Herb Doctor: Right, that's the NH4+. Alright, how realistic do you think it is to consume. Do you think that consuming things that have an excess of potassium, magnesium and calcium can actively work to raise the pH of someone's environment?
RP: I think the main function is sparing protein that you would use for the kidneys to help to regulate the minerals. And for example, when a person's fasting for several days, they will generally loose more protein than fat because the stress hormones rise and they live on a pure meat diet when they're fasting as their tissues break down. And if during that fast if you just drink minerals - salt water, baking soda, potassium, magnesium and calcium - any of the alkaline minerals will radically spare the amount of protein that you would be consuming and wasting. So a fast is much less stressful and harmful if you're getting the alkaline minerals.
Alkalinity vs Acidity 2012, KMUD : The Herb Doctors
Yep, I mentioned in another thread where people complained about the milk + OJ diet that if you want to fast you might as well do a fast on OJ juice to protect their muscles.