To lose weight successfully, you must first eliminate acid and always maintain a pH value of 1:3

The first lesson to learn how to lose weight is to learn to recognize the sourness and saltiness of food. The next step is to remember to maintain the acid-base balance in the body. It is recommended that the ratio of acidic and alkaline foods in the diet should be 1:3. The food consumed should not be too acidic or too salty. Otherwise, once the balance is lost, weight loss will easily fail and even cause endocrine disorders.

Weight loss should maintain the body's acid-base balance. It is generally recommended that the ratio of acidic and alkaline foods in three meals should be 1:3. (Photography by Huang Zhiwen)

Family medicine physician Yang Mingquan said that the acidity or alkalinity of food has nothing to do with the taste of the food itself, but is determined by whether the small amount of mineral residue or components that are ultimately produced in the body after the food is digested, absorbed, and metabolized, is acidic or alkaline.

After alkaline foods enter the human body, they react with carbon dioxide to form carbonates and are excreted in the urine, while acidic foods form ammonium salts in the kidneys and are excreted. This allows the human body's blood to maintain a normal pH value of 7.35. If you consume too much acidic food, the body cannot neutralize it and the blood becomes acidic, it will often cause the blood color to darken, blood viscosity and blood pressure to increase, and then acidosis will occur.

Pay attention to the pH ratio of food intake

Weight loss should maintain the body's acid-base balance. It is generally recommended that the ratio of acidic and alkaline foods in the diet should be 1:3. An overly acidic diet will have adverse effects on the body, while an overly alkaline diet will easily cause a deficiency of some nutrients.

The American Encyclopedia of Food and Nutrition lists which foods are acidic, alkaline or neutral:

1. Acidic foods: Cereals including corn flakes, cereal flour, macaroni, oatmeal, and rice. Bread includes white bread, whole wheat bread, and rye bread. Fruits include cranberries, plums and berries. Vegetables include young corn and dried lentils. Nuts include nuts, walnuts, and peanuts. Meat includes beef, pork, lamb, eggs, cheese and so on.

2. Alkaline foods: Fruits include apples, bananas, cherries, grapefruit, grapes, lemons, limes, mangoes, pears, persimmons, pineapples, and watermelons. Vegetables include asparagus, green beans, beets, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, eggplant, lettuce, mushrooms, onions, peas, potatoes, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, watercress, tomatoes, etc. In addition, there are nuts such as almonds and chestnuts, as well as milk, jam, ice cream, American cheese, molasses, etc.

Remember to "excrete acid" when losing weight

There is a saying: "If you want to lose weight, you must first eliminate acid." This means that eliminating acidic toxins from the body can better maintain physical health and also help with weight loss plans. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that people with an acidic constitution are more likely to produce some toxic acidic wastes in their metabolism, which will accumulate in the body over time, causing edema of the limbs, poor excretion, sticky substances in the mouth and tongue, etc. These are what traditional Chinese medicine calls "phlegm". The wastes produced by poor metabolism can easily lead to a physique that is difficult to lose weight and prone to obesity.

How to eliminate acid? In addition to recognizing the sourness and saltiness of food, remember to eat more fresh and nutritious food for three meals:

1. Breakfast suggestions: a slice of whole-wheat toast with an apple, or oatmeal with raisins.

2. Lunch suggestions: a small bowl of rice, fried potato and green pepper shreds, or cucumber and tofu. You can also try whole grain rice with Chinese cabbage and tofu soup.

3. Dinner suggestions: a small bowl of rice with boiled shrimp and fried carrots and black fungus, or sweet potato porridge with fried tomatoes and cabbage.