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11.11.2015

5 Myths About an Alkaline Diet

The alkaline diet principle is based upon the belief that when we eat foods, they release either acid or alkaline bases into our systems after digestion. For example, foods such as meats, poultry, dairy products, grains, and salt produce acid. Fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts, and tuberous vegetables such as potatoes produce an alkaline base. Today, most modern doctors do encourage more consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables, for example, but most do not believe in the basics of an acid versus alkaline diet.

Many people believe that acid-based diets promote health problems, including headaches, ovarian cysts, nervousness and irritability, frequent illness such as colds, excessive mucus and nasal congestion, and a lack of energy overall.

Further, some people believe that an acidic diet can cause cardiovascular damage, weight gain and obesity, diabetes, a weakened immune system, kidney stones, osteoporosis, premature aging and slow digestion and elimination, which in turn can lead to buildup of toxins in the system.

Proponents of the alkaline diet say that consuming it restores the body's natural pH balance of between 7.35 and 7.45. There are many places on the Internet you can find that will sell you pH strips so that you can test yourself to see what your own pH balance is.

There are many myths about the alkaline diet.

Among them are:

Myth 1: It's hard to follow.

Is it hard to follow and alkaline diet if you want to try it? No, not hard at all.

In fact, the alkaline diet is very much like the common vegan diet, with the exception that it greatly limits the amount of grains eaten. However, you can take any vegan recipe (recipes abound on the Internet) and simply substitute grains for any other type of starch allowed on the diet, such as potatoes.

Myth 2: You're greatly restricted in what you eat.

To some extent, this is true, but this diet basically seeks to restore your body's balance. Yes, you're greatly limited in the amount of sugar, simple carbohydrates, and other unhealthy foods you can eat, including an excess consumption of meat and dairy. But in fact, you are allowed an unlimited amount of fruits and vegetables, beans, legumes, and the like, as well as tuberous vegetables and starches. This in fact provides a wide array of foods available to you, so that you're you won't feel deprived once you get used to it.

Myth 3: You can never have "forbidden" foods again once on the alkaline diet.

In fact, this isn't true, either. If you want to, you can occasionally have meat, dairy, or grains, for example. Doing this "once in a while" isn't likely to greatly impact your body's pH. However, you may find that once you're on the diet, you will not want to eat these other foods, because they'll lose their palatability.

Myth 4: An alkaline diet is unhealthy because it doesn't let you eat meat or dairy, two foods that are believed to be very important to health.

In fact, for centuries, vegans have eaten diets completely free of animal products, including dairy or meat. And in fact, vegans have lower incidences of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and may also be at reduced risk for osteoporosis. They are also much less likely to be overweight or obese.

Myth 5: You can't get enough protein on an alkaline diet without meat or dairy.

This, too, is false. Plant-based sources provide plenty of protein for those who consume them. It's long been a myth that animal-based proteins are superior to plant-based proteins. In fact, with the standard American diet, most Americans get too much protein, not too little.
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