Alkaline Diet Questions With Gareth (5)

Hey everyone!

Each fortnight we’re putting the best alkaline diet questions we receive from you to our Alkaline Diet Expert, Dr Young trained blood analyst and highly qualified nutritionist – Gareth Edwards.

Gareth is right at the very top of his field, so these answers are absolutely the best you’ll find from arguably Britain’s most qualified expert in this area!

Q&A With Gareth Edwards

Question One – Spirilina:

As I get older I’m finding I’m feeling that acidic tummy and am looking into trying to go the 70/30% alkaline diet. Spirulina has always been a favourite energy drink. If it’s alkaline (do you know?) what would you suggest one mixes it with as it would be ghastly with pure water!

That’s great that you are trying to get to the root cause of your digestive upsets. Eating more fresh (and ideally some raw) vegetables, while reducing animal protein in favour of nuts, seeds, tofu and lentils is likely to help.

Spirulina is a great opinion divider. Dr. Robert Young, a leading and highly respected voice on the subject of alkalising, is of the opinion that all algae (seaweed) is acidifying. He points out that it grows in stagnant pools and lakes and cites research alluding to its potential to cause liver and nerve damage. He does not include it in his alkalising products and recommends land based vegetables as preferable sources chlorophyll and other nutrients.

On the other hand …….. Dr. Brian Clement, joint principal of the Hippocrates Health Institute in Florida, is a firm and forthright advocate of using spirulina as a healing agent. (Hippocrates is a centre specialising in living food based approaches to health and healing.)
Personally I don’t recommend patients to use spirulina and follow Dr. Young’s view that it is preferable to increase intake of land based plants to promote alkalinity.

The best way to energise yourself is to make yourself more alkaline and increase your salt intake. Drinking two to three litres a day of a powdered green vegetable and grass drink (such as Doc Broc power plants) with 4 drops per litre of puripHy (alkalising salts) should both reduce your acidity and help you feel more energetic. I’d also recommend you consider using the pHour salts, sold by energise, to help reduce stomach acidity.

Question Two – Protein Shakes & pH Drops:

Hi Gareth, I understand that protein shakes are very acid but what about if I add ph drops? Does this help make them neutral?

Well, I think that it probably would, but the overall effect of drinking the mixture is still likely to be acidifying. If you look at some of the research done using Inner Lights new product alka-blast, you can turn an acidic liquid alkaline by using a strong alkalising agent.

I would however recommend that you try and make an alkalising and nutritious shake. Adding Dr. Young’s sprouted “hempH” protein powder to a green smoothy made with avocado, green veggies and cucumber should fit the bill. Most commercial protein shakes are quite chemical in nature, often using isolated (synthetic) amino acids or (potentially mucous forming) whey protein.

Raw food athlete, Brendan Brazier, makes vegetable source, sprouted grain and seed protein bars, which are sold by www.naturallyashima.com if you are after a quick fix!

Question Three – Powdered Greens, Which is Best:

My name is Arlene. I am fairly new to trying to alkalize my diet. I have done a lot of reading on the subject and have slowly been replacing acidic foods with more alkalizing ones in my daily routine. I have also been looking into getting “green drinks” to add to my smoothies. I found the Amazing Grass Superfood to be the most interesting to me personally. I was wondering if you have any specific recommendation or thoughts on this brand vs. others?

This sounds great Arlene. Slowly replacing acidic foods and drinks with more alkalising choices is likely to help you to make lasting changes.
Amazing grass green superfood looks OK to me, but personally I would recommend a powder that does not contain pro-biotics (supposedly healthy bacteria) and digestive enzymes. I use and recommend to clients the products that Dr. Robert Young has developed. These are Doc Broc power plants and Inner Light supergreens. They contain nothing except vegetables, grasses and in the case of Inner Light herbs and a mineral mix. In addition Dr. Young has also found a way to attach a micro-electron charge to the tiny chards of grasses and vegetables. This has a therapeutic quality, conveying alkalising electrons into the body in the same way that freshly harvested vegetables do. Megagreens are less expensive but do not, I believe, have the micro-charge attached to the greens.

You can also mix the powder with water and alkalising drops and keep yourself hydrated with alkalising, nutritious, blood building fluids through the day.

Question Four – Acid Reflux:

Hi Ross, I have been suffering from some acid reflux daily for weeks. The prescription strength meds left me with awful cramps and pain and the OTC brands are not doing much. I have tried many home remedies with no success. I have been thinking about the alkaline foods and trying some of your suggestions with the liver cleanse. The problem is I am a very small female ( 5 feet 2′ and maybe 98lbs) so I DO NOT want to lose weight and would love to eat healthy without dropping pounds. Nuts seem to give me problems if I eat too many and I have been avoiding dairy lately too. Can you offer any advice? I would appreciate any advice you have. Thanks.

I would recommend that you do move towards alkalising foods and fluids. If you are worried about weight loss then you can try to focus on some of the more calorific alkalising foods such as avocados and sprouted beans, lentils and seeds. Nuts should be easier to digest if you soak them for 8 hours prior to eating. Almonds and walnuts are preferable choices.

High levels of acid production in the stomach are highly likely to result from consumption of acidifying foods (animal protein, mushrooms, peanuts, tinned and pre-packed foods) and fluids (coffee, vinegar, alcohol and fruit juice). Our bodies produce high levels of sodium bicarbonate in the stomach in order to neutralise these foods and fluids. In order to make the sodium bicarbonate, a chemical by-product is hydrochloric acid.

Once food has passed through the stomach this acid may run down into the small intestine where pre-digested food is normally absorbed into the body. Absorption of certain foods requires active (rather than passive) processes to occur in the membrane that separates food from blood. This membrane is made up of billions of tiny “finger-like” projections where food is absorbed. These can be damaged by acid from the stomach and reduce the body’s ability to absorb food.

Eating more alkaline foods should reduce the amount of sodium bicarbonate that needs to be made in the stomach and therefore the amount of acid. This in turn should help restore the health of the intestines, which should in turn lead to more food being absorbed. This should result in healthy weight gain / maintenance, without the trauma of acid reflux.

Virtually all medication has an acidifying effect and if you are taking any regularly (including oral contraception or HRT) you might want to consider reviewing alternative strategies with an “alkaline aware” physician.

Question Five – Fermented Foods:

Why are fermented foods such as kefir, natto & kambucha avoided on an alkaline diet? I appreciate they are acidic, however they do have many health benefits especially kefir (full of natural probiotics & enzymes). If we are lead to believe that the gut contains both good & bad bacteria (85%/15% respectively in an ideal ratio) then why is the alkaline diet not promoting these types of foods or even probiotic supplements?

To provide an example, I can’t digest cows milk protein, however if I make homemade kefir using kefir grains & cows milk I have no ill effect.

This is a great question. Personally I have always had an intuitive aversion to using pro-biotics and digestive enzymes, but it was not until 2006, when I studied with Dr. Young that I began to understand the science behind my resistance more fully. During my study period Dr. Young said to us that the natural state of the gut is actually to be sterile (bacteria free).

My understanding is that bacteria in the gut are actually born out of the digestive processes which occur in the 7 metre (20 foot) tube that runs inside us (adults!). Hence bifido bacteria (supposedly beneficial) are borne out of carbohydrate digestion, while bacteriods (considered harmful) are born out of the fermentation that occurs when we (attempt to!) break down meat. So it is not the bacteria and the enzymes that help turn food into healthy blood in the intestine, they are the by-products of the digestive processes.

If, however, there is undigested, fermenting matter residing in your gut (i.e. it has not been broken down) consuming acidic agents such as digestive enzymes (an “exhaust” product), cultured bacteria (pro-biotics) or vitamin C (ascorbic acid) may help them to be broken down and eliminated from your body (into the municipal sewer system!). There is however a potential downside to this form of “cleanse”. It is likely that some of the acidity may pass into the blood (through the intestine membrane). Using alkalising salts (pHour salts) which also contain magnesium (thought to help bowel movement) is what I would recommend.

Why you should be able to consume kefir, but not (I presume) regular cows milk is ….. interesting! Yoghurt and cheese are also created through fermentation of milk, so I wonder if you tolerate those? Cow’s milk can be particularly challenging for some humans to digest. This may in part be due to a deficiency in the alkaline salts used to alter foods. The alteration that occurs to the milk when it is mixed with the kefir grain may mean that it is more easily absorbed. If however it passes into the blood, it is likely to have an acidifying effect.

Do remember that a lot of views as to what goes on (at a chemical level) in the gut are, by necessity, based on hypothesis. The central features of this model of the digestive process and intestinal health do however stand up to more rigorous cross examination than some more widely accepted models. Ultimately, however, the results of any dietary regime show up in your (live) blood.

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Another set of great questions and great answers! If you have a question for Gareth – leave it in the comments below!

Ross

Tagged as: gareth edwards

Note: This blog is only my opinion. It is not medical advice or diagnosis. Only opinions based upon our own personal experiences or information detailed in medical/academic journals or other publications is cited. WE DO NOT OFFER MEDICAL ADVICE or prescribe any treatments. Please consult with a medical professional before making any diet or nutrition changes. Refer to our full disclaimer for more information.