Getting scientific now…but when you master this concept in your diet you will thrive!

What I am talking about is the acid/alkaline balance in your body.

The most important thing to know here is that illness and disease thrive in an acidic environment.  Acidity in your body causes disturbances in your enzymes and de-mineralization. When your pH balance is thrown off by eating too many acidic foods, you become susceptible, not only to illness, but to low energy, depression and stress as well.

Your body is meant to live in a slightly alkaline state, with a pH between 7.35-7.45.  If it wandered out of this zone you would become incredibly ill, possibly to the point of death. Thankfully, your miracle of a body is constantly regulating this through its various systems, expelling the acid through waste or neutralizing it.  However, when you eat acidic foods your body has to basically go into “damage control” mode and work like crazy to bring it back into an alkaline state.  That’s when the trouble starts. Acidic foods rob your body of its mineral stores as it compensates to bring it all back into balance. Your body does not replenish its minerals on its own. If you want more, you have to eat them. Acidic diets eat up your minerals and alkalizing diets replenish your minerals.

This doesn’t mean that all foods on the acidic side are bad.  Some foods are just slightly acidic healthy foods, and are still valuable to your diet.  Others should be eaten in moderation or rarely.  Whether a particular food is mildy acidic or mildy alkalizing doesn’t make a huge difference.  What’s important is that you have a basic grasp of the effect of these foods on your body, so that you can make better choices. In order to stay optimally healthy you need the proper balance from both sides. The optimal ratio is 60-80% of your foods coming from the alkaline side, with only 20-40% coming from the acidic side.

Unfortunately, when you look at the chart above, you can see that the SAD diet (Standard American Diet) falls in the mostly acidic area on the chart with lots of meat, cheese, coffee and sugar.  Not such a surprise then that so many Americans are sick!

Here are some great ways to alkalize your body in addition to following the chart:

-Eating more greens and water-rich foods such as fruits and vegetables
-Adding lemon and lime (which may taste acidic but are actually alkalizing) to your water
-Drinking coconut water and green juices / superfood greens (spirulina, chlorella, wheatgrass, barley grass, or wild blue algae) in water
-Adding sprouts to your diet. Sprouts are a nutrient-dense, enzyme-rich food full of vitamins and minerals
-Sea vegetables, such as nori, dulse, or wakame, are naturally cleansing and wonderful for the thyroid, adrenals, kidneys, and liver. They help to detoxify the liver and digestive tract.
-Breathing deeply
-Reducing stress factors
-Exercise