Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Too much acid in the body, a distinctly abnormal condition resulting from the accumulation of acid or from the depletion of alkaline reserves. In acidosis, the pH of the blood is abnormally low. Acidosis is associated with diabetic ketoacidosis, lung disease, and severe kidney disease. The opposite of acidosis is alkalosis in which there is too high…

Bacteria found in yogurt that can help restore a supportive bacterial environment to an intestinal tract whose normal intestinal bacterial population (“flora”) has been disturbed by disease or antibiotics. Eating yogurt with acidophilus may also be useful in preventing candidiasis (thrush), including in the vagina.

Acid-base balance refers to the mechanisms the body uses to keep its fluids close to neutral pH (that is, neither basic nor acidic) so that the body can function normally.

An unhealthy substance, also known as trans fat, made through the chemical process of hydrogenation of oils. Hydrogenation solidifies liquid oils and increases the shelf life and the flavor stability of oils and foods that contain them. Trans fat is found in vegetable shortenings and in some margarines, crackers, cookies, snack foods and other foods.…

Pantothenic acid is vitamin B5. It is one of 8 water soluble B vitamins that enables the body to break down carbohydrates into glucose to produce energy and to make red blood cells. It is present in foods as diverse as poultry, soybeans, yogurt, and sweet potatoes. No naturally occurring disease due to a deficiency of pantothenic acid…

One of the molecules in the chromosomes of living cells and viruses that plays a central role in the storage and replication of hereditary information and in the expression of this information through protein synthesis. The two chief types of nucleic acids are: DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) which contains the hereditary information in humans and RNA (ribonucleic acid)…

One of the B vitamins that is a key factor in the synthesis (the making) of nucleic acid (DNA and RNA). A deficiency of folic acid after birth causes a kind of anemia, namely, megaloblastic anemia in which there is a paucity of red blood cells and those that are made are unusually large and immature (so-called blast cells). Lack of adequate folic acid…

One of many molecules that are long chains of lipid-carboxylic acid found in fats and oils and in cell membranes as a component of phospholipids and glycolipids. (Carboxylic acid is an organic acid containing the functional group -COOH.) Fatty acids come from animal and vegetable fats and oils. Fatty acids play roles outside the body; they are used…

An acid made by the liver that works with bile to break down fats. On a more technical level, bile acids are steroid carboxylic acids derived from cholesterol. The primary bile acids are cholic and chenodeoxycholic acids. They are conjugated with glycine or taurine before they are secreted into the bile.

One of the 20 building blocks of protein. The sequence of amino acids in a protein and, hence, the function of that protein are determined by the genetic code in the DNA. Amino acids are molecules that (in technical terms) contain a basic amino (NH2) group, an acidic carboxyl (COOH) group and a side chain…