liftsiron
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Posted by Squatman on IL
High Acid Diet linked to decreased muscle mass.
Something I pulled from an article on high acid diets that I think can be a good read for some of us.
s
Balancing dietary acids
Simply put, the North American diet is very acidic. From most proteins to many
dairy products (especially cheese) to most grains, we take in far more dietary
acids than we do bases. And this imbalance between acid and base can cause
some serious long-term health and physique problems.
You see, when a food is ingested, digested, and absorbed, each component of
that food will present itself to the kidneys as either an acid-forming compound or
a base-forming one. And when the sum total of all the acid producing and the
base producing micro and macronutrients is tabulated (at the end of a meal or at
the end of a day), we're left with a calculated acid-base load.
If the diet providesmore acidic components, it will manifest as a net-acid load on the body. And if itprovides more basic components, it will manifest as a net-base load on the body.
As I implied above, that a net-acid load is bad. Let?s discuss why.
Every cell of the body functions optimally within a certain pH range (pH is a
measure of the acidity or alkalinity of the body).
In different cells, this optimalrange is different, however, the net pH of the body has to remain tightly regulated. One common problem with most industrialized societies is that our diets produce what's called a "low grade chronic metabolic acidosis."
The potential renal acid load (or PRAL, a measure of the amount of acid being
introduced through the diet) of our diets is high, meaning we're chronically in a state of high acidity.
While there are a number of disease states that induce severe metabolic acidosis, we're talking a sub-clinical rise in acidity here. Therefore, your doc probably won't notice the problem. But that doesn't mean that you're in the clear.
Your cells will recognize the problem. So what's wrong with this low-grade chronic metabolic acidosis? Well, since the body must, at all costs, operate at a stable pH, any dietary acid load has to be neutralized by one of a number of homeostatic base-producing mechanisms. So, although the pH of the body is maintained and your blood tests turn out fine, many cells of the body will suffer.
Here are some of the most severe consequences of your body's attempt to maintain a constant pH in the face of an
acidic environment:
Hypercalciuria (high concentrations of calcium in the urine). Since calcium is a strong base and bone contains the body's largest calcium store, metabolic acidosis causes a release in calcium from bone. As a result, osteoclastic (bone degrading) activity increases and osteoblastic (bone building) activity decreases. The net result of these changes is that bone is lost in order to neutralize the acidic environment of the body. The calcium that was stored in the bone is then lost in the urine along with the acid it was mobilized to neutralize. This creates a negative calcium balance (more calcium is lost from the body than is consumed)
and bones get weak. (2,3,4,6).
Negative nitrogen balance (high concentrations of nitrogen in urine).
Glutamine is responsible for binding hydrogen ions to form ammonium. Since
hydrogen ions are acidic, glutamine acts much like calcium to neutralize the
body's acidosis. Since skeletal muscle contains the body's largest glutamine store, metabolic acidosis causes muscle breakdown to liberate glutamine from the muscle. The amino acids from this muscle breakdown are then excreted, causing a net loss of muscle protein. (2,7)
In addition to bone and muscle loss, other consequences of acidosis include:
�� Decreased IGF1 activity (4)
�� GH resistance (4)
�� Mild hypothyroidism (4)
�� Hypercortisolemia (4,5)
Interestingly, low-grade metabolic acidosis seems to worsen with age. Many
have speculated that this is due to an age-related decline in kidney function (and acid excretion). Of course, osteoporosis and muscle wasting are unfortunate consequences of aging. While it's too early to tell, perhaps some of the bone and muscle loss evident as individuals get older is a result of diet-induced acidosis. This means that employing a few simple acid-base strategies may help slow osteoporosis and sarcopoenia.
So the big question is this ? who?s at risk?
Recently, Sebastian and colleagues compared the pre-agricultural diet of our
ancestors to the modern North American diet. After evaluating the two diets for what they call NEAP (net endogenous acid production) ? essentially the same measure as the PRAL above ? a -88mEq/day acid load characterized the preagricultural diet while the modern diet was characterized by a +48mEq/day acid load. What this means is that our ancestors evolved eating a diet that was very alkaline/basic and therefore very low acid. However, modern people are eating a diet that is high in acid, and therefore very different from what we evolved to strategies for success 13 eat. As a result, our modern diet is responsible for what the authors have called a
"life-long, low grade pathogenically significant systemic acidosis."
How have we gotten so far off track? Well, the shift from net base producing
foods to net acid producing foods comes mostly as a result of displacing the high bicarbonate-yielding plants and fruits in the diet with high acid grains. In
addition, most of our modern energy dense, nutrient poor selections are also acid forming. Finally, high protein animal foods tend to be acid producing as well.
If you're now wondering how your diet stacks up, check out the online acid-base forum here: http://www.acid-base.de/. There you?ll be able to calculate your PRAL and determine how much of an acid or base load your body is under.
Further, if you?re ingesting too many dietary acids, as most North Americans are,
here?s what you can do:
1. Add more vegetables - regardless of the final tally. Everyone can always
benefit from more vegetables in the diet. Many bone specialists are now
recognizing that the most effective way to improve bone health is to eat
lots of fruits and vegetables. Vegetables, in addition to all of their other
benefits, are powerful acid-neutralizers.
2. If you're eating a big meal that's going to be a net acid producer (such as
one that contains a large amount of protein and/or grains) and don't want
to add more basic foods, consider adding a small amount of glutamine to
this meal. Exogenous glutamine supplementation has been shown to
neutralize acidosis.
3. A cheaper alternative to glutamine supplementation is either sodium or
potassium bicarbonate supplementation. You can add sodium bicarbonate
(in the form of baking soda) to your beverages including your protein
shakes, which probably are a bit on the acidic side (see milk above). A
small 2-5g dose of baking soda would be sufficient to neutralize the shake.
An alternative to baking soda is Alka-Seltzer.
4. Adding sodium to foods can increase the base potential and reduce the
acidity of the meal although a high salt diet isn?t necessarily
recommended.
Although few individuals in the exercise nutrition world are discussing this
issue, it remains an important one. Employing a few simple strategies to
neutralize your high-acid diet may mean the difference between chronic lowgrade acidosis ? and the associated muscle wasting, bone loss, and altered hormonal profile ? and a healthy, alkaline diet. So make sure you?re dietary acids are covered!
__________________
High Acid Diet linked to decreased muscle mass.
Something I pulled from an article on high acid diets that I think can be a good read for some of us.
s
Balancing dietary acids
Simply put, the North American diet is very acidic. From most proteins to many
dairy products (especially cheese) to most grains, we take in far more dietary
acids than we do bases. And this imbalance between acid and base can cause
some serious long-term health and physique problems.
You see, when a food is ingested, digested, and absorbed, each component of
that food will present itself to the kidneys as either an acid-forming compound or
a base-forming one. And when the sum total of all the acid producing and the
base producing micro and macronutrients is tabulated (at the end of a meal or at
the end of a day), we're left with a calculated acid-base load.
If the diet providesmore acidic components, it will manifest as a net-acid load on the body. And if itprovides more basic components, it will manifest as a net-base load on the body.
As I implied above, that a net-acid load is bad. Let?s discuss why.
Every cell of the body functions optimally within a certain pH range (pH is a
measure of the acidity or alkalinity of the body).
In different cells, this optimalrange is different, however, the net pH of the body has to remain tightly regulated. One common problem with most industrialized societies is that our diets produce what's called a "low grade chronic metabolic acidosis."
The potential renal acid load (or PRAL, a measure of the amount of acid being
introduced through the diet) of our diets is high, meaning we're chronically in a state of high acidity.
While there are a number of disease states that induce severe metabolic acidosis, we're talking a sub-clinical rise in acidity here. Therefore, your doc probably won't notice the problem. But that doesn't mean that you're in the clear.
Your cells will recognize the problem. So what's wrong with this low-grade chronic metabolic acidosis? Well, since the body must, at all costs, operate at a stable pH, any dietary acid load has to be neutralized by one of a number of homeostatic base-producing mechanisms. So, although the pH of the body is maintained and your blood tests turn out fine, many cells of the body will suffer.
Here are some of the most severe consequences of your body's attempt to maintain a constant pH in the face of an
acidic environment:
Hypercalciuria (high concentrations of calcium in the urine). Since calcium is a strong base and bone contains the body's largest calcium store, metabolic acidosis causes a release in calcium from bone. As a result, osteoclastic (bone degrading) activity increases and osteoblastic (bone building) activity decreases. The net result of these changes is that bone is lost in order to neutralize the acidic environment of the body. The calcium that was stored in the bone is then lost in the urine along with the acid it was mobilized to neutralize. This creates a negative calcium balance (more calcium is lost from the body than is consumed)
and bones get weak. (2,3,4,6).
Negative nitrogen balance (high concentrations of nitrogen in urine).
Glutamine is responsible for binding hydrogen ions to form ammonium. Since
hydrogen ions are acidic, glutamine acts much like calcium to neutralize the
body's acidosis. Since skeletal muscle contains the body's largest glutamine store, metabolic acidosis causes muscle breakdown to liberate glutamine from the muscle. The amino acids from this muscle breakdown are then excreted, causing a net loss of muscle protein. (2,7)
In addition to bone and muscle loss, other consequences of acidosis include:
�� Decreased IGF1 activity (4)
�� GH resistance (4)
�� Mild hypothyroidism (4)
�� Hypercortisolemia (4,5)
Interestingly, low-grade metabolic acidosis seems to worsen with age. Many
have speculated that this is due to an age-related decline in kidney function (and acid excretion). Of course, osteoporosis and muscle wasting are unfortunate consequences of aging. While it's too early to tell, perhaps some of the bone and muscle loss evident as individuals get older is a result of diet-induced acidosis. This means that employing a few simple acid-base strategies may help slow osteoporosis and sarcopoenia.
So the big question is this ? who?s at risk?
Recently, Sebastian and colleagues compared the pre-agricultural diet of our
ancestors to the modern North American diet. After evaluating the two diets for what they call NEAP (net endogenous acid production) ? essentially the same measure as the PRAL above ? a -88mEq/day acid load characterized the preagricultural diet while the modern diet was characterized by a +48mEq/day acid load. What this means is that our ancestors evolved eating a diet that was very alkaline/basic and therefore very low acid. However, modern people are eating a diet that is high in acid, and therefore very different from what we evolved to strategies for success 13 eat. As a result, our modern diet is responsible for what the authors have called a
"life-long, low grade pathogenically significant systemic acidosis."
How have we gotten so far off track? Well, the shift from net base producing
foods to net acid producing foods comes mostly as a result of displacing the high bicarbonate-yielding plants and fruits in the diet with high acid grains. In
addition, most of our modern energy dense, nutrient poor selections are also acid forming. Finally, high protein animal foods tend to be acid producing as well.
If you're now wondering how your diet stacks up, check out the online acid-base forum here: http://www.acid-base.de/. There you?ll be able to calculate your PRAL and determine how much of an acid or base load your body is under.
Further, if you?re ingesting too many dietary acids, as most North Americans are,
here?s what you can do:
1. Add more vegetables - regardless of the final tally. Everyone can always
benefit from more vegetables in the diet. Many bone specialists are now
recognizing that the most effective way to improve bone health is to eat
lots of fruits and vegetables. Vegetables, in addition to all of their other
benefits, are powerful acid-neutralizers.
2. If you're eating a big meal that's going to be a net acid producer (such as
one that contains a large amount of protein and/or grains) and don't want
to add more basic foods, consider adding a small amount of glutamine to
this meal. Exogenous glutamine supplementation has been shown to
neutralize acidosis.
3. A cheaper alternative to glutamine supplementation is either sodium or
potassium bicarbonate supplementation. You can add sodium bicarbonate
(in the form of baking soda) to your beverages including your protein
shakes, which probably are a bit on the acidic side (see milk above). A
small 2-5g dose of baking soda would be sufficient to neutralize the shake.
An alternative to baking soda is Alka-Seltzer.
4. Adding sodium to foods can increase the base potential and reduce the
acidity of the meal although a high salt diet isn?t necessarily
recommended.
Although few individuals in the exercise nutrition world are discussing this
issue, it remains an important one. Employing a few simple strategies to
neutralize your high-acid diet may mean the difference between chronic lowgrade acidosis ? and the associated muscle wasting, bone loss, and altered hormonal profile ? and a healthy, alkaline diet. So make sure you?re dietary acids are covered!
__________________
