In the Top 10 List above, numbers 1 and 10 directly contradict each other and neither one consider how the stomach or digestion works. Regardless of what you eat, whether it's highly acidic or highly basic, your stomach and intestines compensate to deal with the pH level and when they're done with it it's the proper pH balance for your body. Eating acids or alkali won't change your "internal ecosystem" to make it more or less acid or alkaline.
The pH of your blood is tightly regulated by a complex system of buffers that are continuously at work to maintain a range of 7.35 to 7.45, which is slightly more alkaline than pure water. It's not unlike how the ECM, Mass Airflow Sensor, Air Intake Temperature Sensor, Turbocharger and Intercooler, and the EGR valve all work together to compensate for air mass and temperature to ensure the proper amount of air at the proper temperature reaches the combustion chamber in the engine. Your body does the same thing by utilizing it's Carbonic Acid-Bicarbonate Buffer System, the Protein Buffer and the Phosphate Buffer, as well as by exhaling carbon dioxide and the elimination of hydrogen ions via the kidneys. All of these things regulate the blood's pH to a very narrow range, same as the vehicle's system regulates air mass and temperature in its system.
If the pH of your blood falls below 7.35, the result is a condition called acidosis, a state that leads to central nervous system depression. Severe acidosis - where blood pH falls below 7.00 - can lead to a coma and even death.
If the pH of your blood rises above 7.45, the result is alkalosis, a state that leads to all of the nerves in your body to become hypersensitive and over-excitable, often resulting in muscle spasms, nervousness, and convulsions; it's usually the convulsions that cause death in severe cases.
All the hype about the need to alkalize your body is just that - hype. It's hype not based on an understanding of the basic principles of human physiology. Your blood (plasma) needs to maintain a pH of 7.35 to 7.45 for your cells to function properly. All of the proteins that work in your body have to maintain a specific geometric shape to function, and the three-dimensional shapes of the proteins in your body are affected by the tiniest changes in the pH of your body fluids.
Vinegar has a pH of 2.0-5.0 depending on its strength. Soft drinks has a pH of 3.0 (Coke is 2.0). The stomach at rest has a pH of 3.0-5.0. Right after a meal the stomach has a pH of 1.0-2.0. So ingesting 2.0-5.0 vinegar isn't gonna raise your stomach acid level at all.
Antacids, by the way, have a pH of 7.0-8.9 (Mylanta Supreme Oral Suspension and Extra Strength Rolaids Tablets will
neutralize stomach acid the best).
Clearly, ingesting vinegar or soda pop or anything else is irrelevant to your blood's 7.35-7.45 pH level.
So, acid Reflux.
What is acid reflux, or GERD (Gastrointestinal reflux disease)? It is a condition in which the stomach contents (food or liquid such as stomach acid) leak backwards from the stomach into the esophagus caused by a dysfunction of the
lower esophageal valve (the LES, a sphincter muscular valve that separates the lower end of the esophagus and the stomach). This dysfunction is caused by an increase in intra-abdominal pressure (IAP). Acid reflux occurs when pressure causes gastric distention (stomach bloating) that pushes the stomach contents, including acid, through the LES into the esophagus.
Factors which can contribute to this include overeating, obesity, bending over after eating, lying down after eating, and consuming spicy or fatty foods. But the primary causes of the increased IAP seen in GERD are carbohydrate malabsorption and bacterial overgrowth which causes increased pressure in the stomach.
What causes bacterial overgrowth? Low stomach acid.
When the stomach acid isn't strong enough to break down the carbohydrates, the bacteria have a feast and feed off that bacteria. One of the chief roles of stomach acid is to inhibit bacterial overgrowth. At a pH of 3 or less (the normal pH of the stomach), most bacteria can’t survive for more than 15 minutes. But when stomach acid is insufficient and the pH of the stomach rises above 4, bacteria begin to grow, and at pH levels of 5 or so, bacteria thrives. Stomach acid (HCL) supports the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates by stimulating the release of pancreatic enzymes into the small intestine. If the pH of the stomach is too high (due to insufficient stomach acid), the pancreatic enzymes will not be secreted and the carbohydrates will not be broken down properly.
Common sense and experience should tell you that the ingestion of antacids slows digestion. And people who have to take antacids or acid inhibitors because of heartburn or acid reflux are treating a symptom caused by bacterial overgrowth, and by doing so are exacerbating the problem by creating conditions which are even better for more bacterial overgrowth. More bacterial growth causes more gasses to form in the stomach (the fermentation of carbohydrates that haven’t been digested properly produces gas - increased IAP), which is enough pressure to open up the LES causing acid reflux.
In
Hearburn Cured, Dr. Norm Robillard points out that though microbes are able to metabolize proteins and even fats, their preferred energy source is carbohydrate. Just 30 grams of carbohydrates that escapes absorption in a day can generate as much as 10,000 ml (10 liters) of hydrogen gas. That's a lot. But it takes only a fraction of that amount to open up the LES when you're laying down, as in sleeping.
When stomach acid is sufficient and carbohydrates are consumed in moderation, they are properly broken down into glucose and rapidly absorbed in the small intestine before they can be fermented by microbes. However, if stomach acid is insufficient and/or carbohydrates are consumed in excess, some of the carbs will escape absorption and become available for intestinal microbes to ferment. Neither vinegar nor antacids will help. The only thing that helps is consuming fewer carbs, especially within several hours of going to bed.
Vinegar has a lot of really good food and household uses and it's a beneficial food intake item, but it won't "detox the body" or cure sinus infections or allergies or "populate he gut with friendly microflora." It won't even cure the heartbreak of psoriasis.
However, if you shave your head and massage vinegar into your scalp every day, it'll cure dandruff.
