Alkaline Diet Questions with Gareth (#17)

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: The Acid/Alkaline Diet and Fybromyalgia

Do you have any advice for a sufferer of fybromyalgia – at least, that’s what I think I’ve got (muscle pain, tightness and tenderness). I am 58, really healthy and very active. I taught for 30 years and brought up 4 children. When I took early retirement 4 years ago I started getting muscle tightness and pain. Then a year ago this went to my legs and hips – I can be in quite a lot of pain, sometimes walking is difficult, but this is very variable. I also get tired with it. It’s driving me mad! I have been taking Supergreens and pH drops for 6 years now, though don’t usually drink more than about 2 litres a day. Is there anything else I can do? Or did I just overdo it for too long?

Supergreens and prime pH are top quality supplements and drinking plenty of water structured in this way should help “wash” any stored acids from a stressed lifestyle from your body. You can also promote the process further by using stronger alkalising agents like pHour salts. Start with a scoop a day in a glass of water, first thing in the morning. Drinking plain alkaline water as well can help (check the pH on bottled water or use an ioniser).

Eating alkaline foods (low sugar, high nutrient plant foods) and avoiding or reducing your intake of acidifying foods and drinks is also important. The Energise recipe book should help with this. Green vegetable juices are super alkalising tonics and actually more effective alkalisers than powders. The magnesium in greens has been shown to help fibromyalgia sufferers.

Taking baths in Epsom salts can help too. Be patient and keep at it. It should be possible to reverse this condition.

Question Two: Storage of Green Vegetable Juice

How long can I leave a green vegetable juice before it does not have the nutrients left in it anymore?

It’s really about the nutrients changing their form. As soon as you juice vegetables you make the nutrients more available, but you break down the protective structures that maintain their “life-force”.

If you put it in the fridge or in a thermos with ice in it could last up to two hours. It’s best drunk fresh but cleaning the juice machine can be time consuming …..!

Question Three: Gareth Edwards’s Typical Daily Alkalising Regime

Hi Gareth, I’ve been reading your articles with such interest. Can you tell me though, what does a typical day look like for you? What is Gareth Edwards’s alkalising regime?

I’m glad you’ve found the articles interesting and thank you for a asking. It really depends on where I am and what I’m doing, but I always start the day with a glass of water with a scoop of pHour salts in it. When I’m at home, the next thing I do is go for a one hour walk, accompanying my wife to work.

When I’m back I like to make a big salad, but if I’m busy with a work deadline I might just drink powdered greens with pH drops. I sometimes put hempH protein powder in it to give it some”bulk”.

I’m actually staying at a hotel in Italy at the moment and they bring a bowel of salad out of the fridge for me every morning. It’s the most amazing spread here of scrambled eggs, meats, cheeses and bread with different cereals, but I really want to start the day off on the right foot.

I tend to drink greens and pH drops with water from the ioniser, through the morning. If I’ve got time I’ll eat another big salad at lunch time. I might have a de-hydrated cracker with that. Sometimes I go to a friend and fellow practitioner’s house and have a green juice with her. I’ll mix more greens and drops through the day.

When it comes to the evening, I’ll make a juice as a starter, if I’m feeling super keen. My wife and I then heat something vegetarian like falafel or tofu sausages or some lentils and quinoa. We always have a big salad with it. When that’s finished we often have “sweeties”. A small bowel of muesli with some fresh fruit and soya milk is a possibility, but sometimes it get’s as outrageous as cake!

There are times when it’s more challenging to stick to a highly alkaline, mainly raw food programme, but I feel more comfortable at an ethical level, sticking to vegetarian food choices. That may end up meaning more bread or pasta (particularly in Italy) than I would like, maybe even a croissant for breakfast (with my salad) at the weekends! My wife is an amazing vegetarian cook, so we have some pretty amazing cooked dishes like risotto or a gratin when we have guests. Her cheesecake is pretty good too!

Question Four: The Acid/Alkaline Diet and Thyroxin Levels

Hi Ross, could you ask Gareth if alkalising will lower thyroxin levels, mine are extremely high and last week was prescribed to take medication which sounds dangerous to me so I haven’t taken them and am wondering if alkalizing naturally will help regulate the level?

There’s a very interesting (but poor sound quality) audio clip in which Dr. Young discusses Thyroid problems at this link: Click here to listen to the audio clip!

It seems likely that the body overproduces thyroxin in order to compensate for deficiencies or blockages in other areas. Taking a more holistic approach, where you consider bowel toxicity and body and blood pH levels seems like a preferable solution to the toxic methods used to try and reduce thyroxin production.

Remember the body doesn’t make any mistakes. It is producing the thyroxin for a reason. Alkalising should definitely help.

Question Five: Alkaline Ionisers

Gareth, I’ve been looking at buying an alkaline ioniser for a few days and am confused when they say that the ionised water is ‘more hydrating’ and ‘wetter’. Does this actually make any sense or is it just marketing puffery? These machines seem expensive so I want to know they do a good job.

I always think of ionisers as a mechanical way of trying to reproduce mountain spring water from your piped public water supply. Firstly they filter it. The filtered result is then passed over electronic plates with positive and negative charges. This separates acidic water molecules from alkaline ones.

Municipal tap water has quite large “clumps” of water molecules and the separation process reduces the size of these clumps. This is believed to make the water more easily absorbed and assimilated by our bodies and cells. You can read more about this in the chapter on water in “the pH miracle for weight loss” by Dr. and Shelly Young.

It seems that an ioniser is the best way to get health promoting water out of the tap.

Question Six: pHour Salts & Blood Pressure

I’ve been using pHour Salts for 3 months now but they have made my blood pressure go UP! My doctor has been asking me if I have been doing anything different but I said no because I know he will make me stop without explaining why or understanding. Can you help? Should I be using these salts? Is it the salts that is doing it to me? I really want to keep using them because I am sure they are helping me in other ways.

The alkaline salts in pHour salts can combine with acidic elements from your body and blood. These can form crystals in your blood, which can have the effect of raising blood pressure. It is therefore important to “wash” any stored or residual acids from your body by drinking plenty of alkaline water and green juices and doing gentle exercise that you enjoy.

I am always cautious in recommending pHour salts to anyone that is on any medication as almost all medication is acidifying. It might be worth reviewing your current diet, lifestyle and supplement choices with a qualified practitioner to assess any areas where you can further reduce your acidic “load”.

You could also buy a metre to monitor your blood pressure at home and reduce your intake of pHour salts (temporarily) to a level that keeps your blood pressure within an acceptable range. You can also use more mild alkalising agents such as pH drops to support the alkalising process.

If the situation persists you should consult with a pH aware physician.

Disclaimer: These answers are not intended to diagnose and do not replace the advice of a qualified physician.

If you have a question for Gareth leave it in the comments below!

Tagged as: epsom salts, fybromyalgia, green drink, green juice, ph drops, phour salts, thyroxin, water ionisers

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.