10 Ways to Make Your Diet More Alkaline for Better Health

Embarking on an alkaline diet is one of the simplest and most practical things you can do to maintain good health and avoid diseases. Advocates of an alkaline diet cannot overemphasize its importance. According to them, the overriding principle of the alkaline diet is that the nutrients, vitamins and minerals in alkaline-forming foods, supplements and water may help bring the body back to its optimal state of balance. This in turn, ensures the absence of ailments and diseases and infuses the body with tremendous energy and vitality. It is generally believed that over-acidity in the body may result in chronic health problems. Bacteria, viruses and infections are thought to heavily thrive in a highly acidic environment. In fact, pH (potentiality to hydrogen) tests conducted on many cancer patients yielded highly-acidic body milieu. In everyday life, an overly-acidic diet may manifest itself through fatigue, gum and teeth problems, pain and inflammation, and premature aging. An alkaline diet may help your body in several ways. • It may help your body absorb more of the essential vitamins, nutrients and minerals in their natural form. Consequently, it may help your immune system better resist infection and foreign bodies that initiate body imbalances that lead to illnesses. • It may help provide the means by which your body can neutralize acids and toxins that may wreak havoc in the blood, lymph, tissues, and cells. • It may also aid in boosting energy and enhancing vigor to better enable your body to withstand the daily challenges and stress it undergoes. • It may help keep away various aches and pains. Pain in the different parts of the body is generally due to inflammation. This condition may be overcome by an alkaline diet rich in the mineral magnesium. As it is known to support joint and tissue health, this may help ensure that arthritis, rheumatism and other pesky aches may be avoided. Getting into an alkaline diet is as easy as gradually incorporating several changes and modifications into your existing diet. Though this transition requires a major shift in your attitude towards food, it is important to realize that the change cannot be implemented ove ight. The important point to remember is that small changes go a long way. Here are 10 steps toward an alkaline diet that may do wonders for your health. 1.) Consume more vegetables and fresh fruits. Try to incorporate vegetables and fruits in each meal. During breakfast, make sure you eat a piece of apple or banana. It may be better to take them on an empty stomach. Drinking fruit juice instead of coffee may make it better. Try to include some salad with lots of green leafy vegetables during lunch and dinner. 2.) Decrease your consumption of beef, pork or chicken and try to substitute fish (like mackerel, salmon, trout, tuna) or turkey. The latter-named sources of protein contain considerably less harmful fat and have more of the beneficial fats in them. 3.) Avoid eating processed foods such as luncheon meats, canned fruits, breads, peanut butter, canned soups, hotdogs and sausages. You might also want to avoid such condiments as ketchup, salad dressings with mayonnaise, cheese dips and the like. These are packed with acid-forming substances that may wreak havoc in your system once these are digested. 4.) Lower your consumption of sugar and products made from sugar, such as candies, ice cream, softdrinks, cookies, jams, doughnuts, puddings, chewing gum and the like. Foods with sugar are also acid-forming. 5.) Lessen your consumption of dairy products such as milk, cheese, butter, as well as eggs. These are mostly acid-forming foods. 6.) Eat more grilled or roasted food and less fried foods. Fried foods tend to have higher levels of fat and therefore are higher in calories. These foods also tend to trigger higher acidity levels in the body due to chemical interactions of the grease and oil with the food and other substances in the body. 7.) Spice up your food. Most spices like turmeric, basil, bay leaves, tarragon, thyme, cilantro, dill, marjoram cinnamon, curry, ginger, garlic, cayenne pepper contain antioxidant substances and other phytochemicals that are beneficial for your alkaline balance and therefore, overall health. 8.) Increase your consumption of alkaline-forming grains such as quinoa, rye, wild rice, and amaranth as these are good sources of vitamins, minerals, and essential nutrients that form the base of a balanced alkaline diet. 9.) Drink herbal tea instead of coffee. Coffee is highly acid-forming and it may be wise to substitute such herbal teas like chamomile tea, ginger tea, lemongrass tea, fennel tea and peppermint tea to help enhance alkalinity levels in your body. 10.) Drink lots of water. Try to consume at least half of your body weight in ounces of good quality of water each day. If possible, choose spring water, mineral water or alkaline water. If you're taking tap water, try to add a slice of lemon or lime as these tend to enhance the alkalinity of the water. Avoid drinking distilled water as it is acid-forming. Keep in mind though that an alkaline diet does not mean the absence of acid-forming food. An optimal balance of consuming 80% alkalizing foods to 20% acidifying foods is a workable formula for maintaining healthy alkalinity levels. Too much of either foods will result in imbalance that will again trigger the onset of diseases, ailments, aches and pains. So try to follow the 10 practical steps toward an alkaline diet mentioned above and these will gradually create the proper alkaline balance within your body. Remember that when the body's pH levels are in balance, the body reaches the ideal weight and naturally corrects the negative health challenges.