The alkaline diet is based on the concept of maintaining our body’s naturally balanced levels of acid and alkaline by eating a balanced amount of alkaline foods that get metabolized as either an acid base or alkaline base. The alkaline diet focuses on foods that can supply sufficient alkaline to the body to counter the effects of high acidity levels caused by acidic foods, stress, lack of sleep, lack of exercise, and insufficient water intake, among others. This diet involves plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, legumes, and roots. As you will notice, these are food choices that undergo minimal to no processing at all.
Health Benefits of Alkaline Diet
Shifting the scale back with an alkaline diet will bring several health benefits, including:
1. It protects from cancer and other diseases.
Think about this: cancer cells are highly acidic. The opposite of cancer cells, which are healthy cells, are therefore the opposite of acidic, which is alkaline. The alkaline diet thus makes cells healthier, and healthier cells protect you from major health problems.
2. It cleanses the body.
According to experts in the alkaline diet, it can help delay aging by helping the body dispose of wastes and toxins that accumulate within the body.
3. It delays aging.
Due to the healthy cells living in you and the lack of unwanted wastes, your skin will be smoother, your hair more vibrant, and your body more energetic. In short, an alkaline diet will help you age more gracefully.
4. It clears the mind.
The alkaline diet does not just make you physically healthy. It also helps improve mental clarity.
5. It boosts your energy levels.
If you are slightly alkaline, which is what the body naturally is, your body is in its most optimal form to perform. Thus, you will have all the energy you need to do everything you need to do.
6. It helps in weight loss.
An alkaline diet may be used in conjunction with other weight loss plans. With the body in its optimal shape, it can better regulate weight.
Harmful Effects of Acidic Foods
It will also protect the body from the health problems and symptoms caused by too much acid. These problems include:
- Insufficient energy or unexplained tiredness
- Excessive mucous production
- Nasal congestion
- Anxiety
- Irritability
- Nervousness
- Frequent headaches
- Cysts
- Poor digestion
- Inability to regulate proper weight
- Aches and pains
- Susceptibility to colds and flu
Why We Need the Alkaline Diet
Many proponents claim that the alkaline diet is the type of diet our ancestors had access to, given their lack of the advanced agricultural and farming techniques we now use to process food. As convenient and advanced as these new techniques may be, they also cause foods to become less healthy. Now, most of our meals contain grains, dairy products from livestock, meat from animal farming, and sugar. All these, which sprung from modern food processing methods, get metabolized as acid. This is quite unfortunate, since our blood is naturally a bit more alkaline. The normal pH level is 7.35, which means the body is more alkaline than acidic. Unfortunately, the acidic foods we consume tilt the scale to the wrong direction, so we need to tilt it back towards the alkaline side of the spectrum.
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