Alkaline Foods
All foods that we digest release an alkaline ash (bicarbonate) or an acid ash into blood and tissues of the body depending on the mineral compounds that the foods contain. It is worth noting that acid-producing foods can lose some of the essential minerals such a potassium, magnesium, calcium, and sodium.
|
An excessive acid in the body fluids develop when base or bicarbonate is lost. An optimal 80% alkaline food and only 20% acid food is the recommended proper ratio of daily food intake, according to Dr. Ragnar Berg, the world’s famous Swedish nutritionist.
If you are interested in practicing the alkaline diet lifestyle, you may want to look at this program – Alkaline Diet e-course. Since the release of this e-course, over 300 people have transformed their health by following closely to the alkaline principles.
How Alkaline & Acidic Foods Are Classified
If you look at the current Acid-Alkaline charts available on the web, most of you will realize that there are so many different versions of food charts that have contradicting foods. Of course, some sites have erroneous information. But even if you look at reputable sources of information from different doctors or authors, they may contain different food charts.
Why is that so?
There are basically 2 main schools of thoughts when come to classifying the Alkaline Foods.
1) The first classification is Potential Renal Acid Loads of foods (PRAL) formula – this research is based on the minerals residue in the foods. Basically the calculations are based on the following minerals in the foods – sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chlorine, potassium and protein. There are a couple of research and studies published on this model, validating the accuracy of this model.
2) The second classification is headed by Dr. Robert Young. One of the key differences of the food chart is they believe that high sugar fruits are acidic too. The main argument for this school of thought is high sugar fruits are acidifying as they contain high concentration sugar.
Which one do you choose to follow?
Here is our opinion…
When we interviewed numerous nutrition and alternative health experts on this issue, many of these experts would follow the first school of thought as they believe that fruits contain fiber that will slow down sugar entering our body system.
Think about it, if you eat 5 gram of sugar, compare to eating a fruit that contains 5 gram of sugar, do you think you will feel the exactly the same eating each of them?
Of course, for some of the patients with diabetes or other existing health conditions, high sugar fruits are not suitable for them. But for others, we think that eating some fruits on a daily basis would not harm you. It’s just a matter of keeping it in balance and not eat too much fruits in excess.
Read the entire alkaline foods list.
| Alkalizing Vegetables | Alkalizing Fruits |
|---|---|
| Agar Alfalfa Sprouts Asparagus Barley Grass Beet Greens Beets Broccoli Brussells Sprouts Cabbage Capsicum Carrot Cauliflower Celery Chard Greens Chlorella Chili Collard Greens Cucumber Dandelions Dulce Edible Flowers Eggplant Garlic Green Beans Green Peas Kale Kelp Kohlrabi Lettuce Mustard Greens Nightshade Veggies Onions Parsnips Parsley Peas Pumpkin Radish Rutabaga Sea Veggies Green Spinach Spirulina Sprouts Sweet Potatoes Tomatoes Wakame Watercress Wheat Grass Wild Greens | Apple Apricot Avocado Banana Berries Blackberries Cantaloupe Cherries, sour Coconut, fresh Currants Dried Dates Dried Figs Grapes Grapefruit Honeydew Melon Lemon Lime Muskmelons Nectarine Orange Peach Pear Pineapple Raisins Raspberries Rhubarb Strawberries Tangerine Tomato Watermelon |
| Alkalizing Grains & Beans | Alkalizing Nuts & Seeds |
| Amaranth Buckwheat Kamut Millet Quinoa Spelt Lentils Lima Beans Mung Beans Navy Beans Pinto Beans Red Beans Soy Beans White Beans | Almonds Coconut Flax Seeds Hazelnuts Macadamia Nuts Pumpkin Seeds Sesame Seeds Sunflower Seeds |
| Acidifying Animal Protein | Acidifying Grains |
|---|---|
| Bacon Beef Carp Chicken Clams Cod Corned Beef Fish Haddock Lamb Lobster Mussels Organ Meats Oyster Pike Pork Prawn Rabbit Salmon Sardines Sausage Scallops Shark fin Shellfish Shrimp Tuna Turkey Veal Venison | Barley Bran, oat & wheat Bread, white or wholemeal Corn Cornstarch Crackers, soda Flour, wheat & white Hemp Seed Flour Kamut Macaroni Noodles Oatmeal Oats (rolled) Rice (all) Rice Cakes Rye Spaghetti Wheat Germ Wheat |
| Acidifying Dairy | Other Acidifying Foods |
| Butter Cheese Eggs Ice Cream Ice Milk Margarine Milk (especially processed milk) Yogurt | Catsup Cocoa Coffee Corn Syrup Mustard Soft Drinks Sugar, White or Brown Vinegar Wine |
Alkaline Foods Classification
Green leafy vegetables should be given more importance. The greener the vegetables, the more essential benefits you can get. How about eggplants, potatoes, tomatoes, and other veggies not so green in its natural state? Any of those with their peels, considered as high alkaline food, otherwise, it can be classified as acidifying food when peeled. Raw spinach is alkaline and classified as acidic once cooked. Knowing what form of food that retains the alkalinity properties (fresh raw or cooked, and peeled or unpeeled) is essential for healthy welfare.
Green drinks from vegetables extract, wheatgrass juice, etc., may not be so appealing to many due to its earthy taste, but some health conscious people are really getting the high level of minerals and nutritional properties it provide.
Also, put an emphasis on eating low-sugar fresh fruits except for canned fruits, cranberries, strawberries, plums and prunes. Furthermore, protein sources are limited to tofu, fermented whey, almonds and chestnuts.
Roots and tubers, nuts and legumes can effectively offset and neutralize the acid-forming foods. Not to mention all herbal seasonings and the natural sweetener (stevia), are also considered to be alkalizing.
Some of the misconceptions
You may begin to explore the facts that there is more than to what we first thought. An acid and base concept is not enclosed with the theory of changing color of litmus paper. If we are classifying foods into acid-forming or highly alkaline, we are talking about the effects of these foods into our body after digestion.
Modern food processing and the advent of agriculture change the natural alkaline form of food and turn them into acid in form.
Grains and even the white flour as main component of bread, and most cooking oils are considered highly acidic. Animal sources such as meat, prawns, fish, chicken, are also acid foods. These belong with the 20% ratio of suggested daily diet.
Likewise, lemons cannot be considered as base or alkaline not only after digestion. How is that possible that lemon is the most highly alkalizing food? There is more to understand about. Try not to focus on the complex compound of lemon or the sour taste because no one will dispute that it actually contains acid. However, once a person already absorbs the nutrients of lemon, the end product produces alkaline ash or residue (the term used to explain the effect of foods in the body). It oxidizes to form water, inorganic compound and carbon dioxide after digestion that makes it alkaline as the end result.
It is not complicated to follow an alkaline diet.
It may sound technical, but knowing the basic of what is good and bad to your health is the key. To wrap it up, steer clear from eating too much sweet, poultry meats, dairy products, and consuming alcohol. Overcooking is also an offender that removes the potential nutrients of food. On the other hand, stick to fresh and raw green vegetables, green juices, healthy nuts, citrus and fruits.
Achieving Balanced Body Chemistry
Dr. Mary Ruth Swope, in Green Leaves of Barley commented that acidosis destroys bones, and to maintain the blood ph level (7.35 – 7.45) from acid range (ph below 7.0), the body has the tendency to steal alkalizing minerals from them. Many researches confirmed that unless our body is slightly alkaline, healing from various acidosis would not be possible. Thus, our body must buffer the acid and borrow the minerals we can get from alkaline foods
As the body tries to restore equilibrium, maintaining the correct acidity-alkalinity balance in the blood is important to achieve wholesome wellness. As the consequence of an acidic diet, the body’s ability to absorb enough nutrients and minerals decreases and makes us more susceptible to various types of diseases. Therefore, proponents and other nutritionists are suggesting alkaline diet for its wide-ranging health claims.
The Alkaline Diet e-Course Package
Celebrities On Alkaline Diet
