High Alkaline Foods

Source: You Tube

For more information go to: Energise for Life

Transitioning Your Diet to Alkaline Foods

Source: You Tube

For more information on an Alkaline Diet, go to Energise For Life

Losing Massive Weight with The Alkaline Diet

 

This week Gareth Edwards, our Alkaline Diet Expert and highly qualified nutritionist, highlights ways how you can achieve better health and a healthy weight by following a diet, exercise and hydration regime based on alkalising – permanently!

The Magic Key to Weight Loss and Increased Health
I’ve been alkalising and …… I’ve put on weight. This true statement raises several interesting points, but fortunately is not the case for the majority of clients who seek my advice, wanting to lose weight. It is fairly rare that somebody comes to see me, with weight loss being their only health goal. In reality excess weight is usually associated with other health challenges of fatigue, elevated markers of risk for cardio-vascular disease (e.g. cholesterol) or other concerns.

When you want to lose weight, the reality is that you really want to do is get more healthy. Following a diet, exercise and hydration regime based on alkalising is rapidly proving to be one of the most effective ways of improving your health and achieving a healthy weight – permanently!
Too Heavy or …. Too Thin!
I’ve had many clients who have been delighted at the apparent ease with which they have lost weight when following an alkaline diet, hydration and exercise programme, quite often where other regimes have proved unsuccessful.

The important distinction to make however is, that a programme based around alkalinity and living foods should not only help you to lose weight, but also build health. You are not aiming to restrict calories or deprive yourself. It is about re-balancing your pH and re-energising your body.

Why Alkalise?
Weight gain is one of the ways that bodies can “adapt” to a build up of excess acidity. We are producing acids all the time just by existing and if additionally we start eating and drinking acid forming foods and drinks our body’s ability to adapt can become overloaded.
When the acids can’t get out some people’s body’s start to warehouse them in fatty tissue, while in other people’s case they actually start to eat into the body and “burn it up”, making them too thin.

The Magic Key to Weight Loss and Increased Health:
When one listens closely to testimonials from people who have succeeded in shedding unwanted pounds, through alkalising, a common theme is the dramatic (I repeat ….!) increase of their intake of green plant foods. Spinach, kale, chard, parsley, watercress, cucumbers, wheatgrass and even the green leaves that grow on the top of beetroot, lie at the heart of rebuilding your health (ergo: loosing unwanted kilos / rebuilding an undernourished body).

These plant foods have a plethora of weight normalising qualities:

1. They are low in sugar. (Stage 1 of any weight loss / health building programme – reduce your sugar intake).
2. They are high in nutrients. (They are high in vitamins and minerals essential to the functioning of a healthy and energised body)
3. When raw they have a high level of electrons or negative (alkalising) charge. (This quality can facilitate energetic “flow” within your body.)
4. They contain high amounts of magnesium. (Essential to make your heart pump and for elimination of unwanted matter through … the back door)
5. They are packed with chlorophyll. (The essential building block for healthy red blood cells – your health / weight loss “currency”)
6. They contain high levels of fibre. (Weight loss / health gain is as much about shifting unwanted matter out of your body as it is what you put in. (Remember that other sources of fibre such as bran and apples can be acidifying.)


But Vegetables are Hard to Buy / Prepare / Store. I don’t like Green Vegetables. How Can I Eat the Quantity Required?

If you have ever had any of these thoughts (and even if you haven’t!), put an order in for green powder and drops (or start drinking the ones that are lingering in your cupboard!). It’s pretty close to the real thing and you can get buckets under your belt with relatively little hassle. The alkaline water (mixed with pH drops), should make you pee more. That’s a good thing. It’s another route out for the acid.

Breaking the Vicious Cycle:
Many people who find themselves carrying a pound or two more than they would like, have an additional challenge. They actually lack the energy to get up and do much about it. Drinking or eating your greens and other nutrient dense plant foods along with alkaline fluids, healthy fats and salt should help you to start feeling like you want to get up and start running around or at least moving more. Actively choosing public transport (for example) is better for you and better for the planet.

Winter Olympics:
Exercising more in the Northern hemisphere at this time of year, can be a tough call if you don’t aspire to being the next Amy Williams (1st British individual gold medal since the Stone Age at the Winter Olympics).

Some people recommend re-bounding. Apparently you can get a lot more out of short periods than with other forms of exercise. You can also listen to Owl City or Lady Gaga while you are doing it and you don’t have to go to the gym if you buy one from Energise For Life (such as The Juice Master Energise Folding Rebounder) !

Increasing your respiration rate to help eliminate unwanted acids should definitely help. Taking things to the next level and building up a sweat can really help to get the acids out too. Make sure you don’t go anaerobic for too long tough as that will build up acids. Hydrating with greens and pH drops and alkaline food afterwards is essential too.

Should you Follow an Alkalising Regime if you Feel that you are Underweight?

In a word: YES!
In my own case I dropped quite a lot of weight when I started alkalising. I have put on three kilos in recent months even though I’m on a (mainly!) alkaline diet. Before you start visualising a very large person, I’m still well within the healthy range for body mass index (BMI).
If you feel you’re under weight consider adding pHour salts and greens (such as Dr Young’s Doc Broc Greens) to your daily routine. Sometimes an inability to digest and absorb food is a major contributory factor to being underweight.

What To Do if it Doesn’t Seem to Work ….
If you have increased your intake of alkaline green foods, you are drinking your greens and pH drops, exercising more and still don’t seem to be getting the results you want here are some other factors to consider.

• Look after yourself emotionally. Over eating can be a way of “pushing down” unwanted feelings. I’d particularly recommend The Journey intensive with Brandon Bays for helping to get things moving in a friendly and relaxed environment.
• Look at other areas of your life. Do you have a sense of purpose? Do you really enjoy your job?
• Are you regularly taking any medication including oral contraceptives or have a hormone releasing coil fitted? Almost all medications have an acidifying effect on the body. Discussing possibilities for reducing your dose, maybe even stopping with a qualified physician could be a way forward. (You should consult your GP before doing this).
• Consider using clay (such as Young pHorever Terra pHirma Montmorillonite Clay)to help draw acids from your body. Mix it with psyllium (such as Ispaghula Husk) if you experience any constipation.

Remember:
As acids are mobilised from body tissue, you may experience pain and digestive upset. Keep your alkaline hydration up and consider using pHour salts or acupuncture for pain management. (You should consult a pH aware physician if symptoms persist).
Action Plan for Weight Loss / Building Health:

1. Alkalise! Drink your greens (such as Dr Young’s Doc Broc Greens or perfectlyhealthy Mega Greens with MSM), eat more green vegetables and fruits (cucumbers, avocados). Make green juices (vegetable based) and green smoothys. The Energise For Life Alkaline Lifestyle Course and recipe books should help.
2. Use Dr. Young’s pHlavor spray and your green drink to help overcome food cravings, for carbs, sugar or chocolate.
3. Exercise. Walk, swim, rebound, dance, run around with the kids, take the stairs not the lift. Gently to start with.
4. Avoid constipation! Fresh vegetables and pHour salts should help to keep you regular.
5. Buy and read the pH miracle for weight loss. Don’t get too hung up the finer detail. I’ve had clients lose huge amounts of weight with greens, pH drops, pHour salts and a mainly alkaline diet and hydration plan.

General Note: if you experience any adverse symptoms, you are advised to seek the guidance of a nutritionally informed physician.

Source: Energise for Life

12 Reasons To Follow An Alkaline Diet

 

If you have read my post on acidosis & avoiding acids then you will know a little bit about how being acid is not the best of ideas if you want to remain healthy, vibrant and full of energy.
Well, here are my top twelve reasons to avoid acids & stay alkaline!

ACIDOSIS:

• Makes Us Fat! As discussed in the acidosis post I mentioned earlier – the body creates fat cells in order to protect our organs from excess acids. The fat is designed to carry these acid wastes away to other, less critical areas of the body and it clings to these organs to provide protection. Once the body is rid of acid wastes (through a healthier diet and exercise) it no longer needs to hang onto these fats for protection and it lets them go. 
  Alongside this – weight problems are also compounded by the result of yeast and fungus overgrowths wreaking havoc on our digestive systems. And guess what – yeast and fungus thrive in an acidic environment. Because your body is now not able to properly process foods and extract the full nutrition from the foods that you eat – your body is always telling you that you are hungry. To compound this problem, the yeasts and fungus have the greatest shout in this signal to the brain – and what do they make you hungry for – more sugar, which further fuels the yeast growth.
  Following a diet of mostly alkaline foods (fresh and raw vegetables, salads, fresh alkaline fruits, seeds, nuts and pure alkaline water) will clean your system of the yeast, fungus and microform overgrowth and will flush your body of the excess survival fat that it has been clinging onto (literally for dear life!).

• Robs Us of Energy! Principally, over-acidity will cause our body to leach alkaline minerals from our bones, muscles and other tissues to ensure that the blood maintains its delicate alkaline balance. This removal of alkaline minerals (particularly calcium) inhibits efficient and effective cellular and body metabolism – making us sluggish, tired and cloudy. Put most simply – over acidification drains our bodies of energy and inhibits the body’s ability to use stored energy reserves. And as if that was not enough – with the leaching of calcium from our bones, osteoporosis very often follows.

• Causes Allergies:The mycotoxins that thrive in an acidic environment severelyy stress the immune system leading to it being constantly overworked and stimulated into response mode. The result of this is absurdly heightened sensitivity to nutrition and chemicals is what is more commonly known as an allergy. Excess mucus, soreness, swelling, eczema etc are all ways for the body to eliminate toxins.

• Causes Free-Radical Damage and Premature Aging!: Acidosis is a symptom of – and a cause of – oxidative stress and lipid breakdown. The effect of this is that free radical damage is then promoted, attacking cell walls and membranes before killing the cells themselves. The outcome of this? Wrinkles, age spots, dysfunctional hormonal systems, poor eyesight, bad memory and foggy thinking – at the very least. Healthy cells are essential to almost every body process – so premature aging could become the least of your concerns!

• Causes Excess Mucus:Mucus is normal. It is just another mechanism by which the body eliminates toxins – it coats everything we ingest and engulfs the toxins. When toxins are engulfed the mucus becomes sticky, thick and cloudy in order to trap the toxins in. Acidic foods and drinks always contain toxins which cause so much mucus that we seem to be constantly blowing our noses! The worst offenders are dairy products, animal protein, white flour and pastas, chocolate, coffee and alcohol

• Corrodes and Destroys Veins, Arteries and Heart Tissues! Acid is corrosive – and overly acidic blood and bodily fluids almost immediately begins to erode and destroy cell walls of the heart, veins and arteries – leading to a much weakened cardiovascular system.

• Inhibits the Metabolism of Fatty Acids! Fatty acids are absolutely essential to the proper functioning of the brain and nervous system – without them any number of neurological problems can arise (including depression, bipolar and other mental health problems, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, brain development and learning in children, mood swings, ADHD and many more).

• Causes Bad Cholesterol Problems! When we create an acidic environment in our bodies – the body creates LDL-Cholesterol at an accelerated rate. This LDL Cholesterol then causes huge amounts of clogging and cardiovascular problems.

• Increases Blood Pressure! With the acid problems above, including increased LDL Cholesterol and compromised cell health – the heart has to work increasingly harder to move blood around the body. Acidosis is also to blame for venous vasoconstriction (meaning a decrease in diameter of the blood vessels) – which further adds to the workload of the heart and raises blood pressure!

• Inhibits the Synthesis of DNA-RNA and Cellular Regeneration! For healthy cell regeneration and DNA-RNA synthesis – a cell pH CANNOT BE ACIDIC. On the flip side of this – for a cancer cell to grow, the cell pH HAS TO BE ACIDIC! An acid pH dramatically accelerates the possibility of the formation of mutated cells – otherwise known as cancer. Cancerous cells cannot contain hydrogen atoms – and healthy (alkaline balanced) cells contain plenty of hydrogen. In fact, the addition of hydrogen to cancerous cells actually heals them!

• Stops Oxygen Delivery to Tissues! When our body’s are suffering from over-acidification the problem becomes compounded by the fact that an acid pH decreases the amount of oxygen than can reach our cells. Without oxygen our cells die!

Source: Energise For Life

pH 101: Acid-Alkaline Balance & Your Health

en.wikipedia.org

You may have heard about pH or the acid-alkaline balance in your wellness travels. I was oblivious to this concept when I began my health journey. But my overall well-being changed when I started to connect the dots between pH balance, inflammation and what I was eating and drinking. I’ve covered this topic in all of my books but I realize that I haven’t blogged about it for years. Since many of you are new readers (and some of ya could use a little reminder) I thought I’d tackle pH again today. Let’s dive in.

So what the heck is pH?

Remember high school science class? Well, if you don’t, here’s a little refresher course. The body maintains a delicate acid-alkaline balance. Everything from healthy cells to cancer cells to soil quality and ocean life is affected by pH. The term pH stands for “potential hydrogen” which is the measure of hydrogen ions in a particular solution (don’t worry if you’re not science-savvy, I’ll make this easy to understand!). In our case, that “solution” refers to our body’s fluids and tissues.

The pH scale measures how acidic or alkaline a substance is and ranges from 0 to 14. Seven is neutral. Below 7 becomes increasingly acidic, above 7 increasingly alkaline.

As with most health-related barometers, balance is everything. Proper pH varies throughout your body for many reasons. For example, your bowels, skin and vagina should be slightly acidic–this helps keep unfriendly bacteria away. Saliva is more alkaline. While your urine is normally more acidic, especially in the morning. In addition, your body regularly deals with naturally occurring acids that are the by-products of respiration, metabolism, cellular breakdown, and exercise. So clearly the goal is not to think of acid as “bad” and alkaline “good”. Again, it’s a delicate balance.

By far the most important measurement is your blood. For optimal cellular health, your blood pH must be slightly alkaline with a pH between 7.365 and 7.4. A basic understanding of how our bodies maintain an alkaline blood range is important for good health. Your body doesn’t just “find” the balance it works extremely hard to create it. When we make poor lifestyle choices or are burdened by a toxic, chemical rich environment, our bodies have to work harder to create homeostasis.

When there’s even the slightest chance that you could become overly acidic (due to food and lifestyle choices, environment, chemicals etc.) your remarkable body will mine alkaline minerals like calcium, magnesium, and potassium from your bones, teeth, and organs to neutralize the acids. It’s sorta like having a supply of inner Tums. This is fine every now and then. But pillaging your reserves over the long term can lead to osteoporosis and other health challenges.

The Relationship Between pH & Your Health

Think of the standard American diet (SAD). Most folks are bathing their cells in an inflammatory acid bath multiple times per day with tons of sugar, processed foods, factory farmed animal products, etc. One of the biggest casualties of the SAD is the toll it takes on the body, especially the digestive system, liver, and kidneys. Inflammation, allergies, arthritis, skin problems, constipation, bowel issues, stress (physical & mental) and chronic disease LOVE this diet. Excess acidity also sets the stage for bad bacteria (like yeast and fungus) and even viruses that wreak havoc on our health.

Tilting the pH scale in the alkaline direction is easy with a diet filled with mineral-rich plant foods. By eating a more alkaline diet (leafy greens, wheatgrass, veggies, sprouts, avocados, green juices and smoothies) as opposed to an acidic diet (high in animal products, processed carbs, refined sugar, energy drinks, etc), we flood our bodies with chlorophyll, vitamins, minerals, and oxygen. Healthy food creates healthy cells. Conversely, junk goes in and junk comes out.
Look at your plate, peek in your glass. What direction are you moving in? On the pH scale, Soda = 2. Coffee = 4. Cucumber = 7. Get the picture? Burger, fries, diet cola, muffin, candy bar? Acid bath. Green drinks, salads, sprouts? Alkaline bonanza! Your goal is to make more energy deposits than withdrawals. Do you have to be perfect? NO. Again, your goal is to fill your well more than you deplete it. Our bodies forgive the detours and exploration, as long as they don’t take place 24-7.

(Read this review in the Journal of Environmental and Public Health for an analysis of the research that’s out there on pH and overall health.)

Testing Your pH

You may be tempted to start testing your pH like a mad woman to make sure you’re on track, but it’s really not necessary. I tested my tinkle a lot when I first learned about pH, but these days I’m comfortable skipping the strips, knowing that I’m contributing to my pH balance with the following three diet and lifestyle practices (see below).
But if you’re still curious, you can test your urine at home with litmus paper strips (available online for about $10). Keep in mind that the pH of urine always varies, depending on what you eat and when, and that you should test your 2nd urine of the day for the best snapshot of what’s going on inside.
Testing your urine can show you how well your body is excreting acids and assimilating minerals. For optimum sparkle, your urine should fall in the 6.8 to 7.5 pH range.

Top 3 Ways to Support pH Balance

1. Start your day with a tall glass of lemon water and stay hydrated.

While lemons are acidic in their natural form, lemon water is alkaline-forming in the body. Drench your cells in alkalinity each morning with two cups of lukewarm, filtered water with ¼ fresh-squeezed lemon. Yes, there are fancy (and expensive) water ionizers out there, but you can also alkalize your water by simply adding lemon. This citrus-powered daily habit helps to cleanse your digestive system, ignite your metabolism, and neutralizes excess acids. Staying hydrated is key for cleansing your system, boosting your energy, helping your immune system work at its best, and avoiding the accumulation of acid waste.

2. Eat more raw foods and drink green juices and smoothies.

Organic green juice, green juice, green juice and green smoothies! And mentioned above, leafy greens, wheatgrass, veggies, sprouts, certain fruits, nuts and seeds, certain grains and seaweeds flood our bodies with vitamins, minerals, chlorophyll, phytonutrients, and oxygen. They can help alkalize our body. Unhealthy cells (like cancer cells) or viruses, bacteria and other nasty microorganisms hate oxygen. They prefer an acidic diet high in animal products, processed and refined foods, and synthetic chemicals.

3. Exercise, manage stress, sleep better, and avoid nasty chemicals and cigs.

It’s not just diet that affects your pH. Lack of exercise and an overage of anger, drugs, cigs, and stress can create inflammation and acidity in the body. Stress isn’t a laughing matter or a badge of courage. The work-hard, play-hard, deal-with-it-later approach is a big pH no-no. Emotional stress releases acid-forming hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline that flood your system and muck up your soil. Whether it’s through more yoga, cat naps, meditation, breathing exercises, strolls in the woods, or stress management counseling, reducing the negativity in your day-to-day is a powerful way to improve your cellular health.

Alkaline vs. Acidic Foods

How do we know if a food is alkaline or acidic, and by how much? The most common method is to incinerate a sample of the food and analyze the mineral content of the ash. Not something you can do with a chemistry set from Toys “R” Us. At any rate, if the ash is high in alkaline minerals, the food will probably have an alkalizing effect. That’s the theory, anyway. Because lab results and experts often disagree, the many books and Web sites that give alkaline and acidic food charts also disagree. Usually the disagreement is minor. In some cases, though, it’s much bigger.
Whether a food is mildly alkalizing or mildly acidifying doesn’t really matter very much. There are definitely shades of gray. What’s far more important is to understand what’s highly acidic and thus also inflammatory in order to make better choices. And I’ve add some resources to help you do just that.

More pH Reading:

• The Ultimate pH Solution by Michelle Schoffro-Cook
• The Acid-Akaline Diet for Optimum Health by Christopher Vasey
• Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr 

Source: Crazy Sexy Wellness