The Alkaline Diet

The alkaline diet is based on principles of holistic and Chinese medicine, which have been used for centuries. An alkaline diet is approximately 75% alkaline foods and 25% acid foods. If the body is toxic, it can steal energy and cause fatigue, have poor digestion, gain weight, have aches and pains, feel ill, and tired. An alkaline diet is a diet that emphasizes, to a varying degree, fresh fruit, vegetables, roots and tubers, nuts, and legumes.

Grains, fish, meat, poultry, shellfish, cheese, milk, and salt all produce acid. These foods mean that the typical Western diet is more acid-producing. The Alkaline diet is a controversial dietary protocol based on the consumption of mainly fresh fruit, vegetables, roots and tubers, nuts, and legumes and avoiding grains, dairy, meat and excess salt, in order to balance the acidity and alkalinity of one's body. Clinical studies show that alkaline water is the best way to obtain alkaline minerals and acid waters like colas quickly deplete them. Our glands and organs function properly in exact proportion to the amount of alkaline and acid levels in our system. Otto Warburg, a two-time Nobel Prize winner, these acidic and toxic cells can then become cancerous (he also stated that these anaerobic cancer cells are destroyed in the presence of oxygen).

The most alkaline foods are fruits and vegetables, and this is why a vegetarian and organic diet is effective against many diseases. A vegetarian and organic diet not only emphasizes foods that are alkaline, it also avoids the most acid-producing foods, animal proteins. This acid-alkaline balance is important because all bodily functions, including respiration, digestion and metabolism, work best at particular pH levels. The general recommendation for reducing acidity by dietary means includes avoiding white bread, white sugar, refined cereals, meat, fish, canned foods, tea, coffee and condiments, while at the same time increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Citrus fruits actually have an alkaline effect on the body and should be consumed to help control acid reflux. One quart of alkaline water consumed 45 minutes before eating a meal is ideal to aid in digestion and avoid acid reflux or heartburn. Apples, mangoes, bananas, citrus fruits and melons help maintain the body ph level at 7. Alkaline foods are raw low-sugar vegetables, lemons and limes, sprouted legumes and vegetables, and germinated seeds and nuts.

The American Jou
al of Clinical Nutrition concluded that alkalizing diets improve bone density and serum growth hormone concentrations; the acidosis resulting from acidic diets contributes to bone and muscle loss. The theory behind an alkaline diet is because our body's pH level is slightly alkaline, with a normal range of 7. The nutrition and healthy eating community have begun to realize that what a person puts in to their body can have a real effect on how healthy they are overall. Headaches, migraines, anxiety, depression, chronic fatigue, asthma,obesity, heart disease, cancer, ADD, autism, and Alzheimer's allcarry a common denominator: acid imbalance.