The Alkaline Diet
There's so many diets out there; short ones, long ones, torturous ones, decadent ones, extreme ones, enticing ones, fads, flushes, detoxes, every type, every sort, in all shapes and sizes. Most are pretty reasonable when you look into them and are based on facts and are generally safe and effective, though there are definitely some to be avoided. And of course, given that we are so diverse as a species, the one that works best for any given individual may not be as effective for another.
As important as it is to choose a diet that is suited to you; that ties in with your lifestyle, biochemical make-up and specific aims or goals, there's another important thing to take into account when looking at a diet- the reasoning behind it. Is it based on facts? Is it based on science, hard evidence, factual ideas backed up with proven data?
Along with getting to grips with the underpinnings of diets, what is probably more important than committing yourself to any specific diet, is simply the general understanding of food, the body and the relationship between the two. Once you have that knowledge you are then best placed to live a 'healthy' life- ensuring on a day to day basis that you are aware of what you put into your body and the effects it will have and that you are pro-active in providing your body with all the essential nutrients it needs and feeding it the right foods to optimise its many dynamic and crucial functions whilst at the same time avoiding the foods that will harm it or hamper its performance. In the vein of understanding the science of the body and what you put into it, whether its for specific dieting purposes or general day to day well-being, I thought I'd mention a humble 'diet' that may have slipped by some of you whilst the more extreme and trendy ones were hogging the limelight...
Now what is about to follow isn't exact science, but for all intents and purposes, consider it as correct, if a little simplistic. The Alkaline Diet basically aims to limit the acidity of the food you eat, thus limiting the acidity of your body, in order to help it function better. The Alkaline Diet is based on the principle of the acid - alkaline scale. Using a PH scale, which ranges from the most acidic level of 0 to the most alkaline level of 14, with 7 being neutral, any liquid solution can be tested to determine its level of 'acidity'. There is essentially nothing 'wrong' with either extreme of the scale, they just have different chemical properties and work in different ways. So we have Acid, level 0, on one end, which you could say for reasons of imaginative comparison would generally be something that tastes very sour- and on the other end we have Alkaline, level 14, which conversely would be something that tastes very bitter. For our little analysis today we don't need to worry about it but of course there would be differences other than taste if we were to look at the scientific properties of the two.
Now in theory any chemical/biological substance will have a PH level somewhere between the most acidic and most alkaline, and some things work better in an acidic environment, whereas some things work better in an alkaline environment, all dependent on the underlying science of the interactions that are taking place at the cellular/molecular level. Let's say for instance, soil can have a PH level and plant A maybe grows really well in soil with a PH level of 4 which is quite acidic, and won't grow if the PH gets too far above 7, whereas plant B only grows when the PH level is 10 or above, a nice alkaline environment. Of course the PH level of things can be affected, so if we give our soil a certain type of fertilizer it may lower or raise the PH level, allowing us to get it right where we need it for growing our plants.
So how does this relate to the body? Well, those who advocate The Alkaline Diet say that the cells in the body function best at a slightly alkaline level. There's various different sources stating what the optimum PH level for the body or a specific part of the body is, and different ways of testing the functions and performance of the body, but there is substantial research on the topic and a lot of actual scientific proof that a slightly alkali level is best for the body. At a level of just over 7 this is when our different cells are able to perform their different functions the best, whether that is fighting off disease, regenerating themselves, breaking down nutrients, or whatever else they might have to do.
So of course following on from the above, we wonder how the body maintain it's PH level? Well one would imagine that it probably inherently runs at a certain level, I doubt it varies too far off the general range that it needs to be at, surely by design the body tends to stay around the right acid/alkaline balance, but then our environment must influence it to some degree. You'd need to read into it further to establish how the body regulates its PH level, but it would make sense that the things we eat have an impact on our PH level, and maybe to a lesser extent the air we breathe and the things that come into contact with our skin.
Now, all food has a PH level as well. Fruit and vegetables, raw fish tend to be alkaline; eggs, milk, red meat are all acidic. The idea is that if you balance your food intake, ensuring the PH scale of what you consume stays slightly more alkaline than acid, then you will be keeping your body maintained at the right PH level for it to do any number of wonderful things; maintain a healthy weight, better absorb vitamins and minerals, fight chronic pains and inflammation, boost your immune system, and the list goes on...
If you were to be consuming a diet that was too acidic, then the opposite will happen. Poor weight, inability to absorb nutrients and energy effectively, aches and pains, becoming prone to illness, etc. etc...
I've tried many different diets at different stages of my life, depending on what suited me best at the time and I can't guarantee that all the claims made by the proponents of The Alkaline Diet are true, but I can tell you that it did work well for me. On multiple occasions.
It was essentially the same as being a straight-out vegetarian, I basically lived off vegetables only, and mostly raw not cooked. I felt full of energy, motivated, limber, healthy, my skin was good, I slept well, I lost some general anxiety and sluggishness, so all-in-all I was very pleased. I have actually done it a few times, for no more than a month at a time, as a kind of detox, and every time it has served me well. I can honestly say I did notice a very positive effect based on a change in diet alone.
So in my humble opinion it's well worth looking into, but before you do anything just research it, understand the science and plan out the first week or so in advance, then get stuck in and see what it's all about! Good luck!
