The latest dieting phenomenon which has taken the health and nutrition sector by storm is the pH miracle diet. Diets are essentially fads which come and go, but more often than not, after the initial hype, people become frustrated with the diets because they do not produce the promised results. Examples of such diets would be the low-fat diet in the 90s, which gave way to low-carbohydrate diets such as Protein Power, Sugarbusters and Atkins, the South Beach Diet.



The pH miracle diet, or the alkaline diet or Young diet, named after its founder Robert Young, has been at the centre of attention since it was first introduced, because it does not follow the high protein, low carbohydrate diet advocated by dieticians for the past few years. How does a pH miracle diet work? The theory behind this is that our body is slightly alkaline. Since our body's mechanism functions best at the alkaline medium, it only makes sense for our diet to be mostly made up of alkaline foods. However, the food that we eat are considered acidic. Foods such as sugar, animal protein, caffeine and packaged food will introduce acids into our body, and thus interfering with the alkaline minerals in our body. Alkaline minerals are magnesium, potassium, sodium and calcium, which protect our body from chronic illnesses.

Therefore, the idea behind the pH diet is to prevent us from falling prey to a host of diseases when these minerals are depleted due to the incorrect pH balance in your body. Do not go away with the notion that the acidic foods you consume are only done in small quantities. In fact, what you put in your mouth is significant enough to affect your overall health. Even though the usual balanced diet and the food pyramid recommended by doctors may seem sufficient, an inclusion of the pH diet will ensure avoidance of food that is detrimental to your health.

FDA often makes recommendations on food that are good for our health, and whole-wheat grain products is one such example. Going strictly by the pH diet theory, however, it falls into the category of "acidic foods" which we should avoid, together with millet, oats and rice. Instead, alkaline grains such as quinoa, spelt and buckwheat are better replacements due to the alkaline properties.

Thus, many of the foods that are supposedly recommended violate the pH miracle diet. Besides wheat, all meats and dairy products are also on the exclusion list. Alternative sources of protein can come from goat milk or vegetables like tofu, beans certain nuts and seeds, except for mushrooms. Fruits that are in the inclusion list are grapefruit, coconut, lemon and lime.

You will only be able to experience the difference after you've embarked on the pH miracle diet. Mind you, it's not just a slight improvement in your health, the effect is revolutionary! The rule of the thumb in any diet is to include more vegetables and fruits and lower the consumption of processed food. This is why opponents of the pH miracle diet claims that pH balance does not play a vital part in maintaining our health since we are already eating healthily. Moreover, there is no solid scientific research to testify that this diet is beneficial to our health. On the other hand, many believe in its potential are it is currently being researched by John Hopkins' University and by Neil Solomon from the United Nations. Having its grounds firm in Chinese medicine and holistic medicine, it is hoped these new findings will prove the effectiveness of the pH miracle diet to its critics, and gain a new following on a quest to better health.