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There are many theories and opinions floating around in terms of the proper diet and nutrition for healthy living. Some are based on the five major food groups, others are based on protein and carbohydrate rations and still others are based on a concept predating the rest – balanced body chemistry. Body chemistry here refers to the overall acidity or alkalinity of the body as a result of proper functioning endocrine glands and nutrition. Whereas, a diet high in sugar and protein and low in vegetables and leafy greens would yield an acidic body chemistry.
On the other hand, a diet high in leafy greens and vegetables and low in protein would result in an overall alkaline body chemistry. This means that the pH of the body is more basic than it is acidic. The ideal body chemistry, based on research dating back to the early 1900s indicates that the ideal body chemistry is slightly basic. Much of this research has its roots on studies performed by a dentist, Dr. Royal Lee, in trying to determine why modern society and its diet of processed foods seemed to display a higher incidence of cavities than other native or aboriginal societies.
What Dr. Lee and others deduced was that a balanced body chemistry inherently reduces the likelihood of cavities along with many chronic illnesses and diseases. It optimized the defenses of the body against ailments that modern society finds chronic. Dr. Antoine Bechamp, a French researcher and nutritionist had established the basis for much of this research, whereby he determined that healthy cells are capable to fight off illness and disease when properly nourished and healthy, in direct contradiction to the germ theory of Louis Pasteur. Louis Pasteur, a student of Bechamp’s, believed that the body was inherently susceptible to disease and infection and could not by itself counter germs, regardless of body chemistry or proper nutrition. Case in point, the pasteurization process which was developed in his name.
