Alkalizing Foods 

Over the past few years alkalizing has become more of a well known term, especially to those following natural health and healthy diets.  Alkalizing  your body is really quite simple and can be done by making a few changes to your diet.

 

In order for our bodies to maintain the best living environment , the optimal level is close to 7.4. This is at a slightly alkalizing state. Although, 7.36 to 7.44 is also an acceptable range.

In order for blood to effectively, act as a medium for oxygen and other vital nutrients, the pH needs to be close to this specific range. Deviations too far in either over direction of alkalizing or being too acidic can be harmful. However, typically due to the average American diet most individuals are overly acidic and are not concerned or aware of the importance of alkalizing. Really, a balance of these two ends of spectrum (alkalizing and acidic) is key!

Our bodies contain alkaline reserves and will fight to re-balance any deviations of fluctuating levels.  However, the reserves are limited and in order to keep them intact it is important to eat the right kinds of foods which are alkalizing. The excess of the alkali from the alkalizing foods can be stored to neutralize acids in the future.

Top Alkalizing Foods

#1 – Lemons – Lemons are one of the most alkalizing, a great way to start the day is with a glass of lukewarm water with a fresh squeezed lemon or lime.

#2- Leafy greens- Greens  such as: kale, swiss chard, spinach, and turnip greens are very alkalizing for your body and also are packed with rich vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals.

# 3- Root vegetables such as radishes (black, red or white), beets, rutabaga, horseradish, carrots, and turnips are all highly alkalizing.

# 4- Cucumbers and Celery – These are some of the most alkalizing foods you can eat. They quickly neutralize acids and aid in digestion.

# 5- Garlic -  Garlic is not only highly alkalizing it is also very important for overall health as it boosts the immune system, is antibacterial and anti-fungal. Raw garlic is even more beneficial, see my post on the importance of raw garlic in your diet.

# 6- Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and cabbage.

# 7- Avocados – Are also at the top of the list of alkalizing foods. You can see my recent post on the health benefits of avocados and how to ripen avocados. Avocados contain high amounts of essential vitamins, fatty acids, and amino acids.

Alkalizing Secrets

Alkalizing Secret #1

Drink Pure Water – Pure water meaning water that is filtered, distilled water or reverse osmosis. Alkaline water has a pH over 7.5 and has added oxygen to help neutralize acids. A simple way to alkalize your water is with a dash of baking soda. There are also wonderful alkalizing agents you can purchase to buffer and alkalize the water.

TIP: Drink a minumum of  7 ounces of water for every 10 lbs of your body weight. If you weigh 130lbs, you need to drink a minimum of 91 ounces of pure water (that’s about 3 liters).

Avoid: Coffee, black tea and sodas – These drinks are highly acidic and DO NOT count towards your daily water intake.

Alkalizing Secret #2

Eat Celery - One of the most alkaline foods you can eat, celery quickly neutralizes acids. Celery is so high in water content that is also works as an excellent thirst quencher and is improves digestion.

TIP: Eat celery before, after or during a meal.

Drink Organic Super Greens - Organic super greens are known to be some of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet. They infuse the body with easily absorbed vitamins, minerals, amino acids chlorophyll, enzymes, phytonutients and alkaline salts that help neutralize acids in the blood and tissues.

TIP: Drink a green smoothie or take green supplements daily.

Alkalizing Secret #3

Eat Green Salads – Always have a green salad on hand. Some greens that have the highest water content are: cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, celery, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, cauliflower, carrots, and onions. A great dressing would be cold pressed extra virgin olive oil with some lemon juice.  

TIP: Eat a HUGE salad with every meal!

Alkalizing Secret #4

Avoid Dairy - Milk is for babies! Cows milk produces mucous in the human body. Few adults metabolize the protein, casein, in cow’s milk properly because it is for the cow's health, not a human's. Todya, most dairy cows in the USA are injected with sex hormones (Bovine Growth Hormone) to increase their milk production having horrific, accumulative side effects when consumed.

TIP: Almond, soy and or rice milk are excellent alternatives to dairy.

PS: Almonds are packed with natural alkaline minerals like calcium and magnesium, which help to balance out acidity while balancing blood sugar.

Alkalizing Secret #5

Avoid artificial sweeteners - NutraSweet, Sucralose, Aspartame, Saccharin are these acidic they also have other highly detrimental effects on the nervous system and neurological disease. Saccharin even tells you right on the package that it may cause cancer.

TIP: A natural sugar substitute that has had no reported side effects is Stevia.

Alkalizing Secret #6

Eat a grapefruit in the AM.  Grapefruit, similar to lemons, are alkalizing and some people believe it to be a miracle fruit. Eat one first thing in the morning, and wait fifteen minutes before eating a carbohydrate or protein giving your system time to digest.

TIP: Eat a grapefruit first thing in the morning.  

Alkalizing Secret #7

Eliminate red meat, pork, lamb consumption. Substitute chicken, turkey or fresh fish in small quantities. Red meats, pork and lamb are highly acidic a very low water content, not to mention being hard on the digestive system.

TIP: If you must have meat protein, opt for chicken or turkey or wild fresh fish.  

Alkalizing Secret #8

Reduce stress daily - Add yoga, tai chi, meditation, proper breathing and meditation. Stress increases the acid level in your body. When the body moves into stress mode the digestive system shuts down and toxins cease to be eliminated. Thus the more toxins you keep in your system, the more the body will store them away (acids) in fat cells!

TIP: Calming the mind, emotions and body will increase the body's alkalinity. 

Alkalizing Secret #9

Drink fresh coconut juice, eat fresh coconut meat and cook with its oil. Coconuts are a miracle food. The health benefits of coconuts are numerous and it is known to kill fungus, bacteria and viruses. They expel parasites, offer a quick source of energy, boost stamina, improve digestion, food assimilation and bowel function, support tissue repair, aid immune function, dissolve kidney stones, promote weight loss and improve metabolism and so much more.

Alkalizing Secret #10

Minimize and avoid processed and refined foods including white flour, white sugar and food coloring. Our bodies do not digest these chemicals and therefore must:

1. Eliminate them (if you are not hydrating properly this is very hard to do) OR

2. Neutralize them by pulling alkaline buffers where from your bones leaching calcium, or from your blood, leaching iron. OR

3. Store them  (in fat cells) causing weight gain.

 Source:  www.healthextremist.com  ,  www.amirahhall.com