Its amazing how we are lead to answers when we’re seeking them out sincerely. I was on vacation in the mountains when I came across the Celestine Prophecy. This book and I have played hide-and-seek for a really long time. But finally 17 years after its release I read it and was really blown away. When I returned home, I wanted to read everything else by James Redfield – the Tenth Insight and other titles. The one I returned with from the bookstore was called The Secret of Shambala (about the 11th insight). In the book there is a mention of alkaline foods and how they help keep energy-levels and immunity high. The mention was brief but enough to pique my curiosity. Next thing I know, Google takes me deep into the world of pH balance and acid/alkaline foods. I discovered immediately that my diet was too acidic from all the symptoms – low energy, poor immunity, susceptibility to disease and infections.

I have no memory of this, but apparently we were taught the basic concepts of pH and acid/alkaline in school (do you remember, I was probably too busy passing notes ;)). The long and short of it is that our body has to maintain a healthy pH level of about 7.35 to 7.45 in order to keep things in balance. This is slightly alkaline, which is good. However if the pH dips below this and gets acidic, then there’s trouble. The body begins borrowing minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium and all the other good guys from organs and bones in order to maintain the pH balance. Now the body’s working under pressure, constantly working to eliminate the acids from the body, which means that it loses its capacity to fight disease and ailments. So while low immunity is a result of this imbalance, there are a lot of problems caused by a highly acidic diet. Some of these include:

• Slow or poor digestion
• Obesity and weight problems
• Cardiovascular damage
• Bladder infections
• Kidney stones
• Hormonal problems
• Osteoporosis and joint aches
• Low energy levels and body temperature
• Mouth and stomach ulcers
• Teeth and gum aches

The list is longer but I’m going to stop here – you get it right? High acid-forming foods are generally bad news for the system. Now which foods are acid-forming and which are alkaline. A general rule of thumb is what we already know – fresh green vegetables and fruits are alkaline. Animal proteins, most dairy, coffee, sugar, processed and packaged stuff, aerated drinks, saturated fats are acid-forming.

When I first came across this information, my first question was: “Then what am I going to eat?” Almost everything from our daily diet seems to be acidic! Well first of all, we do need our fair share of acidic foods so nothing needs to be given up completely. Secondly, if you have none of the symptoms listed above (also check the links below) then perhaps your diet is fairly balanced already. If however your diet does comprise many acid-forming foods, then gradually begin introducing more alkaline foods and cutting down on acid-forming ones. There are loads of great sites with some delicious alkaline recipes out there so go ahead and start looking!

Recommended reading: The pHMiracle by Dr. Robert O. Young The site is here: http://www.phmiracleliving.com/

More information here:

http://www.trans4mind.com/nutrition/pH.html

http://www.naturalhealthschool.com/acid-alkaline.html

Alkaline Recipes here:

http://www.balance-ph-diet.com/alkaline_recipes.html

http://www.energiseforlife.com/wordpress/category/alkaline-recipes/

http://acidalkalinediet.com/recipes/

So that’s about it for now. Hope you find this useful and get more alkaline. Yay!

Image courtesy: http://www.gridservices.org/category/diet-tips/