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Carl Ferré
A
n alkaline-water craze has alkaline as yang. Herman researched
swept parts of the United scientific books and based his theo-
States over the past few years. ries on Arthur B. Guyton’s Textbook
Many websites have appeared prom- of Medical Physiology and Walter B.
ising miracle cures for many diseases Cannon’s Wisdom of the Body. He
just by drinking alkaline water. These published his conclusions in 1971 in
have been followed by articles from a pamphlet entitled Is Acid Yin: Is Al-
scientists who maintain that alkaline kaline Yang? This work was later ex-
water is nothing more than an elabo- panded to a full book in 1986 entitled
rate hoax to sell expensive machines Acid and Alkaline.2 Here is a summa-
and other products. This article exam- ry of his conclusions:
ines the pros and cons of acid-alkaline
1. Foods that are high in protein,
theory in general and alkaline water
fat, and carbohydrates are acid-
in particular.
forming and foods that are high
in minerals and to a lesser extent
Background vitamins are alkaline-forming.
The origins of acid-alkaline the-
2. Foods that are high in sodium,
ory date back to the 1800s with the
potassium, calcium, and magne-
study of the role of diet in the acid-
Carl Ferré sium are alkaline-forming and
ity of urine. Scientists observed that
foods that are high in phospho-
changing the diet of rabbits from her- the role of foods on acid-alkaline
rus, chlorine, and sulfur are acid-
bivores (plant foods) to carnivores balance in the human body. What is
forming.
(animal foods) changed the rabbit’s known about foods is that some have
3. Alkaline foods have an alkaline-
urine from more alkaline to more an alkaline-forming effect and others
forming effect while acid foods
acid. This observation led to the burn- have an acid-forming effect. The ex-
have either an acid-forming ef-
ing of foods in test tubes to determine act nature of the effect is difficult to
fect or an alkaline-forming one.
which foods are acid- producing and determine because the body has many
Extensive tables of acid-alkaline
which are alkaline-producing. They buffer systems designed to keep the
effects of foods may be found in
theorized that eating more alkaline- blood pH stable. The pH scale is a
Acid Alkaline Companion.3
producing foods than acid-producing scale used to determine the acidity or
4. There are both yin acid-forming
foods could help reduce acid urine. alkalinity of any substance.
foods and yang acid-forming
This theory was never proven conclu- Herman Aihara became interested
foods and both yin alkaline-
sively, however.1 in acid and alkaline when George
forming foods and yang alka-
Today, scientists continue to study Ohsawa classified acid as yin and
New Book
tube studies have shown growth of that eating food or drinking water
certain cancers in an acidic environ- changes blood pH immediately and
ment. Some scientists believe, how- directly. This simply is not true.
ever, that cancer growth produces the In the early 1950s, Swan and Pitts
acidic environment and not the other conducted an experiment5 in which
way around. Herman would respond they gave dogs 14,000,000 nano-
that regardless of what produced the moles per liter of acid. They then
acidic environment, changing it to a measured the change in the dogs’ pH
more alkaline condition is beneficial. and found the change was a mere 36
Some studies have linked os- nanomoles per liter toward the acid
teoporosis to acidic diets. However, side. They concluded that ingesting
again there is no conclusive proof in large quantities of acid-forming foods
scientific journals that acidic diets is okay because the body’s buffer sys-
cause osteoporosis. In Modern Nutri- tems can take care of it.
tion in Health and Disease,4 Maurice Acid-alkaline theorists maintain
Shils concludes, as Herman did, that that while the change in blood pH is
alkaline-forming foods contain more minimal, the large amount of acid has
sodium, potassium, calcium, and a profound effect in the extraordinary
magnesium while acid-forming foods things the body has to do to counter
contain more phosphorus, chlorine, the excess acid. This effect is com- $15.00 plus $2.50 shipping
and sulfur. pounded with the over-consumption = $17.50
of acid-forming foods day after day,
Theory Gone Wild month after month, and year after
Many foods in a typical modern
diet are highly acid forming and
Other writers and lay researchers year. Still, dietitians do not recom-
contribute greatly to declining
have expanded on Herman’s acid-al- mend high alkaline diets. That said, is
health. Most diseases, including
kaline theories in recent years. Some there a chance that alkaline diets and
cancer, thrive in an acidic inter-
suggest/promise miracle-type cures water have some value?
nal environment. The solution is
by eating an 80/20 diet (80 percent
alkaline-forming foods and 20 per- Alkaline Water simple: Eat more alkaline-forming
foods and less acid-forming ones.
cent acid-forming foods) or by drink- The use of alkaline water machines
This book tells you how!
ing high-alkaline-pH water. Scientists grew out of acid-alkaline dietary the-
continue to maintain that there is no ory. Websites selling these machines George Ohsawa
value in high-alkaline diets or drink- tout them as health-producing and as Macrobiotic Foundation
ing alkaline water and advise against cures for various diseases.6 Scientists
PO Box 3998
such actions. call alkaline water a complete hoax. Chico, CA 95927
There is a direct correlation be- Kangen Water® serves as an excellent 800-232-2372 or
tween diet and the call for more alka- example to study the claims made by 530-566-9765
line-forming foods and drinks. High- alkaline-water enthusiasts. 530-566-9768 fax
alkaline diets have increased over the There are three parts to the Kan- gomf@ohsawamacrobiotics.com
www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com •
Macrobiotics Today May/June 2013 13
gen Water® machines, currently sell- in the western United States is already
ing for $4,000 to $6,000. The first part Health Claims slightly alkaline. No water district de-
is a water filter. This filter removes One claim made by sellers of livers even moderately acidic water
unwanted substances from tap water Kangen Water® machines involves because over time it would destroy
and is a useful component. People alkaline water given to patients at a their pipes at considerable expense
who already have an adequate water hospital in Japan. Patients who drank for the district. While the slogan is
filter don’t need this part of the ma- alkaline water reported positive ef- a good one, there is a better way to
chine, however. fects and amazing recoveries. Assum- counter excess acidity.
The second part of the machine ing alkaline water is part of the reason
involves electrolysis. In this process, for their successes, it is reasonable to A Better Way
the machine separates tap water into conclude that the alkaline minerals in Alkaline-water machines appear
acid water and alkaline water by dis- the alkaline water counterbalanced to to offer simplistic answers to prob-
sociating the water molecules and col- some extent the likely highly acidic lems that are made up at best. Most
lecting the positively charged ions at diet the hospital was feeding them. are sold by multilevel marketing
one terminal and negatively charged In this case, taking in more alkaline- schemes that allow the manufacturers
ions at another. Chemists maintain forming minerals did help. Of course, to avoid making any claims directly.
that electrolysis doesn’t work in water scientists dismiss this story as anec- People who buy and later sell the ma-
without enough minerals in the water dotal and not supported by proper sci- chines repeat claims found on other
to provide conductivity.7 entific studies. websites, and the myths proliferate.
The chemical formula for water Another claim is the idea that the The alkaline-water machines that
is H2O and water does have the abil- alkaline-water machine makes the add alkaline minerals to the water do
ity to dissociate into OH- (hydroxyl water more digestible or absorbable have some value as it adds to one’s
ions, alkaline-forming) and H3O+ (of- by forming it into smaller hexagonal overall alkaline-forming intake. How-
ten referred to as H+, hydroxoniom rings. This claim appears to be false. ever, it’s much easier and cheaper to
ions, acid-forming). However, water Hexagonal rings of water molecules make water more alkaline by adding a
associates faster than it dissociates. have never been observed. The hu- pinch (5 to 7 grains) of sea salt. Note
Thus, the dissociated alkaline water, man body has been hydrated by wa- that sea salt with magnesium and oth-
assuming electrolysis works, returns ter molecules moving about freely in er alkaline-forming minerals is need-
to its original state after a short pe- liquid water since the beginnings of ed—table salt does contain alkaline-
riod of time. Even if the electrolyzed human existence. The notion that a forming sodium, but this is countered
alkaline water lasts until it is con- machine can physically alter nature’s by acid-forming chloride and iodine
sumed, it doesn’t survive the time in water into hexagonal rings for better added to keep the salt from caking.
the stomach where the pH is around absorption is completely made up, ac- If an alkaline-water machine is
2.0 (100,000 times more acid than a cording to water chemists. used, it is important to remember that
neutral pH of 7.0). The only way to Other claims for alkaline water the body has to deal with excesses on
make alkaline water that will last be- are that it promotes healthy weight either side. For example, consuming
yond the digestive juices in the stom- loss, boosts the immune system, neu- too many alkaline minerals can lead
ach is to add alkaline minerals. This tralizes free radicals, slows the aging to imbalances. To be safe, it is best
is where the third part of the Kangen process, and detoxifies and cleanses not to drink water on a consistent
Water® system surfaces. the colon. There is no scientific evi- basis with a pH of over 8.0 (over 10
In addition to buying a $4,000 to dence to support any of these claims. times more alkaline than neutral).
$6,000 machine, owners of the ma- In fact, in some cases the opposite is The larger question of whether or
chine buy and add packets of mineral true. Water that has been alkalized not consuming more alkaline-forming
salts containing sodium, potassium, contains hypochlorites and these are foods and drinks than acid-forming
calcium, and magnesium. This action oxidizing agents.8 ones is beneficial to one’s health is
adds to the amount of alkaline min- The slogan of Kangen Water® sell- reserved for a future article. For now,
erals one is ingesting and has some ers is: “Change your water—change let’s assume that Herman Aihara’s
effect on acid-alkaline balance. The your life.”9 The implication is that conclusions are useful for creating
questions at this point are: How much drinking tap water is bad or harmful. a healthy life. Even if the claims of
effect does adding alkaline minerals The pH of most drinking water in the alkaline-water enthusiasts are proven
have and Is this effect beneficial to United States is between 6.9 and 7.1 in the future to be true, a better solu-
one’s health? (7.0 is neutral) and is perfectly healthy tion to balancing acid and alkaline is
to drink provided toxins are removed through a change in diet.
with a water filter. In fact, most water The easiest, cheapest, and most
Also I have available DVD’s of talks I have given on Yin and Yang, Five Transforma-
tion Theory, Facial Diagnosis, Healing/Illness/Disease, Ginger Compress Demon-
stration. They are $12 dollars each and run upward of 2 hrs For a complete list and
discounts for a multiple order please e-mail me at kaareb@mac.com
www.OhsawaMacrobiotics.com •
Macrobiotics Today May/June 2013 15
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