Nutrition Secrets For a Better You

The Alkaline Diet Certain foods and drinks that we eat can cause an acid and alkaline imbalance within your body. The act the body goes through to rebalance your body pH can over the long term be the route of several health conditions. Learn how to get your body and health back on track naturally and without medication.
The following are a few important tips to help keep your body pH in a healthy range.
Eat a balanced diet. The first step however to eating a properly ph balanced diet is to understand which foods create an acidic environment, and which foods help counteract an acidic environment. Determining what foods are right for your diet is not as straight forward as it seems. Food's acid or alkaline-forming tendency in the body has nothing to do with the actual pH of the food itself. For example, grapefruits, lemons and limes are very acidic, however the end-products they produce after digestion and assimilation are very alkaline so they are alkaline-forming in the body. Likewise, meat will test alkaline before digestion but it leaves very acidic residue in the body so, like nearly all animal products, meat is very acid-forming. You should not cut out all acid-forming foods - some are necessary, otherwise you probably wouldn't get enough protein and variety of nutrients,. The key to ph balancing the body is to shift the overall balance of your diet over toward the alkaline, and away from the excessively acid-forming diet of conventional western culture.
Avoid the "strongly acid" foods..Avoid or at least minimize strongly acid foods. It is important to know which foods actually create an acidic environment. Some may be obvious, while others may surprise you. Everyone knows that soda has a very low ph (acidic) so avoid sodas. How about grapefruits and other citrus fruits?
Most people believe that "acidic" fruits like lemons, limes and low sugar grapefruits are acidic and will acidify the fluids of the body. This however is incorrect. The citric, lactic, and other acids in such fruits exist primarily in their anionic form, especially as their Na+ and K+ salts (e.g., potassium citrate or calcium ascorbate). Following absorption, these anions are metabolized in the body to bicarbonate (HCO3) and therefore will alkalize -- not acidify -- the blood and tissues. Alkalinization occurs even though the fruits pH in vitro is typically low (4 pH), because the free protons are more than offset by the generate bicarbonate -- electrons.
Eat mostly alkaline foods. The general "rule of thumb" is to eat 20% acid foods and 80% alkaline foods. Consume higher alkaline foods such as green leafy vegetables, broccoli, spinach, as well as mild alkaline fruits, and vegetables. You do not have to be a vegetarian to gain the alkalizing benefits of fruits and vegetables. Just a handful of raisins, two dates, or a small banana each provide more than 300 mg of potassium. In fact it takes just about 35 percent of total calories as fruits and veggies to produce a net alkaline load.
Drink alkaline water. Drinking alkaline water will help balance the acidic effect of the diet, such as the metabolizing effect of most protein and many carbohydrates. Alkaline water has several advantages over the top selling bottled waters, as well as your tap water. Besides being cleaner, alkaline (aka Kangen) drinking water has exceptional hydrating qualities. These hydrating qualities enable the body to deliver nutrients more efficiently at the cellular level. Claims are also made that this also help detoxifies the cells. The machine we purchased generates ionized water with the highest anti-oxidant qualities of any machine tested. The process creates an abundance of negative ions. It is believed that these negative ions neutralize free radicals which are known to contribute to aging and disease and they also energize the body. Avoid or at least limit "strongly acid" drinks. Coffee and sodas are highly acidic and should be avoided when possible. Consider that, most sodas have a pH of around 2.0 to 2.3. That makes sodas 100,000 times more acidic than water which generally has a pH of 7.0, which is neutral. Is this truly a surprise when phosphoric acid is one of the main ingredients?
Limit mild acidic foods and drinks. Limit mild acidic foods (e.g., grains, legumes, nuts) and drinks.
Lower your glycemic load. Cut back on breads, pastas, and other grain-based foods, as well as "high-glycemic" foods such as potatoes. Besides causing potential acid conditions, higher blood sugar and higher insulin levels they are also nutrient-poor foods, compared with protein and vegeatables. Refined carbohydrates also effects Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) risk. Refined carbohydrates are highly processed, resulting in removal of fiber, vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs). Consumption of refined carbohydrates compared with whole grains increases the risk of Coronary Artery Disease CAD) resulting, in part, from the increased glycemic load of these types of carbohydrates.
Limit artificial sweeteners. Artificial chemical sweeteners like NutraSweet, Equal, or aspartame, are extremely acid-forming. Consider natural sweetener stevia instead.
Supplement your diet. The following is just a partial list of potential supplements that may be helpful.
Salts of the alkaline minerals cesium, rubidium.
Magnesium citrate. Absorbable magnesium is crucial to help build necessary buffers. Magnesium is often lost in urine as a consequence of too much acid in the body. If your urine is 5.8-7.2 take magnesium citrate to support healthy bones.
Sulfur. Sulfur acts as a buffer to maintain proper pH levels.
Calcium citrate. This supplement is better absorbed than calcium carbonate (coral calcium is largely calcium carbonate).
Potassium is a crucial mineral for maintaining bone, mainly by promoting alkalinity.
Buffered vitamin C, which is ascorbic acid formulated with the carbonate forms of calcium, magnesium, and potassium, might also have a slight alkalizing effect.
Kelp (Seaweed) is high in alkaline and other healthy nutrients.
Colloidal Minerals. Colloidal Minerals can help provide structural integrity for muscles, skin and hair, help eliminate toxins, supports enzyme function, enhance protein synthesis, provides electrolytes for cellular fluid balance, help regulate blood pressure and help supports the immune system. Consider a high quality pH-balanced product that contains a full spectrum of macro and trace minerals, that can be easily assimilated into the body.

About the Author
Jeff Behar is a senior writer for musclemagfitness.com and Mybesthealthportal.com where he regularly writes about hot topics in the areas of health, fitness, disease prevention, nutrition, bodybuilding, men's health, weight loss, vitamins and supplements, and anti-aging.