I have heard about this acid/alkaline balance thing for years. Undoubtedly there is something to it. But—health faddists invariably leap on small factors, blow them all out of proportion with the real world, and try to make whatever their particular bug is the be-all and end-all of health.

My sister used to work in a health food store. She got interested in some of the claims that were being made for this or that diet, all of which are supposed to have the power to heal the sick, raise the dead, and generally enable one to walk on water. The acid/alkaline balance thing was a fad that was popular forty years ago. But it proved to be no panacea. It faded out, but still emerges from time to time. The internet is full of it (many sites pushing it are also trying to sell you a "water ionizer" for your kitchen faucet). And the internet is also full of all the other dietary fads that ever existed.

Drinking gallons of apple cider vinegar every day was supposed to adjust the PH balance and make one immune to everything from athlete's foot to cancer to hiccups to meteor strikes. But somehow wide consumption of the stuff didn't affect the national health figures. I imagine those who bottled and sold apple cider vinegar experienced a bit of a bonanza, though.

I'm healthy as a horse, save for the aforementioned scoliosis, which is a skeleto-muscular thing and is not affected one way or the other by diet. And I simply eat a well-balanced diet, letting such things as PH balance take care of themselves.

Sure, if I survived on Big Macs and fries every day, and washed them down with Coca-Cola, I would expect to have repercussions. But I'm smarter than that.

But—food fads and other one-solution gimmicks can be just as unhealthy as trying to survive solely on pizza and beer.

Don Firth

P. S. I have seen obesity figures for the United States as high as 40%, and it's true that many Americans eat a totally crap diet, but—why some people seem to regard the nation's poor eating habits inimical to a good government supported public health service, I just don't see. Trying to promote eating a healthier diet (and healthier living in general) should be an integral part of a national health care system.

But this current health care bill, with the insurance companies' noses in the middle of it, is turning out to be the proverbial horse designed by a committee, i.e., a six-legged camel. Too bloody cumbersome to function, which is exactly they way they want it.