If you are a health-conscious person, you must be aware that most of the trendy diets and popular nutritional regimens are nothing but a fad that does not offer any health-boosting benefits in the long term. But it doesn’t mean that all nutritional regimens are useless.
Healthcare providers, nutritionist and researchers agree that diet alone can significantly affect your physical fitness, stamina and mood; while minimizing the impact of aging, disease and infectious disorders.
So how to identify the optimal nutritional regimen?
The key to long lasting health and rejuvenation is, learning more about the physiology and biochemistry of your body and organ systems. Human body has a remarkable tendency to heal, repair and revitalize if optimal resources and environment is available. This is possible via different enzymes, growth factors and other chemicals; however, most enzymes are pH sensitive i.e. require certain pH conditions and biochemical environment to work efficiently.
What is normal pH of the body?
The normal pH of the body is slightly basis due to blood and other fluids in our body. The optimal pH range for most tissues is 7.35 to 7.45 (except for some parts of gastrointestinal tract where pH is mainly acidic for optimal functioning of enzymes).
Unfortunately, most foods and beverages we consume are slightly acidic in nature that may shift the natural pH balance of the tissues. Likewise, other sources of this biochemical disruption are:
- All cells of the body naturally produces acid as a result of metabolic activities.
- Most foods produce acid (or waste products that are acidic in nature) after metabolism or digestion. For example, metabolism of proteins produces nitrogen which is acidic in nature. Same is true for carbohydrate metabolism.
- Likewise, diets like corn starch, sugars, refined and processed foods and meat also give rise to acids.
- Intake of certain foods increase the production of acid from gastrointestinal tract such as tea, caffeine, carbonated beverages etc. Same is true for most drugs, pharmacological agents and prescription medications.
In short, our bodies are at much higher risk of biochemical imbalance due to acidity.
A brief overview of alkaline foods:
Alkaline foods are an effective effort of preventing too much acid accumulation in our body. Here are some alkaline foods:
- Alkaline Vegetables – Beets, Celery, Cucumber, Kale, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Lettuce, Onions, Peas, Peppers, Spinach
- Alkaline Fruits – Apple, Banana, , Melon, Lemon, Orange, Berries, Cantaloupe, Grapes Peach, Pear, Watermelon
- Alkaline Spices – Cinnamon, Mustard, Sea Salt, Curry, Ginger,
- Alkaline Water: Alkaline Water:
- Alkalinizing Proteins: Chestnuts, Tofu, Almonds
- Alkaline Fermented foods
How to maintain compliance to alkaline diet?
Make sure to consume more alkaline foods than acidic foods. Healthcare providers recommends that an ideal proportion or ration of alkaline to acidic food should be 80:20. Here are the few tactics that will try to help you in achieving this goal.
- Increase the intake of green fresh and organic vegetables in your meals. Consume large amount of fruits, nuts, healthy oils, alkaline water and seeds.
- Avoid fast food as most processed or refined nutrients are acidic in nature. Prefer brown bread over white bread.
- Limit the intake of caffeine, white pasta, dairy sugar and trans-fats.
Supplements while you are on Alkaline diet:
Use of supplements further potentiate and facilitate the effects of alkaline diet. Here is the list of few supplements that we recommend:
Green powder: Green powder is a powerful alkaline supplement that is made up of powdered grass, wheatgrass, alkaline fruits and vegetables.
Alkaline Minerals: Consumption of alkaline minerals such as magnesium, calcium and sodium in the form of supplements, is also helpful in rapid elimination of body acids.
Omega oils: Omega oil helps in revitalization and rejuvenation of tissues after the removal of tissue acids.