Does lemon juice make my body more alkaline?

So it gets into my respiratory system how?

In the citric acid cycle, it is broken down into ATP (energy) and molecular building blocks (i.e. your Vitamin C). ATP goes through a process called glycolysis that further breaks the molecule down to a chain containing CoEnzyme A (CoA) and an acetyl group. CoA is the waste product. It is oxidized, converting it to CO2, which is carbon dioxide. Every time you exhale, you expel the rudiments of the citric acid that your body discards as waste.

This process is more commonly known as the Krebs Cycle.

It's the citric acid cycle, not citrolysis. It doesn't destroy citrate and expel it, it uses (and regenerates) it during the cycle.

Great job using your buddy's chemistry book, but you've entirely overlooked the human body's respiratory system. Lemon does not alkalize itself. The citric acid is expelled via the respiratory system as a person exhales, and also via the kidneys as uric acid. What is left after the body quickly does away with the citric acid is calcium, magnesium, potassium, and Selenium to name the largest quantities, also known as "alkaline ash." If someone said lemons alkalize the blood, they are wrong. But to say lemons do not have an alkalizing ash is equally wrong.

There is a reason dietitians don't take Chemistry 101 and get a degree handed to them their sophomore years.

So wait....it will give me lemon breath? In!!! :drinker:

Also, in for the chem debate.

Lets just take this down to the most basic of basics. Everyone say it together now:

HOMEOSTASIS

Because screwing with it is bad, and you're body doesn't like that, so no, lemon's ain't gonna change your internal pH.

So...no lemon breath? That's it. I'm out.

Great job using your buddy's chemistry book, but you've entirely overlooked the human body's respiratory system. Lemon does not alkalize itself. The citric acid is expelled via the respiratory system as a person exhales, and also via the kidneys as uric acid. What is left after the body quickly does away with the citric acid is calcium, magnesium, potassium, and Selenium to name the largest quantities, also known as "alkaline ash." If someone said lemons alkalize the blood, they are wrong. But to say lemons do not have an alkalizing ash is equally wrong.

There is a reason dietitians don't take Chemistry 101 and get a degree handed to them their sophomore years.

Where did you get this information?

Sam Houston State University, BS in Food and Nutrition Science. Not my buddy's first-year chemistry book, Chapter 4, How to Calculate a Mole.

U mad bro?:laugh:

The Krebs cycle goes on in our cells, all the time, whether or not lemon water is ingested.

so...congrats on describing respiration (also from what looks to be a beginners text book)? Not sure what that has to do with the wacky claim about blood pH and lemon water. Also not sure why you think common elements like calcium, magnesium, potassium, etc have anything to do with pH or alkalinity.

Magnesium, potassium, and calcium are the previously referred to minerals that play a role in alkanization of the urine (not blood, urine) after eating certain foods.

I don't see what the showdown is about, really. You both said true things, and neither of you fully addressed the effects of lemon juice on pH of bodily fluids.
Oh, right, MFP forums aren't the place for constructive conversations about science, we'd rather beat each other down and try to prove how much more knowledgeable we are than anyone else.

Great job using your buddy's chemistry book, but you've entirely overlooked the human body's respiratory system. Lemon does not alkalize itself. The citric acid is expelled via the respiratory system as a person exhales, and also via the kidneys as uric acid. What is left after the body quickly does away with the citric acid is calcium, magnesium, potassium, and Selenium to name the largest quantities, also known as "alkaline ash." If someone said lemons alkalize the blood, they are wrong. But to say lemons do not have an alkalizing ash is equally wrong.

There is a reason dietitians don't take Chemistry 101 and get a degree handed to them their sophomore years.

OK. I just saw a dietician tell someone on these boards that they needed to cut out refined carbs because they cause inflammation. I'm pretty sure someone just handed her a degree upon enrollment.

So it gets into my respiratory system how?

In the citric acid cycle, it is broken down into ATP (energy) and molecular building blocks (i.e. your Vitamin C). ATP goes through a process called glycolysis that further breaks the molecule down to a chain containing CoEnzyme A (CoA) and an acetyl group. CoA is the waste product. It is oxidized, converting it to CO2, which is carbon dioxide. Every time you exhale, you expel the rudiments of the citric acid that your body discards as waste.

This process is more commonly known as the Krebs Cycle.

It's the citric acid cycle, not citrolysis. It doesn't destroy citrate and expel it, it uses (and regenerates) it during the cycle.

Whose chem book did *you* borrow???

:huh:

Great job using your buddy's chemistry book, but you've entirely overlooked the human body's respiratory system. Lemon does not alkalize itself. The citric acid is expelled via the respiratory system as a person exhales, and also via the kidneys as uric acid. What is left after the body quickly does away with the citric acid is calcium, magnesium, potassium, and Selenium to name the largest quantities, also known as "alkaline ash." If someone said lemons alkalize the blood, they are wrong. But to say lemons do not have an alkalizing ash is equally wrong.

There is a reason dietitians don't take Chemistry 101 and get a degree handed to them their sophomore years.

Where did you get this information?

Sam Houston State University, BS in Food and Nutrition Science. Not my buddy's first-year chemistry book, Chapter 4, How to Calculate a Mole.

U mad bro?:laugh:

The Krebs cycle goes on in our cells, all the time, whether or not lemon water is ingested.

so...congrats on describing respiration (also from what looks to be a beginners text book)? Not sure what that has to do with the wacky claim about blood pH and lemon water. Also not sure why you think common elements like calcium, magnesium, potassium, etc have anything to do with pH or alkalinity.

Magnesium, potassium, and calcium are the previously referred to minerals that play a role in alkanization of the urine (not blood, urine) after eating certain foods.

I don't see what the showdown is about, really. You both said true things, and neither of you fully addressed the effects of lemon juice on pH of bodily fluids.
Oh, right, MFP forums aren't the place for constructive conversations about science, we'd rather beat each other down and try to prove how much more knowledgeable we are than anyone else.

So what's your take on it?

I would also like to know how calcium from lemons affects the pH of your urine.

I'll I've gotten so far is a (bad) description of part of the respiratory cycle.

All I've got, though you would need a lot of lemons to match prescribed dosage of potassium citrate, and its irrelevant to anyone without renal calculi

J Urol. 1985 Jul;134(1):20-3.
Prevention of recurrent calcium stone formation with potassium citrate therapy in patients with distal renal tubular acidosis.
Preminger GM, Sakhaee K, Skurla C, Pak CY.
Abstract
Distal renal tubular acidosis is a common cause of intractable calcium nephrolithiasis. We examined the effect of oral potassium citrate therapy in 9 patients with incomplete distal renal tubular acidosis diagnosed on the basis of an abnormal response to an oral ammonium chloride load. Patients were studied during a control phase and after 3 months of potassium citrate treatment (60 to 80 mEq. daily). Potassium citrate caused a significant increase in urinary pH and urinary citrate, and a decrease in urinary calcium. The urinary relative saturation ratio of calcium oxalate significantly decreased during treatment, while that of bru****e did not change. Potassium citrate also was shown to inhibit new stone formation. During a mean treatment period of 34 months none of the 9 patients had new stones, although 39.3 plus or minus 79.7 (standard deviation) stones per patient formed during the 3 years preceding treatment. The results support the potential clinical advantage of potassium citrate therapy in patients with distal renal tubular acidosis and recurrent calcium nephrolithiasis.

And incidentally I work with a lot of dietitians who are very knowledgable in their field but they would be very low down on my list of people to consult in cases of acidaemia or alkadaemia

Great job using your buddy's chemistry book, but you've entirely overlooked the human body's respiratory system. Lemon does not alkalize itself. The citric acid is expelled via the respiratory system as a person exhales, and also via the kidneys as uric acid. What is left after the body quickly does away with the citric acid is calcium, magnesium, potassium, and Selenium to name the largest quantities, also known as "alkaline ash." If someone said lemons alkalize the blood, they are wrong. But to say lemons do not have an alkalizing ash is equally wrong.

There is a reason dietitians don't take Chemistry 101 and get a degree handed to them their sophomore years.

OK. I just saw a dietician tell someone on these boards that they needed to cut out refined carbs because they cause inflammation. I'm pretty sure someone just handed her a degree upon enrollment.

I'm willing to put money on that being the person with the eDegree in some holistic nutrition.

to paraphrase Johnny earlier....that's the beauty of for-profit education.

I really try very hard since I teach high school students in a Title I school to be supportive of ANY form of education some body is willing to follow through with after high school. I do have to admit to getting a little cranky, however, when my masters in an advanced science based on real field research at a major university gets the same consideration as my friend down the hall who did 18 months of online classes for a masters in education. As she says, damn, you did one of those REAL masters. Hey, she said it, not me.