From Dr. Michael Colgan’s website.

Chronic acidosis causes a lot worse problems than just heartburn. When blood becomes acidic, as it does when you eat a diet of processed foods, it causes inflammation. It then draws calcium and other acid-buffering minerals from you bones, in order to raise the pH back to its healthy alkaline range. If your body fails to bring the blood back to an alkaline state, it will continue to draw calcium from your bones, thereby weakening them. In athletes, an acid diet is a rocky road to stress fractures during sport. In everyone, chronic acidosis promotes numerous diseases as we age.

The strenous exercise you do as an athlete also turns the blood acidic. As you know, if you go too hard, your muscles become so acidic that they tie up and will no longer function, until your circulation removes some of the acid. If you stop exercising and drink a soda, as we see many athletes do, the drink produces more acidity, and the body takes longer to return to normal. A coke for example has a pH of 3.0, very acid. By the simple choice of drinking iced green tea, or Evian water instead, both of which are alkaline, you can speed recovery from exercise considerably.

You can reduce the acidic effects of exercise lifelong by maintaining an alkaline system with your food. Eating an 80% alkaline food diet, gradually changes your cellular structure so that it can resist inflammation. A resting alkaline balance also facilitates free movement of muscles and joints, and improves bone strength. An alkaline balance also improves insulin metabolism and lipid profiles, and reduces your risk of injury. It becomes progressively more important as you age.

Want to learn more?  Read Dr. Colgan’s “The Anti-Inflammatory Athlete”.