Image courtesy of BBC Science Focus.
Alkaline foods provide the body with a host of benefits. The alkaline diet is based on altering the body’s pH balance. Your pH balance is the measure of acidity and alkalinity in your body. Acidic environments aren’t ideal for your body’s function. Foods that cause acidic environments include meat, dairy, and eggs. Alkaline environments, on the other hand, provide your body benefits that aid its functions. Foods that contribute to an alkaline environment include fruits, nuts, and vegetables. There is also such a thing as a neutral environment, which can be the result of eating fats and sugars.
Alkalizing your diet involves eating a majority plant based diet. The most alkalizing foods are fruits, vegetables, and legumes. To alkalize your diet, you must eat an abundance of these foods, but can still consume food products that are not plant based in moderation. Eating a majority of plant based and alkalizing foods will turn you into a healthier person. Your body will function at top capacity when you make sure to give it what it needs. There are several benefits to alkalizing foods, here are some of the biggest ones!
What Are Alkaline Foods?
Alkaline foods are foods that affect your pH levels in a healthy way. pH measures how acidic or alkaline something is. The measurement ranges from 0-14. An acidic environment ranges from 0-6.9 and an alkaline one ranges from 7.1-14. When you alkalize your food choices, your pH levels will stay within the 7.1-14 range, which is ideal.
To gain the benefits of an alkalizing diet, you need to consume an abundance of processed whole foods. That includes getting a lot of fruits, vegetables, and legumes. These foods are very high in nutrients that the body needs. Processed foods and junk foods will need to be eliminated or cut out almost completely since they are acidic and will get in the way of your goals. Fruits and vegetables are the cornerstone of any healthy diet, so they should make up the biggest part of your meals. When you eat alkaline foods in small quantities, they are insufficient in their job of neutralizing the extra acids in your system.
What Are the Benefits?
Weight Loss
Alkaline foods are naturally high in nutrients and low in calories. When you regularly have filling and low calorie meals that pack your body with nutrients, you can lose weight and manage to keep it off. Many Americans struggle with weight issues, and that in large part is caused by our overindulgence of carbs and processed foods rather than taking in fruits and vegetables. Most Americans aren’t eating enough fruits and vegetables, and if you can make sure that you do, you can avoid the weight issues that plague so many of us.
Lessens Inflammation
Our bodies respond to harmful environments by becoming inflamed. It is a natural protective measure that is performed by the body. Inflammation involves a part of the body becoming hot, swollen, and painful due to an infection or an injury. Diet choices can also cause inflammation in the body. Acidic foods heavily contribute to this. When your diet contains a majority of foods that cause acidic environments, your internal organs can regularly be inflamed. If you can maintain a diet of at least 80 percent alkaline foods, you can keep your body parts from becoming inflamed. Ideally, a healthy person will consume four alkaline foods for every one acidic food they consume.
Raises Energy Levels
Your body has to work hard to maintain an alkaline environment. If you eat mostly acidic foods, your body has to work even harder to maintain the type of environment it needs. To do that, your body has to use a lot of its energy, which takes away from your overall energy levels. When your body is working hard to maintain its health while being fed a diet that works against it, you will not be left with enough energy to get through your days feeling great. You will get burned out easily and need a lot more rest to compensate. When your body’s environment is made largely alkaline by your diet, your body has a lot less work to do. Your body gets to save its excess energy, and you get to use that energy in your own day to day life.
Improves Oral Health
Eating an alkaline diet will help to maintain your oral health. Acidic foods can be harmful to your teeth even before you swallow them. Acids can wear down your teeth’s enamel, which can cause cavities and sensitive teeth. Too many acids on your teeth can even eventually lead to tooth erosion. It is also the case that acidic foods won’t give your bones enough nutrients to do well. When your body lacks the proper nutrients, it can start taking them from other parts of your body, like your teeth and bones. It can remove the necessary calcium in your teeth. If you eat enough alkaline foods on a regular basis, your body will have enough vitamins and minerals to thrive. Your teeth will get the nutrients they need rather than have them taken away so the rest of your body can function.
Lowers Chances of Disease
A diet high in acidic foods can contribute to multiple illnesses. A diet too high in acids can contribute to illnesses like kidney stones, hormonal problems, dry skin, headaches, and joint pain. When you eat a diet that is heavily alkalized, you will experience the opposite effects. Your hormones will be balanced, your bladder will function well, your skin will be great, and your joints won’t experience pain.
Alkalizing your diet will bring you several great health benefits that you won’t attain from the average acidic diet. You can improve your bone health, weight, immune system, and so much more when you add an abundance of nutrients from alkaline foods into your diet.
