods – sometimes referred to as acidic – are not necessarily sour in taste. It's more about how foods affect our body and what substances are produced during metabolism. If the effect is unfavorable and acids or other harmful substances are produced during metabolism, then the food is considered acid-forming. It is alkaline food if it has a positive effect on our organism. In that case, it provides alkaline minerals or activates the body's own base production.
Alkaline Diet: Does acidic food make you sick?
Our diet and lifestyle can easily lead to an over-acidification of the organism, i.e., an imbalance in the mineral ratio in our body, known as acidosis. More than 90 percent of German citizens have excess acids in their blood.
Many people struggle with an unbalanced acid-base metabolism, and many don't even suspect that acidification is responsible for their symptoms or at least significantly involved.
Often, we initially feel only a little low on energy, sluggish, and unmotivated. Over time, various ailments and symptoms appear. Unfortunately, taking medication further exacerbates existing acidosis. Worries, stress, stimulants such as nicotine, alcohol, and coffee, environmental toxins, extreme sports, or lack of exercise are also factors that influence the acid-base balance, meaning they cause our bodies to acidify.
Acidification leads to an increased need for minerals. These minerals can be taken from alkaline-excess foods or our body begins to "steal" acids from its own depots, such as nails, hair, bones, blood, tendons, and cartilage.
Therefore, it is advisable to eat a diet rich in alkaline foods and healthy foods and/or to carry out an acid-base cure at regular intervals.
Acidification is not the same as heartburn
If you think of heartburn when you hear the term acidification, you're unfortunately on the wrong track. These are two different things.
Since acidification is the cause of most health problems, it is also involved in the development of heartburn. Heartburn is therefore only one of the many possible symptoms of acidification.
Alkaline foods:
- Are rich in alkaline minerals – potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron
- Are low in acid-forming amino acids – for example, eating too much meat, fish, eggs, but also too many Brazil nuts, too much sesame or too much soy, produces sulfuric acid
- Stimulate the body's own base production, such as bitter substances
- Do not cause slag – leave no acidic metabolic residues during their metabolism
- Contain valuable plant compounds, such as antioxidants, vitamins, secondary plant compounds, chlorophyll, etc.
- Have a high water content
- Have anti-inflammatory effects
- Stabilize a healthy gut flora
Alkaline foods include fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, herbs, and sprouts. Fruits like pineapple, oranges, apples, or even lemons contain organic acid, but are metabolized as alkaline by the body. The same applies to kombucha: although kombucha tea tastes sour, its ingredients cause the body to process it as alkaline.
Feel free to look up acid-base tables on the internet to prevent acidosis. It's enough to get an overview and perhaps immediately replace some acid-forming foods with base-forming ones.
What are acidic foods?
Acidic or acid-forming foods counteract the points mentioned above and form unhealthy acids. However, there are also good acidifiers.
Good acidifiers |
Bad acidifiers |
| Organic grains | Eggs from conventional farming |
| Oats and oatmeal | Fish and seafood from conventional aquaculture |
| Legumes | Meat from conventional farming |
| Nuts | Dairy products |
| Pseudocereals (e.g. millet, quinoa) | Alcoholic and caffeinated beverages |
| Animal products from organic farming | Ready-to-drink beverages like soft drinks |
| High-quality plant-based drinks | Sugar |
The Acid-Base Check
How acidic are you? Being acidic isn't just fun. If you suspect you have a high acid load, you can measure the pH of your urine using pH test strips.
In a person with a balanced acid-base metabolism, urine is usually slightly acidic in the morning (pH 6.5 to 6.8), becomes neutral by midday (pH 7), and slightly alkaline in the evening (pH above 7).
Should irregularities occur, you can halt existing acidification with various de-acidifying measures.
Simple steps to deacidification
1. It is best to carry out a deacidification program lasting 1 to 3 months.
2. If the daily effort seems too high, but you still want to deacidify, you can also look for a suitable alkaline product. Not all of them work the same, and every body reacts differently. Therefore, it may be good to switch products occasionally. But be brave and stick with it for at least three months. When deacidifying with alkaline products, you only need to remember to take them twice a day. That's a bit easier.
3. Ideally, continue to eat an alkaline-rich diet even after the deacidification treatment, so that your body has a sufficient alkaline buffer. The toxins that have accumulated in your body over many years can often only be eliminated after several months of an alkaline lifestyle. Furthermore, you must also eliminate new, daily acids that affect you, or those that arise from mental or physical stress.
5. Integrate the following points (or at least some of them) into your daily routine:
- Start the day with an Original Kombucha or an alkaline morning tea.
- If possible, use alkaline body care products, or simply natural bar soap without chemical additives.
- Base your diet on alkaline and healthy foods.
- If you're in a hurry in the morning, have an alkaline muesli for breakfast.
- To further enrich your diet with high-quality alkaline substances, you can sprinkle a plant-based alkaline powder over each meal.
- Regularly take organic alkaline minerals so that your body can finally return all the minerals it borrowed from its mineral depots during times of acidification.
- Relax in an alkaline bath two to three times a week or treat yourself to an alkaline foot bath.
- Pay attention to deep breathing. This will relax you, even when things are really stressful.
- Plan moderate exercise and sauna visits.
- Enjoy an alkaline kombucha in the evening.
6. After some time, check your deacidification success with pH test strips.
Kombucha Foot Bath
The body detoxifies particularly effectively through the soles of the feet. Easily care for your tired feet with kombucha. All you need is a bathtub or a small basin, and you're good to go!
What you need:
- 250 ml very sour kombucha or alternatively 150 ml kombucha vinegar
- 1 cup Epsom salt or alternatively other mineral salt
- Lavender oil or another natural essential oil of your choice
Here's how to do it:
Simply add both ingredients to a bathtub with warm water and soak your feet for 30 minutes. Add warm water if it cools down too quickly. Afterwards, your skin will feel super soft, and you will have done something for your relaxation AND detoxification.
Good luck and good health!
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