Covid-19’s link to acidity

Digital marketer Rashmi Sinha 28 has been living solo in Mumbai for the last five years Not very long ago she was drawn to the organic foodeating habit ldquoAnd just then the pandemic happened At a time when your immunity plays a significant role in battling the Covid19 infection I felt I was on the right path I reduced chemicals in my diet and practised yoga every dayrdquo she saysSinha began discussing this transition with her friends some suggested that she take it up a notch and try the alkaline diet ldquoItrsquos based on the idea that replacing acidforming foods with alkaline eats can improve your health It doesnrsquot require you to spend a lot in fact it comes free of cost You can use all the resources already available in your kitchen to follow this lifestylerdquo she shares arguing in favour of this dietary change over other fads that requireserious spendingAlmost a year into following the regimen Sinha tested positive for Covid19 a few weeks ago and was asymptomatic ldquoHad I not done the RTPCR test before boarding a flight to Assam where my home is I wouldnrsquot have known that I was infected I was functioning perfectly well and did not have any symptom barring mild body ache I think the fact that I had managed to alkalise my body and improve my health helped me fight Covid19 effectivelyrdquoDr Eapen KoshyThe alkaline diet rocketed into mainstream conversation when British celebrity Victoria Beckham tweeted about an alkaline diet cookbook in January 2013 But Dr Eapen Koshy says itrsquos a practice he has been following for 20 years In the midst of the global pandemic when the world is struggling to understand ways of survival Dr Koshy says keeping the body alkaline is the way forwardIn his latest book Survive Covid By Staying Alkaline Konark Publishers Indianborn Dr Koshy who practises plastic surgery in Lagos Nigeria says ldquoit is not the virus thatrsquos to blame Pathogens and organisms have been part of the ecosystem for eons It is our own weakened immune systems that have responded with fatal inflammatory responsesrdquoAlso ReadCovid19 Are zoos and national parks doing enough to keep animals safeDr Koshy writes in the book ldquoThe answer to the current pandemic and all the other pandemics in the future lies in alkalinising the body In my practice I havenrsquot seen people following an alkaline lifestyle getting sick in the pandemicrdquoHe explains that an alkaline pH of 74 is the perfect balance that a human body should maintain to be free of all illness A pH of 7 is neutral 0 is most acidic and 14 is most alkaline For sustainable life the pH level must be at 74 or close to it He writes ldquoThe white blood cells which are on the frontline of our immune system and protect us from illnesses become lethargic and weakened in an acidic pH balance and they get immediately perked up and alert when the body has an alkaline pH balancerdquoUnfortunately modern medicine has gone down the chemical route instead of looking at nutritional changes that can influence good health he feels ldquoFor instance if you want to bring down your cholesterol level you are prescribed Statins But these are the most dangerous class of drugs We consume white sugar one of the greatest toxins almost every day We want to treat diabetes but do not want to stop eating at midnight Itrsquos habits like these that are leading to the lowering of global immunity todayrdquo he arguesAll food items are either acidproducing or alkaline or neutral But how does one differentiate Dr Koshy explains ldquoWe need more bitter in our lives Vegetables like cabbage carrot etc are alkaline We also have herbs like ginger turmeric and garlic that have more alkalinity in them To move further up the alkaline ladder you can have gooseberry moringa leaves avocado berries leafy greens quinoa olives and nuts Even spirulina a blue green alga and some varieties of the mushroom family are superfoods with high alkalinityrdquoHe suggests that we restrict the consumption of animal milk and milk products ldquoThese are acidproducing mucus producing and cardiac unfriendly Even a cow gets her calf to wean off her milk by the time it is six months old Why are we drinking the milk way into adulthood thenrdquoDr Koshy has bad news for you when he says viruses will keep evolving and are ldquohere to stayrdquo ldquoAnd so we need to learn to be able to live around them Fungi are another whole group of viruses They are also transmitted easilyrdquo he explains pointing to the recent rise in black white and yellow fungus cases in the country ldquoAs the worldrsquos immunity deteriorates fungi can emerge with various lesions The key is to build a strong immune system that remains unaffected by theserdquoSweedal Trinidade Senior Dietetics Officer HOD PD Hinduja Hospital amp Medical Research Centre agrees that the consumption of unprocessed foods fruits and vegetables contribute to good health Besides taking calcium and vitamin D3 naturally our kidneys perform the natural job of producing bicarbonate ion that neutralises acid in blood to regulate the bodyrsquos pHAt 60 Dr Koshy practises what he preaches He runs 5 km every morning drinks turmeric water and does 10 surya namaskars ldquoMost 20yearolds wonrsquot be able to beat me during the runs When the pandemic started last year the first 300 patients that I saw were not wearing an N95 mask I used a regular mask to treat them Resources were yet to be dispatched from China and India and we had to make do with whatever was there at the facility I continue to see patients even today and not once have I experienced COVID19 symptomsrdquoThe only exit strategy from the pandemic he says is alkalisation and upgradation of body immunity ldquoVaccines and masks are mandatory now I wish regular workout alkaline diet and waking up before sunrise were also made mandatory for allrdquoAcidic foods to avoidCoffee High levels of caffeine in this infusion cause the stomach to secrete more gastric acid Therefore after drinking coffee acidity starts to bother you In addition caffeine facilitates the opening of the lower esophageal sphincterChocolate It does not have much acid content especially if it is with milk which reduces its presence but stimulates the production of serotonin a neurotransmitter that relaxes the esophageal sphincter leaving the door open for the acid to circulate towards the mouthSoft drinks These drinks especially cola have a lot of caffeine and produce the same effects as coffee Soft drinks in general also increase the pressure in the stomach and the acid responseAlcohol Alcohol is perhaps the biggest cause of heartburn Not only does it increase acid presence in the stomach but also contains other substances difficult to metabolise that irritate the intestinal liningTomato It is the vegetable with the highest acid content which is also why sugar is always added to tangy sauces Unfortunately this is not enough If you suffer from acidity it is better not to eat a lot of tomatoes natural or processedMeat Each time you eat meat the body needs to do a lot of work to digest it and this causes an increase in acidity levels A large piece of red meat can cause heartburn compared to other foods Therefore it is preferable to choose white and lean meats and limit your intake to two times per weekCourtesy Dietician and nutritionist Shweta Shah