Why you should be eating an alkaline diet
We’ve all seen green smoothies becoming the new on trend accessory to be carrying/sipping on/ taking photos of on Instagram. And Ill be honest, Im guilty of this. I am a massive fan of green smoothies because they are the perfect accessory to a dietary approach that the general population should be embracing. The ALKALINE DIET.
Haven’t heard of it? Or not sure what it is? Listen up!
Almost everything we are eating these days promotes an acidic environment in our bodies. Foods such as processed meats like salami, grains such as wheat, coffee (nooo!!!), alcohol and sugar. When our diet is rich in processed and refined foods our body becomes over acidic. But whats the problem with an acidic environment?
Well, acid is fine in the right places. We want our stomachs to be acid to help our bodies break down the yummy food that we eat, but when our body as a whole becomes acid inflammation occurs.
Inflammation is a little bit like salty sea air on our cars, to much and our cars will start to rust. Same with our bodies and acid forming foods, if we keep eating all of these foods that cause acid in our body for extended periods of time then our body starts to wear away, . A prime example of how our bodies are effected by this prolonged inflammation and acidic environment is conditions of the bones, whether it be osteoarthritis or osteoporosis.
In osteoarthritis the joint capsules is broken down, and when there is an acid environment this disintegration is accelerated. In osteoporosis calcium is drawn from the bone in order to try and buffer the acid in the surrounding tissues, reducing a persons bone density more so than if the environment was neutral.
Its not just conditions of the bones that could benefit from having an alkaline diet, almost every disease state has some sort of inflammation occurring within it. By eating an alkaline diet you are already fighting half of the battle, by limiting the inflammation that may be driving the condition.
Getting back to the green smoothie phenomenon…the reason why green smoothies are so amazingly good for you is all of veggies that go into it make it a super cup full of alkalising goodness. Veggies are a fail safe alkaline food, with the green leafy vegetables king of the alkalises. Green leafy vegetables are rich in vitamins and minerals, especially Vitamin K and contain chlorophyll. Chlorophyll helps to purify and strengthen the quality of our blood, directly fighting inflammation that may be present.
Below there is a chart of acid-alkaline foods, and I generally abide by the 80:20 rule, 80% alkaline, 20% acidic.
It doesn’t have to be hard, and you dont have to do it all at once. Small changes week by week will leave you feeling great, with a new sustainable eating plan that will love your body until your old :)
