Is it bad for us to eat too many alkaline foods?

Proponents of ‘alkaline diets’ claim that too much acid in the blood can cause a range of health issues, from osteoporosis to cancer. They advocate filling up on alkaline foods (those with a pH higher than water), but the body’s system for regulating blood pH is actually unaffected by diet. As luck would have it, though, alkaline foods do tend to be healthy – they include fruits, beans, nuts and vegetables. So it’s not bad to eat ‘too many’ of them. On the other hand, cutting down on many acidic foods, such as refined sugars, coffee and alcohol, won’t do any harm.