Improve Your Digestion & Prevent Disease! 5 Main Health Benefits of an Alkaline Diet

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Improve Your Digestion & Prevent Disease! 5 Main Health Benefits of an Alkaline Diet

A Key to Ageless Ageing, Preventing and Fighting Chronic Disease begins with Improving your Digestion

Improving your Digestion is vitally important to Prevent Disease. Preventing disease begins with eating a diet of Alkaline Forming foods. Because an Acidic System equals an Unhealthy Digestive System: Creating a Toxic Environment that upsets your body’s PH balance. As this toxic environment “Kills” all good bacteria, causes increased inflammation and digestive problems. Leading to a condition known as Acidosis, being an inappropriate PH balance within your body.

“All disease begins in the gut.”
-Hippocrates-

Major Focus of Clinical Practice

A major focus of my clinical practice has been in treatment of what could be referred to as cardiometabolic disorders (obesity, diabetes, cholesterol disorders, heart disease, insulin resistance, etc.), so you might say what has acidity and digestion got to do with this?

It became apparent when treating clients with metabolic problems that there was a distant link with cardiac health and digestive problems as well. Symptoms like indigestion, bloating, gas, irritable bowel problems such as diarrhoea and constipation.

As I began to treat clients with improved dietary and lifestyle changes the digestive symptoms subsided and the reversal of insulin resistance became evident.

After many years of supporting clients in these areas I now fully understand the connection between the digestive system, popularly referred to as “gut health,” and optimal health.

The Link between Cardiac, Metabolic, Gut Health & Disease!

It is now recognized within the Health Industry, the co-existence of gut symptoms, cardiac risk and metabolic syndrome with a direct link to disease. This uncovering the recognition how inflammation is the root cause for chronic health conditions like heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and autoimmunity.

Inflammation is caused by immune system overactivation and most of your immune system activity resides in your gut. It has become evident that improper gut health, an acidic environment within your body is the primary trigger to these diseases. Being referred to as inflammation-related diseases.

Well before your cholesterol or blood glucose readings becomes abnormal, your digestive symptoms such as indigestion, bloating, excessive gas and irritable bowel could well be early warning signs for excessive inflammation in the body. Listening to these signs and making significant health changes to your diet and lifestyle is a positive way of helping your body in prevention of these diseases.

What Happens when your Body is in a state of Acidity !

When your Body is in a state of Acidity the initial problems that occur are within your digestive track. This being an increase in Bad Bacteria, with a Decrease or Elimination of Good Bacteria

This allow for yeast to thrive in your digestive tract leading to a condition known as Candida. If your body remains in an acidic state, this leads to further health problems such as Cancer, Bowel Disease, Joint and Muscular pain and loss of use.

Inflamed sensitive gums, cavities
•Immune deficiency
•Sciatica, lumbago, stiff neck
•Respiratory problems, shortness of breath, coughing
•Yeast fungal overgrowth
•Low energy and chronic fatigue
•Cardiovascular damage, including the constriction of blood vessels and reduction in oxygen
•Heart problems, arrhythmias, increased heart rate
•Weight gain, obesity and diabetes
•Bladder and kidney infections
•Accelerated free radical damage
•Premature aging
•Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea
•Osteoporosis, weak brittle bones, hip fractures, bone spurs
•Headaches, confusion, sleepiness
•Joint pain, aching muscles and lactic acid build-up
•Allergies, acne

Excess Acidity

When there is excess acidity within the body, the body will take minerals from vital organs and bones, in order to neutralize the acid and remove it from the body.

Due to this happening, the body’s mineral reserves such as calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium become dangerously low and will cause damage that may go undetected for years.
Until it reaches levels that will cause ill health from a term know as acidosis. Disease may well commenced at this stage.

For many of us we are already consuming more than enough acid forming foods, such as dairy, grains, meats and sugar. As the body is constantly generating acidic waste material from these foods being metabolised. It is essential for these waste products to be neutralized and excreted from the body. So to support the body in this neutralizing process we need to supply the body with more alkaline forming foods.

5 Main Health Benefits of an Alkaline Diet

Why is eating a alkaline diet of alkaline forming foods good for you? Because alkaline foods supply important nutrients that help stop accelerated signs of aging and a gradual loss of organ and cellular functions. When there is an excess of acidity in the body there is an acceleration of degeneration of tissue, bone mass, muscle strength due to the fact that acidity robs the body of key minerals necessary for maintenance and repair.

1. Protects Bone Density and Muscle Mass

Your intake of minerals plays an important role in the development and maintenance of bone structures. Research suggests that the more alkalizing fruits and vegetables someone eats, the better protection that person might have from experiencing decreased bone strength and muscle wasting as they age, known as sarcopenia.

An alkaline diet can support bone health by balancing the ratio of minerals that are important for building bones and maintaining lean muscle mass, including calcium, magnesium and phosphate.

The diet may also help improve production of growth hormones and vitamin D absorption, which further protects bones in addition to mitigating many other chronic diseases.

2. Lowers Risk for Hypertension and Stroke

One of the anti-aging effects of an alkaline diet is that it decreases inflammation and causes an increase in growth hormone production. This has been shown to improve cardiovascular health and offer protection against common problems like high cholesterol, hypertension (high blood pressure), kidney stones, stroke and even memory loss.

3. Lowers Chronic Pain and Inflammation

Studies have found a connection between an alkaline diet and reduced levels of chronic pain. Chronic acidosis has been found to contribute to chronic back pain, headaches, muscle spasms, menstrual symptoms, inflammation and joint pain. One study administered by the Society for Minerals and Trace Elements in Germany found that when patients with chronic back pain were given an alkaline supplement daily for four weeks, 76 of 82 patients reported significant decreases in pain as measured by the “Arhus low back pain rating scale.”

4. Boosts Vitamin Absorption and Prevents Magnesium Deficiency

An adequate amount of magnesium is necessary for the function of hundreds of enzyme systems and bodily processes. An large percentage of people are deficient in magnesium and as a result experience heart complications, muscle pains, headaches, sleep troubles and anxiety.

Adequate amounts of magnesium are necessary to activate Vitamin D, therefore preventing Vitamin D deficiency, this being important for optimal immune and endocrine functioning.

5. Helps Improve Immune Function and Cancer Protection

When cells lack enough minerals to properly dispose of waste or oxygenate the body fully, the whole body suffers. Vitamin absorption is compromised by mineral loss, while toxins and pathogens accumulate in the body and weaken the immune system.

A Question often asked does an alkaline diet help prevent cancer?

As topic controversial as this topic might be and still unproven, research published in the British Journal of Radiology found evidence that cancerous cell death (apoptosis) was more likely to occur in an alkaline body.

Cancer prevention is believed to be associated with an alkaline shift in pH due to an alteration in electric charges and the release of basic components of proteins. Alkalinity can help decrease inflammation and the risk for diseases like cancer — plus an alkaline diet has been shown to be more beneficial for some chemotherapeutic agents that require a higher pH to work appropriately.

6. Can Help You Maintain a Healthy Weight

Although the diet isn’t solely focused on fat loss, following an alkaline diet meal plan for weight loss can certainly help protect against obesity. Limiting consumption of acid-forming foods and eating more alkaline-forming foods may make it easier to lose weight due to the diet’s ability to decrease leptin levels and inflammation. This affects both your hunger and fat-burning abilities. Due to the fact that alkaline-forming foods are anti-inflammatory foods, consuming an alkaline diet gives your body a chance to achieve normal leptin levels and feel satisfied from eating the amount of calories you really need.

What You Can Do!

Fresh Wholesome Food will always support your body's return to Health. Better than anything else. — **Alkalizing your Digestion is as Easy as including Alkalizing forming foods each day into your diet. Click on image above for the list of alkalizing forming foods**

Eat Alkalizing Forming Foods: Alkalizing your body is as easy as making your Vegetable intake 75% of your diet and your animal protein only 25% of your daily Dietary intake.

To Begin With: First thing each morning have 1 squeezed lemon in warm water per day and if you are suffering from indigestion or heartburn, then have a teaspoon of Bicarb in a glass of water before going to bed.

List of Alkaline Forming Foods

Alkalizing Vegetables: Beets, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Celery, Cucumber, Kale, Lettuce, Onions, Peas, Peppers, Spinach
Alkalizing Fruits: Apple, Banana, Berries, Cantaloupe, Grapes, Melon, Lemon, Orange, Peach, Pear, Watermelon
Alkalizing Protein: Almonds, Chestnuts, Tofu
Alkalizing Spices: Cinnamon, Curry, Ginger, Mustard, Sea Salt

Note: a food’s acid or alkaline forming tendency in the body has nothing to do with the actual pH of the food itself. Although it might seem that citrus fruits would have an acidifying effect on the body, the citric acid they contain actually has an alkalinizing effect in the system.