There are four additional rules that people suffering from an inability to metabolize weak acids properly should heed.
5. A me a l should never consist solely o f acid foods but should always include alkaline foods. This rule is almost identical to rule one, but it involves weak-acid foods rather than acidifying foods. Eating fruits and yogurt exclusively or drinking only whey-based beverages is strongly discouraged, as the acid intake from such a diet is not compensated by any alkaline food, and the body must draw these substances from its own tissues. The risk of health problems caused by mineral depletion is therefore quite significant. These manifest as a sudden drop in vitality, the feeling that one’s teeth are on edge, a chilly sensation, itching, joint pains, and other symptoms that have been discussed previously. Alkaline foods that are good accompaniments to fresh fruits are fresh (unripened) cheeses, soft white cheese (large-curd cottage cheese, low-fat cream cheese, ricotta, quark, mozzarella, farmer cheese, fresh goat cheese, yogurt cheese), cream, almonds, bananas, and salad greens. Fresh fruits can also be mixed with raw vegetables.
6. The quantities of weakacid and acidifying foods a person eats should be tailored to meet his or her personal metabolic capabilities. The inability to metabolize weak acids properly is rarely absolute; it varies according to individual physiology as well as circumstances (such as stress, fatigue, work, and vacations). Each person has a certain rate at which he or she can metabolize acids properly at any given time, a rate that cannot be surpassed without overtaxing the body’s capacity. As long as the quantity of acids ingested or created by the digestion of food is below this rate, the body manages to neutralize them through oxidation before any of the health problems created by acidification manifest. Accordingly, for certain extremely sensitive individuals, half a Golden Delicious apple—no more— suits them just fine, but even a quarter of a Winesap apple is more than they can handle. For any given person, a certain quantity of a food can be acidifying, yet alkalizing or neutral in a lesser amount. So if you have difficulty metabolizing acids, you can safely eat weak-acid foods as long as you tailor the amount you consume to your physical capacities. Your tolerance threshold can also change over time. You can discover and keep track of your own threshold through experimentation and observation.
7. Weak- acid foods should not b e eaten too rapidly in succession. An individual with an inability to metabolize weak acids properly, but with a normal acid–alkaline balance, can generally handle a sudden increase in weak-acid intake (from eating a large quantity of fruit, for example) by drawing from the body’s reserves, provided that this kind of event is the exception and not the rule. In fact, if the withdrawal of alkaline substances from the body’s reserves is a unique event, the acid–alkaline balance is not endangered, and no acidification problem will occur. But some time will have to go by before the body’s reserves are replenished. If eating another piece of fruit puts additional acids into the body too soon, it has to draw from its alreadydiminished reserves, which may not contain enough alkaline substances to neutralize the acid from the fruit; thus, acid–alkaline balance is compromised. Health problems due to acidification will appear not because the body is not intrinsically capable of neutralizing this fruit’s acid—it has successfully done so before—but because the fruit has been eaten too soon after the first fruit was consumed. By spacing out the ingestion of these hard-to-metabolize foods, you can increase your personal level of tolerance for them. This is useful to know, as it allows you to expand the selection of foods you can safely eat.
8. Weak-acid foods must be eaten when the body is ready to receive them. There is an Arabic proverb that says: “Oranges are like gold in the morning, silver at noon, and lead in the evening.” For people with an inability to metabolize weak acids properly, the opposite is true. Oranges and fruits in general are harmful in the morning and much more beneficial at noon or in the evening. The reason for this is that by noon the body’s “organic motor” has had time to warm up and is turning over naturally. In fact, some people take a long time physically to wake up in the morning. The heart beats more slowly, blood pressure is low, and cellular exchanges—including oxidation—take place in slow motion. The body reaches cruising speed only after several hours of activity and a meal or two. If such a person eats fruits or drinks a glass of orange juice in the morning, not only will he or she have difficulty metabolizing the acids but, because the body is still working below its real capacity, it will have even greater trouble oxidizing weak acids than it normally would. Along the same lines of reasoning, weak-acids foods are metabolized better in the summer, when the weather is hot and sunny, as well as when one is rested (as opposed to feeling tired).
