I have been reading a newsletter called "Health Alert" by Dr. Bruce West, there is an article that is interesting:
Dr. West says that "Hucksters in the health world would have you believe that you need to be alkaline and that being too acid is the cause of all diseases. They sell you things to make you more alkaline from alkaline water to alkaline mineral supplements etc. West says your gut must be acid, if you go all out to become more alkaline and you actually encourage your gut to become more alkaline, you will end up in serious trouble. The most profound influence over our health is our microbiome, or the bacterial flora in our guts. These bugs help you digest food, assimilate iron, calcium, and other critical minerals and nutrients, produce hundreds of chemical needed by your body--keeps your heart and brain healthy, and keep your gut calm, healthy and happy.
The truth is that healthy or friendly bacteria in your flora flourish in an acid environment. If your gut becomes too alkaline, you encourage unhealthy, or disease-promoting bacterial overgrowth. These bugs will let you know about it. You will be bloated, crampy, constipated (and/or have diarrhea), and full of gas.
Creating a healthy gut is easy, natural, effective, and inexpensive. In the old days, we used lactic acid in the form of fermented foods like sauerkraut, and even sour milk. The lactic acid in fermented foods acidifies the gut so that it will assimilate minerals. It encourages healthy bacteria while stifling unhealthy bacteria that produce large quantities of gas. These gas producing, unhealthy bacteria an only survive in an alkaline gut.
West says to use mycelium yeast which changes carbs in food into lactic acid in your gut, encouraging a healthy flora. He says to use Lactic Acid Yeast Wafers which works synergistically with the probiotic Pro-Synbiotic. Keep your gut acid and eat whole foods with lots of roughage and fiber for the healthy bacteria in your gut.
I copied the above from Dr. West's Health Alert, makes sense to me, I never really did buy the assumption that we should be more alkaline, I am more acid and it would be rare for me to have any gut problems.
Liz
