Following an alkaline diet means only eating fruits and vegetables and selecting drinks which have an alkaline effect on your body. These are mostly alkaline forming foods: their mineral components help balance the pH of your body, while you also manage to lose weight. Other foods have a strong acidifying effect, and these are generally foods containing sugar, fats, additives, artificial sweeteners and other chemicals.
There is a difference between acidic waste – which is destructive and eats up oxygen, causing disease, and acidic foods – which eaten moderately, supply the body with the acids it needs to digest protein. When going on an alkaline diet, however, acidic foods need to be scaled down to a minimum, since you won’t be eating too much protein.
Highly Alkaline Forming Foods
Check out the best highly alkaline foods and drinks, starting with the best salad dressing: olive oil.
Highly alkaline fruits: lemons, limes, mangoes, grapefruit, watermelon, papayas.
Highly alkaline vegetables: asparagus, onions, garlic, parsley, raw spinach, broccoli, vegetable smoothies.
Highly alkaline drinks: herbal teas and lemon water.
Sweeteners: stevia.
Moderately Alkaline Forming Foods
Alkaline fruits: date, figs, melons, kiwi, raisins and grapes, blueberries, apples, pears.
Alkaline vegetables: green beans, beet root, celery, lettuce, okra, zucchini, sweet potato, squash.
Almonds are moderately alkaline seeds.
Alkaline drinks: green tea.
Alkaline sweeteners: maple and rice syrups.
Low Alkaline Forming Foods
Low alkaline fruits: avocado, pineapple, oranges, peaches, cherries and bananas.
Low alkaline vegetables: sweet corn, tomatoes and carrots, cabbage, peas, olives and tofu.
Low alkaline cereals: quinoa, wild rice.
Chestnuts are low alkaline seeds.
Low alkaline dairy products: goat milk and cheese, soy milk and cheese.
Low alkaline drinks: dandelion tea and ginseng tea.
Low alkaline sweeteners: raw honey.
How to Make the Alkaline Foods Work for You?
If you are the kind of person who wants to stick to a healthy diet, balancing alkaline forming foods and acid forming ones, follow the 80-20 rule: eat moderate amounts of turkey, chicken, lamb with plenty of salads and vegetables, keeping highly acid foods and protein intake to a maximum of 20% of your overall foods. This way you can make sure that your diet plan is predominantly made of alkaline forming foods. Drink plenty of water and herbal teas and reduce coffee to one cup a day with no cream or milk. This will help your body restore its pH levels and maintain your well-being.
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