BALANCE

In regards to fitness, we usually refer to balance in a physical way. Working on one's balance can mean being able to stand on one leg, or to maintain an upright, steady position when executing a lunge. In the bodybuilding world, balance refers to the symmetry of body parts--the calves and the biceps, or the chest versus the thighs as examples.

But when talking about our health, we need to look internally. Because without being healthy on the inside first, how we look on the outside doesn't necessarily translate to a better lifestyle in the long run. The foods we eat can be harming us from the inside, not just in the resultant extra body fat we visibly carry around with us every day.

Every cell in our body functions at its best within a certain pH range. pH is a measure of acid and alkaline (or base) content. Solutions with a pH less than 7 are considered acidic; over 7 is alkaline. And while different cells need to maintain different pH ranges, our body as a whole will do whatever it can to get to and maintain a strictly neutral overall pH level.

Foods can also be classified by their acidity or alkalinity, rated by their "potential renal acid load" or PRAL. Acidic foods have a positive (+) PRAL score, and base foods are negative (-). We need to keep things as close to zero as possible for optimal internal health. Here's a simplified overview of how food categories score:

Meats and meat products, milk, eggs, and dairy, grains and bread / flour products, nuts, and most processed foods are acidic (+) in nature. As you can see, these foods make up our typical Western culture diet. Vegetables, fruits, and fruit juices are alkalines (-). Legumes, oils, and beverages, for the most part, are fairly neutral (0). Chronically high acid levels result in what's called low-grade metabolic acidosis, a condition that often worsens as we get older.

Remember how we said the body will do whatever it can to keep it in a fairly neutral state? Well, one of our body's largest alkaline sources is calcium, a highly base mineral found in our bones. If our body is in this constant acidic state, it will pull calcium from our bones to neutralize the acids. Now our bones begin to get weaker. Add this to the increasing risk of osteoporosis as we age and it's no wonder debilitating fractures are becoming more common among the elderly.

If you want to know more about food PRAL scores, go to www.bitterpoison.com.