Acid Alkaline Diet For Dummies

by Julie Wilkinson

Chapter 14: Breakfasts, Soups, and Salads

acid, acidifying, and acid-forming interchangeably. They mean the same thing and describe a substance that makes your pH more acidic.

Likewise, I also refer to any substances that turn the body more alkaline as alkaline-forming, alkalinizing, and base substances.

One of the best things about the For Dummies books is their proclivity for extraneous information. I put this information in something called sidebars, which are the grayed-out boxes of text. You don’t have to read them if you don’t want to, and they won’t impact your diet success. Other scientific tidbits are marked with a Technical Stuff icon. Again, skip ‘em if you’re in a rush to get pH balanced.

Pay close attention to text marked with this icon. It highlights potentially dangerous mistakes on the diet.

Foods are acid forming or alkaline forming dependant on their mineral content during digestion.

The following foods are highly acidic before digestion, but alkalize the body after digestion: Apple cider vinegar Lemons and lemon juice Limes and lime juice

Oranges, tangerines, and grapefruit (just the fruits,

not the juices which have concentrated sugar and are acid...

You can still enjoy your favorite acidifying foods every once in a while. If today’s the day I’m going to enjoy a chocolate bar (acidifying), I make sure to drink plenty of water and eat an extra cup of vegetables throughout the day to combat the acids I form with the candy.

To maximize the alkaline-forming foods on your plate consider the following: Create your snack or meal around a fruit or vegetable, not a meat or starch. Fill your plate with plant foods first, leaving little room for acid-forming meats and breads. Swap out acid-forming sides, such as dinner rolls, for an extra vegetable. Get creative preparing plant foods — they don’t have to be boring. Chopped veggies with dip and grilled fruit can bring the fun back into eating healthy.

Table 2-1 Choosing the Least Acidic Foods

The nutrients you need to survive can be broken down into two main categories: the macronutrients and the micronutrients. As their name implies, the macronutrients are the ones you need the most of — the big guns in your diet. The

edible garden, take some advice from me: onions, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, and zucchini are really hard to kill and produce a lot of fruit and vegetables to harvest.

Keep it varied and aim for at least two cups of fruits and two cups of vegetables every day.

This list shows you how plant foods can take center stage for each meal: Breakfast: Fresh fruit, vegetable omelet, homemade almond granola

Lunch: Salads, vegetable-based soups, grilled fruit Dinner: Steamed vegetables, tofu-based casseroles, legumes Snacks: Fruit or vegetable based smoothie, raw vegetables, toasted almonds Although the majority of plant foods are naturally alkalinizing, a few form acid during digestion, so limit your intake of the following: Fruits: Blueberries, cranberries, plums, prunes, and raisins Legumes: Black beans, kidney beans, cashews, and peanuts Vegetables: Corn, olives, and white potatoes

Starchy vegetables, legumes, and sweet fruits are high on the glycemic index, which is a way of measuring the load of simple carbohydrates (sugar) in a food. It is believed that their high sugar content is acidifying during digestion. The other plant foods listed form an acidic ash during digestion, although they are still far less acidifying than animal proteins.

Table 2-3 Acidifying and Alkalinizing Grains

Suffice it to say that any label reading enriched, processed, milled, or fortified does not enclose a natural product, and the food product inside will ultimately acidify you.

Meeting the other white meats — soy and whey

The structures impacted by excess acids in this system include your nose,

Chronic sinus problems

Excess mucous

You can test the pH of your tap water with pH test strips or paper. Turn on the faucet (any one will do), hold the strip or paper under the running water and compare the color on the strip to the color on the color key. Water with a pH less than

6.5 is very acidic, whereas water with a pH greater than 8.5 is very alkaline. If you find either extreme in your home, a consultation with your water supplier is in order. You may need a water softener for extremely hard water to avoid scaling and damage to pipes.

If you have neutral water (pH of 7)

Consistent readings less than 6.5 are very acidic.

On average, a normal pH ranges from 6.5 to 8.0. Your morning readings don’t need to stick at 8.0 (very alkaline), but they should be more alkaline than acidic, on average. This slightly alkaline state is where your body functions at its peak, the way it was intended to work.

Figure 5-1: An acid-alkaline scale.

Almost every plant food (in its natural state) is alkaline. The big exception here is starchy veggies and grains — wheat, refined flour, corn, and white potatoes. These grains and vegetables have a high natural sugar content, which leaves an acidic ash in your body.

sugars are a pH no-no and should be avoided including: Aspartame Honey Granulated, brown, and powdered sugars Any artificial sweetener (excluding Stevia, which has minimal pH impact)

Checking your current fitness level

Nicotine acidifies your body at the cellular level. Whether you smoke it or chew it, this chemical attacks every one of your cells and mutates them. This damage leads to inflammation and disease over time.

In a nutshell, using tobacco is highly counterproductive to any dietary attempts to correct your pH. Think of it this way: Tobacco use is more acidifying than eating a side of beef, and the damage to your body is cumulative. The more tobacco you use, the more acids you stow away.

What I mean by behavior modification is to change the way you do things that led you to use tobacco in the first place and change the circumstances that are triggers for tobacco. For example, deal with stress by counting to ten, not by smoking. Try taking a walk after dinner instead of using tobacco.

Jack Welch’s quote, “Change before you have to.”

I’m speaking of the things you should always have on hand in your kitchen. Without these basic alkalinizing ingredients, it’s very easy to fall back on old acidifying habits (exchanging refined white flour in a recipe that calls for spelt). Consider stocking up on: Basmati or wild rice Cold pressed olive oil Lentils Soy or almond milk Soy yogurt Spelt pastas Spelt, millet, or almond flour Sprouted grain bread or tortillas

Table 9-1 provides a helpful shopping list of acid-reducing foods.

Fresh produce (fruits, vegetables, herbs) Egg whites or perishable egg replacements Grains like quinoa and spelt pasta (if you live in the south, they need refrigeration) Dairy replacement products (almond milk, soy yogurt)

Flash frozen fruits and vegetables Salmon and skinless chicken breasts Soy yogurt (as an ice cream substitute) Fresh produce that you won’t be using anytime soon

Least alkalinizing: Apple, banana, blueberries, orange, strawberry, tomato Moderately alkalinizing: Apricot, grapefruit, honeydew, peach, pear, tropical fruits such as kiwi, mango, papaya, and star fruit Very alkalinizing: Avocado, cantaloupe, lemon, lime, pineapple, tangerines, watermelon

Least alkalinizing: Artichoke, celery, leek, lettuce (it’s mostly water), okra, scallions Moderately alkalinizing: Asparagus, cauliflower, celery, parsley, spinach Very alkalinizing: Bell peppers, broccoli, cabbage, eggplant, endive, garlic, kale, lentils, mustard greens, onion, pumpkin, seaweed, sweet potato

Least alkalinizing: Egg whites, egg replacements, whey protein powder Moderately alkalinizing: Almond milk, seeds such as flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds, soy yogurt, soy milk Very alkalinizing: Almonds and chestnuts; fermented soy as in tofu, tempeh, and miso; all sprouts; lentils

Least alkalinizing: Barley, millet, pine nuts, quinoa, rolled oats, spelt, triticale, wild rice Moderately alkalinizing: Chestnuts, cod liver oil, flax seeds, poppy seeds, pumpkin seeds Very alkalinizing: Almonds, avocado oil, cold-pressed olive oil, sprouted grains including sprouted bread and tortillas

Least alkalinizing: Egg whites, egg replacement products, ghee (clarified butter), whey protein (isolated milk derivative) Moderately alkalinizing: Almond milk, soy cheese, soy milk, soy yogurt

Least alkalinizing: Aloe vera, clover honey Moderately alkalinizing: Algae, ginger and herbal teas, stevia Very alkalinizing: Apple cider vinegar, baking soda, green tea, lemon water, mineral water, sea salt

Least acid forming: Coconut, dates Moderately acid forming: Plums, cherries, prunes, and other dried fruits including raisins Very acid forming: Pomegranate, cranberries, blackberries, and processed fruits such as those in marmalades and jams