Alka Magnum improves sports performance
11 August, 2019
The increase of acidity in the blood forces us as habitual rHunners to be very well prepared both physically and nutritionally, with the aim of increasing our body’s resistance to effort, delaying the onset of fatigue as much as possible and achieving a rapid post-exercise recovery.
Our stressful lifestyle, living in a highly polluted environment, a diet rich in proteins and fats, or the practice of demanding activities such as endurance sports, result in more and more acids being poured into our bloodstream on a daily basis.
With a balanced and alkaline lifestyle we will achieve that our performance is much higher, that recoveries are faster and that muscle aches and injuries are less frequent.
Throughout this article I will give you one of the guidelines to achieve this, perhaps the most important, applying the concept of alkalinity to your lifestyle. At the time of writing this entry, I have been practicing the Alkaline lifestyle for more than two years, during which I have covered more than 10,000 km, with monthly averages of more than 400 km and without having suffered any injury.
Acidification and metabolic stress
The foods we usually eat, according to the quality of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals and vitamins they provide, generate to a greater or lesser extent a condition of acidity or alkalinity in the organism.
Some foods are more acidic than others. Especially acidic are protein-rich meats and commercial isotonic drinks, with a high sugar content.
It is easy to understand that if our body does not have sufficient capacity to eliminate all the acid waste it generates through the lungs, skin and kidneys, little by little the concentration of toxins in our blood will increase and thus it will become more acidic, i.e. its pH will decrease.
Our muscles will then have difficulty obtaining nutrients from an increasingly dirty and acidic blood that does not provide them with what they need.
The self-regulation of the pH of our organism
The pH of the blood, as we know, is one of the biological variables most closely controlled by the organism. Blood has a pH=7.345 and its range of oscillation is extremely small. So much so that very small variations mean big problems for our health, both by excess and defect.
Acidosis
If the blood pH falls below 7.2, there is depression of the central nervous system, with decreased cardiac contractility, decreased myocardial inotropic response to catecholamines, hyperkalemia, arrhythmias, etc. If it falls below 6.9 it is incompatible with life.
Alkalosis
On the other hand, if the blood pH exceeds 7.55 it causes serious disorders and above 7.8 it leads to death. An excessive dose of bicarbonate, exposure to high altitudes that lowers the partial pressure of oxygen, or pulmonary hyperventilation caused by acute anxiety crises, among other causes, can produce alkalosis.
Carbonic acid / bicarbonate regulatory system. Our blood has alkaline regulators and acid regulators that constantly monitor the pH of the blood to keep it constant at pH=7.345. When the blood becomes too alkaline, the acid regulator works to lower the pH and when the blood becomes too acidic. On the other hand, the alkaline buffer works to raise the pH.
The alkaline buffer is bicarbonate ion (HCO3-) associated with alkaline minerals. Some examples of alkaline buffers are sodium bicarbonate, potassium bicarbonate, calcium bicarbonate and magnesium bicarbonate. Here is the importance of incorporating minerals in our diet through alkaline foods.
The acid regulator is mainly carbonic acid (H2CO3) and the combination of water and carbon dioxide. The carbohydrate once metabolized, is completely converted into carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O).
