Wednesday, July 31, 2024

Alkaline diet is the way to good health

The word vegetarian does not come from vegetable but from vegetus (life, growth).
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All non-starchy vegetables and fruits have an alkaline-forming effect on our body's fluids. Potatoes and bananas are slightly more acidic than most other vegetables and fruits.

For this reason, to be alkaline and healthy, non-starchy fruits, berries, and vegetables form the main bulk of our diet.
Food Combining Myths, Science (nutriplanet.org)
Fortunately, nature has arranged it so that green vegetables, such as kale and broccoli, are not only very alkaline but also superfoods that are nutrient rich. 

Most legumes are semi-alkaline, while whole grains are more acidic. Refined grains (like white rice or milled flour) have an acidic effect on the body.

All animal products -- slaughtered flesh, eggs, fish, dairy -- in addition to extracted, process, simplified sugars have an acidifying effect. Therefore, these foods should be eliminated from the diet or greatly reduced.

Go nonviolent and vegan? Not necessarily. For example, a vegan living mainly on protein bars would end up with an acidic and unhealthy bloodstream due to the sugar and grain, while an omnivore eating lots of fruits and vegetables and a small amount of meat and dairy might stay alkaline and healthy.


Food combining for digestion (True Activist)
The body maintains homeostasis (equilibrium), which means a blood pH level of about 7.35-7.46 to maintain good health. We do that by eating a diet of primarily alkaline producing foods, mainly fruits and vegetables. These foods are also the most nutrient dense foods. 

There is no need for paleo folks and vegans to go to war in a battle of words regarding what is right or wrong with an alkaline diet. The facts speak for themselves.

In essence, we can become acidic on any diet if we eat too many acid-forming foods: too much animal protein and fats, too much sugar and refined carbs, as well as too many deep-fried foods.
Whether to be a vegan, vegetarian, or omnivore is, in the end, more a question of ethics. We can be healthy with any label, provided we eat alkaline foods.
So if, on the one hand, one dislikes killing animals, impregnating, imprisoning, and otherwise making animals miserable and instead wants to be kinder to them and the planet, then a vegan diet is the healthiest and most environmentally-friendly.

If, on the other hand, one just wants to stay healthy, then junk (processed) foods and animal foods need to be minimized or eliminated altogether. Whatever one eats, the main bulk of our intake needs to be mainly vegetables and fruits.

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