88HungarianSatanicWarrior666 said:
I could add this much to the coffee,another side effect of coffee, which no one has mentioned in this thread, is that it acidifies the blood (lowers the PH of the blood).
For food and beverages to alter the pH in the blood, it takes a considerable amount that is detrimental to the point of Lever and/or Kidney failure.
Everything has a pH value that's typically charted on a scale of 0-14, though the range can be greater or smaller. Values below 7 (neutral) denote acidic substances versus alkalis (or bases), which rank upwards of 7 on the chart.
This scale helps measure the activity of hydrogen ions in the substance. In food, it refers to the food's residual pH left in your body as the substance gets digested.
While our bodies have a pH value of 7.4 (around neutral), tap water 6.5-8.5, coffee is typically around pH 4.3-5, which is mildly acidic.
Although many people are unaware of the fact, maintaining the acid/base balance of your blood is actually vital to your survival. If the pH of your blood drops below 7.2 or rises above 7.6, then very soon your brain will no longer be able to function normally and you will be in dire straits. As luck would have it, although you cannot consciously detect your blood pH, the human body does in fact have an elegant but effective means of coping with every change in pH, large or small. This relies on three interlinking objects: buffers, the lungs and the kidneys.
Typically any food or beverage more acidic than our own body chemistry can trigger digestive discomfort, inflammation and "burning" side-effects like acid reflux or heartburn.
The body's metabolism produces many acids and bases, but the quantity of acids produced far exceeds the bases. This would lead to a metabolic acidosis if left unchecked, as the pH of the blood would drop due to the excess acid. The kidneys play a vital role in controlling blood pH, as, to put it simply, it is possible to pee out the excess acidic H+ ions or basic HCO3- ions in order to raise or lower the blood pH. As usual, the actual situation is a little more complicated than this.
The kidneys contain little tubes known as nephrons into which the greater part of everything in the blood apart from proteins passes, forming a 'filtrate'. The filtrate then passes along the different sections of the nephron, with different ions being secreted into the tubule or reabsorbed into the bloodstream. The filtrate eventually passes out of the kidney, down the ureter to the bladder, and then out of the body via the urethra. About 85% of the basic HCO3- ions pass into the filtrate, but are 'selectively reabsorbed' into the bloodstream depending on the pH of the blood. This means that the body can choose how much alkali to take back and how much to get rid of depending on the current blood pH. The HCO3- that remains in the tubule reacts with H+ ions that have been secreted from the blood into the filtrate, and passes out of the body.
Meanwhile, another base, HPO42-, also passes into the filtrate. This allows the body to add unwanted H+ from the blood into the tubule, safe in the knowledge that the H+ ions will react with the HPO42-, leaving the HCO3- to be reabsorbed at will. This further aids the reabsorption of HCO3-, and helps to raise the body pH.
Lastly, the amino acid glutamine is held in the cells between the tubule and the bloodstream, and can be broken down by the body can break down into ammonium (NH4+ and HCO3-. The body then excretes the acidic NH4+ into the tubule so that it leaves the body in the urine, while the basic HCO3- is moved into the bloodstream. This mechanism also helps to raise blood pH, and the level of NH4+ excreted in the urine can be used by urologists to detect a respiratory acidosis.