Alkaline Diet Principles

Alkaline diet helps to get a body pH balance to healthy levels. There are several principles in maintaining alkaline diet and it may sound complex or difficult to keep but it pays off with a healthy body. Many health conditions and symptoms disappear when acidifying foods are replaced with alkalizing foods.

Try to introduce these Alkaline Diet Principles to your eating plan:

1. Eat at least 70% of daily food from alkalizing food groups. The rest should be high protein foods  and other acid forming foods.
2. Eat at least 2 servings of fruit and 5 servings of vegetables per day.
3. Eat fruit in the morning, 30 minutes before breakfast.
4. Don’t over eat. Stop eating on the first feeling of fullness.
5. Don’t drink any fluids at meals. Drink at least 15 – 30minutes before your meal and then it would be beneficial to wait for 45 minutes after meal before drinking again.  This includes water, juices, soups and soda, tea, wine (last 3 you shouldn’t be drinking at all). Fluids dilute the digestive process making it more difficult for foods to be properly digested.
6. Meat, eggs and dairy are acidifying foods;  eat them sparingly.
7.  Don’t eat hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. These include margarine, butter. Foods to avoid: fast food, cereals, cookies, crackers, vegetable shortenings, candies, processed foods.
8. You still need fats. Use the following fats instead to get real nutritional value: avocados, nuts and seeds, coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, flax seed oil. See food chart for more.
9. Don’t use table salt. Use unrefined sea salt instead and reduce the intake of salt over all.
10. Don’t use sugar or artificial sweeteners. sugar increases the acidity level in our body.  Use natural sweetener such as stevia when you want to eat something sweet.
11. Don’t drink caffeinated drinks: coffee, black tea, coke etc.
12. Drink a lot of water, at least 2 litres per day. Remember it should be filtered water. Alkaline water is also available! Good tip is to squeeze a bit of lemon or lime into your water.
13. Use whole grains such as quinoa, millet, buckwheat or sprouted grains instead of white flour. Also swap white rice for brown rice even though it is also slightly acidic but a lot more nutritional than white rice.

Acid – Alkaline Food Chart

Highly Alkaline Foods:

Alfalfa                  Cabbage                      Garlic
Avocado              Cayenne pepper          Ginger
Baking soda         Cucumber                   Oregano
Barley Grass       Dandelion                    Radish
Beet                      Endive                         Wheat Grass
Soy sprouts          Sprouted seeds          White beans

Alkaline Foods:  

Artichokes              Banana          Almonds                 Borage Oil
Asparagus              Cherries        Almond Butter         Coconut Oil pure
Basil                        Lemons         Caraway Seeds       Evening Primrose Oil
Bok Choy                 Limes            Fennel Seeds          Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Broccoli                   Rhubarb        Sesame Seeds         Flax seed Oil
Capsicum                     -stalks      Sunflower Seeds     Sesame Oil
Carrot                      Thyme          Pine Nuts
Cauliflower
Celery                                            Lentils                       Green Tea
Chives                                           Lima Beans              Herbal Teas
Egg plant                                       Soybeans
Green Beans                                Tofu
Horse Radish
Leeks
Lettuce
Onion                                                    
Parsnip
Peas fresh
Potatoes
Pumpkins
Red Cabbage
Rutabaga
Spinach
Squash
Tomatoes
Turnip
Yams
Zucchini

Neutral Foods:

Acai Berry                  Agave Nectar                   Basmati Rice
Goji Berry                   Apple Cider Vinegar        Bulgur Wheat
Coconut fresh            Homogenized Milk           Buckwheat
Brussels Sprouts       Rice Milk                          Spelt
Figs, raw+dried           Brazil Nuts                      Soy Flour
Watermelon                Cashew Nuts                  Whey Protein Powder
Sweet Potatoes          Hazelnuts                        Kamut
Macadamia Nuts
Walnuts

Acidifying Foods:     

Canned Vegetables     Apricots                Butter                     Chicken
Frozen Vegetables      Blackberries         Margarine                 Duck
Mushrooms                  Black Currant       Mayonnaise              Eggs
Sourkraut                     Blueberries           Milk                   Fresh water fish
Tomatoes canned        Cantaloupe            Cream                     Ocean Fish
Tomato puree              Cherry sweet        Cheese                     Salmon
Olives                           Cranberry            Ice cream                  Lamb
Peanuts                        Dates                    Yoghurt                    Liver
Peanut butter               Gooseberry          Brown Rice Syrup     Oysters
Pistachios                     Grapefruit            Barley Malt Syrup
Pumpkin seeds             Grapes                   Honey                    Cod Liver Oil
Brown Rice                    Mandarin             Sugar, white              Corn Oil
Cereals                          Orange                 Xylitol                       Sunflower Oil
Rye Bread                      Papaya                Soda                         Ketchup
Wheat                             Peach                 Sparkling Water        Mustard
Wheat kernel                  Pear
Whole grain bread          Pineapple             Microwaved Foods!
White Rice                    Raspberries
Couscous                      Strawberries
Corn Tortillas                 Tangerine
Corn                              Yellow Plum
Amaranth
Barley
Oats
Quinoa

Highly Acidifying Foods: 

Fruit Juices – sweetened         Beef                          Beer           Coffee
Pickled Vegetables                   Pork                          Liquor        Black Tea
Artificial Sweeteners               Bacon                        Wine
Chocolate                                Veal                            Soft drinks
Aspirin                                     Canned Sardines
Chemicals                               Canned Tuna
Medicinal Drugs
Tobacco

It is recommended to eat lots and lots of alkaline foods, up to 80 % of foods eaten per day. And to keep pH balance in a healthy level, you can eat acidifying foods only in moderation and highly acidifying foods very rarely.

Alkaline Food Diet