Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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Hello,

I started too thinker whith my diet, and leaning towards more fat, less carbs. I was on a carb cycling scheme to gain muscle mass, going 150gr of carbs on post workout and 50gr non workout.

Since i'm only engaged in powelifting, some walking and one or two Tabata's a week i decided to try 65-70% fat, 15-20% Protein and 10% Carbs, these coming from veggies and soups. On workout days i'm at 3000-3200kcals(180 pounds, 5,9, 12-13%BF) and on rest days between 2200-2600kcals, aiming for strenght gains and slowly body-recomposition.

Howver, i'm a little concerned with my acid base balance, since i eat no less than 500gr-750 of meat/fish a day, plus 4-6 eggs, and almost 100gr of grass fed butter and 100gr coconut oil, intermediated with one or two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and/or grass fed homemade lard.

I gladly consume a wide array of vegetables within the 10% carb threshold: cabbage, cucumber, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, bok-choi, some kelp seaweed and incorporate various spices in cooking: turmeric, garlic powder and gloves(2-6 a day), basil, thyme, oregano, cilantro, pepper(misture of various), parsley, paprika, cinnamon. etc.

Should i be concerneed over my acid base? Could you recomend ways to alkalize my diet, or some concentrate supplements(spirulina or so) to help counteracting the almost 800gr of acid foods a day?

EDIT: What do you guys think about supplements as this one or similar? Supplements wise, i take only Magnesium and Vitamin D3(reducing dose as Summer aproach), and 10gr BCAA pre-workout(fasted).

edited Jun 3 at 17:39

asked Jun 3 at 17:32

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Mscott · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-03 22:49:26Z UTC

The evidence I'm aware of seems to show that acid forming diets cause calcium to be leached from the bone to balance pH levels. I also think the evidence shows meat and animal products are considered acidic because of their protein.

In this study, increasing protein from low to moderate levels improved bone health.

In another study, in which protein intake was increased significantly, the authors stated "We conclude that increasing protein intake from 0.78 to 1.55 g/kg·d with meat supplements in combination with reducing carbohydrate intake did not alter urine calcium excretion". This and other studies discuss the importance of protein on bone health and mechanisms by which protein does not cause net calcium loss from the bone.

Here's a study titled "Controlled High Meat Diets Do Not Affect Calcium Retention or Indices of Bone Status in Healthy Postmenopausal Women". The title says it all.

In this study the authors stated "Under practical dietary conditions, increased dietary protein from animal sources was not detrimental to calcium balance or short-term indicators of bone health".

In this study in which protein intake was increased from 1 to 2.1 g/kg, the authors wrote "These data directly demonstrate that, at least in the short term, high-protein diets are not detrimental to bone".

This study, in which women increased protein intake from 61 to 118 grams a day, provides more evidence that "a high-protein diet has no adverse effects on bone health".

So you're eating what, 150-200 grams of protein a day? I doubt that will negatively affect bone health. I think a good amount of potassium rich fruits/vegetables will be the biggest factor you should consider when thinking about your alkalizing your diet. You didn't specify how much of those vegetable you're eating, but if you're eating a decent amount, I think you'll be fine. I wouldn't worry about eating too much acid forming animal food.

Also, I would absolutely not take that supplement you linked to. It's worthless. And it has castor oil in it, which is a nasty laxative. I would stay away from supplements like that. The ones you're taking now seem fine.

scottts · Answer 2 · 2012-06-04 05:18:21Z UTC

Honestly I've never understood the issue with acid/base balance in food. I can't see how it's not complete hogwash. Your stomach acid is normally about 2.5 ph. Stomach acid is neutralized before entry into the intestines by your body by bicarbonate.

NOTHING we eat has a lower PH than 2.5, so no matter what you eat you're helping to neutralize generated stomach acid. Further PH is a logarithmic scale AND your stomach is also full of other buffering agents to prevent PH from moving too much anyway so I don't think you can even eat enough to move it much closer to neutral than maybe a PH of 3.5 or so.

I don't see how what you eat can have much impact.

Mike T · Answer 3 · 2012-06-03 19:44:16Z UTC

Drink some lime juice? This page says it provides a net alkaline load:

http://nick.zadrozny.com/post/318559399/the-norcal-margarita

If you squeeze a whole lime into a glass and then fill the rest with soda water, it tastes pretty good. Virgin norcal margarita, I guess. You can make your own soda water if you don't want the additives, or you could do it with regular water.

Acid Base balance and Ketogenid Diet

3 Answers