Robert Young, the creator of the pH Miracle diet, points out in his book that many people s health problems are due to excess acidity in the body. Among other things, Young says that chronic fatigue, excess mucous production, nasal congestion, frequent colds and infections, stress, anxiety, weak nails, dry hair, dry skin, headaches, arthritis, muscle pain, hives and leg cramps are all signs of excess acidity. With the heart beating at a higher rate to push this sticky blood through the bloodstream many of these sticky cell clumps break free from the path and attach themselves to the arterial walls creating further slowdowns in the circulation. Your body needs blood to function if the blood reaching the cells and organs are of poor quality this can have serious repercussions. You literally slow down because your body cannot produce the same physical results as before. The free radical oxidation that occurs when you eat acidic foods makes you age faster. Vitamins and minerals are not absorbed as readily. Friendly bacteria in the small intestine die, which puts the digestive system off balance. In the early 1990s the National Center for Health Statistics found that 15 percent of children between 6 and 19 were overweight, which was twice as much as the results found in the early 1980s. The numbers have grown even more significant. Today, 9 million children are at least 15 pounds overweight with many millions qualifying as obese. Testing out the principles of the pH miracle diet on your own body will allow you to decide what works and what doesn t. The goal of the diet is find a balance of 70% alkaline and 30% acid foods. This means that you can still enjoy the foods that you love as long as they are balanced by alkalizing foods. Alkaline or ionized water provides your body with the right pH it needs for your cells to function. The human body and all of its cells have a pH of 7.4 that is slightly alkaline. Drinking alkaline water helps support this system. Ionized alkaline water can be created in your very own home with the use of a water ionizer.