"Acidity & Illness - What you don’t know can hurt you!!"

One of the first things I learned during quest to heal myself of cancer was the importance of proper acid‐alkaline (or pH) balance in the body. Before transforming my diet and delving into research to find out how to cure my body naturally, I had not really thought much about my body’s pH. I’d never had problems with things commonlyassociated an acid imbalance like acid reflux or heartburn, so I assumed all was in check. What I soon learned was a true eye opener!

Chronic borrowing is never good!

First, it is found that diseases flourish and grow more readily in a slightly acid body than in a slightly alkaline body. The body likes to maintain an alkaline pH balance between 7.35 and 7.45. Our body goes through a great deal of effort to attempt to maintain this delicate acid/alkaline balance. If we become too acidic, we can develop a condition called acidosis (pH of 7.2), which if not corrected quickly can lead to death (pH of 7.0). If we don’t nourish our bodies with a continuous and healthy dose of alkaline foods, the body finds other ways to reduce acidity. One way your body does this is by borrowing alkaline nutrients or minerals in the body to neutralize the acid. Overtime, the chronic “borrowing” can lead to some serious health problems.

Got milk? I hope not!

The next lesson learned was many of the foods that you think may be alkaline are not. For example, most of us would assume that cow’s milk is an alkaline food. However, it digests very acidic. In the absence of an adequate amount of alkaline substances, the body will borrow calcium from the blood and bones to neutralize this acid. Over time, this chronic borrowing can lead to a calcium deficiency. A chronic calcium deficiency leads to serious health conditions like osteoporosis. It is interesting to note that the countries with the highest rates of osteoporosis are those that consume the most dairy products (United States, United Kingdom, Sweden & Finland)! Sadly, this is the opposite of what we are told about dairy (more on this at another time!).

Eat fresh

I learned that the healing and nourishing foods are not so surprisingly, fresh fruits and vegetables. Most fruits and vegetables are alkaline; even citrus fruits digest alkaline. So load up on these! The acidic foods are all meat, dairy, fish, eggs and most grains. Most processed and refined foods are highly acidic, along with alcohol, soda and coffee. After leaning this, I had some dietary rearranging to do! Out went the many processed foods, including milk, cheese and other dairy products (I had already ditched meat a while back) I started eating loads more fresh foods. It was all about correcting an imbalance then. Because I was recovering from a serious illness, I ate predominantly alkaline foods (85% alkaline raw foods and 15% acidicplant-based foods).

To maintain a good acid/alkaline balance and nourish your body, your meals should be comprised of 65% or more alkaline foods (fruits/vegetables), and 35% acidic foods (grains/beans/nuts/seeds). So, what might a meal with this balance look like? Well don’t get scared; there are plenty of tasty and balanced options available! Below are a few very simple lunch and dinner balanced meal ideas:

• Red curry lentils, garlic string beans and a large mixed green salad

• Bean burrito (whole grain or sprouted grain tortilla) with chopped tomatoes, avocado, onions, lettuce, and salsa and a mango kale salad

• Broccoli Almond Stir Fry with Brown Rice

• Alkaline beverage: Watermelon Lemon Splash

Your thoughts matter…

And lastly, it is important to know that your thoughts have a very profound effect on your pH balance. Negative thoughts, emotions and worry create acidity in the body, while positive, happy and hopeful thoughts produce alkalinity in the body. This realization came as a surprise to me, but not such a big surprise when I thought of people who beat overwhelming health oddsand how hopeful and determined they usually were. I was determined to be one of those people…and guess what? It worked!

Check out all my latest recipes: Ruby's Recipes