Comments on: Alkalize your body? You’ve got to be kidding me…

By: Bip

Bip — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:04:30 +0000

Idiotic

By: Q

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 07:34:22 +0000

Yeah, so this guy apparently says you need “alkaline foods” only by his definition. If you actually took it literally then I’d assume you’d just down a lot of baking soda or something. Of course that might not be so healthy so he’s made up his own definition of “alkaline” what a jackass. I can’t believe he can say this with a straight face.

By: zassounotsukushi

zassounotsukushi — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 03:03:23 +0000

This could mean that my frequent binge drinking has been keeping me slim and healthy!

By: The Thinker

The Thinker — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 08:03:18 +0000

Think it’s the coverage that’s bad? Just look at the youtube comments on this thing. People are eating this up and if somebody calls it quackery then they get jumped on by the mob of idiots. People buy into this stuff without knowing the first thing about it. Somebody needs to send them to a chemistry 101 class.

By: Finky

Finky — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 07:19:05 +0000

So I need to buy this guy’s book to find out what is alkaline and what is acid? Oh that makes sense. It’s not like there’s just some “litmus test” you can do for pH. Um.. I might be wrong on that one actually.

By: Dave G

Dave G — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 02:40:07 +0000

It bothers me a lot less what this guy is saying than the fact that he got on CNN like that and nobody checked out the background or his credentials. They could have done a simple Google search or checked wikipedia. I know the media rarely investigates this stuff like it is supposed to, but I still wish they would do more. Especially because this is CNN. It’s not that I have infinite trust in them, but this crap usually shows up on local news, not a major network.

By: drbuzz0

drbuzz0 — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 01:57:20 +0000

Okay a bit more info I found about this guy: He’s not actually a doctor at all. He got his MS and PhD in research biology and nutrition from a diploma mill that was disbanded a few years ago after a number of complaints and some fraud accusations.

The only college he actually has is that he studied business with a minor in biology in the early 1970’s but apparently did not complete his degree. He is not published in any peer reviewed journals, he’s not been a major participant in any mainstream research studies and is not a member of any major scientific or medical organizations.

The “Alkaline” or “Acid” content of food he is pushing is not actually the food itself, which you could easily test with litmus paper. He claims that the body matabolizes foods it burns them down to an ash level.

Thus the acidity of the food is measured on how it “forms acid or alkaline” from the ash resedue. Although it seems this is not tested directly. I think he just makes it up. In any case, this is obvious bull since much of the food passes through the system and only certain components are absorbed.

By: drbuzz0

drbuzz0 — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 01:42:56 +0000

Yes you’re correct. I didn’t feel like getting into it very deeply, but there is obviously no single pH of the body. There are various fluids, cells and systems, each of which is going to have a very different pH depending on what it is any many other conditions.

It’s a dramatic oversimplification to say that the body is acidic or basic. The chemistry of the body is far more complex than that. But it would be foolish to try to change it dumbly by adding an acid or base to the system.

What makes this guy all the more dumb is that these foods are not, strictly speaking, even alkaline. But that might be a good thing. Actually trying to consume alkaline like crazy will first mess up your digestive tract. If your stomach went alkaline your body would try to compensate by producing much more digestive acids. Your blood or other fluids.. it would be even worse!

So yea, I didn’t go into all the details. But this is no good!

By: DV82XL

DV82XL — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 01:17:47 +0000

There is a normal pH value in each body compartment (i.e. extracellular fluid, plasma, intracellular fluid etc). Intracellular pH may vary in different types of cells and in different parts of cells. Acid-base balance is precisely controlled, because even a minor deviation from the normal range can arrest metabolic processes and severely affect many organs.

This balance is controlled first by the fact that most body fluids are buffered, and second by controlling CO2 load via respiration, and third by the kidneys. These systems will override ant attempt to drive the pH of your body down to the point where they are overloaded and you die.

This quackery is not only stupid, it is dangerous to the extreme should some fool attempt to do it for real.

By: drbuzz0

drbuzz0 — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 01:02:33 +0000

Just wanted to add. I just googled this and found the following blurb for another similar video:

Too much acid in the body is the root cause of all illness and disease. Alkalinity = Good. Healthy bodies have high alkalinity and not acid. Acid is the cause of all pain and health issues. Alkaline can react with acid and neutralize. Go for alkaline and health will improve dramatically as soon as the acid is removed from your system.