Let's Get Alkaline!


Well first off, I would like to wish you all a happy and healthy New Year.

For my first blog of 2012, I would like to briefly tackle one of the most common New Year’s resolutions...Diet.  However instead of leaping into the typical, and often misunderstood, debates about diets I’ve decided to discuss a topic that may actually be new to most of you.  Which is surprising, considering the research has been growing over the last 20 years. This blog is meant to have you look at your food, and more importantly your body, in a totally different way. 

Let’s start with the word disease (dis-ease = the lack of ease).  Life can be challenging enough without having to do our daily tasks with a common cold or flu right?  So let’s improve our defenses and while we’re at it, improve our energy, lose body fat, gain muscle tone and improve our quality of life.

Have you ever thought about why some people get sick more than others? Furthermore, why those who are often sick are typically stressed out, run down, and out of shape? Interestingly enough, these are often the same individuals who freak out when someone in the room coughs or sneezes, typically resulting self-talk like “Great…now I’m going to get sick” {insert face of despair here}.

On the other hand, there are those amazing individuals who rarely become ill although they are exposed to the same number of germs as the rest. These individuals, when faced with an apologetic coughing co-worker typically respond confidently, “Don’t worry…I won’t get sick”.  What is the difference? Now this is partially a result of the power of expectation, but there is still much more going on here. Obviously the person who gets sick less often has a stronger immune system right? So then the real question is…WHY?

Answer:
There is a concept out there that dictates that the majority of illness and disease comes from the same root cause…too much acid waste in the body.

Too much acid in the body is like sludge being built up inside you. It slows very important biological functions down. It adds stress to your system. It ages you.

Whether a substance is considered acidic or alkaline is determine by it’s pH.
The scale ranges from 0 (acidic) to 14 (basic).  Let’s skip the chemistry and go straight to the good stuff. In the same way our body requires an ideal temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit to function, our blood needs an ideal pH (7.36) as well.

Unfortunately, the reality is the vast majority of foods found in the typical North American diet are mainly acid-forming, putting our body in a constant struggle to neutralize that acid in an effort to return itself to it’s slightly more alkaline state.  Over time, a consistent diet rich in acid-forming foods will result in excessive acidity accumulating in our system. It can be said that acid wastes literally attack our joints, tissues, muscles, organs and glands resulting in minor dysfunction (common cold) or major dysfunction (insert almost any systemic disease here). The real challenge is that our environment is being compromised daily.

The good news: our bodies are well equipped to maintain homeostasis (balance) while under a constant barrage of acidic choices. The bad news: this can only last for so long until a threshold is reached.

For example, if our blood is slightly too acid, wavering from it’s specific pH of 7.36, the body will have to undergo drastic changes. One way we adapt is to release calcium from our bones into our blood to maintain this balance. Over time, this self-preserving effect will eventually reach a threshold resulting in disease, or in this example…osteoporosis. Our genetics play a crucial role in the outcome of this scenario as we are predisposed to certain weakness in our system, resulting in certain conditions.

The entire concept of having more alkalinity in our diet is to help create the healthiest environment possible for our bodies to thrive in 2012!

Stay tuned for more information on this topic in the coming blog posts as I will discuss not only what food choices help create an alkaline environment, but also what non-food techniques can reduce the acidity in your body and thus, alkalize your life!

**Please consult your health care provider before following any advice on this blog.

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