Acid Test

Does altering the pH level in your body with an alkaline diet play a huge part in getting you healthy? Faye Remedios gets a bit of a chemistry lesson

Supermodel Elle Macpherson, popularly known as ‘The Body’, credits her fabulous looks at the age of 52 to maintaining an alkaline body. She is such an enthusiastic proponent of this lifestyle that she reportedly carries around a pH balance urinetester kit to make sure she stays in an alkaline state— which is nutty even by Hollywood standards. But she’s not alone: Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston and Victoria Beckham are believers too. Cosmetic physician and author, Dr Jamuna Pai says this trend has basis in age-old Indian wisdom. “It was ancient practice to brush your teeth with a stick from the neem tree, also called datoon. This datoon stick had anti-bacterial properties, and not only helped one maintain oral hygiene but also cleansed the gut. After cleaning their teeth, people would rinse their mouths to expel a yellow fluid called ‘pith’ or bile, which signified an acidic system. They would continue to rinse till the colour of the water changed to nearly white, which was the sign of a clear gut with an ideal acid-alkaline balance.”

READING THE PH