The aging process
Aging – a medical dictionary definition.
The process of becoming older, a process that is genetically determined and environmentally modulated.
The signs of aging.
Dry and wrinkled skin
Age spots
Wasting of muscles and associated loss of strength
Impaired sight and hearing
Reduced mental alacrity
Less physical mobility and reflexivity
Weakened immune system; more vulnerable to viruses and bacteria
Onset of many degenerative diseases; cancer, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis, and heart disease
What causes aging?
"There are many different processes of aging depending upon different parts of the body, but there is only one cause for all these different processes. It is the accumulation of acid wastes in our body."
- Sang Wang, Author, Reverse Aging
"I’m convinced that toxicity in the form of acidic waste is the primary cause of degenerative disease."
- Dr Sherry Rogers, Author, Detoxify or Die
Mechanical wear and genetics certainly play a part in the aging process. However the effects of environmental toxins, stress and acidic waste from our own biological processes play a far greater part. These all contribute to an excess of acidity in our bodies, known as acidosis. According to many scientists such as Dr Theodore Barody, author of “Alkalise or Die”, and Dr Robert O Young (“The pH Miracle”), excess acidity and toxicity are the primary accelerators of the aging process and the root of all disease.
What is the aging process?
Acidity and its opposite, alkalinity, are measured in terms of pH; literally the “potential of hydrogen”. The lower the pH (meaning more acidic), the more H+ ions are present and the higher the pH (meaning more alkaline), the more OH- ions are present. H+ ions are free radicals which can damage the DNA of a cell when they steal an electron from it, leading to the damage of tissue itself.
Free radical cellular damage is a big part of the aging equation. Hydrogen ions cause oxidation and decay. This is actually the decomposition process that occurs after death, the rotting of the body. In other words the aging process is literally the body decomposing before we die! And it is accelerated by exposure to toxins and excess acidity. Both contribute to acidosis, where more acid accumulates in the body than can be processed.
How do we get acidosis?
Every cell within our body creates waste products. The nutrients from our food are delivered to each cell and they burn with oxygen to provide energy for us to live. The burned nutrients are the waste products. Whether you eat healthy, natural food or consume junk food, it all generates acidic waste. The difference is some foods result in far more acidic waste than others.
On top of this, most of our cells wear out through metabolism or are fatally damaged due to excessive exposure to toxins and acidic waste products. Although replaced by new cells, if these old decaying and dead cells stay in your body they in turn will produce more toxins. You are now on a downward spiraling cycle.
To stay healthy, these waste products must be discharged from our bodies. In fact, your body tries its best to dispose of all waste through the digestive process, urine and perspiration. Virtually all waste products are acidic; for instance urine and the skin surface are both acidic. The problem is, due to toxic and acidic overload, our bodies cannot get rid of 100% of the waste products it produces.
The three causes of acidosis.
The main reason for the build up of acid faster than it can be removed is the stress of our modern life styles. We stay up late and get up early. We do not take time to rest; some of us work more than one job. We may party hard or live to excess. All told, we find ourselves spending more time producing waste products than processing and discharging them.
The second reason is food. Most of the food we like is mainly acidic. Acidic food does not necessarily mean that it tastes acidic, but that the wastes it produces are acidic. Grains and meats are mainly acidic; fruits and vegetables are alkaline. Citric fruits may taste acidic but they are considered to be alkaline because they contain alkaline minerals.
The third reason is our environment. More healthy cells are killed by air, water and soil pollution than the natural death of cells caused by normal metabolism. Our internal world is a reflection of our surroundings; the more polluted our environment the more waste products are created in our bodies.
How acidity leads to age-related disease.
Although the body works extremely hard to neutralise and dispose of excess acidic waste, it cannot completely eradicate it. Instead, your body deposits excess waste in your tissues. These toxins become solid wastes such as cholesterol, fatty acid, kidney stones, urates, phosphates and sulphates. One example is the painful experience of lactic acid build up in muscles after strenuous exercise. Another is gout which is a result of excess uric acid.
In trying to neutralise (buffer) this excess acidity the body is forced to borrow minerals such as calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium from vital organs and bones. This results in a net depletion of these vital minerals over the years which can result in the body suffering severe and prolonged damage.
Acid also coagulates blood. This is the fundamental problem that comes from the accumulation of acidic wastes. Buildup of acid clogs capillaries and prevents smooth blood circulation, which is vital to the carrying of nutrients and oxygen to all of our cells. Too much cholesterol and plaques in the arteries can cause stroke.
When phosphoric acid or sulfuric acid is created by the oxidation of nutrients that contain phosphor and sulfur, the strength of the acid is too strong for the body to take. To overcome this problem, our body removes calcium from our skeleton to make phosphate or sulfate which is a much weaker acid. Urates and phosphate in kidney stones are the combination of acid and calcium. This is how osteoporosis develops.
As the acid condition of the body worsens, it destroys cell walls, corroding veins and arteries and eventually entire organs. The skin of an overly acidic person is markedly more wrinkled, worn, unhealthy and prone to disease compared to someone whose body is alkaline. This acid environment does not cause disease but rather creates an environment that disease thrives in. Acid destroys life.
A balanced, slightly alkaline pH preserves it.
The published science of acid/alkaline balance is relatively new, however the evidence of the benefits of alkaline life is all around us. The world’s written history was recorded on alkaline paper until 1850. From around this time publishers began to use bleached paper, and alum and tannin in the bookbinding, all of which are acid. Those printed records dating from 1850 are now disintegrating at an alarming rate. However, books printed on alkaline paper before 1850 still survive, often in perfect condition.