Wanted to know if anyone has heard about the “alkaline diet”, does it have any scientific basis? And what are some possible criticisms?
How would you maintain the levals of alkaline, would it just be with increased levals of phosphates presumably sodium, Im no expert but maintaining a leval of alkalinity is gonna play games with your gastric system 
Science I suppose is that it would help with lactic training in the same way as takeing baking soda does (also alkaline).
Clemson, Nightmare, Charlie or others,
Do you find this convincing? I’m making two smoothies a day so it would be no big deal to add in some baking soda…
Thanks,
pete
pete;
Read Berardi´s article. It is not or (not yet) big in sports nutrition, but many believe we are too acidic and that this leads to many serious health problems. There are better ways to get basic than taking baking soda, as Berardi shows with the pral values.
Carson,
I did read the Berardi article but I would still like to hear from a few others on the site. As far as baking soda I am trying to up fruits and particularly veggies but I think I would still come out as being net acidic.
pete: getting more opinions is a good idea. But I doubt that this area has been studied or looked at much. Here are URL’s for 2 articles about acid-base balance and nutrition.
http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/archives2003/jul/07matesz.html
This second one looks at acid-base diets and cavities, but he points out that whole acid-base thing is not as simple as some suggest - an interesting read.
Whey protein powder / Cassein powder v Steak or Tuna.
Which is going to lead to a more acidic leval?
The one with the higher biological value or the one that also takes a long time to digest?
Also, how the HELL did Carl Lewis and Leroy “thighs” Burrell get enough protein from vegetarian diets? 
It stikes me as utterly ludicrous and impossible but they were 2 of the 10 fastest sprinters ever and they looked in great shape.
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Check Berardi’s article or the study it references for which would lead to more acidity.
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My understanding is that the elements present in the food in question are more important in determining the acid-base content. At least that’s what I think after reading the first link in Carson’s last post.
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no idea
In practice I believe one should not choose proteins based on how acidic or basic they are but rather should counteract it with a base-leaning food like as that first article says, yams, or say spinach.
What is the big deal? Many diets will pass this exam…eat fucking vegetables! What is complicated…
By this, I take it you mean carrots and cucumbers? 
hahaha… so so dirty.
To overcome this you can use a peeler on the carrot to clean up the skin. Some feel that you lose nutrients this way though.
I always tend to wash my fruit and vegetables though as you can’t be too careful with pesticides.
Clemson,
I havent done the numbers (as outlined in the Beradi article) but I wouldnt be so hasty to say that people that eat vegies automatically pass.
There is many factors involved in putting together a great diet, this is another of the things you need to consider when drafting a nutrition plan that meets the needs of your athlete.
This diet wave comes from the book “Alkalize and Energize” & “The pH miracle” both by R. Young. The author claims to have a new form of microscopy which allows one to see the results of an acidic diet - microforms destroying your body. While mycotoxin (poisons produced by fungi) actions are known, the author takes a rather large leap implicating microforms as the source of all evil.
This diet revolves around keeping blood pH around 7.36ish. Almost all foods are acidic this includes meat, fruit, grains and so on. This leaves almonds, barley & wheatgrass shakes, vegetables (raw) and water (laced with hydrogen peroxide).
The book IS written in a conversational style and loaded with pseudo-science. There is at present little to support a radical dietary shift towards alkalinity, little likelihood that anyone other than an extremist could follow the rigid eating behaviour and a small probability that the answer to health/disease/optimal athletic performance is related to a binomial distinction like acidic or alkaline.
Aussiebrad,
Do the math first…speak second. What is this worth if done to the T? 5% more strength or speed? Super ripped? Let’s get real here…
The 1006:
I agree that there are no wonder cures to the ailments that plague modern man, and an alkaline diet will not solve all our problems. I am not familiar with Young’s books, but trends are out there so that a few can make money from the masses.
But I will also say that acid-base balance is one of the most important factors of the human body and influences most bodily functions in one way or other. Many health problems such as arthritis may be linked to acidic diets. And most fruits are base forming.
I myself have experienced that importance of pH balance during my rare encounters with 4x4 relays or 400m hurdles - we used to say ‘the bear jumped on him’!
A decent explanation of the importance of pH balance can be read here:
http://www.chelationtherapyonline.com/articles/p149.htm
If u was referring to my post then I have to say…
Nothing is THAT complicated. Firstly vegetables are not the saving grace. Maybe for Bugs bunny but not for me. I eat vegetables but they are so low in calories that they in no way come cose to meating even half of my calorie requiremnets unless I eat them ALL day long.
To Marshal; Thanx for the response but John Berardi does not list whey and Cassein protein powder in terms of their acidic leval which would have been a good idea so as to compare them to steak, tuna and chicken.
It is important to know about this stuff becuase I’m so in tune with my body that I can FEEL catabolism and I can feel anabolism at their differant times. I have sometimes wondered why I have easily catabolized on certain days and it’s also true that on those days I tended to have very acidic meals. Ofcourse this is not the only reason but cetainly one of them and I am glad I stumbled across this thread as I don’t allways look in the nutrition threads.
By the way… John Berardi, I like his style but he should have included
chocolate for it’s ph leval and Whey and Cassein (but ofcourse he does not sell them seperately so he wouldn’t want to I suppose.)
does someone have numbers to back up such outlandish claims? 600 pound benches and 3.89 40y times?
You still didn’t address getting enough calories from vegetables. Did you get my e-mail on my diet?