Alkaline diet is defined as a diet program which helps to maintain the blood Ph levels in it's natural state between 7.35 and 7.45, thereby helping our body in absorption in vitamins and minerals resulting in weight loss. Today, our diet contains more acidities leading to chronic illness and loss of health. By increasing consumption of fruit and vegetables, it helps to reduce the intake of meat, salt, and refined starches,thereby benefiting our health. It is recommended by some practitioners if a person has the following symptoms of lack of energy, excessive mucous production, nasal congestion, over weight, etc. Please consult your doctor before applying.
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The Alkaline Diet Strategy
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Why the Alkaline Diet Beats Low Carb
The alkaline diet is a way of eating that focuses on foods which shift your internal pH toward the alkaline end of the spectrum. This theory is not new, but its popularity has dramatically increased over the past decade, and interest continues to grow.
Many are confused because the words "alkaline" and "alkalizing" are two different things. This is to say that a food that tastes very acidic, such as lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, can actually have a strongly alkalizing effect once it has been digested and assimilated. By the same token, a food that tastes sweet rather than acidic, such as cane sugar, is often strongly acidifying once it has been absorbed.
The Alkaline Diet vs. Popular Low-Carb Diets
If you have thought about trying the alkaline diet, you may be wondering how it contrasts with other common diets, particularly low-carb diets including the Atkins diet and the South Beach diet.
Initially, the alkaline diet seems to be the polar opposite of the low-carb diet, but the truth is more complex. As you are constantly reminded, the low-carb diet restricts your intake of carbs, including bread, pasta, potatoes, sugar, beans--even fruits and vegetables. On the other hand, you are allowed to eat as much as you want when it comes to pork rinds, cheese, and other foods that are rich in protein and fat.
In contrast, the alkaline diet restricts consumption of meat and dairy products, nearly all foods that make the body more acidic. Another difference is that while low-carb diets limit fruits and vegetables, these foods are strongly encouraged on the alkaline diet. This is because fresh produce has the most nutrients and the fewest calories of any food, making it a must-have for anyone who wants to boost energy and lose weight.
Surprisingly, however, the alkaline and low-carb diets do have something in common. Both diets encourage people to eat less sugar and processed grains, but for different reasons. Fans of the low-carb diet point out that these abundant carbs are a major reason that people have become so much fatter over the past few decades. In the words of diet guru Barry Sears, the central aisles of any grocery store are basically one big chunk of carbs divided up into different bags and boxes. (There's a lot of fat in those packages, too.)
Interestingly, these processed carbs also tend to be acidifying. This is because the most common grains, namely corn, rice, and wheat, contain acidifying compounds.
When you get down to it, the main difference between these two diets is that the low-carb diet takes a sledgehammer to carbs, while the alkaline diet uses a scalpel. True, some carbs are very harmful, particularly when you eat too much of them. But something is wrong when anti-carb hysteria reaches such a pitch that people remove even apples, carrots, and celery from their diets. These nutritious foods are highly beneficial, and they're definitely not why so many people are fat. On the contrary, they are the key to losing weight, because they fill you up without adding many calories to your daily intake.
Graham Stoking is a passionate advocate of nutrition, exercise, and the healing power of nature. He writes about health and the alkaline diet. For more information, please visit The Alkaline Diet Blog.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Graham_Stoking
Recommended Reading
The Alkaline Diet Strategy
Say Good-Bye To Low Energy, Poor Digestion
, Extra pounds, Aches and Pains, and Diseases
Have you heard about the alkaline diet? Have you wondered what exactly that means? Are you a little curious as to the benefits of this plan? Want to know how it differs from being a vegetarian, a vegan, or a raw food eater?
The first thing you need to understand is what an alkaline food item is. These are raw food items that, if you were to burn them in a flame, they would leave behind an ash that has a basic pH rating of seven or higher. Rather than use this as cooking information, followers of the acid alkaline diet use this combustion as a comparison to how the body breaks down and uses food as a fuel source.
These foods leave behind minerals like calcium, copper, iron, magnesium and zinc when they are consumed by fire. Foods that leave this kind of residue include low-glycemic index fruits and vegetables, citrus fruits, tubers, roots and nuts. Switching your diet to solely these food items, it is believed, will help keep the body's overall pH balance at a slightly alkaline level, which is thought to be a natural and healthy state. Foods to avoid on this plan include animal proteins, processed foods, unnatural sugars, and stimulants like caffeine.
A diet rich in alkaline foods is also thought to reduce the body's reliance on stored pH balancers such as the calcium in bones. Some studies have even shown that an alkaline-rich diet, or a regular use of supplements, can increase the amount of bone mass and muscle mass in older people, helping to offset conditions like osteoporosis in women and degenerative muscle wasting in the elderly. And while many say that more research is needed on the benefits of an alkaline diet, there have been studies done that show that the formation of kidney stones is largely prevented with an alkaline-rich diet.
Followers of the alkaline diet say that their food consumption is closer to what our ancestors would have originally eaten. They say that, before the onset of Western civilization, a typical human diet was unprocessed and uncooked plant matter. Grains were not edible until the discovery of tools like the mortar and pestle, and meats were an uncommon addition, depending on the hunting prowess of the tribe, rather than domestication of meat-bearing animals. Instead, people had to rely on the plants, fruits and vegetables that could be eaten without problematic preparations.
Proponents of an alkaline diet may do so to alleviate symptoms that they believe are due to larger amounts of acidic foods in the modern diet. Practitioners say that people suffering from frequent illnesses and headaches, or an overall lack of energy, and women who have ovarian and benign breast cysts might benefit from an alkaline diet, or at the very least, a reduction in the amounts of red meat and processed grains that a person consumes.
Yuri Elkaim is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and author of the raw food diet book Eating for Energy. Visit http://www.eatingforenergy.ca to get started with his FREE "Energy Secrets" e-course and discover what your diet has been missing.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Yuri_Elkaim
Recommended ReadingThe Alkaline Diet Strategy
Say Good-Bye To Low Energy, Poor Digestion
, Extra pounds, Aches and Pains, and Diseases
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