By Shelia Norling
Not long ago I realized the critical importance of alkalizing my body. I learned that an acidic body invites disease and ages more rapidly. I learned that alkalizing promotes healing, drastically reduces pain, helps maintain a healthy weight, and slows the hands of time.
Since I made the decision to alkalize, my life has improved drastically. Aches and pains I had all my life were gone within a few short weeks. Weight I’d been trying to lose for years continues to melt away. Skin conditions I’d had for years completely healed without scars! My vision has improved, my hair and nails are healthier, and the list goes on.
I love to eat so it’s important to me to have alkalizing food that I love to eat. If you’ve ever looked for alkalizing recipes, you’ll probably agree that most of the ones available don’t sound very appealing. So I’ve been alkalizing my favorite recipes and creating new delicious recipes that are more like “normal” food.
Several people have asked me how to get protein that isn’t so acid-forming. Unfortunately, most meat is acidic. The good news is, there are numerous great sources of protein that have an alkalizing effect on the body.
While everyone may agree that protein is essential for health and healing, there are widely differing opinions about how much protein we should consume. To make it even more difficult to determine, protein requirements differ according to body size, activity level, and how well you assimilate nutrition.
Protein is a source of energy but when sufficient fats and carbohydrates are available as well, the protein that is not used for building tissue or energy may be converted by the liver and stored as fat in the body.
Although it’s true that protein deficiency can present a serious health threat, this threat has been over-emphasized in many countries. Research shows that most Americans, for example, take in too much protein for good health. Protein does not burn cleanly, it leaves behind nitrogen waste that the body must metabolize and eliminate.
Vegetable protein is high fiber, complex carbohydrate-rich food, high in vitamins and minerals with little or no fat. Vegetarians have much less heart disease, lower blood pressure and osteoporosis, and much less risk of cancer than those who eat meat regularly. While animal protein has been shown to increase cholesterol deposits, vegetable protein lowers them.
I’m not suggesting you have to be vegetarian to alkalize (I’m not). Balance is the key. Even an excessively strict vegetarian diet can endanger health because amino acids and vitamin B12 are so easy to lose. Vegetarians who eat neither eggs nor dairy products are encouraged to eat plenty of legumes and grains to insure sufficient amino acids. Black beans in particular, are an excellent source of absorbable protein that can alkalize an over-acid system.
Along with grains and legumes, soy foods are high protein vegetable sources. Other good sources include blue-green algae, spirulina and chlorella, wheat germ, nuts and seeds and their butters, brewer’s yeast, and sprouts. Dark green, leafy vegetables, like spinach, kale and chard, and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower, have easily assimilated protein as well.
Brewer’s yeast is an excellent source of protein, B vitamins, amino acids and minerals. It’s one of the best immune-enhancing supplements available in food form. Because it’s so rich in chromium, brewer’s yeast can be a key food factor in significantly improving blood sugar metabolism, and in substantially reducing serum cholesterol. It also helps speed wound healing through an increase in collagen production and it’s antioxidant properties allow the tissues to take in more oxygen. In addition, its B vitamin and mineral content improves both skin texture and blemishes.
Sprouts are ideal for a natural source of protein that also helps the body cleanse itself. Besides protein, sprouts are rich in almost every nutrient, vitamins (especially A, B-complex, C, D and E), enzymes, essential fatty acids, and minerals (including iron, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, zinc and chromium, all of which are natural antioxidants that strengthen the immune system and protect the body from toxic chemical buildup. Sprouts are cholesterol free, and the few calories they have come from the simple sugars they contain that make them a quick source of energy.
(of course the chocolate itself has to be alkalizing which means no acid-forming additives (visit HealingWithChocolate.com for a great resource).
You don’t have to give up meat, just reduce the amount you consume and increase the more alkalizing alternatives. If you do eat meat, keep in mind that organic varieties are always less acid-forming than their conventional counterparts.
Try alkalizing even for just one week and I believe you’ll begin to see amazing improvements in your health. It’s easier than you might think!
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Shelia Norling combines her background in systems design, self-development, and nutrition with her love for cooking and her zest for life to deliver practical, no nonsense information for how to tweak your diet for greater health and vitality and how to tweak your life for greater enjoyment. Claim your free copy of Shelia’s extensive Alkalizing Food List and more at www.Tweakability.com.
© Copyright 2008 Shelia Norling - This article may be reprinted without permission as long as the content and author bio remains unchanged.