Are You a Mosquito Magnet?

By Dr. Cynthia Horner

Do you find yourself swatting mosquitoes while sitting out on a summer night when others around you seem unaffected?

There is a reason for that.

Mosquitoes are attracted to mild acids. People who eat a diet high in refined carbohydrates, meat and hydrogenated fats (transfats as in margarine) produce a lot of acid in their body tissues.

Refined carbs not only make mosquitoes like you they deplete your body of B vitamins and many minerals. Minerals are depleted because your body uses minerals to neutralize acids. Once mineral stores are used up and acid is not neutralized your body attempts to eliminate acids through your skin and sweat glands, the more acid on your skin the sweeter you are to the little biting devils. Fleas also favor acid tissue.

 

Acid-Alkaline Balance is Necessary in the Human Body.

Many balances are important to maintain good health, acid –alkaline is just one of them. Today many people are experiencing symptoms of acidosis and don’t realize this is why they feel bad. The American diet, consisting of meat proteins, and refined carbohydrates create acid in your body. The many people who sip on coke or soft drinks all day are feeding their bodies a constant acid drip. When alkalizing foods such as vegetables and leafy greens are not eaten in adequate amounts to neutralize the excess acid your body uses mineral stores to neutralize the acids.  The more acidic foods you eat the more acidic you become. According to Christopher Vasey, N.D. author of The Acid-Alkaline Diet for Optimum Health  the symptoms commonly associated with acidosis are loss of drive or enthusiasm, tiring quickly, taking a long time to recover from exertion, irritability, unable to sleep and even depression.  Prolonged acidosis creates a weakened immune system leading to recurring respiratory and urinary tract infections, also mineral loss resulting in osteoporosis, systemic inflammation and compromised enzyme activity. Metabolic enzymes control DNA synthesis, cell growth, function and repair.

What are Acids?

Chemically speaking acids are substances that release hydrogen ions when dissolved in water. Some acids give off more hydrogen than others. Surprisingly the degree of acidity in foods cannot be detected by taste. Meat and cereals are not acidic to the taste but are very acidifying foods when they are broken down and reach the tissues of your body. Your body is always striving to stay in balance. When it finds itself leaning toward acidity it will use alkaline minerals such as calcium to buffer or neutralize the acid. In a constant fight to stay neutralized the minerals calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium can become deficient. The result is thinning of bones as well as an inability of the body to produce metabolic enzymes and an increase in inflammation throughout the body. Does this sound like the problems so many people eating a western diet are experiencing?

You betcha.

Foods and water that are more alkaline will keep mosquitoes away from you.

There is nothing wrong with eating foods that produce acidic waste but if you do not also eat sufficient quantities of food that produce alkaline waste to balance the acid/alkalize equation the net result will be acid tissues. Tap water is highly acidic and many bottled waters are not much better. Bottled water that has been through a process to make it more alkalized will usually have the pH on the label. Look for pH 8 or 9 to ensure your water is alkaline.

 

The following is a list of foods from more alkaline at the top descending to more acidic toward the bottom.

cucumbers, Radishes, Squash ginger, spinach, fried figs

Shitake mushrooms, beets, carrots, celery, tomatoes,greens

soy nuts, olives, molasses, cabbage, lettuce, raisins, beans

apples, pears, bananas, oranges, potatoes, onions, garlic, whey

cow’s milk, goat’s milk, butter, cream, soft cheeses

whole grain breads, pastas, other breads, nuts, natural and wild rice

beer, wine, hard cheeses, fish, eggs, liquor, chocolate, ham, turkey

chicken, coffee and tea, beef,oysters,crab, lobster, pork,veal

hamburgers, polished rice

 

There is an easy test to determine acid-alkaline balance; it consists of measuring the pH (stands for potential hydrogen) in your saliva or urine. Sample pH test kits and the information needed to use them are available at my office.  My lending library has several books on acid-alkaline balance, including Christopher Vasey’s The Acid-Alkaline Diet for Optimum Health. Keep your body from being mosquito food and improve your overall health and wellness by learning more about choosing foods and water that alkalize.

 

 

What my patients have taught me   ” Good health is not found in a bottle, but in sound lifestyle choices.”