High acidity robs our body of important nutrients resulting in acidosis and an imbalance within. Aside from lifestyle and diet, there are other contributors to high acidity and reduced alkalinity in the body.

• Large amounts of over the counter medication. Medicine is acidic and so our already acidic bodies have to work even harder to overcome the additional acids from medicines.

• Over cooking your vegetables – heating them to over 105 degrees. This robs them of the alkaline benefits.

• Eating non-organic fruits and vegetables. These contain pesticides, herbicides and chemicals that are acidic to our bodies. Tip: wash your fruits and vegetables in 11.5ph water to remove all traces of any chemicals, herbicides, pesticides and chlorine. 11.5ph water is an emulsifier of oil and chemical based substances.

• Excessive amounts of vitamin C. If you must take vitamin C supplements, I recommend non-acid forming vitamin C (whole food base).

Effects of acidosis are:

Arthritis, insomnia, migraine headaches, acid or strong perspiration, alternating constipation and diarrhea, burning sensation in the mouth, sensitive teeth to acidic fruits, diabetes mellitus, kidney failure, bumps on the tongue, foul smelling stools, water retention, adrenal disorders, stomach ulcers, obesity, ketosis, anger, stress, anorexia, toxemia and fever amongst other symptoms.

For me, during periods of stress (physical, emotional or mental), I see a noticeable difference in how my body reacts to the increase in acidity caused by the stress. I’m on a more natural and alkaline diet today vs. my past but at the same time, I am starting to exercise more so I needed to find an extra alkaline source to help me maintain balance.

Someone pointed me to RemediesDirect and suggested I try their Acid 2 Alkaline Formula supplements. I ordered some and found them to be just what I needed to assist with getting through those periods of increased acidity. I started out taking 6 capsules a day and am not down to 3 but what I like about them is they provide a balanced source of alkaline complexes such as foods & herbs, sea greens and seed & grains.

If you do not have access to a good source of alkaline water, you may want to consider the powder based formulas.

You can find more of their products HERE.

]]> http://alkalinefoodsonline.com/acid-2-alkaline-formula-review/feed/ 0 http://alkalinefoodsonline.com/improving-your-immunity-through-water/ http://alkalinefoodsonline.com/improving-your-immunity-through-water/#comments Thu, 22 Jan 2009 22:44:57 +0000 Eddie Perea http://alkalinefoodsonline.com/?p=259 I grew up in a household where one parent did not drink any water.  My mother had an aversion to drinking water because she did not like the taste and so I wasn’t a huge water drinker.  I wasn’t until I was much older, as I approached 40, and I began experiencing what to me were health issues older people usually had, that I started researching on my own what to do about them.

I developed skin coniditions that I learned from my doctor were psoriasis and exzema.  I tried countless medicines and prescriptions as well as old world remedies but nothing seemed to help.

I switched my diet to restrict the amount of processed and artificial foods, consuming more alkaline based foods and while this had tremendous positive effects on my overall health, it did little to cure my skin problems.

Turns out I was still too acidic and much of my acid waste was caused by tremendous stress at the time – divorce, financial pressure and worry.  I was literally neutralizing the benefits of my new found alkaline diet by the stress I endured.

About 18 months ago, I was introduced to alkaline water and it literally changed my life, putting my new alkaline diet on overdrive.   Within a few weeks, my skin conditions began to clear up and about two months later, they were completely gone.

At first, a friend of mine gave me water from a machine he had and when I asked where I could get one, well let’s just say the price was a bit high.  Being the frugal guy I am, I went and found one online for considerably less.

Now, usually I do a thorough investigation before I purchase anything but in this case, I was just trying to get a good deal.  That good deal ended up costing me my invetement as the machine proved to be junk.

I later learned it was a cheap (and overpriced) Chinese mass produced unit with little quality control.  Anyway, I’m not going to go into details here as I’m not promoting any one type of water machine over another.  Just know that for my experience, it was a waste of money and I ended up buying the top of the line alkaline water device to replace it.   If you want to talk to me about it, feel free to call me toll free 866-879-1180.

Today I drink two gallons of alkaline water per day.  The recommended amount your body needs is 1/2 ounce for every pound of body weight – and that’s just for normal body functions.  If you suffer from high acidity, increase that amount to one ounce per pound and you may see some significant changes the way I did.

I’m a big believer in giving back because I was fortunate enough to have friends who cared to share with me so with this site myself and my partners will continue to search out information of value and provide it to you for your benefit and I want to share with you an article on boosting your immunity with water.

By the way, my mother who never drank water, suffered (notice I use past tense) from fibromyalgia and psoriasis.  On a two week visit last year, I convinced her to drink my alkaline water.  At first she resisted but once she tried it, she would not stop.  By the 4th day, she was up to 1/2 ounce per pound of body weight and the pain from her fibromyalgia had disappeared.

You have to understand, my mom traveled with a king sized bottle of motrin wherever she went and would pop pills quite a few times a day to deal with the pain.  For her pain to disappear after four days was virtually a miracle.  And around day 7, the severe psoriasis in her scalp was gone.   Today she enjoys a healthier life because of alkaline water.

For a great article on using water to boost your immunity, click HERE.

I hope you enjoy it.

To Your Health!

The Alkaline Foods Online Team

Here’s a great overview from the OttawaCitizen posted earlier this month about acid and how our body works to combat the effects of our diets.  The author shares a good description of the effects on acid forming foods on our bones.

As we age, this effect is even more pronounced and damaging so unless you make a change in yoru diets today, you risk serious damage to your body as you age.

When we consume acidic foods (or for that matter, when our body produces excessive acid waste through the foods we eat, the stress we endure and even from basic metabolic processes), the body’s alarms go off telling it to gather as many buffers as it can to neutralize the acid.

Typical buffers are bicorbonate (the major buffer in our body), magnesium and calcium.  The largest source of buffering agents is in our bones.  The body is designed to protect itselt and so our brains have no problem instructing the body to grab buffers from our bones.  If the process of over acidity is chronic and continual, what results is osteoporosis.

You can read the article HERE.

Alkaline foods that fall into the category of healing foods include sea vegetables and various edible fungi.

Sea Vegetables

As a source of dietary fiber, sea vegetables are hard to beat. These foods are a great source of insoluble fibers which are indigestible and because of this quality, they absorb water in the intestinal tract and add bulk to the intestinal walls, helping accelerate waste removal from our systems by preventing the accumulation of toxins and flushing them from our bodies.

Nori - Japanese name for the edible seaweed species of red algae (red laver), Nori is commonly used to refer to products derived from this form of seaweed. One of the higher protein contents of the sea vegetables with the majority of it digestible and it is high in Vitamins A, C, niacin and folic acid.

Kanten - China grass, Japanese isinglass or Ceylon moss are other names used to describe this seaweed, which is rich in vitamins, minerals and trace nutrients like calcium, iron and iodide.

Aonori - also called green laver, this seaweed is rich in calcium, magnesium, potasium, amino acids and vitamins (high in Vitamin C). It is known for its anti-aging properties because it contributes to the production of collagen and elastin.

Wakame - edible kelp or brown seaweed, high dietary fiber and low in fat, rich in Vitamins B and good amounts of trace minerals such as iron and manganese. Recent studies in Japan have found that wakame contains a compound that helps burns fat.

Hijiki - also known as hizikia, another brown seaweed rich in dietary fiber and essential minerals. It has been a traditional food in Japan for centuries, part of a balanced diet but in very small quantities (on average, the Japanese consume about 0.9g per day). There has been some concern in recent years over the levels of inorganic arsenic in Hijiki, but food safety agencies around the world acknowledged that occasional Hijiki consumption was unlikely to cause significant health risks.

Edible Fungus

Edible mushrooms are an excellent source of fiber, vitamins and trace minerals and have a high protein content. Eastern cultures have been consuming edible fungi for thousands of years both as food and medicine.

High in protein and low in fact, edible mushrooms are an important source of amino acids (they contain all the amino acids essential for our nutrition).

Kima - also called kamaa (truffle), this fungus is an underground mushroom that grows in the desert, primarily in Syria and is valued as an immune booster.

Maitake - known as Sheep’s Head, Eastern cultures use maitake as an aid to balance body systems to a normal level. Japanese and Chinese medicine use this fungus to enhance the immune system and regulate the body.

Kikurage - White kikurage is called snow fungus or white fungus and the brownish/black varieties are called wood ear, cloud ear or black fungus; very high in vegetable fiber, iron and calcium. Rich in vitamins D, B1 & B2 and high potassium content. Known for its health giving qualities.

Chaga - natural antioxidant medicinal mushroom, this is one of the oldest medicinal plants known to man. It grows on tree bark (looks like burnt charcoal) and has been known to inhibit free-radical oxidation. Chaga contains a high amount of betulin or betulinic acid and researchers have demonstrated an inhibiting effect on tumor growth because betulinic acid at the cellular level induces apoptosis (cell death) in tumors. Chaga is also believed to fight viruses, stimulate the central nervous system, lower blood pressure, decrease sugar levels and detoxify our kidneys and liver.

Shitake - another exceptional fungus believed to be a strong cancer fighter as it has been shown to inhibit tumors, it contains specific amino acids that help process cholesterol from the liver. Stimulates the immune system and is one of the few natural sources of Vitamin D2.

To Your Health and Wellness!

Alkaline Foods Online Team

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In my never ending pursuit for knowledge on the impact of a healthy lifestyle centered around alkaline foods, I discovered this amazing book by Dr. Hiromi Shinya, the world’s foremost gastroenterologist and expert on the the human gastrointestinal system.

Dr. Shinya is professor of surgery at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Head of the Endoscopic Center of Beth Israel Hospital in New York, an adviser for Maeda Hospital and Hanzomon Gastrointestinal Clinic in Japan and Vice Chairman of the Japanese Medical Association in the USA.

The inventor of the modern day colonoscopy, over the past 35 years Dr. Shinya has performed more than 300,000 colonoscopic exams and surgeries, gaining amazing details on the link between our diets and our health.

What I found most interesting about his book is Dr. Shinya’s discovery of what he calls our “miracle enzyme” and the effect of our diets and lifestyles on diseases because of our enzymes. Amazingly, cancer patients who follow his Enzyme Factor Diet and Lifestyle have ZERO recurrence of cancer.

For more details visit the book’s website.

To Your Health and Wellness.

The Alkaline Foods Online Team

If you’ve looked around our website, by now you can probably guess that we do not mean that kind of oatmeal. No, the staff at Alkaline Foods Online prefer all natural or organic oatmeal without all the junk and we eat it prepared in a uniquely specific way.

Oatmeal

Rolled Oats – made from oat groats that are rolled or crushed under heavy rollers. The first step in the production of rolled oats is to steam the oat groats and then roll them in order to flatten them. They are then re-steamed and roasted before packaging. Because of this extra processing, this type of oatmeal loses a little of the natural taste and texture, along with some of the beneficial nutrients.

This is the traditional type of oatmeal you see commercially available today and have probably eaten in the past. If you are going to eat rolled oats, make sure they are all natural whole grain or organic stone milled.

Steel Cut Oats – made from the whole grain groats, these have been cut in to two or three pieces using steel discs. No extra processing or additives and nothing taken out – just as nature intended them to be and it is our favorite!

I like Bob’s Red Mill or McCann’s because both of these have a wonderful flavor and texture but you can use your favorite brand. Just keep in mind that unless you are using organic oats, you will consume additives that are unhealthy and acid forming.

These include pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers that are used in commercial farming and all of these additives remain in the traditional, non organic foods you find in stores.

Preparation

Our preferred method of preparing steel cut oats involves a slow cooking process of about 5 hours. I know you do not have that much time to wait for your oatmeal so here is the secret to the best oatmeal in the world.

First, get yourself a sauce warmer like the Little Dipper. These mini crock pots are ideal at dinner parties for warming up sauces and hot dips.

Next, buy a programmable plug in timer. Plug it into the outlet of your choice, plug the sauce warmer in and program the timer to start 5 hours before you wake up. I get up at 6am so mine starts at 1am.

Add one cup of steel cut oats and two cups of alkaline water (this is the best water to consume and when you use it in any recipe, it really brings out the flavor of the food). Alkaline water helps neutralize the acidity of the oats.

Add a teaspoon of cinnamon and brown sugar (the amount of sugar depends on your own taste – you can add honey as well). If you like raisins in your oatmeal, toss a handful in.

Mix it up in the sauce warmer, put the lid on and leave it.

When you wake up in the morning, you will have delicious and hot oatmeal ready to eat – the best oatmeal in the world.

Enjoy!

The sad truth is today, many health care professionals believe we can somehow balance our pH naturally and miraculously. But the truth is far beyond that.

According to Dr. Lynda Frasetto, University of California acid/alkaline researcher, the truth is when it comes to our diet we have passed an evolutionary corner. Our bodies do not handle acid waste the way we used to.

Artificial and processed ingredients are present in almost everything we put into our mouths and the body was not designed to dispose of the amount of acid that is left in our bodies from the lifestyle of consumption many of us have chosen. The result is a buildup and stockpiling of excess acidic waste which experts around the world have shown is linked to many of the health issues our society experiences today.

Dr. Frasetto’s research has shown that our bodies are forced to take drastic steps to preserve strategic resources due to the volume of acid waste the body has to handle. The body’s response is to naturally protect the liver and kidneys, our two major and essential detoxification organs.

In her study of aging people, she found that we stockpile acid in fatty deposits rather than eliminating it via the liver and kidneys. The body actually creates fat cells to store the excess waste – you could say our fat is our life preserver.

The body truly is a miraculous wonder and in its infinite wisdom, it has chosen to save these organs from the degradation of excess acidic waste. But there is a price – lowered immunity, obesity, lack of energy and a cornucopia of other acid related health issues we are subjected to, from osteoarthritis and diabetes to cancer and many, many more.

These unbalanced consequences are a result of the dietary evolution we have experienced over the centuries and unless we consciously choose to make a change in our eating habits and the types of foods we consume, we can only expect this evolution to worsen.

As a first step to reversing this evolved diet, start thinking about what it is exactly you put in your body. Begin by looking at the foods you eat – are you consuming excessive processed foods? Do you eat foods containing artificial ingredients or preservatives? Do you eat enough alkaline foods like leafy green vegetables?

By thinking about what we put in our mouths we can start to correct many of the issues affecting our health today and live a more enjoyable, disease free life.

Wishing you health and wellness!

The Alkaline Foods Online Team