The Whole Food Blog

Alkaline foods are an essential consideration for many health conscious individuals.  Now that more people understand the benefits of maintaining a healthy pH balance, they realize they can enhance their nutrition by learning more about the benefits of alkaline foods.

In order to manage a healthy pH balance, nutrition experts recommend a diet consisting of 80% alkaline foods and only 20% acid forming foods.  Foods are either alkaline or acid forming based on the type of ash that is left in the body after your digestive system processes them.  For example, a lemon may seem like an acid food, but after it is digested, it leaves an alkaline ash behind.

Most people eating a typical diet today, have this 80/20-Alkaline/Acid balance reversed.  It’s rather obvious that foods and beverages such as meat, coffee, alcohol, sugar, dairy, and refined flour products are not alkaline foods, but also some healthy foods are acid forming.  Things like whole grains, beans and even fruits such as cranberries, blueberries and green bananas can leave an acid ash behind.

No matter what foods or drinks are consumed, the body must maintain a blood pH level of 7.4.  A deviation of as little as two tenths from that balance and the body shuts down.  If the body has to neutralize more acid than it is designed for, it searches for alkaline elements to maintain that delicate pH balance.  When there aren’t enough nutrients from alkaline foods, then the body has to use calcium from bones in order to neutralize the overly abundant amounts of acid ash.

Some will argue that the body has mechanisms in place to take care of pH balance despite what is digested.  However, doesn’t it make more sense to give the body some assistance?  Others will argue that an overly alkaline diet can be just as unhealthy as one that is too acidic. While that is true, most people will never encounter this problem.   That is why striving to reach a healthy 80/20 ratio of alkaline foods to acid foods is an important element of sound nutrition.

Take the free Alkaline Food Test at www.BestHealthFoodStore.net to see if your diet tips the scales to the acid side or the alkaline.

High fiber foods are essential when choosing healthy snacks because good digestion is the first priority in proper nutrition.  Since it takes longer to digest high fiber foods, healthy snacks with substantial fiber will be used more efficiently.  While they are in the system for a longer period of time, the body can extract more nutrients.  Also, the fact that the food moves more slowly through the digestive tract means that the body feels full for a longer period of time.  This is why high fiber foods are good for natural weight loss, and one of the reasons they make an excellent choice as healthy snacks.

One of the most appealing aspects of fiber is its ability to act as a broom for the digestive tract. High fiber foods contain plant matter that can’t be fully digested.  They may be broken down into smaller pieces, but the stomach acids and digestive processes do not condense the fiber down into chemical components like other food we eat.  For example, the body may break down proteins to create amino acids that are used in building healthy muscles, and carbohydrates may be broken down into sugars that are stored in the liver for quick energy later.  This is not the case with fiber.  That’s why particles of undigested fiber can actually sweep away waste products that may have collected along the walls of the intestines.  This includes a lining of mucus build up which blocks nutrients from moving into the blood stream effectively.   When you consume healthy snacks with high fiber food ingredients then your body gets help in scrubbing away this mucus, allowing nutrients to pass through more efficiently.  High fiber foods keep the colon clean, which in turn allows for better absorption of the nutrients from the healthy snacks you do eat.

It is a sensible idea to keep healthy snacks handy that provide at least 4g of fiber per serving.  Fresh fruits and vegetables are usually good high fiber foods, as well as some fiber bars.  However, not all meal replacement bars have enough fiber to be considered healthy snacks.

For a list of 5 high fiber foods that provide 25-35 grams of fiber daily, click this link: http://www.besthealthfoodstore.net/high_fiber_foods_list.html

While some of the health drinks you find are useful in different ways, alkaline drinks have added benefits that their counterparts do not.  Alkaline drinks are unique because they utilize naturally alkaline ingredients. Fruits, such as lemons and peaches, and herbs like jasmine or cinnamon are alkaline ingredients that you might find in these types of health drinks.

To maintain their alkaline state, the various ingredients also need to be processed very carefully. Close attention must be paid to temperatures used in the formulation and packaging processes in order to keep the completely natural structure of the whole foods intact.  When most health drinks are bottled, this is just not possible.  That is why alkaline drinks that utilize powder formulas mixed with water by the consumer may offer greater nutritional benefits.

Unfortunately, much of the typical twenty-first century diet is made up of acid forming foods.  By utilizing alkaline drinks, we are able to help the body maintain its natural pH balance.  The result is better overall health, as well as more energy.  With the consumption of alkaline health drinks, the body doesn’t have to work as hard in order to manage a proper pH balance.

In most cases, alkaline health drinks also offer a more natural energy boost without a sugar crash or a caffeine buzz.  This is because the whole food ingredients provide elements such as antioxidants, live enzymes, and chlorophyll, without sugars or artificial sweeteners.  Alkaline drinks are almost always made with whole food ingredients. Keep in mind that many convenience store sport drinks and enhanced waters are made with acid forming ingredients, which are just the opposite.

When you take the time to learn more about how your health drinks are processed and what ingredients are used, you begin to understand the real differences between typical sports drinks you can buy at the convenience store and alkaline drinks you may only be able to find online.