10 ways to make your diet more alkaline for better health

Going on an alkaline diet is one of the simplest and most practical things you can do to maintain good health and avoid illness. Proponents of an alkaline diet cannot overstate its importance. According to them, the overriding principle of the alkaline diet is that the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals in alkaline foods, supplements, and water can help bring the body back to its optimal state of balance. This, in turn, ensures the absence of ailments and diseases and infuses the body with tremendous energy and vitality.

In general, it is believed that excessive acidity in the body can lead to chronic health problems. Bacteria, viruses, and infections are believed to thrive in a very acidic environment. In fact, pH (hydrogen potentiality) tests performed on many cancer patients produced a highly acidic body environment. In everyday life, an overly acidic diet can manifest itself through fatigue, tooth and gum problems, pain and inflammation, and premature aging.

An alkaline diet can help your body in a number of ways.

• It can help your body absorb more essential vitamins, nutrients, and minerals in their natural form. Consequently, it can help your immune system better resist infections and foreign bodies that initiate bodily imbalances that lead to disease.

• It can help provide the means by which your body can neutralize acids and toxins that can wreak havoc on blood, lymph, tissues, and cells.

• It can also help increase energy and improve stamina to allow your body to better cope with the daily challenges and stress you experience.

• It can help prevent various aches and pains. Pain in different parts of the body is usually due to inflammation. This condition can be overcome with an alkaline diet rich in magnesium. As it is known to support joint and tissue health, this can help ensure that arthritis, rheumatism, and other bothersome pains are avoided.

Going on an alkaline diet is as easy as gradually incorporating various changes and modifications into your current diet. Although this transition requires a major change in your attitude toward food, it is important to realize that change cannot be implemented overnight. The important point to remember is that small changes are important.

Here are 10 steps to an alkaline diet that can do wonders for your health.

1.) Eat more fresh vegetables and fruits.. Try to incorporate vegetables and fruits into every meal. During breakfast, be sure to eat a piece of apple or banana. It may be best to take them on an empty stomach. Drinking fruit juice instead of coffee can improve it. Try to include some salad with lots of green leafy vegetables during lunch and dinner.

2.) Cut back on beef, pork, or chicken and try substituting fish (such as mackerel, salmon, trout, tuna) or turkey. The last-mentioned protein sources contain considerably less harmful fats and contain more beneficial fats.

3.) Avoid eating processed foods such as cold cuts, canned fruits, breads, peanut butter, canned soups, hot dogs, and hot dogs. You may also want to avoid condiments like ketchup, mayonnaise salad dressings, cheese sauces, and the like. These are packed with acid-forming substances that can wreak havoc on your system once they are digested.

4.) Reduce your sugar intake and products made from sugar, such as candy, ice cream, soft drinks, cookies, jams, donuts, puddings, chewing gum, and the like. Foods with sugar also form acid.

5.) Reduce your consumption of dairy products like milk, cheese, butter, and eggs. These are mostly acid-forming foods.

6.) Eat more grilled or roasted foods and less fried foods.. Fried foods tend to have higher levels of fat and are therefore higher in calories. These foods also tend to trigger higher levels of acidity in the body due to chemical interactions of fat and oil with food and other substances in the body.

7.) Spice up your food. Most spices such as turmeric, basil, bay leaf, tarragon, thyme, coriander, dill, marjoram, cinnamon, curry, ginger, garlic, cayenne pepper contain antioxidant substances and other phytochemicals that are beneficial for alkaline balance and, therefore, for general health.

8.) Increase your intake of alkaline-forming grains. such as quinoa, rye, wild rice and amaranth, as they are good sources of vitamins, minerals and essential nutrients that form the basis of a balanced alkaline diet.

9.) Drink herbal tea instead of coffee.. Coffee is highly acidic and it may be wise to substitute herbal teas such as chamomile tea, ginger tea, lemongrass tea, fennel tea, and peppermint tea to help improve alkalinity levels in your body. .

10.) Drink a lot of water. Try to consume at least half your body weight in ounces of good quality water every day. If possible, choose spring water, mineral water, or alkaline water. If you are drinking tap water, try adding a lemon or lime wedge as they tend to increase the alkalinity of the water. Avoid drinking distilled water as it forms acid.

However, keep in mind that an alkaline diet does not mean the absence of acid-forming foods. An optimal balance between consuming 80% alkalizing foods and 20% acidifying foods is a viable formula for maintaining healthy levels of alkalinity. Too much of any of the foods will result in an imbalance that will again trigger the onset of diseases, ailments, aches and pains.

So try to follow the 10 practical steps towards an alkaline diet mentioned above and these will gradually create the proper alkaline balance within your body. Remember that when the body’s pH levels are in balance, the body reaches the ideal weight and naturally corrects negative health problems.