One issue needs clarification that crops up every so often. The coral calcium issue raised it to a higher level.
There are two types of acid/alkaline (acid-base) or body pH levels that need to be regulated. The body acid /alkaline regulation is different from the regulation of the blood plasma pH level through calcium regulation. Calcium needs to be maintained at a specific amount or percentage in the blood for muscles to contract and nerves to fire, etc. To limit any fluctuation in blood calcium level involves the body with increasing calcium intake or elimination, including the storage of excess calcium into bone and taking calcium out of bones when needed.
Overall body pH regulation is mostly under control by the Kidneys and production of bicarbonate. Yes, certain minerals arriving in food and stored in the body also help, such as Phosphorus, Potassium, Sodium, as well as Calcium and Magnesium. The majority of pH regulation is needed for body metabolism and cellular processes, such as energy production in cells, and fortunately, bicarbonate provides most of this needed buffering. Many cells lining the stomach produce bicarbonate to help control stomach acids.
Bicarbonate originates from the combining of CO2, an element in air and produced by the body, with elements from water molecules, H2O. The body constantly creates acid that needs to be quickly neutralized. Sodium bicarbonate is the element the body uses to control excess acids, and after this function, the bicarbonate is recycled back whole again to be used over and over. This allows Calcium and other alkaline minerals more freedom to perform their many other important functions so they do not have to play a larger role in balancing body pH. The preservation and storage reserve of alkaline minerals is an important aspect for maintaining the body's overall health. This is one of the chief advantages of so-called alkaline diet, other than it abundantly supplies many needed nutrients. Eat your vegetables and some fruits to balance but not completely eliminate proteins and other acid producing whole foods.
Here is an excerpt on this subject from the classic university nutrition textbook,
1966 edition of "Nutrition and Physical Fitness" by Bogert, Briggs, and Calloway. The first edition was published in 1931.
"Although there is no doubt that eating generous quantities of fruits and vegetables makes for good health in the long run, these foods supply vitamins and fiber along with base-forming elements and their beneficial effects may be due to a combination of all these factors." Base-forming minerals are sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Acid-forming are sulfur, phosphorus, and chlorine.
"The body normally maintains a certain store of basic elements, known as the alkali reserve. The chief disadvantage of ingestion of too much acid-forming foods or of formation of too great amounts of acids in metabolism is not in the danger of blood or tissues actually becoming acid, but in the fact that under these conditions the excess acid must be neutralized by drawing on the alkali reserve, and that the body store of base-forming elements may become depleted. When base-forming foods predominate in the diet, not only is there no need to draw on the alkali reserve, but this reserve of basic elements is built up to a point where it is at least a safeguard for the tissues and may be a factor in promoting health."
Remember, the Kidneys control pH by either holding onto certain minerals or eliminating them or others plus forming bicarbonates to neutralize acids. It is in other areas of the body that this change in mineral supplies might compromise health that is under question, not the pH of body fluids. There are still many unanswered questions about pH regulation and effects on bone and body functions. ref
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