For most people, ‘alkaline’ is probably just a word that they remember from chemistry class that they don’t really associate with anything specific.
The pH scale is what we use to determine how acidic or alkaline something is. It’s a 14 point scale and anything that is a 0 on the scale is entirely acidic. A 7.0 on the scale is neutral and then 14 is entirely alkaline.
There is of course a bit more in depth chemistry that goes into the true distinction between these two things, and it does have an impact on what you eat.
There are some serious, debilitating illnesses and conditions that are generally acidic in nature and can affect humans whose pH balance leans that way. These potential issues include bone problems such as osteoporosis and arthritis as well as eczema, gout and also some forms of cancer.
While certain parts of your body are going to be acidic by default, your stomach for example is always an acidic area, shifting your pH balance can reduce risk of these things.
Having a particularly acidic diet is just bad in general for your body anyway. Think about the fact that you have actual acid flowing around your various body systems. So if you have chronic aches and pains, chronic fatigue or seemingly never-ending acid reflux, it could very well be because of your acidic diet.
Giving the alkaline diet a try is well-worth it and it’s not that hard to make the necessary changes. Here’s a rundown of what to eat and what not to eat on the alkaline diet.
Do eat
1. Fruit
A lot of fruit does tend to be acidic, there’s probably more fruits out there that are acidic and that you need to avoid than there is good alkaline friendly fruit.
Fresh seasonal fruit is what you need to look out for, that’s the stuff that will have an alkalizing effect on you.
Strawberries, raspberries, pineapples and watermelons are all good and despite a high concentration of citric acid, limes are actually an alkaline fruit.
People associate lemons and limes as being very similar, and of course they are, but what limes have that lemons lack is a a lot of calcium oxides.
This allows for hydroxyl ions to form which ensures that limes have a pH balance of about 2.8, which is much firmly on the alkaline side of the scale.
2. Nuts and Seeds
There is an awful lot of nuts and seeds to choose from that will help sway your body towards the alkaline side.
Chestnuts are the best of the bunch. These are about 52% water which means that they are low-fat and low-calorie as well as being alkalizing.
Almonds are also good. Much like the limes we mentioned earlier, almonds are very high in calcium and also very high in magnesium.
This is a great combination for alkalizing and also almonds taste amazing. I’m sure there will be no complaints about including this one in your diet.
3. Essential Oils
You need to be a little bit careful with this one because similar to the issue of fruit, there’s a lot of oils that will have the opposite of the desired effect.
Lemon oil is a popular essential oil but that is pretty acidic as I’m sure you can imagine. The ones to go for are extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil.
You could always just take a spoonful of one of these every day and that should be a sufficient supplement, but I personally like to cook using one them.
Coconut oil would be the preferred one because it’s got so many other health benefits on top of the alkalizing effect that comes from its high water content.
If you choose to use coconut oil however, make sure that it’s 100% raw. Dried coconut oil will actually have an acidic effect.
Don’t Eat
1. Sugar
Like any of us need more reasons to cut down on our sugar intake. You can add this to the list of problems that sugar will cause you.
It’s not all sugars though. Your body needs a certain amount of glucose to function, and you will get this from carbs, but we all consume quite a bit of fructose too.
This is also known as fruit sugar, and it is one of the sweetest and most acidic things that we eat on a regular basis.
It’s everywhere too. You will find it in cereal, processed food, soda, and unsurprisingly there’s also a lot of it in fruit juice.
In addition to being acidic, fructose is difficult for your body to digest and so this means that you will be retaining this acid in your body for longer.
Anything that has fructose in it is essentially poison for your body. So I’d suggest you cut it way down.
2. Dairy
Dairy becomes a problem when the products are particularly high in their concentration of lactose. Cow’s milk, which is something that we consume in many different forms, is the primary root of this problem.
Whole milk is the product that has the most sugar and the most acid in it, but even if you get skimmed milk or low-fat milk you are still taking in a lot of acid.
The other dairy products such as cheese and butter that you’ll be eating could be made from whole milk too so you need to be careful.
It might be wise to just switch to an alkalizing alternative. I’ve mentioned coconuts and almonds already in this article, and you can get milk made from both of those.
2. Meat
A lot of meat does become acidic once it’s been metabolized. Chicken, turkey and beef are the biggest offenders of this, and it’s because they have a compound called purine, which forms uric acid as it’s digested.
This will acidify your blood pH and if it spreads to your joints it could cause gout. It can also cause kidney stones if it ends up in that area.
Conclusion
In regards to the problems that we mentioned earlier such as fatigue and chronic pain, they could be rooted in something else, something more serious.
If you still don’t feel right after taking on the alkaline diet, there’s other things you can try. Your problems could be rooted in an overgrowth of Candida Albicans.
Here’s a guide from The Candida Diet about you can do a Candida cleanse if you think that might help you.
But a particularly acidic diet is a strong possibility too, and it’s worth altering what you eat to see if it makes any significant difference.
As you can see, a lot of the stuff that you’ll be cutting out of your diet is bad for a number of reasons while the additions are beneficial for a number of reasons.
