Acidosis & Diabetes

Dietary Acid Load Increases Risk of Diabetes

Researchers have long noted that chronic low-grade metabolic acidosis is associated with a multitude of degenerative diseases, including osteoporosis, kidney disease, hypertension, aging muscle loss, kidney stones, and insulin resistance. Now a  2013 French study has found a strong association between acid load and the incidence of type-II diabetes in women.

In this study, more than 66,000 women were followed for 14 years. Their relative acid load was calculated from nutrient intake and the results were clear. Those women with a higher acid load had a more than 50% increased risk of developing diabetes, as compared to those with a lower acid load. This association tended to be stronger in normal weight women than in women with excess weight. Specifically, the risk for normal weight women with a high acid load was nearly doubled that of normal weight women with a low acid load. Overweight women as a group had about 30% increased risk of developing diabetes.

Overall, this large French study found a statistically significant linear trend of increasing type-II diabetes risk with increasing acid load.

Dr. Susan Brown's comments on the study:

• In the US, 25 percent of those 65 years or older had diabetes as of 2011—and the incidence is increasing every year. The cost to the nation of this largely unnecessary and lifestyle-induced disease is more than $245 billion a year.

• This striking new research finding now adds diabetes to the list of health risks associated with our contemporary acidogenic eating patterns. Our Alkaline for Life® diet helps to prevent diabetes.
  
  
• To reduce the risk of diabetes, we must either increase our intake of alkaline-forming foods (fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, spices) or use appropriate alkalizing mineral compounds. Or, better yet, do both.
  
  
• The average acid load reported in this French study was roughly 50 meq. This is the same figure we have seen reported many times and it indicates that the common diet in France as well as in the US is highly acid forming. In my clinical practice I have seen that our Alkaline for Life® diet can neutralize a great deal of this acid, but often individuals also need appropriate supplemental alkalizing mineral compounds. For example, we know that each daily peak performance tablet is able to buffer 12 meq of acid.

Reference:

Fagherazzi, G., A. Vilier, F. Bonnet, M. Lajous, B. Balkau, M.C. Boutron-Ruault, and F. Clavel-Chapelon. 2014. Dietary acid load and risk of type 2 diabetes: The E3N-EPIC cohort study. Diabetologia 57(2):313-320.