Reclaim Your Energy With Alkaline Foods – Part 2

We talked about acid-alkaline imbalances in a recent post.  This week we’re going to show you how you can easily test your pH levels at home and how to choose the best alkaline foods so that you too can reclaim your energy with alkaline living.

What is pH?

pH stands for Potential Hydrogen and is a measure of how acidic or alkaline a substance is. It is a scientific measurement that ranges from 0 – 14, with 7 being neutral. A pH of less than 7 indicates acidity, whereas a pH of greater than 7 indicates alkalinity.

How To Test Your pH Levels

You can test your urine or saliva (urine is generally more accurate) with Litmus paper or pH strips like these. These are available online or at your local pharmacy.

Step 1

If you bought pH tape break off about 2-3 inches, if you bought the strips remove packaging. You’ll need to pee directly onto the strip/tape which will change color. Using the indicator that came with your strips compare the colors till you find the closest match.

Step 2

Its handy to keep a small notebook and pen in your bathroom to record your results over a 2 week period. Write down the date, time and pH number. The number may change over the course of the day and week. If you are healthy you will mostly get readings between 7.3 and 8. The first test of the day after waking up will usually be the lowest.

Step 3

Over the two week testing period you will get a good idea of your health. If the pH of your urine is mostly around 7.2 you’re fine. However, if your results are consistently lower, especially if they are below 6.5 you maybe short in minerals such as sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium which are all alkalizing agents. At this point you should seek professional advice on how best to attain your maximum health.

Identifying Acid-Alkaline Foods

The Goodness Magazine identifies recipes with an alkaline indicator. When you see the Alkaline Energy indicator on our recipes it means they have a higher than average rating for being more alkaline than acid. We have Called it “Alkaline Energy” for the reason being alkaline foods help balance out our inner environment from an acidic lifestyle. An acid/alkaline balance helps us feel more alive and energetic because all systems are working at their best to efficiently uptake nutrients, transfer energy and remove waste. The quicker these processes occur the more energy we feel. Whereas if we are overly acidic we soon feel like glue – sluggish and de-buzzed. The body has to work hard to help restore balance within the body and pull from its alkaline reserves, which in turn slows other processes to deal the the imbalance at hand. By eating a balance of both acid and alkaline foods, coupled with a healthy lifestyle will help you feel clear, clean and energetic – the perfect foundation to alkaline living.

So Are Acidic Foods Bad For You?

Not at all! In fact, there are loads of acidic food with tremendous nutritional health benefits. The big question you want to ask yourself when deciding what to eat: Will this food give me even more energy or just fill me? It can be confusing, weighing up the pros and cons of each food and even being misleading at times. That’s why we have also identified Alkaline foods to help point you in the right direction to make the best food choices with the ingredients you’ve got for maximum energy. When you see the Alkaline Energy indicator on our recipes you can be assured that the recipe is full of super goodness.

A Selection of Alkaline Foods

There is so many great sources of information about acid/alkaline food out there. But to get you going here is a short list of easy to find, easy to use foods that can help balance an acidic body. The perfect way to start your alkalizing day is with a cup of hot water and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Root Vegetables especially beetroot (see our amazing beet soup recipe in Issue 4 and Stella McCartney’s beet salad in Issue 5), radish, turnips, carrots and horseradish.

Cruciferous Vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and brussel sprouts (try out the Squash with Brussel Sprouts and Chestnuts in our December issue).

Leafy Greens such as kale, spinach, chard, beet greens, sprouts, bok choy, zucchini.

Fruits such as lemons, limes, avocado, rhubarb

Real Flavorings and fresh herbs such as fresh garlic, basil, cilantro, mint/spearmint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, thyme.
Get loads of alkalizing recipes and more in The Goodness Magazine!