Newscaller.com |
The typical
American diet
is a deadly one, consisting primarily of toxic and acid-forming foods
like processed sugars, artificial sweeteners, refined grains,
conventionally produced meats and dairy, and hidden genetically modified
organisms. All this, combined with a plethora of other challenging
environmental factors (such as lack of rest, psychological stress, and
pharmaceutical drugs), mean it’s no wonder that more and more people are
being diagnosed with chronic, degenerative illnesses or otherwise
deadly conditions for which modern conventional medicine claims to have
no known cure.
One of the basic underlying problems with this unsustainable lifestyle –
and there are many – is the average consumer’s lack of understanding
that the body must balance the blood’s pH levels at a slightly alkaline
level of 7.365 in order to survive. When a person ingests food to “burn”
for fuel, the digestive and metabolic process transforms it into a kind
of ash which is either acidic or alkaline. The laws of modern
biochemistry further explain that it is not the organic matter of foods
(whether the food itself is acidic or alkaline), but their inorganic
matter (such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, sulfur,
phosphorous; that is, how they break down in our bodies), that
determines either the acidity or alkalinity of this ashy residue.
For this reason, and because all foods in nature contain both acid and alkaline-forming elements according to the
Conscious Living Center,
balance is either achieved or thwarted as a direct result of the foods
we choose to eat. Too many acid-forming foods can have dire consequences
for our health, with “acidosis” being a common
diagnosis
in diabetics, for example. This is because when the nutrients required
to maintain this slightly alkaline state cannot be obtained from food,
the body will instead draw from its own stores, like the bones or other
vital tissues – damaging its ability to repair itself and detoxify heavy
metals, thereby making a person more vulnerable to fatigue and illness.
And the margin for error is small. Even an only slightly acidic pH of
6.9 can actually lead to coma and death.
Of course, the ultimate goal is balance. Eating too many alkalizing
foods can lead to its own fair share of complications over time, but the
risk of this is seemingly less likely, given the current sorry state of
today’s highly addictive consumerist diet. To combat the effects of
such a diet, here are six of the most alkaline-forming foods to work
into your everyday meals:
1. Root vegetables
Due to the healing “yang” nature of these foods in traditional
Chinese medicine, and their tendency to be more rich in minerals than
many other vegetables, it may be safe to say that you can’t get enough
of them. Look for radishes especially (black, red or white), as well as
beets, carrots, turnips, horseradish and rutabaga. Ready to eat after
steaming for just 15-20 minutes, root vegetables will help you feel both
satiated and better grounded.
2. Cruciferous vegetables
These are the veggies we all know and love, made even more delicious
with just a small amount of healthy, homemade sauce like pesto. Choose
from broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and the like.
3. Leafy greens
These include kale, Swiss chard, turnip greens and spinach – of which
spinach may in fact be the best pick. Known especially for its rich
vitamin K and folate content, spinach is also packed with vitamins,
minerals, phytochemicals, antioxidants and fiber, helping to improve
digestion and even vision.
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