So many of you who have seen my Definitive Acid / Alkaline Food Chart ask me – “…of the alkaline food list – which are the most alkaline foods?” so I wanted to create a full, in-depth analysis blog post of the Seven Most Alkaline Foods!

For each food I’ve given an intro, nutritional content per 1 cup, a number of free alkaline recipes that I’ve created for this blog or the Alkaline Diet Recipe Book and also a handful of research papers that have been published to validate the benefits stated.

I hope you love this as much as I loved researching and writing it!

What Are The Most High Alkaline Foods?

1. Spinach

ALL leafy greens should be eaten in abundance but spinach is my absolute favourite because it’s easy to buy, easy to use in recipes and salads and is delicious. Baby spinach or fully grown spinach are nutritional powerhouses and are incredibly alkaline.

As with all green foods, spinach is rich in chlorophyll (see more about the health benefits of chlorophyll here), a potent alkaliser and blood builder.

It is also super high in vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, folate, magnesium, iron, vitamin c, vitamin b2, calcium, potassium, vitamin e, dietary fiber….need I go on?

I doubt there is a more all round healthy food on earth and I highly encourage you to eat spinach throughout the day, every day.

Nutrients per 1 Cup

Vitamin K – 1110% RDA
Vitamin A – 337.3% RDA
Manganese – 84% RDA
Folate – 65.7% RDA
Magnesium – 38% RDA
Iron – 35% RDA
Vitamin C – 31% RDA
Vitamin B2 – 27% RDA
Calcium – 25% RDA
Potassium – 23% RDA
Vitamin E – 21% RDA
Fiber – 19% RDA

Energise Alkaline Recipe Containing Spinach

Warm Red Pepper & Spinach Salad

Spinach, Garlic & Tofu Burgers

Alkaline Avo Power Smoothie

Alkaline Raw Soup

Research on Spinach

• Spinach as a powerful antioxidant: Manach C, Scalbert A, Morand C, Rémésy C, Jiménez L. Polyphenols: food sources and bioavailability. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 May;79(5):727-47. 2004. PMID:15113710.
• Spinach intake and ovarian cancer reduction: Gates MA, Tworoger SS, Hecht JL, De Vivo I, Rosner B, Hankinson SE. A prospective study of dietary flavonoid intake and incidence of epithelial ovarian cancer. Int J Cancer. 2007 Apr 30; [Epub ahead of print] 2007. PMID:17471564.
• Spinach intake and breast cancer: M P Longnecker, P A Newcomb, R Mittendorf, E R Greenberg and W C Willett. Intake of carrots, spinach, and supplements containing vitamin A in relation to risk of breast cancer. 1997. American Association for Cancer Research.
• Spinach and reversing motor and neuronal aging: James A. Joseph1, Barbara Shukitt-Hale1, Natalia A. Denisova1,Donna Bielinski1, Antonio Martin1, John J. McEwen1, and Paula C. Bickford. Reversals of Age-Related Declines in Neuronal Signal Transduction, Cognitive, and Motor Behavioral Deficits with Blueberry, Spinach, or Strawberry Dietary Supplementation. 1999. The Journal of Neuroscience.

2. Kale

Kale is another leafy green beauty that is widely known for its cancer-fighting, cholesterol-lowering, antioxidant-rich, detoxifying goodness.

Less popular than spinach, but only because it has a history of being cooked poorly (like cabbage) – when done right it is absolutely delicious (see recipes below, you’ll thank me).

If you eat kale 2-3 times per week you’ll know it. Like spinach it is massively high in vitamin k, vitamin a and vitamin c and being leafy green it also has a huge chlorophyll content.

The reason it is so powerful against the cancer fight is that kale contains at least four glucosinolates. I don’t want to lose you here by using words like glucosinolates – all you need to know is that as soon as you eat and digest kale, these glucosinolates are really easily converted by the body into cancer fighting compounds.

Also quite amazing for lowering cholesterol, it should be noted that steamed kale is more effective for cholesterol lowering than raw.

Nutrients Per 1 Cup:

Vitamin K: 1327% RDA
Vitamin A: 354% RDA
Vitamin C: 88.8% RDA
Manganese: 27% RDA
Fiber: 12% RDA
Calcium: 11% RDA
Magnesium: 11% RDA
Iron: 9% RDA
Omgega 3: 7% RDA

Energise Alkaline Recipes Containing Kale:

Chickpea & Kale Rolls with Tomato Salsa

Kale & Chickpea Mash

Super Alkaline Kale Salad

Alkaline Chilli Spring Greens

Research on Kale:

• Ambrosone CB, Tang L. Cruciferous vegetable intake and cancer prevention: role of nutrigenetics. Cancer Prev Res (Phila Pa). 2009 Apr;2(4):298-300. 2009.
• Angeloni C, Leoncini E, Malaguti M, et al. Modulation of phase II enzymes by sulforaphane: implications for its cardioprotective potential. J Agric Food Chem. 2009 Jun 24;57(12):5615-22. 2009.
• Bhattacharya A, Tang L, Li Y, et al. Inhibition of bladder cancer development by allyl isothiocyanate. Carcinogenesis. 2010 Feb;31(2):281-6. 2010
• Higdon JV, Delage B, Williams DE, et al. Cruciferous Vegetables and Human Cancer Risk: Epidemiologic Evidence and Mechanistic Basis. Pharmacol Res. 2007 March; 55(3): 224-236. 2007.
• Zhang Y. Allyl isothiocyanate as a cancer chemopreventive phytochemical. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2010 Jan;54(1):127-35. 2010.

3. Cucumber

The beauty of cucumber is it’s water content – 95%. That is phenomenal and you won’t find that anywhere else. It’s the daddy of water-content. This of course makes it an incredibly hydrating food to consume, that ALSO contains superb amounts of antioxidants, including the super-important lignans. These highly beneficial polyphenols have more commonly been associated with the cruciferous vegetables, but their content in other veggies such as cucumbers is gaining more and more attention.

Cucumbers contain a right load of lariciresinol, pinoresinol, and secoisolariciresinol (don’t try to pronounce), three lignans that have a huge and very strong history of research in connection with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease as well as several cancer types, including breast, uterine, ovarian, and prostate cancers.

The best thing about cucumber is that they provide the base for practically every alkaline soup, smoothie and juice – giving you a very alkaline, very nutritious base that also tastes great.

In terms of the actual nutrient RDA per serve, cucumbers contain fair amounts of vitamins K and C, and slightly less of vitamin A and the B vitamins. Cucumbers also contain the following alkaline minerals: calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, selenium, copper, manganese, iron and zinc.

Nutrients per 1 Cup (RDA)

Vitamin K: 23%
Molybdenum: 8%
Vitamin C: 6%
Potassium: 5%
Manganese: 5%
Magnesium: 4%

Energise Recipes Containing Cucumber:

Alkaline Cucumber & Watercress Soup

Alkaline Sushi

Antioxidant Super-Meal

Sweet Chunky Alkaline Shake

pH Boosting Protein Shake

Almond Gazpacho

Research on Cucumber:

• Kumar D, Kumar S, Singh J, et al. Free Radical Scavenging and Analgesic Activities of Cucumis sativus L. Fruit Extract. J Young Pharm. 2010 Oct;2(4):365-8. 2010.
• Milder IEJ, Arts ICW, van de Putte B et al. Lignan contents of Dutch plant foods: a database including lariciresinol, pinoresinol, secoisolariciresinol and matairesinol. Br J Nutr 2005, 93:393-402. 2005.
• Rios JL, Recio MC, Escandell JM, et al. Inhibition of transcription factors by plant-derived compounds and their implications in inflammation and cancer. Curr Pharm Des. 2009;15(11):1212-37. Review. 2009.
• Tang J, Meng X, Liu H et al. Antimicrobial activity of sphingolipids isolated from the stems of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.). Molecules. 2010 Dec 15;15(12):9288-97. 2010.

4. Broccoli

Broccoli is just a must. If you are serious about living with health, energy and vitality you simply have to eat broccoli, if not on a daily basis, then at least 4 times per week.

Broccoli has been proven over and over and over again to be incredibly powerful in inhibiting cancers, supporting the digestive system, the cardiovascular system, the detoxification processes in the body and also supporting the skin, metabolism, immune system, being an anti-inflammatory and providing ample antioxidants.

Sound good?

Eaten steamed or raw its a hugely alkaline, hugely nutritious food. Please, please, please eat lots and lots of it. Put it in salads, juices, smoothies, soups…steam it with other veggies – you can even roast it if you’re having sunday lunch.

Don’t let a meal go past without thinking to yourself “how could I get some broccoli in here?”

Nutrients Per 1 Cup (as an RDA):

Vitamin C: 135%
Vitamin K: 115%
Folate: 16%
Vitamin A: 14%
Manganese: 10%
Dietary Fiber: 10%
Potassium: 8%
VItamin B6: 8%
Vitamin B2: 7%
Molybdenum: 6%
Phosphorus: 6%
Vitamin B5: 5%
Protein: 5%
Magnesium: 5%
Calcium: 4%
Selenium: 4%
Vitamin E: 4%

Energise Alkaline Recipes Containing Broccoli:

Broccoli & Vegetable Coconut Curry

Spelt Pasta with Broccoli & ALmonds

Mixed Sesame Veggies

Gareth’s Green Smoothie

Spicy Alkaline Summer Soup

Research on Broccoli:

• Broccoli and Cancer Prevention: John W. Finley, Clement Ip, Donald J. Lisk, Cindy D. Davis, Korry J. Hintze, and Phil D. Whanger. Cancer-Protective Properties of High-Selenium Broccoli. Cancer-Protective Properties of High-Selenium Broccoli. 2001. American Chemical Society
• Broccoli and Cardiovascular Disease: Lingyun Wu, M. Hossein Noyan Ashraf, Marina Facci, Rui Wang,Phyllis G. Paterson, Alison Ferrie, and Bernhard H. J. Juurlink. 2004. Dietary approach to attenuate oxidative stress, hypertension, and inflammation in the cardiovascular system. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
• Broccoli and Cancer Prevention: Ambrosone CB, Tang L. Cruciferous vegetable intake and cancer prevention: role of nutrigenetics. Cancer Prev Res (Phila Pa). 2009 Apr;2(4):298-300. 2009.
• Broccoli and Cancer Prevention: Clarke JD, Dashwood RH, Ho E. Multi-targeted prevention of cancer by sulforaphane. Cancer Lett. 2008 Oct
• Chemo-protection and Broccoli: Konsue N, Ioannides C. Modulation of carcinogen-metabolising cytochromes P450 in human liver by the chemopreventive phytochemical phenethyl isothiocyanate, a constituent of cruciferous vegetables. Toxicology. 2010 Feb 9;268(3):184-90. 2010.

5. Avocado

I eat a LOT of avocado. Not a salad, smoothie or soup goes by without me adding at least 1/2 an avocado per person. I probably eat at least five-seven per week, myself.

Now, I know a lot of people give avocado a bad rep because it is a high-fat food (85% of it’s calories come from fats) – but this is totally insane. These are good fats that will not make you gain weight. If anything, due to the high content of oleic acid (making it an omega 9 fat and very similar to olive oil), it can lower total cholesterol level and raise levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDLs) while lowering low-density lipoproteins (LDLs), also known as the “bad” cholesterol. Oleic acid also slows the development of heart disease, and promotes the production of antioxidants.

These beneficial omega oils also help speed the metabolism, actually leading to weight loss rather than gain.

So now we’re over the fat issue, avocado also contains a wide range of other nutrients that have serious anti-inflammatory, heart health, cardiovascular health, anti-cancer, and blood sugar benefits.

Containing key antioxidants such as alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lutein, selenium and more – it is a powerful, alkaline, nutrient-dense superfood.

Nutrients Per 1 Cup (as an RDA):

Dietary Fiber: 40%
Vitamin K: 38%
Folate: 30%
Vitamin C: 24%
Vitamin B5: 20%
Potassium: 20%
Vitamin B6: 19%

Energise Alkaline Recipes Containing Avocado:

Alkaline Avocado Power Shake

Raw Avocado Soup

Smooth Avocado & Tofu Dip

Alkaline Quinoa Salad

Spicy Alkaline Summer Soup

Research on Avocado:

• Avocado & Adult Health: Fulgoni V, Dreher M, Davenport A. Avocado consumption associated with better nutrient intake and better health indices in U.S. adults (19+ years): NHANES 2001-2006. Abstract #8514. Experimental Biology, Anaheim, CA. April 28, 2010. 2010.
• Avocado & Cancer: Ding H, Han C, Guo D et al. Selective induction of apoptosis of human oral cancer cell lines by avocado extracts via a ROS-mediated mechanism. Nutr Cancer. 2009;61(3):348-56. 2009.
• Avocado & Cancer: Ding H, Chin YW, Kinghorn AD et al. Chemopreventive characteristics of avocado fruit. Semin Cancer Biol. 2007 May 17; [Epub ahead of print] 2007. 2007.
• Avocado & Inflammation: Rosenblat G, Meretski S, Segal J et al. Polyhydroxylated fatty alcohols derived from avocado suppress inflammatory response and provide non-sunscreen protection against UV-induced damage in skin cells. Arch Dermatol Res. 2010 Oct 27. [Epub ahead of print]. 2010.

6. Celery

Celery, like cucumber is a favourite because it’s alkaline AND really high water content, so is used very frequently as a base in juices and soups (not so much smoothies as you have to juice it first…and then you have double the washing up).

One of celery’s big benefits is it’s vitamin C level, which has the well known benefits – but two of it’s lesser known nutrients are phthalides which have been shown to lower cholesterol and coumarins which have been shown to inhibit several cancers.

The beauty of vitamin C rich foods are that they help with the most common and most challenging health concerns – they support the immune system, inflammation (so helps with arthritis, osteoporosis, asthma etc), and vitamin C also helps significantly with cardiovascular health.

If you are on a weight loss journey, you’ll also be happy to hear that this alkaline staple contains plenty of potassium and sodium and so is a diuretic – meaning it helps rid the body of excess fluids.

Nutrients Per 1 Cup (as an RDA):

Vitamin K: 37%
Folate: 9%
Vitamin A: 9%
Potassium: 8%
Molybdenum: 7%
Dietary Fiber: 6%
Vitamin C: 5%
Manganese: 5%
Calcium: 4%
Vitamin B2: 3.5%
Vitamin B6: 4%
Magnesium: 3%
Vitamin B5: 3%

Energise Alkaline Diet Recipes Containing Celery:

Vegetable Bean Soup

Bright & Breezy Salad

Alkaline Green Drink

Delicious Refresher Juice

Alkaline Chilli Greens

Research on Celery:

• Celery and Hypertension: Kurl S, Tuomainen TP, Laukkanen JA et al. Plasma vitamin C modifies the association between hypertension and risk of stroke. Stroke 2002 Jun;33(6):1568-73 2002.
• Celery & Cholesterol: Tsi D, Tan BK. The mechanism underlying the hypocholesterolaemic activity of aqueous celery extract, its butanol and aqueous fractions in genetically hypercholesterolaemic RICO rats. Life Sci 2000 Jan 14;66(8):755-67 2000.

7. Capsicum / Bell Pepper / Pepper

The antioxidant superpower, bell pepper is one of my all-time-favourites because it is sweet, crunchy and refreshingly delicious. You can use it in almost any meal raw, grilled, fried, roasted and it is always a winner.

Here are just SOME of the antioxidants bell pepper contains:

• Flavonoids
– luteolin
– quercetin
– hesperidin
• Carotenoids
– alpha-carotene
– beta-carotene
– cryptoxanthin
– lutein
– zeaxanthin
• Hydroxycinnamic Acids
– ferulic acid
– cinnamic acid

Of these, the cartenoids are the most interesting. Impressively beneficial to our health cartenoids are highly researched and get a lot of attention in the health field…and bell peppers contain over 30 different members of the carotenoid nutrient family. The only other food that is close to this is tomato…and all other foods are also-rans.

Bell peppers have shown up in research relating to decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, macular degeneration, cancer, inflammation and more.

Alongside these lesser known or more complex-named antioxidants, bell pepper is one of, if not the best food source of the more common antioxidants: vitamin C, vitamin A and vitamin E.

In fact, bell peppers contain twice as much vitamin C as oranges.

Nutrients Per 1 Cup (as an RDA):

Vitamin C: 195.8%
Vitamin A: 58%
Vitamin B6: 14%
Folate: 11%
Dietary Fiber: 7%
Vitamin E: 7%
Molybdenum: 6%
Vitamin K: 6%
Potassium: 6%
Manganese: 5%
Vitamin B2: 5%
Vitamin B3: 5%
Vitamin B1: 3%
Vitamin B5: 3%
Magnesium: 2%

Energise Alkaline Recipes Containing Bell Pepper:

Sweet Chunky Alkaline Shake

Red Lentils with Bell Pepper

Stuffed Tomatoes with Pepper

Red Pepper & Tomato Soup

Antioxidant Rich Smoothie

Research on Bell Pepper:

• Pepper and Dementia: Devore EE, Grodstein F, van Rooij FJA et al. Dietary antioxidants and long-term risk of dementia. Arch Neurol. 2010 July; 67(7): 819-825. 2010.
• Peppers and Antioxidants: O’Sullivan L, Jiwan MA, Daly T, O’Brien NM et al. Bioaccessibility, uptake, and transport of carotenoids from peppers (Capsicum spp.) using the coupled in vitro digestion and human intestinal Caco-2 cell model. J Agric Food Chem. 2010 May 12;58(9):5374-9. 2010.
• Pepper and Cancer: Ambrosini GL, de Klerk NH, Fritschi L et al. Fruit, vegetable, vitamin A intakes, and prostate cancer risk. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2008;11(1):61-6. 2008.

——-

THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT

I really want you to think about this: If you made a smoothie or juice containing just 1/2 a cup of each of these seven ingredients it would give you:

Vitamin K – 1326% RDA
Molybdenum – 13.5% RDA
Vitamin C – 243% RDA
Potassium – 35% RDA
Manganese – 68% RDA
Magnesium – 32% RDA
Vitamin A – 386% RDA
Fiber – 47% RDA
Calcium – 22% RDA
Iron – 22% RDA
Folate – 66% RDA
Vitamin B2 – 21.5% RDA
Vitamin E – 16% RDA
Vitamin B6 – 22.5% RDA
Vitamin B5 – 15.5% RDA

ALL IN ONE DRINK?

Can you imagine this? Leaving the house every morning having already consumed 243% of your vitamin c intake, 47% of your daily fiber needs, 68% of you manganese and 32% of your magnesium, over 22% of you vitamin B2 – imagine all of the incredible antioxidants? Before you’ve left the house?!

This really is giving you not only huge antioxidants, huge alkalinity, huge chlorophyll, huge detoxification nutrients – but if you want to go really mainstream – its giving you the recommended 5 Veg a Day before 9am!

Please give it a try – have a fresh vegetable juice or smoothie every morning for a week and let me know the effect this has!

——-

Detailed List of Alkaline Foods

I have actually got a really detailed list of all alkaline and acid foods available for a free download here (it also has a beginners guide to the alkaline diet in it).

CLICK HERE to download the alkaline food chart

———

Those are definitely my favourite alkaline foods and those that I’ve chosen to include in my diet on an almost daily basis, and often several times per day.

I promise you, if you include double the amount of these 7 foods than you currently are you will rapidly get towards your health goals.

Enjoy – let me know your thoughts, favourite foods or even recipes below in the comments – I’d love to hear from you!

Ross

(follow Ross on Google+ here)

About Ross Bridgeford

Ross is known as THE Alkaline Diet Expert...especially when it comes to implementation and making the alkaline diet REAL in your life. He has been living, learning, teaching, coaching and loving the alkaline lifestyle since 2004 and has written over 600 articles, alkaline recipes, videos and guides on how to live alkaline and stay alkaline for life. Ross loves life in Brisbane, Australia (although is a proud Englishman) and is healthily-obsessed with nutrition, fitness and Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

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From Energise Alkaline Diet & Natural Health Blog - health news, alkaline diet resources & tips to make you happy! do something nice today...

Hi guys

It always frustrates me when I see people struggling with the alkaline diet because I know that most people have been led to believe it is harder than it really is, and that you have to try and be perfect right from day one.

[NINE Alkaline Recipes Below!]

If you’ve read many of my articles/guides you’ll know I don’t believe that this is true and that going slowly, transitioning gently and building up is THE only, sustainable way to get alkaline and stay alkaline. And I really want this blog post to help get you started and keep you on track.

Alkaline Recipe Ideas – A Daily Plan

So I’ve been doing this whole alkaline thing for about 8 years (not always perfect of course, it took me AGES to get it sorted and even now I have the occasional blow out*) and the #1 question or hurdle most people face is that they simply don’t know what to cook when it gets to meal time (or when their stomach rumbles).

In this resource I want to give you 3 sets of Alkaline Recipe Ideas: a Beginner, an Intermediate and on the request of Chris Masiello, an Advanced (or 100% alkaline) meal plan.

The idea of this is to give you some ideas, and if you ever get stuck you can just wheel this out

Alkaline Recipe Ideas: Beginner

These are some nutritious meals, but are not necessarily 80-100% alkaline, they’re probably more in the 50-70% range. I’ve compromised on the alkalinity a little to make way for convenience and taste, so that the meals are more like ‘normal’ meals. These are handy alkaline recipes for those trying to convert their husband/wife/partner/kids/housemate

Breakfast: Quinoa & Apple Warmer
Lunch: Alkaline Fajitas
Dinner: Alkaline Vegetable Curry

Alkaline Recipe Ideas: Intermediate

Breakfast: Alkaline Oats
Lunch: Tomato & Avocado Quinoa Salad
Dinner: Alkaline Chilli-Lime Steam Fry

[Why not LIKE me on Facebook if you're enjoying this article?]

Alkaline Recipe Ideas: Advanced

Breakfast: Alkaline Raw Smoothie
Lunch: Alkaline Green Soup
Dinner: Fill You Up Alkaline Salad

Eating Alkaline Foods Is Easy…

…when you have a few recipes! So I really hope this helps get you going on your way. Believe me it took me a long time to get really going in the kitchen, but once I realised how to work around ingredients and make ‘normal’ meals alkaline it soon became a breeze!

And if you want MORE recipes and to catch my ‘Alkaline Diet Made Easy’ video series, sign up for my Free Alkaline/Acid Food Chart here (if you’re already signed up you’ll get this automatically).

Until then – enjoy these alkaline recipe ideas!
Ross

[Why not LIKE me on Facebook if you're enjoying this article?]

About Ross Bridgeford

Ross is known as THE Alkaline Diet Expert...especially when it comes to implementation and making the alkaline diet REAL in your life. He has been living, learning, teaching, coaching and loving the alkaline lifestyle since 2004 and has written over 600 articles, alkaline recipes, videos and guides on how to live alkaline and stay alkaline for life. Ross loves life in Brisbane, Australia (although is a proud Englishman) and is healthily-obsessed with nutrition, fitness and Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

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From Energise Alkaline Diet & Natural Health Blog - health news, alkaline diet resources & tips to make you happy! do something nice today...

Hi guys

In this first Alkaline Recipe Video, new Energise contributor, Chef Sal shows us how to make his delicious Alkaline Zucchini Wheels with Pesto. As you can see from the video, Chef Sal is a genius. I am SO excited about sharing more of his incredible video recipes with you over the next few weeks and months!

Leave a comment below if you have a question – either myself of Sal will answer all of them!

And if you like this – LIKE ME on FaceBook – more recipes and special resources will be posted there!

Ross

Note: in case you don’t have a dehydrator, Chef Sal recommends:

1. Probably the best way is to quickly flash saute them in a pan on a stove or a hot plate. You can flavor the zucchini strips in the oil and seasonings before you put them into the pan. Just lay them in a medium-high heated pan for about 10 seconds, turn them over for another 10 seconds and remove.

2. Or–blanch quickly in boiling water to make zucchini strips pliable, then IMMEDIATELY put into ice water to shock to prevent further cooking. Dry them. Only problem here is that the zucchini has no taste, so you have to flavor them by putting them in a mixture of oil, garlic powder and sea salt. Let them absorb the flavoring for a bit. Pat them dry before moving on to the next step.

3. Another way–but not the best–is to put them into the oven at the LOWEST setting that the oven will allow (dehydrator is from 105 to 110 degrs. … my oven will go down only to 170 degrs…) and watch the timing to get the zucchini strips to aldente… no more. You can’t leave the strips in the oven very long. With this method you can also season ahead of time.

However, you will lose a major portion of the enzymes with any of these methods.

I noticed you specifically asked about the zucchini… these methods may be the same for other items as well, but we’ll have to figure it out. It really is the matter of enzyme retention that we’re talking about.

Of course, the recipe still works with a completely cooked zucchini strip for those that prefer them cooked!

About Ross Bridgeford

Ross is known as THE Alkaline Diet Expert...especially when it comes to implementation and making the alkaline diet REAL in your life. He has been living, learning, teaching, coaching and loving the alkaline lifestyle since 2004 and has written over 600 articles, alkaline recipes, videos and guides on how to live alkaline and stay alkaline for life. Ross loves life in Brisbane, Australia (although is a proud Englishman) and is healthily-obsessed with nutrition, fitness and Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

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From Energise Alkaline Diet & Natural Health Blog - health news, alkaline diet resources & tips to make you happy! do something nice today...

This was overwhelmingly the most asked question out of all of them. I totally relate to it too – as when I first started out, even though I was vegetarian and quite healthy anyway, I still looked at the list of alkaline foods and wondered what on earth am I going to eat?!

So this answer will hopefully help you out and give you some starting points!

Question: Thanks for your alkaline food list, but I don’t understand how I am going to keep on making meals that I’m genuinely going to enjoy. Especially as my husband thinks this is a load of crap and wants to still eat meat and stuff. Help!

Answer: indeed, it can seem a bit daunting and intimidating at first! When faced with a long list of alkaline foods (vegetables, salads, nuts, seeds etc) it might look impossible – but I swear it isn’t! Having lived alkaline for 6+ years I’ve got a lot of experience with preparing alkaline meals and even though I know that even I can do more (especially with dehydrating etc), I’ve got it pretty much sorted…and I want to share all of my experience to help you guys too.

Here are my suggestions:

• Firstly – take your current favourite, commonly cooked meals and try to make them alkaline. By this I mean, swap out your usual cooking oils for coconut oil, try to steam fry instead of frying in oil, use wholemeal pasta instead of white, and brown rice instead of white, use quinoa instead of rice and minimise the rice/pasta element of meals to 30% of the dish instead of the usual 50%. If you can make your meals 70-80% alkaline and retain the tastes you like then you’re already a long way there!
• Create a list of core recipes with shared ingredients: Something that really helped me to make this lifestyle permanent was working out the meals that a) I enjoyed the most; b) found quickest and easiest to cook; and c) frequently had the right ingredients for. Go through my alkaline recipes and pick four or five of these and make sure you’ve always got the basis ingredients of that meal in the pantry.
• Plan Ahead: Being underprepared is the next biggest reason why people fail to reach their health goals. When the fridge is empty – we snack. And when the fridge is empty, the snacks are always unhealthy (post on healthy snacks). The same goes for takeaway – it is almost always ordered when we don’t have anything in to cook! So pick out your meals for the week and then shop for them a few days in advance!

If you follow these tips you should be fine and you will only be limited by your creativity in the kitchen.

Remember, I recently published my Alkaline Diet Recipe Book which is getting rave reviews. I ship it worldwide so there is not a place on earth that I can’t ship to. It has over one hundred rather delicious and easy to cook alkaline recipes in it and I am incredibly proud of it!

I hope this helps get you started on your path to the alkaline diet. Alkaline foods are not all that intimidating once you get started!

Keep in touch and leave a comment below!
Ross

—–Resources—–

My Alkaline Diet Recipe Book can be found here
I also have loads of alkaline recipes on the blog here

About Ross Bridgeford

Ross is known as THE Alkaline Diet Expert...especially when it comes to implementation and making the alkaline diet REAL in your life. He has been living, learning, teaching, coaching and loving the alkaline lifestyle since 2004 and has written over 600 articles, alkaline recipes, videos and guides on how to live alkaline and stay alkaline for life. Ross loves life in Brisbane, Australia (although is a proud Englishman) and is healthily-obsessed with nutrition, fitness and Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Mail | Web | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | YouTube

From Energise Alkaline Diet & Natural Health Blog - health news, alkaline diet resources & tips to make you happy! do something nice today...

Once again, I cannot take credit for this one and have to give full props to Tania (tweet her here) who made this one up randomly. It was one of those recipes that just gets thrown together the night before you go to do your weekly shop, with whatever is left in the fridge – and it turned out to be amazing.

It is alkaline, filling, delicious and very, very quick.

I’ll call it:

Tania’s Lemon-y Pasta Sensation!

Serves 2

Ingredients

Spelt pasta (enough for 2)
1 small broccoli head
Handful of peas
2 garlic cloves
1 small courgette
1 tomato
1/2 red onion
2 handfuls of rocket and/or spinach
(and any other greens)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon of coconut oil
Drizzle of olive oil
Himalayan salt & black pepper to taste

Directions

Firstly, get the pasta on the go. Then chop all of the greens to a size and shape you like and very lightly fry the broccoli, peas, garlic, red onion and courgette in the coconut oil.

Once the pasta is ready, drain and put into the pan with the greens, add the chopped tomato and rocket and stir in the lemon.

When you’re ready to serve, put it all in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil.

Optional: I love chillis so I usually add some at the end. Nice, fresh and hot!

Enjoy!

About Ross Bridgeford

Ross is known as THE Alkaline Diet Expert...especially when it comes to implementation and making the alkaline diet REAL in your life. He has been living, learning, teaching, coaching and loving the alkaline lifestyle since 2004 and has written over 600 articles, alkaline recipes, videos and guides on how to live alkaline and stay alkaline for life. Ross loves life in Brisbane, Australia (although is a proud Englishman) and is healthily-obsessed with nutrition, fitness and Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

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From Energise Alkaline Diet & Natural Health Blog - health news, alkaline diet resources & tips to make you happy! do something nice today...

This is my staple dressing that I use to dress most of my salads, pastas and rice dishes. It is really very delicious and gives the added bonus that it gives you one of your daily serves of omega 3 without you even noticing!

It is also highly alkaline, antifungal and antibacterial. Genius!

Delicious Omega Dressing

Serves 2

2 tablespoons of Udo’s Choice or flax oil (cold pressed)
1 large (or 2 small) cloves of garlic, crushed
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Sprinkle of Himalayan salt
Cracked black pepper

OR

Instead of salt and pepper, use Herbamare – a combination of organic herbs and sea salt.
Here’s a simple, healthy way to liven up a bowl of your favourite fresh pasta.

You can make up a big batch and store, but keep it in an airtight container because the oil will go toxic if exposed to light, air or heat.

Enjoy!

About Ross Bridgeford

Ross is known as THE Alkaline Diet Expert...especially when it comes to implementation and making the alkaline diet REAL in your life. He has been living, learning, teaching, coaching and loving the alkaline lifestyle since 2004 and has written over 600 articles, alkaline recipes, videos and guides on how to live alkaline and stay alkaline for life. Ross loves life in Brisbane, Australia (although is a proud Englishman) and is healthily-obsessed with nutrition, fitness and Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Mail | Web | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | YouTube

From Energise Alkaline Diet & Natural Health Blog - health news, alkaline diet resources & tips to make you happy! do something nice today...