Alkalize Our Bodies, Alkalize Our Environment

The oceans are getting acidic and so are we

The wise encourage us to recognize the intricate “fabric of life”—a complex, interrelated whole, woven together by invisible threads of intelligence and information. Any disruption to one segment of this intricate life unavoidably affects the whole. For example, as we poison our soils, we poison our bodies. As we demineralize our soils, we demineralize our bodies.

 

People are questioning the long-term effects of acidosis on the body. This time, think of the environmental problems associated with acid rain, which has been shown to increase the acidity of water to the point where fish and other aquatic life can no longer survive. The same acid rain also causes adverse soil conditions, which can ultimately harm the health of many plants. A primary cause of acid rain is the carbon and sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides that are released into the atmosphere from fossil fuel combustion as well as from various industrial processes. Our soils and waters are taking on excess acid produced by a modern lifestyle.

 

In recent years, scientists have discovered that the earth’s oceans, in particular, act as an enormous “acid sink,” helping to neutralize atmospheric carbon dioxide with their calcium carbonate stores. It is now estimated that the oceans serve as a sink for about 30 percent of CO2 emissions caused by human activities. And estimates are that one third of the acid buffering capacity of the ocean carbonates has already been depleted.

 

Acidic Ocean

 

Unfortunately, this process is leading to the de-mineralization and acidification of the oceans—a condition that contributes to environmental problems such as global warming, shifting weather patterns, and other ecological concerns as well as causing destruction of coral reefs, many fish species, and other aquatic life forms.

Just as acid rain removes calcium carbonates from the ocean, a buildup of acidity within the body results in a loss of the mineral compounds used by the body to buffer metabolic acids. Just as our planet is undergoing the process of de-mineralization of its soils and waters due to the acid products of fossil fuel consumption, we are suffering the de-mineralization of our bodies due to our dietary practices. In fact, it is the urine pH measurement we discuss in our Alkaline for Life® Diet Starter Kit that provides an indirect measure of mineral adequacy. If you are consistently acid you are forcing your body to work with suboptimal mineral reserves.