Dr. Wayne Dyer on Food and Chemistry
Faith and Philosophy
| October 5, 2006
| Tim
Though I've never met him, I'd guess
Dr. Wayne Dyer is a probably a nice guy. I have friends who
to base their life around his work, so when he speaks, I know people
are listening.
New Age authors like Dr. Dyer talk a lot about "energy": how to
get it, how to keep it, how to keep lower beings from leeching yours away.
When talking about "energy", such authors commonly shift between physics,
emotional, and some kind of spiritual implications of the word: as though
feeling happy made you more moral, or as though kinetic energy was related
to happiness. Even food is involved in managing this "energy".
For example, in
"Seven Secrets
of a Joyful Life", Dr. Dyer gives his followers this advice:
Become conscious of the foods you eat. Foods high in alkalinity such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, soy, nonyeast breads and virgin olive oil are high-energy foods and will strengthen you, while highly acidic foods such as flour-based cereals, meats, dairy and sugars lower energy and will weaken you.
Certainly, we'd agree that we'll be healthier if we eat better foods, or that fruits and vegetables are better for you than sugar. I have no quarrel with that. Instead, look at Dyer's reasoning and justification: "Acidic" foods take away energy, while "Alkaline" foods increase energy and make you stronger. What should we make of such claims?
First, it's worth nothing that Dyer is confused about what foods are "alkaline" and what foods are "acidic". Based on Dyer's advice, I've picked common foods from this and this guide to food acidity, and sorted them as Dr. Dyer describes. Note that lower pH numbers are MORE acidic.
(For simplicity, where a range was given I used the median value. Also, since I couldn't find "flour-based cereals", I included pure sugar and flour.)
Table 1: Dr. Dyer's
"Alkaline" Foods
|
| Food |
pH |
| Asparagus |
5.0 |
| Bananas |
3.8 |
| Beans |
6.0 |
| Blueberries |
3.7 |
| Celery |
5.8 |
| Crackers |
7.8 |
| Grapes |
4.0 |
| Green Olives |
3.7 |
| Lettuce |
5.9 |
| Onions |
5.6 |
| Oranges |
3.6 |
| Peaches |
3.5 |
| Pineapple |
4.2 |
| Plums |
3.7 |
| Red Apple |
3.9 |
| Strawberries |
3.2 |
| Tofu |
7.2 |
| Average pH |
4.7 |
|
Table 2: Dr. Dyer's
"Acidic" Foods
|
| Food |
pH |
| Chicken |
6.6 |
| Egg |
7.5 |
| Fish |
6.7 |
| Cheddar Cheese |
5.9 |
| Cream |
6.5 |
| Flour |
6.2 |
| Ground beef |
5.7 |
| Ham |
6.0 |
| Milk |
7.4 |
| Pure sugar |
5.5 |
| Roast turkey |
6.3 |
| Average pH |
6.4 |
|
As you can see, Dr. Dyer has it almost exactly backwards: his "low-acid" foods are some of the most acidic foods available, having very low pH values! Conversely, the foods he descibes as "acidic" are, in fact, generally much more alkaline!
Second, if we were to take his advice seriously, we would conclude pure cane sugar (at pH 5.5) is much healthier than blueberries (pH 3.7) because it is much more alkaline (i.e. has a lower pH number). In truth, as far as I understand, there's much more to eating healthy than simply looking at "acidity". Oranges, filled with citiric acid (thus very acidic), are fairly healthy, but saltine crackers or matzah (among the "nonyeast breads" Dyer recommends) are basicly just a big, nutrition-free carbohydrate -- even though they are quite alkaline.
Third, how this translates into a moral or spiritual dimension is even more of a mystery: Is a healthy Nazi a more spiritual person than a sick Nun? Were the Jews in concentration camps less moral than their better-fed captors? Does a quest for having positive feelings generally translate into good morals, or is it exactly the reverse?
My point isn't to mock Dr. Dyer here. As I said at the begining, I'm sure he's a quite nice person. My point is simply this:
It took me only a few minutes to find the given tables, and look up those values. I have only a few hundred readers, at most. If Dyer, who probably has hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of followers, does so little research before dispensing authoritative-sounding advice on areas we can easily check, then why should we trust his advice on spiritual matters, which we cannot as easily check?
First, it's worth nothing that Dyer is confused about what foods are "alkaline" and what foods are "acidic".
This is something I had been puzzled about for a while. I don't follow Dr. Wayne Dyer in specific, but I had heard a lot of health gurus talk about "acidic" and "alkaline foods" and noted as you had that their categories didn't seem to make any rational sense. I've come to the understanding that Dyer is using a shorthand here. He's not talking about the pH of foods, per se, but of the effect that they have on the body. So because citric acid ( or mineral citrates ) make the body more alkaline, they're listed as "alkaline" foods. Meats (which are more alkaline themselves), but make the body more acidic when consumed, are listed as "acidic."
a supporting link
Though I agree with you 100%, it'd be wonderful if the good doctor actually said what he meant. Sometimes attempts to oversimplify can actually increase confusion. Would terms like "acid forming" instead of "acidic" really be that difficult for listeners to wrap their minds around? Another instance of this oversimplification is when masseuses talk about removing "toxins" from the body instead of just saying "lactic acid." There are a lot of things in new age philosophy that bother me, but the pervasive use of language that divorces reccommendations from their underlying reasoning is one of the worst.
Ryan,
First, thanks for an extremely helpful response and link, which makes things perhaps at least a bit less unclear. But yet, re-reading Dyer's exact words, I agree: if he had meant "acid-forming", he should simply have said that. Instead, he talks about "foods high in alkalinity..." which literally means they themselves contain "alkalinity."
So I'd guess he actually did believe, when saying that, that he was referring to their content, not their impact. Thus, I'm guessing he simply heard it somewhere else and misunderstood. But at least that explains where he's getting it from, and what he probably should have meant to say.
Yet another problem is that he's still apparently getting the list wrong: He specificly recommends nuts, nonyeast breads, and olive oil as "alkaline"[-causing, presumably] yet the link you have supplied clearly lists all three categories as strong "acidifiers!"
So my point would still remain: that he's still spouting stuff without even taking the time to make sure he's giving the right advice, such as by understanding -- to at least the degree you do -- what the whole acid/alkaline thing is about, and making sure he didn't recommend the wrong foods, which he still apparently did.
Yes, we can still all agree on vegetables. But so? My mom said as much, without all the mumbo-jumbo.
Next, I'd point out even if that's what he's going for, it still sounds half-baked:
Many people believe eating foods that "make the body (or the blood) acid" is bad for our health. Well folks, this is very simple. Eating any food does not make your blood or your body more or less acid. This is complete nonsense...
Both your bloodstream and all your organs are buffered to maintain the pH level (the standard measure of acidity) within very close limits. Any deviation from this narrow range results in severe, life-threatening illness. You would need to eat an entire bottle of antacids at once to decrease the acidity of your body. There is very little you can do to increase the acidity because your body responds very rapidly so the pH of your blood does not vary as a result of eating.
And here:
Some people believe that 'acid' foods make the blood/body more 'acid' and that this is bad for you. This belief does not make physiological sense and is completely unscientific. There are foods that create acid or alkaline ash, but this affects the pH of urine only. There is no food that will alter the pH level of your body - your blood and organs are tightly buffered to maintain the pH level within very close limits....
The consumption of acidic foods like lemons and vinegar would not alter the level of acid in your blood stream because your stomach produces hydrochloric acid to aid in the digestion of these foods and then when the stomach empties into the intestine the pancreas neutralises the acidity with an alkaline solution containing enzymes. Your body responds very quickly to any changes to blood acidity so the pH of your blood does not vary as a consequence of eating.
Another instance of this oversimplification is when masseuses talk about removing "toxins" from the body instead of just saying "lactic acid."
I'd heard this one previously, and did some research, and found it's similarly incorrect:
Contrary to popular belief, this increased concentration of lactate does not directly cause acidosis, nor is it responsible for muscle pain or "burning". This is because lactate itself is not capable of releasing a proton, and secondly, the acidic form of lactate (lactic acid) cannot be formed under normal circumstances in human tissues.
Lactose is actually necessary for producing movement, rather than being, as a masseuse might assure us, a "toxin."
There are a lot of things in new age philosophy that bother me, but the pervasive use of language that divorces reccommendations from their underlying reasoning is one of the worst.
Careful Ryan! That critical attitude will drain you of energy, and lower your vibrational frequency!
Hmm... Interesting. Lactate production doesn't lower pH after all. Good to know! I guess there are urban legends where I least expect them.
We know that foods cannot change blood pH because of buffering. But perhaps it is possible that the adjustment the body makes to counteract the acid or alkaline has an effect?
E.g. if protein consumption forms acidic compounds in the blood, your body will compensate by releasing alkaline ions to mainain pH. What are the ions made of and where to those elements come from. It is claimed that they are calcium based and therefore a sustained acidic diet has the capacity to reduce bone density.
Is this possible?
BTW I did a professional massage course. The physiology part was often toe curling. I was the only person to question loose terms like "toxins". They even went as far as claiming that "knots" in muscles were lumps of lactic acid!
But perhaps it is possible that the adjustment the body makes to counteract the acid or alkaline has an effect?
Either something is buffered or it isn't. "Buffered" means that variations in food acidity/alkalinity have no effect. By saying, something "has an effect" you're just disputing the statement that our organs and bloodstream are "buffered" against pH changes.
What are the ions made of and where to those elements come from.
An ion is made when some element adds or loses an electron. No "elements" are added. "Acids" are molecules who wish to either acquire an electron, or lose a proton (as Hydrogen) to another molecule. "Bases" are molecules which want to lose electrons or aquire protons.
So the two get together and exchange missing bits and new compounds result. That's called a "chemical reaction."
I did a professional massage course. The physiology part was often toe curling...
You know, it's been a long time since I did any chemistry, so I hope I'm remembering this all correctly, and am not making any mistakes.
But gosh, if I had to teach a course, I would spent at least fifteen minutes reading up on the topic before I started "teaching" others what was true and false.
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First, it's worth nothing that Dyer is confused about what foods are "alkaline" and what foods are "acidic".
This is something I had been puzzled about for a while. I don't follow Dr. Wayne Dyer in specific, but I had heard a lot of health gurus talk about "acidic" and "alkaline foods" and noted as you had that their categories didn't seem to make any rational sense. I've come to the understanding that Dyer is using a shorthand here. He's not talking about the pH of foods, per se, but of the effect that they have on the body. So because citric acid ( or mineral citrates ) make the body more alkaline, they're listed as "alkaline" foods. Meats (which are more alkaline themselves), but make the body more acidic when consumed, are listed as "acidic."
a supporting link
Though I agree with you 100%, it'd be wonderful if the good doctor actually said what he meant. Sometimes attempts to oversimplify can actually increase confusion. Would terms like "acid forming" instead of "acidic" really be that difficult for listeners to wrap their minds around? Another instance of this oversimplification is when masseuses talk about removing "toxins" from the body instead of just saying "lactic acid." There are a lot of things in new age philosophy that bother me, but the pervasive use of language that divorces reccommendations from their underlying reasoning is one of the worst.
Posted by: Ryan on October 5, 2006 01:05 PM