Part IV of the Acid/Alk series is a re-cap:
 
The biological system of the body likes to hum in a slightly alkaline state.  The blood must stay in a range of around pH 7 (it prefers 7.4 pH) and if it gets pushed towards acid, it will pull minerals out of bone to restore the alkaline balance.  A lifetime of this kind of stress results in bone loss and a propensity toward many diseases.  This is because cancer, virus, and bacteria  love and thrive in an acidic environment.
 
When we go through a period of eating that is more typically "rich" and is accompanied by alcohol, the body is ready, willing and able to be a host to just about any old virus or bacteria that comes around.  Hence, Holiday time often brings on the year's worst illnesses.  Since sugar, sodas, and alcohol are the most acidic foods around, it is easy to get sick during the holidays.  Researchers estimate, for example, that it takes 54 glasses of water (pH neutral) to de-acidify just one coke!  People who drink the most sodas seem to have the most compromised immune systems.  This is irregardless of whether it is "diet" or "regular" b/c it's the phosphoric acid in sodas that rob bones.  And it's hard to say if the sugar or the artificial sugar in "diet" types is more harmful.  While sugar wreaks havoc with your pancreas/insulin system, the artificial sugars are "excitotoxins" and damage brain function.  It's not like you'd notice immediately:  aspartame, for instance, can cause all kinds of neurological symptoms, sometimes quickly and sometimes further down the line.  But kill brain cells, it does.  If it's in a can and goes "fizzzzz" don't drink it.  And mineral water isn't all equal.  Some is acidic (Perrier) and some quite alkalizing (Gerolsteiner).
 
So, in a nutshell, the most alkalizing foods are vegetables: green ones and sprouted beans and seeds top the list.  And these surprises:  pumpkin seeds, celtic sea salt, cayenne pepper. Almonds are slightly alkalizing as are buckwheat, quinoa and spelt.
 
The most acidifying foods are the 3 mentioned above (sugar, sodas, alcohol)  plus all animal protein foods:  meats, cheese, milk products, eggs. And, surprisingly, among the most acidifying foods are these from the "plant kingdom":  potatoes, corn, peanuts, barley, oatbran.  And all grains and things made from grains: bread, etc.
And these "extras":  coffee, tea, chocolate, (sniff! sniff!) vinegar, mustard,  dried and canned fruit, MSG, soy sauce and regular table salt.  (it's been bleached and all minerals removed except sodium)
 
So what's a healthy person to do???
Just change the proportions.
As all of the health studies, worldwide,  tell us:  Unlimited vegetable intake and moderate fruit intake guard us against disease - of all types!  They even keep our "bad" genes turned "off" if we eat enough of them.  Juice Plus+ certainly helps us in this quest because it offers so many thousands of plant phytonutrients in the raw form, which is most powerful.  But we still need the bulk and fiber from a considerable intake of plant food.  The handy thing about JP+ is that it offers all of the ones we probably don't get on a daily basis.  Who can eat 17 - 25 different fruits and veggies a day?
 
If we can keep our acidifying foods on the "less" side of the scale and the alkalizing foods on the "more" side of the scale, we'll achieve balance without too much effort.  A fun (well, maybe not so much) exercise is to write down everything you put into your mouth for a day or two and see where you stand.  Not surprisingly most people are heavy into acid-producing foods and a little (read: very) light on the veggies.  This constant strain/stress on the body's delicate balancing act eventually spells trouble in terms of more disease at an earlier age.  Since all chemicalized packaged (ie: "junk") and fast food is on the very acidic side of the page, you can begin to see why degenerative disease has become more prevalent since pre-fab "food" entered the American diet after WWII.
* negative emotions, including stress and fear, acidify the body, even without a bite of food.  (as the song goes:  "Why worry?  Be happy")
 
The last thing we all need is to have one more thing to worry about or feel guilty about.  My intention here is "just info."  Sometimes, with a little bit of awareness, we can make changes that are actually easy and make a huge difference.  Why not eat almonds instead of peanuts, for instance?  Since pumpkin seeds are extremely alkalizing and walnuts are somewhat acidifying, mixing the two gives you a neutral.  yeah!  And if you need "something" to put under your spaghetti sauce or want to thicken a soup, try quinoa instead of pasta.
 
For those new to quinoa, it is a seed from an herb plant.  The "recipe" for it is this:  1 cup quinoa, simmered in 2 cups of water with 1/2 tsp celtic sea salt or 2 tsp of my favorite condiment:  Better than Bouillon chicken broth paste (Mothers Mkt)  Tomato sauce with onions, garlic, other veggies, is slightly alkalizing, the meat in a spaghetti sauce is acidifying, so putting it over quinoa would render a "neutral" dish.  See how easy?
 
More recipes soon!
Happy eating!
mary