To guess the influence that certain food can have on the human body, it is necessary to identify its pH, which acronym historically stands for the potential, or power, of hydrogen. This is the quantitative measure of acidity or basicity of substances that reflects the concentration of hydrogen ions in them (Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica para. 1). Although the organism can support its homeostasis, it is essential to eat diverse, in other words, consume products with different values of pH.
Generally, the parameter under review is presented as a point on a scale from 0 to 14, where 7 is neutral. pH below 7 marks acidity; products that exceed 7 are basic (Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica para. 1). The degree to which food affects the body correlates with its remoteness from neutral. Thus, the pH of apples can differ from 3.20 to 4.0, depending on the breed, and camembert cheese has 7.44 (pH values of foods para. 3). Apples, therefore, are quite acidic, while the cheese is slightly alkaline.
The influence of these foods on the body is the following. The pH of camembert actually matches that of the blood, for which reason it does not interfere with metabolic processes (Lillis para. 8). Regarding apples, their acidity causes the response of the respiratory system, which lies in increasing the breathing rate for decomposing the acid into water and CO2 and exhaling the surplus as soon as possible. In addition, kidneys begin to produce bicarbonate ions that neutralize the acid in the blood (Lillis para. 24). Therefore, a proper diet can hardly have any critical influence on the pH of acid-base homeostasis; its deviations from normal mark severe lung or kidney malfunctions.
To summarize, it is not reasonable to eliminate acidic food because of its low pH, as the organism has the mechanisms of neutralizing the acid to avoid damage to the bloodstream. Nevertheless, this regulation means the additional load on the respiratory and excretory systems, which makes following a diet of excessive acidity for a long period irrelevant as well. The sensible middle apparently is to consume various food so that products outbalance each other.
Works Cited
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “pH.” Britannica, Web.
Lillis, Charlotte. Good and Bad Acidic Foods. Medical News Today, 2018, Web.
“pH Values of Foods and Food Products.” Arrow Scientific, 2013, Web.