Dietary, metabolic, physiologic, and disease-related aspects of acid-base balance: foreword to the contributions of the second International Acid-Base Symposium.

The role of nutrition in human acid-base homeostasis has gained increasing attention in recent years. Although in healthy humans, homeostatic mechanisms and the kidneys' capacity to excrete acid equivalents can prevent strong diet-induced alterations in blood pH, even moderate increases in blood hydrogen ion levels as a result of unfavorable diet composition can have long-term consequences for the occurrence and progression of a number of diseases. The Second International Acid-Base Symposium, Nutrition-Health-Disease, provided deeper insight and updates in the scientific basis of the relation among diet, acid-base homeostasis, physiology, and pathophysiological consequences.