how to alkalize your body
There are a variety of ways to alkalize your body. The method used to alkalize the body that will be discussed in this health article is changing the pH of the body by dietary means through eating a high alkaline foods diet. Followers of the alkaline acid diet know that by eating more alkaline foods they can improve the body's pH balance.
Eating a high alkaline foods diet can reduce the potential renal acid load of your body. This can have a variety of beneficial health effects. The alkaline acid diet food recommendations suggest eating alkaline acid foods in a ratio of 80/20 alkaline to acid forming foods. It is argued that this will produce a beneficial pH balancing effect. Typically foods to alkalize your body are vegetables and fruits. Increasing fruit and vegetable consumption means it is possible to alkalise your body by simply changing the foods you eat. Fruit and vegetables are beneficial to health not just for their alkalizing effects. They also have an abundance of minerals and nutrients.
Following an alkaline acid diet can improve energy levels, increase concentration, give a greater feeling of overall well being, make you more alert, improve health in general and ward off illness. Everyone knows the saying an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Perhaps the person who coined this saying followed the alkaline acid diet themselves! How much fruit and vegetables you have to consume to alkalize your body depends upon your current dietary regimen. If you eat a typical Western acidic diet, comprising of high quantities of meat and processed foods, then you will require more alkaline foods than someone who is a vegan. The alkaline acid diet is not about becoming a vegetarian although doing so certainly would have an alkalizing effect upon the body. Rather, by simply increasing your alkaline food consumption and reducing the low nutrition acid foods in your diet it is easy to alkalise your body.
how do you alkalize your body?
Alkalizing the body is not particularly difficult. All you have to do is start eating more fruit and vegetables. Perhaps this is easier said than done. One of the best ways to make it easy for yourself to alkalize the body is to make your own fruit and vegetable juice. Not long ago I bought myself a Magimix le duo fruit and vegetable juicer. Using a juicer means it is possible to have about five servings of fruit and vegetables in around a pint of juice. Depending upon the ingredients you use of course. Some produce more fluid than others. This doesn't necessarily mean that more fluid makes it easier to alkalise your body though. It comes down to the fruit and vegetables you use.
Having one or two fresh juices a day helps alkalize your system and balance pH levels. Even if you changed nothing else in your diet but simply added juices to help alkalize the body this by itself would help reduce the acid load on your body. If you are trying to lose weight however, this might not be a good idea as even though juices are healthy, it would increase your total calories for the day. The alkaline acid diet can certainly be used for weight loss. If this was your aim you would want to increase your alkaline food consumption and use these to displace some acid foods in your diet that are of poor nutritional quality.
Just because a food is classified as an acid food however doesn't mean that it is bad for you. This can often be a confusing aspect for anyone researching the alkaline diet. It is not a case of acid foods being bad and alkaline foods being good. This is too absolute a view point. For example, egg yolks are very acidic foods. They are also full of nutrients. So even though they have an acidifying effect upon the body, this doesn't mean that eating acidic foods is necessarily bad. This is a very good reason not to be dogmatic in applying the alkaline acid diet to all your dietary decisions.
Ideally you want to alkalise your body with fruit and vegetables. Simply trying to eat or drink more servings of fruit and veg than you currently do is the best place to start. If you don't eat much at present you could perhaps do what the saying says and eat "an apple a day". Taking things a step further, having an alkaline breakfast of grapefruit or grated carrots is an excellent way to alkalize your body at the start of the day. How do you alkalise your body?
how I alkalize my body
Personally I feel that taking baby steps whenever you want to make dietary changes is the best way. This is how I am going about alkalizing my diet. Just gently increasing the vegetables I consume on a daily basis. My breakfast is always alkalizing as I use my juicer every morning. Then even if I don't eat masses of vegetables throughout the day I know that by the time it comes to my evening juice I will be reaching double figures for the amount of fruit and vegetables I consume in a day. It is not difficult to alkanize your body, you just have to take the steps necessary to allow you to eat the desired amount of alkaline foods. Fruits that alkalize your body are an excellent way to go.
Other ways that make it possible to alkalise the body include eating a vegetarian meal once a week, or more often if desired. This doesn't mean french fries and donuts for dinner. This kind of vegetarianism is definitely not a good way to attempt to alkalize your body. Simply because it won't work. As stated above, it is not that meat is necessarily bad for you. All that is required to alkalize your body effectively is to eat adequate quantities of nutritious vegetables.
I have found alkalizing my body beneficial mainly for the general boost to my feeling of well being throughout the day. I now sleep a little less than before I changed my diet perhaps because I have more motivation and am involved with more activities. People looking to loose weight can also prosper on an alkaline diet. This way of eating itself may not be enough to loose weight but it certainly can help with how we feel about ourselves. Used in conjunction with an appetite suppressant such as hoodia diet pills it may be a good way to feel better and reduce body weight.
To conclude, alkalizing your body is simply about getting healthier. Eating more nutritious meals whether alkaline or acid foods is going to have health benefits. Including the alkalizing aspect of the alkaline acid diet puts the focus firmly on eating adequate fruit and vegetables while limiting foods with poor nutritional values, overly fatty foods, highly processed foods, foods with additives for example. Even if you don't concern yourself with the alkaline diet, taking steps to alkalize your body will likely have positive health outcomes.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
acid diet
The alkaline acid diet proposes that we increase the quantity of alkaline foods in our diet and limit the acid foods that we eat. This is to help us maintain the healthiest pH balance.
Depending on where we start determines how much we will want to change the food we eat. When I started on the alkaline diet I was eating less than five servings of fruit and vegetables per day. This was definitely an acid diet.
A simple way to think about how acidic your diet is to your body is to count the servings of fresh fruit and vegetables you eat in one day on your fingers. If you run out of fingers, you may well be on your way to alkalinity. Conversely, if you don't make it off your first hand, this indicates an acid diet.
Want Health then Alkalise
Eating an acid diet is not the healthiest way to live. Here are some of the areas alkalizing your diet may help with:
How to alkalize
Perhaps one of the easiest ways to start of on the alkaline acid diet is to make changes to one of your meals. This gradual approach will be less of a shock to the system and may be easier to stick with as it doesn't involve massive change all at one time.
Personally I started with the first meal of the day and thought about how I could begin eating alkaline acid diet breakfast foods. I looked at what I was eating for breakfast, typically toast and eggs. Then decided how I could replace these acidic foods to get a more alkalizing effect in the morning.
I have tried things like eating grated carrots as well as eating a grapefruit breakfast. These are good options to reduce the acidity of the diet. An even better way though simply because it is possible to increase the quantity consumed is to make fresh fruit and vegetable juice.
The official alkaline diet is not a no acid diet. Instead it is more of a high alkaline foods diet. Processed low in nutrition foods are not good for the body. This is something most people know about. People who are interested in the alkaline acid diet often consume alkaline green drinks. These can be make fresh, from powder or even taken in capsule form. It depends whether you would rather have fresh green vegetables or a manufactured product. Powdered green alkaline drinks, even though they are not fresh use a greater variety of raw ingredients compared to a fresh green juice. The advantage of fresh juice is simply that it is made from raw green leafy vegetables. The simple message seems to be, if you want health then alkalise. Not going as far as a no acid diet. This may be as harmful for the body as a high acid diet. If you want to alkalize your body, the simple message from alkaline acid diet food chart lists suggests that we should eat alkaline and acid foods in a ratio of 80/20.
A no acid diet would mean that the pH balance of your body we become unbalanced. This can result in a condition know as alkalosis. It appears that an acid diet alone is unlikely to result in this medical condition. Hyperventilation can cause alkalosis. Eating a high alkaline foods diet can help with acid diet osteoporosis. Vegetables and foods that leave a higher than neutral pH mean that the rate of bone breakdown is reduced. As we get older this can certainly be beneficial.
Alkaline acid diet foods for children are fine. Most parents are keen for their children to eat their greens. Whether we are aware of alkaline green vegetables or simply know that eating vegetables is good for health doesn't really matter. The fact that alkaline acid diet food helps us regardless of our age is the important point. I am always keen for my son to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables for a whole variety of reasons, nutritional content, water content and other alkaline acid diet issues.
Depending on where we start determines how much we will want to change the food we eat. When I started on the alkaline diet I was eating less than five servings of fruit and vegetables per day. This was definitely an acid diet.
A simple way to think about how acidic your diet is to your body is to count the servings of fresh fruit and vegetables you eat in one day on your fingers. If you run out of fingers, you may well be on your way to alkalinity. Conversely, if you don't make it off your first hand, this indicates an acid diet.
Want Health then Alkalise
Eating an acid diet is not the healthiest way to live. Here are some of the areas alkalizing your diet may help with:
- greater energy levels
- reduces aches and pains
- aids digestion
- weight loss
- increased mental clarity
- boost to vitality
- overall well being
How to alkalize
Perhaps one of the easiest ways to start of on the alkaline acid diet is to make changes to one of your meals. This gradual approach will be less of a shock to the system and may be easier to stick with as it doesn't involve massive change all at one time.
Personally I started with the first meal of the day and thought about how I could begin eating alkaline acid diet breakfast foods. I looked at what I was eating for breakfast, typically toast and eggs. Then decided how I could replace these acidic foods to get a more alkalizing effect in the morning.
I have tried things like eating grated carrots as well as eating a grapefruit breakfast. These are good options to reduce the acidity of the diet. An even better way though simply because it is possible to increase the quantity consumed is to make fresh fruit and vegetable juice.
The official alkaline diet is not a no acid diet. Instead it is more of a high alkaline foods diet. Processed low in nutrition foods are not good for the body. This is something most people know about. People who are interested in the alkaline acid diet often consume alkaline green drinks. These can be make fresh, from powder or even taken in capsule form. It depends whether you would rather have fresh green vegetables or a manufactured product. Powdered green alkaline drinks, even though they are not fresh use a greater variety of raw ingredients compared to a fresh green juice. The advantage of fresh juice is simply that it is made from raw green leafy vegetables. The simple message seems to be, if you want health then alkalise. Not going as far as a no acid diet. This may be as harmful for the body as a high acid diet. If you want to alkalize your body, the simple message from alkaline acid diet food chart lists suggests that we should eat alkaline and acid foods in a ratio of 80/20.
A no acid diet would mean that the pH balance of your body we become unbalanced. This can result in a condition know as alkalosis. It appears that an acid diet alone is unlikely to result in this medical condition. Hyperventilation can cause alkalosis. Eating a high alkaline foods diet can help with acid diet osteoporosis. Vegetables and foods that leave a higher than neutral pH mean that the rate of bone breakdown is reduced. As we get older this can certainly be beneficial.
Alkaline acid diet foods for children are fine. Most parents are keen for their children to eat their greens. Whether we are aware of alkaline green vegetables or simply know that eating vegetables is good for health doesn't really matter. The fact that alkaline acid diet food helps us regardless of our age is the important point. I am always keen for my son to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables for a whole variety of reasons, nutritional content, water content and other alkaline acid diet issues.
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