Excerpts from a talk given by Dr. Mary Ruth Swope.

Acid is the Trojan horse of health in this day and age. My dictionary states a secondary meaning of Trojan horse to be "a person or thing that is designed to undermine from within."

Most Americans are too acidic for whole body health. The acid or alkaline measurement of your body is classified in what is called pH factors. pH simply means potential of hydrogen. The pH scale ranges from 0-14 with 0 being most acidic, 7 being neutral and 14 being most alkaline.

One doctor has stated that he believes there are three root causes to 99% of disease symptoms—genetic weaknesses, toxicity, and over-acidity.

Over-acidity is simply too much acid in our blood, saliva, urine and tissues. The work of Dr. William Lee Cowden, board certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease and clinical nutrition, explored the effect of pH on all of the body's systems. Here are just a few examples of his findings.

Circulatory system: In excessive acid conditions, bacteria, fungi or viruses can attach themselves to the inner wall of the arteries. This can cause plaque to form, narrowing the artery and restricting blood flow which in turn restricts the flow of oxygen and nutrients to tissues. Heart attack and even cancer can result.

Nervous system: When brain cells are too acidic they dysfunction and communication between brain cells and throughout the spinal cord is cut off, which can result in dysfunction in other body systems. In the nervous system insomnia, anxiety, depression neurosis, psychosis and impaired memory can result from overacidity.

Every body system is affected deeply by overacidity.

Many foods in our diet—too numerous to mention here--are too acidic. Here are some of our greatest enemies.

Foods made from white flour (white bread, macaroni, noodles, pizza dough, etc.) act like glue in the tissues of our body. This causes an acid plaque to build up leading to inflammation and congestion of tissue and can lead to tissue death.

Cola drinks are one of the greatest offenders in our American diet. Most soft drinks are in the range of 2.3-4.0 on the pH scale. One biochemist discovered that it takes 32 glasses of alkaline water to neutralize the acidity of one Coca Cola.

A third food that needs special recognition as a Trojan horse is sugar. It fills our tissues with toxins that inflame, infect, imbalance and create dreadful havoc in our cells, tissues, and organs.