Why is vinegar a mood tonic?

[teethgrinder]

I tried this today.

No change. I'll try different vinegar next time, this was white.

I did too the other day. I sometimes sip some vinegar anyway, it's does the same for your lungs, throat and hooter as bleach does to the kitchen sink and clears up the muck.
I felt a little bit better but I wouldn't say it was a mood enhancer. I used cider vinegar.
Chicken is my happy tonic.

[longers]

Other than drinking vinegar and cutting out meat and dairy products are there any other dietary tips that can be used to balance an acid forming diet? I think I might have an acidic diet, not loads of meat but plenty of dairy and I have recently got a tub of whey for muscle feeding duties.

[simonp]

Fresh veg.

[fruitcake]

Fresh fruit juice from the juicer is good.

Fresh lemon juice.  Added to fresh orange juice.  Or on salad with a bit of French dressing.  I found that over-ripe lemons (that have hung around the kitchen a month or too) - are sweeter.  Also, lemon juice added to houmous, or on chips.  Haven't tried it on stir fried vegetables but I think that will work.

[andygates]

I'm still skeptical about this acid diet lark.  Mammal bodies are outstanding centres of homeostasis, and wacky pH swings are a Bad Thing that is resisted by all sorts of mechanisms on all sorts of scales.  Can anyone reference I up?

[border-rider]

Agreed

The stomach is one big low pH acid bath. 

[simonp]

I'm still skeptical about this acid diet lark.  Mammal bodies are outstanding centres of homeostasis, and wacky pH swings are a Bad Thing that is resisted by all sorts of mechanisms on all sorts of scales.  Can anyone reference I up?

Original paper Worldwide Incidence of Hip Fracture in Elderly Women  â€”  J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci

dates from 2000. It has now been shown that supplementing with alkilis in the elderly reduces chemical markers of bone loss.

The idea that you can feed your body just any diet and it'll not have any consequences seems a bit wrong to me. The problem is excessively high animal protein; not something we evolved with.

[andygates]

Interesting.  Nothing to do with acid food, mind.

Now convince me it applies to healthy adults, and not just old women (who are especially prone to bone woes, and for whom an effect may be significant that is trivial in a healthy adult).

[simonp]

Interesting.  Nothing to do with acid food, mind.

It's the acidity of the byproducts of digestion that are the issue. So large amounts of animal protein for instance.

In healthy adults the kidneys should be able to remove the excess. However you will not be young forever. I find it particularly interesting that foods marketed as good for your bones are actually potentially quite damaging. 

[andygates]

Careful, you're verging on hyperbole.