alkaline-food-chart-4.0

Your body HAS to keep the pH of yourblood, cells and other fluids at just slightlyalkaline (pH 7.365) and it will do ANY-THING it has to in order to maintain thispH balance.To do this, your body calls upon its storeof alkaline buffers, which it draws uponto neutralize the acids we ingest or createthrough bodily processes. This storeof buffers is very easily depleted becausemost of us eat and drink such strong acids.To put this in context, the pH scale islogarithmic – so pH 6 is 10x more acidicthan pH 7, meaning pH 5 is 100x timesmore acidic than pH 7 and pH 4 is 1000xmore acidic. Cola has a pH of between2 and 3. So you can see how a diet filledwith meats, dairy, fizzy drinks, alcohol etcwould quickly deplete these buffers.And when we deplete these buffers andstill ingest more acids…what happens?The body is forced into drawing upon thealkaline minerals it has to buffer whichcauses havoc in the body – for instance, ifthe body is constantly drawing calcium toneutralise the acids we consume then thesymptoms of osteoporosis emerge (hencethe numerous research articles linking colaconsumption with osteoporosis)However, as we have evolved and ourdiets and lifestyles have changed over thelast century or so we have dramatically increasedthe amount of acidity in our lives.Diet, stress, emotions and no exercisecontribute, in their own ways to the increasedacidity in our body.Focusing on the alkaline diet for the timebeing, it will be no surprise to you to learnthat the most acidic foods are: sugar,trans-fats, yeasts, dairy, simple carbs,alcohol, refined foods etc. These acidsmanifest in our diets as colas & fizzydrinks, pizza, chips, cakes, biscuits, microwavemeals, crisps, breads, caffeine,cheese, fatty meats, ice cream, smoking,beers, wines, condiments, milky drinks,cream etc.All the foods you already know are notgood for you.As we’ve already mentioned, I’m sure youcan guess that the foods that are alkalineto the body are therefore…wait for it…fresh vegetables, salads, leafy greens,omega oils, nuts, seeds, pulses, wholegrains.These are fresh foods, raw foods, wholefoods, foods with a high-water contentand nutritional value.It makes this diet pretty easy to understandand pretty easy to follow. I thinkmost people, if given a list of foods couldput them into the acid or alkaline group 8times out of 10.This just makes sense, right?Eating the foods you KNOW are goodfor you and staying away from the foodsyou KNOW are bad for you…it all makessense!Throw in some exercise, lots of hydration,avoiding stress and getting good sleep,and I think you’d have a lifestyle that eventhe most skeptical of your friends, familymembers or physician can get on boardwith.And that brings us on to….the great alkalinediet myths…4what is the alkaline diet?