Forget cholesterol counts. Forget calories and fat grams. Forget blood pressure, blood sugar, hormone levels, or any of the other markers of health you're used to at the doctor's office. It turns out that the single measurement most important to your health is the pH of your blood and tissue--how acidic or alkaline it is.

Different areas of the body have different ideal pH levels, but blood pH is the most telling of all. Just as your body temperature is rigidly regulate, the blood must be kept in a very narrow pH range--mildly basic or alkaline. The body will go to lengths to preserve that, including wreaking havoc on other tissues or systems.

The pH level of our internal fluids effects every cell in our bodies. The entire metabolic process depends on an alkaline environment.

Chronic overacidity corrodes body tissue, and if left uncheked will interrupt all cellular activities and functions, from the beating of your heart to neural firing of your brain. In other words, overacidity interferes with life itself. It is at the root of all sickness and disease.

The goal, then--and what this program allows you to do--is to create the proper alkaline balance within your body. The way to do that is by eating the proper balance of alkaline and acid foods.

That means 80 percent of your diet must be alkalizing foods, like green vegetables. (That percentage will go down somewhat once you've successfully rebalanced yourself.) That levels much smaller portions of acid foods (such as meat and grains on our plates.

In addition, carefully chosen, high-quality supplement will help you achieve and maintain pH balance.

That's it. That's all there is to it. Get at least three-quarters of your plate covered with alkalizing food, use the supplements as explained in this book, and you'll be good to go.