MicheleGazelle
New member
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>fondreflections</b></i>
Also, I have been eating a little less healthy lately. I should also be drinking far more water. Michele, thank you for your information. I actually googled acidic foods and need to make some changes...I really need to start adding more alkaline foods into my diet. I use to be pretty good, but for the past 2 months, I have been on 'vacation'...I just get tired of it all...
</end quote></div>
You are welcome.
This is long. It's something I wrote elsewhere. But I thought the info might help you:
------------
If you search on 'acid alkaline food charts', you can come up with several different webpages with lists of which foods are alkalinizing and which are acidifying, like this one: <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.thewolfeclinic.com/acidalkfoods.html">http://www.thewolfeclinic.com/acidalkfoods.html</a> Some of the charts disagree about specific foods. So consider it a place to start and not a final answer. When in doubt, "go with your gut". If you eat it and it makes your gut feel more acid and your lungs feel more inflamed, it's probably acidifying even if the charts say it's not.
You can gradually adjust your diet to rely more on alkalinizing foods and less on acidifying foods. I use corn as a staple food in my diet because it is an alkalinizing food. Apples/applejuice, lettuce, and watermelon are other favorites around here. But google up some charts and find some foods that work with your food preferences.
One study showed that people with CF purge sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) at high rates. Sodium bicarbonate is alkaline and the fact that we purge it at high rates likely contributes to our tendency to be too acid. I have atypical CF and so does my 20 year old son. Neither of us tolerates yeast well. So we make homemade pizza leavened with baking soda instead of yeast. It eliminates something we have problems with (yeast) and adds something we probably need more of (baking soda). So favoring breads leavened with baking soda instead of yeast may help. You can also put a small amount of baking soda in water and drink it. This shouldn't be done too often but given that people with CF purge baking soda at high rates, my guess is that this is safer for us to do than for most people.
I also keep diet tonic water in the house at all times. It contains quinine, a strong alkaloid from the bark of the cinchoa tree. Quinine is used as a drug to treat malaria and there are several synthetic drugs derived from it. Some studies show that such drugs help reduce the acidity of a pwcf and help reduce vulnerability to infection. You don't have to wait for them to be done with their drugs studies. You can go to any grocery store or liquor store and pick up tonic water without a prescription. And I suspect quinine is better than the synthetic drugs: My understanding is that some strains of malaria have become resistent to some of the synthetic drugs but not to real quinine.
Anecdotally, in discussions on cf lists, others have stated that being on a prescription ant-acid for their gut issues have helped with their lung issues. I began working on getting my gut less acid to get the inflammation in my lungs under control. That story can be found here: <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.cfnutrition4life.com/cfnu/readarticle.php?article_id=16 ">CFNutrition4Life</a> This approach has helped me get off several anti-inflammatory drugs. A few years ago, I spent 22 months withdrawing from the 8 or so prescription drugs I was on and I finally stopped taking advil about 6 months ago, after taking it almost every single day for 5 or 6 years. Now that I no longer take advil, I no longer routinely need milk thistle for liver support. Advil is hard on the liver and that is likely why I needed liver support. Advil also leaches one of the b-vitamins and I used to have a lot more trouble getting enough b-vitamins than I do these days.
Viral infections thrive in acidic environments and can't live if your body's ph balance is where it is supposed to be. I get a lot fewer colds than I used to get. When I am exposed to something at work, I come home and shower immediately, wash all my clothes immediately (and sometimes clean my glasses, purse, etc with peroxide and diet tonic water), and drink some diet tonic water. I usually manage to get the problem resolved within 12 hours of coming home from work.
Last, I will note that if you make your stomach too alkaline, it won't digest food properly. In fact, it can cause you to throw up. So it isn't a good idea to rely exclusively on heavy-handed approaches like drinking diet tonic water and baking soda in water. It's better to make dietary changes and rely on those "big sticks" for emergencies and for support while you are trying to get this under control. I used to routinely drink up to 8 ounces of diet tonic water but I usually have only one to two ounces at a time these days. When I do sometimes make my stomach too alkaline, I then have something acidic (like fruit juice) to correct it.
You can also use diet tonic water or a baking soda paste on your skin to help correct the ph of the tissues without screwing up your stomach. I used to use a baking soda paste on my skin when I was a lot sicker and I still put diet tonic water mixed with peroxide in my ears every single night because if I don't I get ear infections. I have noticed that when I skip treating my ears, I have a lot more trouble with my stomach feeling too acid and my lungs feeling more inflamed. I also fairly often wipe myself down with diet tonic water (and/or peroxide) when I am exposed to something. I don't do that to treat my ph balance but it is probably a beneficial side-effect.
And, as **** noted, having a deficiency of certain minerals -- like magnesium -- will make you too acid. I take several supplements every day and if I skip the alkaline minerals (such as calcium or magnesium), I have a lot more trouble with being too acid. For me, magnesium is not something I have a huge crisis over if I run out. But I routinely eat certain foods that are high in magnesium (like almonds and dark chocolate) and I haven't been on anti-biotics in 4 1/2 years and haven't needed digestive enzymes in nearly 2 years. *** can explain this better than I can, but a lot of the anti-biotics pwcf take compete with magnesium for the same receptors which contributes to a magnesium deficiency (you may know all that already). And I think mal-absorption is the other big reason pwcf seem to be inclined to be in serious need of magnesium, which I don't suffer from nearly as much as I used to. So I don't seem to have a major issue with magnesium, though I do at times take magnesium supplements. Still, if that's something you need, not getting it will cause you to be more acid than you should be.
HTH and good luck.
Also, I have been eating a little less healthy lately. I should also be drinking far more water. Michele, thank you for your information. I actually googled acidic foods and need to make some changes...I really need to start adding more alkaline foods into my diet. I use to be pretty good, but for the past 2 months, I have been on 'vacation'...I just get tired of it all...
</end quote></div>
You are welcome.
This is long. It's something I wrote elsewhere. But I thought the info might help you:
------------
If you search on 'acid alkaline food charts', you can come up with several different webpages with lists of which foods are alkalinizing and which are acidifying, like this one: <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.thewolfeclinic.com/acidalkfoods.html">http://www.thewolfeclinic.com/acidalkfoods.html</a> Some of the charts disagree about specific foods. So consider it a place to start and not a final answer. When in doubt, "go with your gut". If you eat it and it makes your gut feel more acid and your lungs feel more inflamed, it's probably acidifying even if the charts say it's not.
You can gradually adjust your diet to rely more on alkalinizing foods and less on acidifying foods. I use corn as a staple food in my diet because it is an alkalinizing food. Apples/applejuice, lettuce, and watermelon are other favorites around here. But google up some charts and find some foods that work with your food preferences.
One study showed that people with CF purge sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) at high rates. Sodium bicarbonate is alkaline and the fact that we purge it at high rates likely contributes to our tendency to be too acid. I have atypical CF and so does my 20 year old son. Neither of us tolerates yeast well. So we make homemade pizza leavened with baking soda instead of yeast. It eliminates something we have problems with (yeast) and adds something we probably need more of (baking soda). So favoring breads leavened with baking soda instead of yeast may help. You can also put a small amount of baking soda in water and drink it. This shouldn't be done too often but given that people with CF purge baking soda at high rates, my guess is that this is safer for us to do than for most people.
I also keep diet tonic water in the house at all times. It contains quinine, a strong alkaloid from the bark of the cinchoa tree. Quinine is used as a drug to treat malaria and there are several synthetic drugs derived from it. Some studies show that such drugs help reduce the acidity of a pwcf and help reduce vulnerability to infection. You don't have to wait for them to be done with their drugs studies. You can go to any grocery store or liquor store and pick up tonic water without a prescription. And I suspect quinine is better than the synthetic drugs: My understanding is that some strains of malaria have become resistent to some of the synthetic drugs but not to real quinine.
Anecdotally, in discussions on cf lists, others have stated that being on a prescription ant-acid for their gut issues have helped with their lung issues. I began working on getting my gut less acid to get the inflammation in my lungs under control. That story can be found here: <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.cfnutrition4life.com/cfnu/readarticle.php?article_id=16 ">CFNutrition4Life</a> This approach has helped me get off several anti-inflammatory drugs. A few years ago, I spent 22 months withdrawing from the 8 or so prescription drugs I was on and I finally stopped taking advil about 6 months ago, after taking it almost every single day for 5 or 6 years. Now that I no longer take advil, I no longer routinely need milk thistle for liver support. Advil is hard on the liver and that is likely why I needed liver support. Advil also leaches one of the b-vitamins and I used to have a lot more trouble getting enough b-vitamins than I do these days.
Viral infections thrive in acidic environments and can't live if your body's ph balance is where it is supposed to be. I get a lot fewer colds than I used to get. When I am exposed to something at work, I come home and shower immediately, wash all my clothes immediately (and sometimes clean my glasses, purse, etc with peroxide and diet tonic water), and drink some diet tonic water. I usually manage to get the problem resolved within 12 hours of coming home from work.
Last, I will note that if you make your stomach too alkaline, it won't digest food properly. In fact, it can cause you to throw up. So it isn't a good idea to rely exclusively on heavy-handed approaches like drinking diet tonic water and baking soda in water. It's better to make dietary changes and rely on those "big sticks" for emergencies and for support while you are trying to get this under control. I used to routinely drink up to 8 ounces of diet tonic water but I usually have only one to two ounces at a time these days. When I do sometimes make my stomach too alkaline, I then have something acidic (like fruit juice) to correct it.
You can also use diet tonic water or a baking soda paste on your skin to help correct the ph of the tissues without screwing up your stomach. I used to use a baking soda paste on my skin when I was a lot sicker and I still put diet tonic water mixed with peroxide in my ears every single night because if I don't I get ear infections. I have noticed that when I skip treating my ears, I have a lot more trouble with my stomach feeling too acid and my lungs feeling more inflamed. I also fairly often wipe myself down with diet tonic water (and/or peroxide) when I am exposed to something. I don't do that to treat my ph balance but it is probably a beneficial side-effect.
And, as **** noted, having a deficiency of certain minerals -- like magnesium -- will make you too acid. I take several supplements every day and if I skip the alkaline minerals (such as calcium or magnesium), I have a lot more trouble with being too acid. For me, magnesium is not something I have a huge crisis over if I run out. But I routinely eat certain foods that are high in magnesium (like almonds and dark chocolate) and I haven't been on anti-biotics in 4 1/2 years and haven't needed digestive enzymes in nearly 2 years. *** can explain this better than I can, but a lot of the anti-biotics pwcf take compete with magnesium for the same receptors which contributes to a magnesium deficiency (you may know all that already). And I think mal-absorption is the other big reason pwcf seem to be inclined to be in serious need of magnesium, which I don't suffer from nearly as much as I used to. So I don't seem to have a major issue with magnesium, though I do at times take magnesium supplements. Still, if that's something you need, not getting it will cause you to be more acid than you should be.
HTH and good luck.