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Acidic/Alcaline foods
Well known in alternative medicine theory about foods PH. I don't know how scientific is that. There are plenty of foods PH charts, and according to them, low A diet is very acidic. Do you think it's true ?
Since going low A I experience some bone pain. I don't remember having it (or to this point) before. I wonder if it' result of body dumping stored retinoic acid, which pumps calcium from bones, or eating only acidic foods may play a role ? what do you think?
How long are you into low VA? A lot of strange symptoms can appear and disappear on this journey, especially during the early weeks.
I don't believe the ph of foods matters very much in the end. I used to follow various forms of "alkaline" vegan diets in the past and they never healed anything. On the other hand acidic foods like rice, oats, pasta and meats have helped me a lot so far (6 months in) and bones like teeth feel so much stronger too.
I have been thinking however about doing a grape fast for a week or so as soon as I'm able to buy grapes locally. I think this would quite alkalinize the body if there is any truth to this concept.
i noticed a lot of joint pain recently too.
I run once in a while to (hopefully) work off some VA, and I notice my first few steps sort of hurt my joints. It gets better as I continue though
I've never bought into the acid/alkaline ash diet thing. But then again, I thought vitamin A was FABulous...
It does seem like baking soda might have some good uses in natural health... I love to make pancakes (with egg whites and organic flour now) and don't mind the fact that I'm getting some baking soda in there... Isn't baking soda actually an electrolyte?
We def need minerals to be well and can't formulate a diet JUST on the one idea "no vit A!". Foods from the sea have a wide range of minerals, maybe include some fish?
Quote from who_am_i on June 9, 2019, 1:07 amHow long are you into low VA? A lot of strange symptoms can appear and disappear on this journey, especially during the early weeks.
It's been about a year now. Now and then I eat some foods outside the basic list. I see improvements in my symptoms. (I suffer from accutane side effects)
I drink quite a lot of coffee too which is acidic. I even took some calcium supplements, which look like they alleviate bone pain, but am not sure about taking them long term, in relation to vessels calcification. Baking soda is something I could try.
Thank you all for giving your feedback.
I just thought I'd add that the main pH regulator is breathing and if we 'over-breathe' (e.g. mouth-breathing/snoring) we become more alkaline since we are blowing off too much CO2 (which is acid). I think it is interesting that something like over-breathing can affect our food choices. We would be attracted to/ crave more acid foods if we chronically over-breathe. I've known about this Buteyko breathing for awhile but seems I have to constantly remind myself about it. I rarely remember to do the exercises but I do try to always breathe through my nose during the day and during walks. I know this sounds crazy but I even use a small piece of paper tape on my mouth at night to help conserve CO2 while I sleep (when I remember). Helps if you are prone to dry mouth too.
"2. Regulates pH. From school, you may remember the pH scale and that substances with a pH below 7 are acidic and over 7 are alkaline. In our body we have over 100,000 different proteins, each designed to execute various tasks like fighting a bacteria, moving a muscle or digesting the food we eat. In order for the proteins to function optimally, the right pH balance, i.e. the right environment, is absolutely crucial.
"Our main pH regulator is our breathing, as we regulate our body’s pH with each breath. When our breathing habits are impaired, we exhale too much carbon dioxide, which causes the pH to rise and we thereby change the environment in our body, so that the proteins can’t function as intended.
"There is a close link between the over breathing that increases the pH, and cravings for food and drink that lowers the pH – for example fast food, fast carbs, candy, soda, ice cream and cookies. They feed each other and the risk is that we end up in a vicious circle that is difficult to get out of."
https://www.consciousbreathing.com/articles/carbon-dioxide-pressure-more-important-blood-pressure/
While I was just out walking my dog, I thought I should have added how I think this concept relates to eating low A. Being more pH balanced through reduced breathing might make any of our diet changes easier to implement, such as, it might be easier to forego some foods/drinks (coffee? @grapes mentioned above)
Also I was thinking perhaps as we lose our retinol/retinoic acid load, our breathing might over time automatically lessen which would oxygenate all our tissues better. (I know one is metabolic and one is respiratory so not sure about this but I will think about it some more).
I know it sounds counterintuitive to breathe less, but apparently our tissues get oxygenated better if we do so. As I've read, higher CO2 levels allow our hemoglobin to release it's O2 to our tissues better; otherwise much of the O2 can just circulate around and around staying bound to Hgb, or blown off in the lungs, without getting to our tissues (where it counts).
If you blow up a balloon or two, you can get dizzy as you blow off CO2 because your brain is suddenly not getting the O2 it needs. Also people with anxiety are instructed to blow into a paper bag because they will be rebreathing their CO2 and this helps to calm them. Co2 is not exactly the waste gas we have been told it is. Sorry if I'm sounding preachy. I'm writing this just as much to remind me!
sorry again! I just realized I wasn't making sense about the retinoic acid load perhaps making us breathe less.. because if CO2 is acid and a good thing regarding oxygenation, then RA should be good too. And we know it's not a good thing.
Shoot, sometimes I press submit and then feel terrible if I haven't thought something through properly. I certainly hope I haven't diminished the Buteyko breathing method because to me it makes so much sense. Even many yoga teachers are rethinking how healthful 'deep breathing' is. Just please ignore 2nd paragraph above. Thanks.
Neat stuff Sheila!
I think it takes some belief in your body to believe that you CAN breathe through your nose especially if things aren't going so well.
When I get one of my bouts where I feel poisoned, I tend to pant. My nose stuffs up. It's a conscious effort to breathe through the nose but when I can gently work toward that the fear/anxiety that comes with the bout lessens.
I edit my posts to death