What is an alkaline diet? Effectiveness, safety, and drawbacks!

Alkaline diet is another fad diet that scores low on all ratings for weight loss and health. This involves eating alkaline-forming foods. How healthy and safe is this diet?

The alkaline diet

The alkaline diet is a diet that stresses on consumption of alkaline-forming foods. The advocates of this diet strongly believe that the body pH should remain in the healthy range. But by eating acid-forming foods, the balance tips towards the acidic side. Hence the blood pH drops below 7 and this causes poor health.

The proponents of this diet state that the pH remains good when one consumes alkaline foods. They feel that when one makes smarter choices and eats alkaline-forming foods, the blood pH remains in the healthy range. The body does not have to strain to remove the acids from the body. And hence this results in overall excellent health. This leads to weight control and keeps chronic diseases at bay, according to them.

Foods in this diet

The alkaline-forming foods are mainly plant-based and therefore relatively cheaper. Moreover, the diet is low carb and environment friendly. It does not include consuming processed foods such as cookies, white pasta etc. Even alcohol, eggs, processed meat, red meat, and grains are prohibited.

The diet advises people to consume fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, legumes, and tofu. In the fruits category, the really good fruits are avocados and pineapples. And the other good fruits are bananas and apples. Sweet potatoes, bell peppers, seaweeds, chestnuts, miso, tempeh, and sprouts are considered good for preventing an acidic pH.

The diet recommends having 80% of foods from the alkaline foods category. Only 20% of the foods daily should belong to the acidic foods category. The foods are filling and hence one can shed weight on this diet. But it has other drawbacks.

Drawbacks of this diet

The diet recommendations lack any scientific basis or support. One health expert in the field states:

“The diet is ridiculous and poorly researched,”

“It’s not based on science.”

The human body has an effective blood pH managing tool to regulate its level within normal limits. Acid forming foods can change pH of urine and saliva but not that of the blood.

Moreover, this diet could lack in certain nutrients and cause nutritional deficiencies in the long run. On this diet, one cannot eat out in restaurants. Additionally, people with acute or chronic kidney disease should not follow this diet. They should seek medical consultation before doing so. Moreover, patients who are on medications that affect their blood potassium levels or suffer from certain heart diseases should avoid the diet.

Also, read What is the Ornish diet? Pros, cons, safety, difficulty level

Melissa Keeney, the clinical nutrition manager at Hartford HealthCare St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, Connecticut opines:

“This diet does not show much promise for anyone,”

“By cutting out many food groups, there is a potential for nutrient deficiencies. This approach promotes disordered eating patterns.”