Alkaline Diet Questions with Gareth (#11)

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: How do H.R.T (Hormone Replacement Therapy) patches affect the body?

I have recently started the new alkalising diet and can’t find anything about H.R.T. patches. How do these affect the body? What would replace them? Thank you. Joanna.

Hi Joanna. Hormone replacement therapy patches will acidify your body. The recent negative publicity about HRT is in my opinion justified. An editorial in the British Medical Journal suggested that the increased risk of cancer associated with its use, no longer made it a viable “treatment”. I would emphasise that this does not mean that if you are taking or have taken HRT, that you will get cancer. It is however now well researched and documented that it can increase the risk.

HRT is based on the theory that by replacing the hormones no longer produced as a women ceases to ovulate with synthetic analogues (man made versions), unpleasant symptoms including hot flushes and depression can be halted.

The view that I subscribe to is that hormones are not in fact chemical “messengers” in the body, but the by-products of metabolic reactions. These by-products actually need to be excreted rather than replaced.

The best way to deal with menopausal symptoms is ….. to get really healthy.

Hot flushes are usually the body’s way of flushing out acids that have accumulated from dietary or hydration choices. That doesn’t necessarily mean suddenly going to the gym all the time (unless you want to!) or going on a crazy diet. Understanding alkaline food and hydration choices, getting more fresh air and sunlight and doing gentle, enjoyable exercise, should all help. Ensuring an adequate salt intake is also important.

(Note from Ross: here are some of the British Medical Journal’s recent research articles on HRT including the one Gareth mentions above:

Breast cancer incidence falls as women give up HRT; Dobson R; BMJ 2009;338:b791; (link to abstract)
Reduced use of hormones and the drop in breast cancer; Roberts H; BMJ.2009; 338: b2116; (link to abstract)
Postmenopausal hormone therapy increases risk of stroke and venous thromboembolism; P M Bath; Evid Based Med 2009;14:18 (link to abstract)

Question Two: What is your Best, Quick and Easy Alkaline Dinner?

Hi Gareth. I always struggled with cooking dinner when I get home from work at night. Can you let me know what is your best, quick and easy alkaline dinner? What do you always fall back on when you’re tired and the kids are going nuts?

With a bit of practice a huge salad should be pretty quick and easy. Little gem lettuces don’t need washing. Remove the leaves and chop them up to form a “bed”. Then add some more green leaves (spinach or watercress).

Top it up with any other vegetable you have in the fridge. Sweet corn, sliced straight off the cob, might increase the under age 17 appeal. Then add plenty of sprouted seeds or beans (alfalfa, sunflower, mung, lentil). You can buy them at a lot of supermarkets now, or grow your own.

Add a dressing made from olive oil, hemp oil, lemon juice, freshly ground black pepper and salt.

As a “side dish” you might have yeast-free and other additive-free soya sausages (e.g. Taifun grill sausages), falafel, nut roast or yeast and additive free veggie burgers. None of these are going to be wholly alkalising, but eaten with a large fresh raw salad the balance should be moving in the right direction. All of these can be bought and put in the oven while you are preparing the salad.

Vegetable soups or fresh vegetable stir fries using tofu rather than meat or fish are other dishes that should be quick and easy to prepare.

Note: Energise are soon to publish their first Alkaline Cook Book – click here to sign up for a pre-release discount! (Est Launch Date: April 21st)

Question Three: How can I continue Alkalising whilst Going on a Business Trip?

I have been alkalising for 3 weeks now but need to go on a business trip, for over a week. I have absolutely no idea how I will manage food-wise and I won’t have any access to the juicer or kitchen in that respect…! Do you have any suggestions so that all the good work I have done up until now does not go to waste?

See if you can persuade the places you’ll be staying in to make you a salad for breakfast. Starting the day alkaline is a great way to help keep things on track for the rest of the day. Even an open sandwich on brown bread with lettuce and tomatoes would be preferable to cereal, fruit, toast and jam (all acidifying!).

Asking for salads during the rest of the day and making the most alkalising vegetarian choices you can, should all help the cause. Be fussy over dressings. Don’t let them give you vinegar. Ask for Olive oil on the side.

Trips away from home are where your supplements can be very useful. Start the day with a scoop of pHour salts in mineral water (pH above 7) and then mix and drink water with green powder (such as perfectlyhealthy Mega Greens with MSM) and drops (such as pHion pH Booster drops) throughout the day. Take some almonds to snack on with you. A pot of good quality salt (such as Himalayan Crystal Salt) and a pHlavor spray can be helpful too.

Look for a health food shop or supermarket that sells sprouts, near where you are and do some internet research for vegetarian restaurants in the area.

Note from Ross: this week our newsletter has been on alkaline snacks – these can be very handy when you’re on the road: click here to see our range of alkaline snacks.

Question Four: How Long do Detox Flu Symptoms Last?

I am doing a 10 day cleanse but have been experiencing detox flu symptoms for 5 days straight. How long will they last? Will they go away soon?

They should do. Try to get rest and then some fresh air, sun exposure and gentle exercise. Elimination of any stored acids should be facilitated by rest (reducing further acid production in your body), gentle exercise in fresh air (deeper breathing, helping to remove acids) and increasing your consumption of alkaline liquids (increasing urination). It’s important that you are not constipated either.

Make sure that you are not using any products that contain acidifying elements, such as pro-biotics or digestive enzymes. If the symptoms persist you should reduce the concentration of any powdered green products and consider reviewing your programme with a suitably qualified therapist or physician.

Dr. Young’s pHour salts product may help with elimination. Use it in small quantities to begin with and stop using it if it makes things worse. Don’t be afraid to stop the cleanse early, reverting to mainly alkaline choices and build up to the full ten day duration over time.

Question Five: Are Humans Designed to Drink Cow’s Milk?

Humans are not designed to drink cows’ milk – FICTION

Humans are omnivores and therefore designed to eat plant and animal products. We are born with the lactase enzyme in our gut. This enzyme helps digest the lactose in mammals’ milk. If people stop drinking milk, their bodies may halt the production of the lactase enzyme. This can lead people to become lactose intolerant.

Click here to view the source!

Gareth, can you please tell me if what is being said here is true? What are your comments on this? As far as I remember, Dr Young says we’re not meant to eat dairy products.

Thanks for this. The fact is that if something is really good for you, you’ll never loose the ability to digest or absorb it. If you don’t eat fresh green plant foods for six months and then you do, you will digest and absorb them. Why then, I wonder, would the case be different for milk?

We are indeed omnivorous and can eat pretty much everything, including paper, confectionery, soil and sausages. That doesn’t mean that these things are all optimal for health. The fact is that milk is not essential for human life. It is a possible food choice. It’s actually food for baby calves to grow on. Imagine how you would feel about it if you had to suck it direct from a cow’s udder, rather than the sanitised mechanical version delivered to the supermarket!

While milk and dairy products aren’t nutritionally necessary, they can be a tasty and relatively ethical. At least that would be the case if the dairy products that we consume came from cows that had been grazed on unpolluted grass and were allowed to grow and reproduce naturally. The reality is that milk production is an industry with cows often being artificially inseminated in order to make them produce calves and subsequently lactate. This obviously isn’t the case for all farmers and organic standards do prevent some of the worst practices of industrialised agriculture.

Another important factor to consider in deciding whether to consume dairy products is the effects of some of the processes that milk goes through between the cow’s udder and our mouths. We may think that pasteurisation in some way sanitises milk and other dairy products. The reality is however that, like any heating process, it adversely affects the nutritional profile. An interesting recent study showed that a majority of children with reported dairy allergies did not experience symptoms of their “condition” when given raw (un-pasteurised) milk.

When you look at charts of relative acidity of foods and drinks drawn up by Dr. Young, milk doesn’t fair too badly. Its fermented by-products (cheese and yoghurt) are however rated as more acidic. It’s not a drink that I would recommend drinking in quantity. It can be avoided, without fear of losing the ability to digest it (or other dairy products). Calcium can be gained from almonds and dark green leafy vegetables, which are alkalising.

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

Tagged as: cleanse, cow's milk, detox, flu symptoms, himalayan crystal salt, hormone replacement therapy, HRT, menopause, ph drops, phour salts

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.