The Alkaline Diet – It All Comes Down to the PH

The acid/alkaline diet may be something you have heard of before, but what does it mean? Foods have different properties when consumed. Acid or alkaline refers to the effect the food has within the body, being acid-forming or alkaline-forming. A common misconception is that foods such as lemon are acid, however, when consumed in the body they are actually highly alkaline-forming.

pH is a scale used to measure the acidity or alkalinity of certain things. The higher the pH, the more alkaline, the lower the pH, the more acid.

• Acid – 0
• Alkaline – 14
• Water – 7
• Seawater – 8.5
• Blood – 7.5
• Urine – 6
• Wine, beer, and cola drinks – 3

The ideal blood pH is 7.5. Eating too many acid-forming foods can reduce this pH, leading to acidity in the body. The correct pH is needed for ALL bodily functions to work correctly, from the cellular level to our metabolism and organ function.

Foods that are acid-forming should therefore be reduced in the diet, and limited to 20% of your total dietary intake.

Foods that are the most acid-forming in the body include:

• Sugar
• Refined and Processed foods
• Soft drink
• Wine, beer, and other alcohol
• Coffee
• Black Tea
• Dairy products, especially milk and milk powder
• Wheat
• Artificial sweeteners
• Rancid Oils
• Most grains (except buckwheat, millet, amaranth, and quinoa)
• Most legumes (except lentils)
• Most nuts and seeds (except almonds, pepitas, and sesame seeds)

Alkaline-forming foods should form the basis of your diet, making up 80% of the food you eat.

As a general rule, most fruits and vegetables are alkaline-forming, with the most alkaline foods being:

• Lemons
• Green leafy vegetables (spinach, silverbeet, kale, etc)
• Broccoli
• Raw salads
• Tomato
• Almonds
• Sesame seeds
• Pepitas
• Raw honey
• Buckwheat, millet, amaranth, quinoa
• Spirulina, barley or wheatgrass

Changing your diet

Most people have a very acid-forming diet, being high in wheat, refined foods, and sugar. Substantial improvements in most health conditions can be obtained by reducing acid-forming foods in the diet to only 20% of your intake. This is not an easy task initially, as significant changes will need to be made to achieve this.

A good start is to look at substituting some of the acid foods for alkaline foods:

• Wheat – use buckwheat, millet, amaranth, or quinoa.
• Sugar – use raw unfiltered honey instead (honey is acid-forming once cooked).
• Dairy milk – try rice milk or oat milk on cereal, BONSOY milk in tea and coffee – these are still acid but less so than dairy.
• Coffee – try herbal tea or roasted dandelion coffee.

Try looking at your meal and imagining how you could make it more alkaline. Adding green leafy vegetables is a good way to do this, or having a salad on the side can also help. Lemon juice in water can be had on rising and before meals (30 minutes) to stimulate digestion and alkalise the body (always rinse your mouth out with fresh water after having lemon juice).

Ingredients

• 1 cup wholemeal spelt or rye flour
• 1/2 cup white spelt flour
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarb soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup rice bran or macadamia oil
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup organic plain yoghurt
• 3 small, or 2 large eggs
• 2 large ripe bananas, mashed with a fork

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius, and grease or line a 12 hole muffin tin.
2. In a large bowl, place all dry ingredients – flour, oats, baking powder, bicarb, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
3. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, honey, yoghurt and oil, then stir through the banana.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until combined.
5. Spoon into a greased muffin pan, top with rolled oats if desired.
6. Place in oven and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
7. Take out of the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire cooling rack.

Enjoy!

Quinoa, pronounced keen-wa, was the staple food of the Incas. It is gluten-free, has the highest protein content of any grain and contains many nutrients including calcium, iron, zinc and B vitamins.

The seed coating contains saponins which can irritate the intestines, so quinoa must be soaked and washed under running water thoroughly to remove these. Quinoa is available from most health food shops.

Preparation of quinoa:

1 cup quinoa + 1 1/2 cups cold water

• Soak overnight then rinse under running water OR soak for 15 minutes then rinse under running water for 5 minutes. The first option is more effective and better for the environment as it uses less water.
• Drain quinoa well in a fine sieve.
• Place quinoa in a pot and add the water.
• Bring to a boil, cover with a tight fitting lid, and turn the heat down to simmer.
• Cook for 20 minutes.
• Remove from heat and allow to sit five minutes with lid on.
• Fluff gently with a fork and serve.

Quinoa is delicious on it’s own or served with anything you would normally use rice for.

You can tell when quinoa is cooked as the edge of the seed separates as a white spiral and the seed turns clear.

Try adding the rinsed grain to soups and casseroles or use it as a porridge.

Have you been asking yourself what the craze is with wheat grass? Wheat grass is a fantastic companion to a healthy diet, as it contains high levels of chlorophyll, the nutrient that gives it its deep green hue.

Chlorophyll is structurally very similar to haemoglobin, the molecule responsible for carrying oxygen around our bodies, and therefore is said help oxygenate our body.Chlorophyll is traditionally used as a blood cleanser and alkaliser, so is great for detoxification.

Wheat grass contains 82 of the 92 minerals found in soil, including calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc. It also has B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E and vitamin A.

Eating the grass provides little nutrition as our digestive system cannot break down the cellulose int the plant to release the minerals. Wheat grass should therefore be consumed juiced.

A special expresser is required to juice wheatgrass. Top of the line juicers can sometimes have an attachment, or you can buy a manual one to clamp on the bench.

To grow your own wheatgrass, use a seedling tray filled with organic soil. cover soil with whole wheat grains and put a piece of newspaper on top. Soak thoroughly daily. When the grains have sprouted (2-4 days) remove the newspaper and leave in a sunny position. Water daily.

Wheat grass should be consumed within 12 hours of juicing, but ideally straight away to maintain its nutrient value. Most people don’t mind the taste, but you can follow with a slice of orange to help if you don’t like the taste of wheatgrass.

Don’t want to buy a juicer? Wheat grass juice shots can be purchased at most juice bars for around $2, so try it today!

High Protein Muffins These muffins are a great snack, being high in protein and free of sugar and wheat. Wholegrain spelt flour is much higher in protein than wheat which helps to increase the protein content of these muffins. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups wholegrain spelt flour
• 1/4 cup plain protein powder (pea or rice protein works well)
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarb soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup rice bran or macadamia oil
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp honey
• 1/2 cup organic plain yoghurt
• 3 small, or 2 large eggs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius, and grease or line a 12 hole muffin tin.
2. In a large bowl, place all dry ingredients – flour, protein powder, oats, baking powder, bicarb, cinnamon and salt.
3. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, honey, yoghurt and oil.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until combined.
5. Spoon into greased muffin pan, top with rolled oats if desired.
6. Place in oven and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
7. Take out of oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire cooling rack.

Enjoy!