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: Alkaline Diet Cleanse – Duration & Frequency

Cleanse – how many times per annum do you recommend cleansing and for how long and when (what months)?

Hmm. Good question. I think the real answer would be related to your need and … motivation. If someone has an extreme health challenge (or wants to be on the top of the podium in London next year) then there’s a fairly good case for pretty much continuously following a COWS (Chlorophyll, Oils, Water and Salt) based eating and hydration plan. That can be with smoothys, juices, alkaline meals and green powders.

Getting enough calories might require some thought and planning if you are to do this and having some kind of professional advice may be advisable too. Avocados, sprouted beans and seeds and healthy oil (such as Dr Young’s Omega 3-6-9 Oil Blend) can all form part of a sustained plant based eating plan.

A two to five day cleanse can be an effective way to initiate a change in your body chemistry. Start with two days and then try 3, 4 or 5 days if desired (and bearable!). It’s important to plan a little bit how you are going to eat and drink afterwards. The changes that you experience when you are cleansing may make you automatically desire more alkalising, health promoting food and hydration choices.

I really think that you can do a cleanse at any time of the year. When we ate more seasonally, winter might have been a time when more nuts and oils (or even animal protein, including cheeses) might have been consumed. As fresh plant foods became more locally readily available in spring, cleansing some of the build ups from our winter diet and shedding some of the warming winter weight would have been sensible and healthy. Year round “cleansing food” availability and central heating mean that we do not tend to eat this way so much now.

Spring and New Year “cleans” can however be effective and health promoting, but looking after your body really needs to be a year round project!

Question Two: The Right Combination of Cleansing Supplements

Supplements – normally I take Msm, probiotics & Savant’s Udo’s choice / flax seed oils. What additional supplements do you recommend taking whilst cleansing – do you recommend a fibre supplement & is there a danger of any side effects e.g. encouraging a lazy colon?

The main focus when you are cleansing needs to be on foods and fluids, as I am sure you are aware. I would recommend a green powder supplement and pH drops, that you mix with water. Eliminating acids through urination is equally important to elimination through defecation.

I don’t personally recommend pro-biotics. I believe they are acidifying. Using a vegetable oil that contains the essential fatty acids that your body cannot make is advisable. Hemp oil, Udo’s Choice or flax oil that is kept refrigerated are all good sources of these “healthy” fats that can help buffer (neutralise) acids as they are released from body tissue.

You can use fibre supplements to ensure / facilitate bowel movement. They can be slightly “abrasive” to the delicate tissue of the intestinal lumen (“wall”). Using a bicarbonate salt supplement such as pHour salts or Biocare’s “Bio-carbonate” can help mineralise the body and facilitate faecal elimination. These should help promote intestinal health without creating dependence or undermining your bodies own elimination capability. Remember that you can experience some discomfort when acids start to be released from body tissue.

Adding Montmorillionite clay (terra pHirma) to your greens or mixing it and eating it like yoghurt(!) can also help draw acids out and re-mineralise your body. Do keep reasonably well hydrated and consume fresh vegetables and un-refined salt.

Question Three: Tomatoes & Arthritis

Tomato / tomato juice – I was lead to believe tomato should be avoided as too much in the diet can cause / aggravate arthritis. Is this true?

Tomato’s are considered to be part of the nightshade family of plants and vegetables which also includes potatoes and aubergines and peppers. There is anecdotal (individual reported case history) evidence of diets where these foods are removed leading to improvements in arthritis symptomologies.

No trials (to me knowledge) have conclusively supported this and were they to do so, the question would then need to be asked as to whether any one of the individual “members” of the family was the “culprit” or whether this grouping actually caused arthritis.

People have experienced dramatic reductions in joint pain (over time) by following an alkalising plan as recommended by Dr. Young, Energise and myself. This would include low sugar fruits, such as tomatoes, lemons, limes, cucumbers and avocados. Tinned tomatoes, tinned or bottled tomato juice (rather than fresh), tomato ketchup or a pre-prepared tomato soup with sugar and / or vinegar added could contribute to the aggravation of arthritic symptoms.

Question Four: Exercise Juice & Breathing

Exercise – my preference is to power walk instead of run. Is this ok (if the target heart rate is reached)? When possible is it best to exercise before consuming breakfast juice and after exercise to complete breathing exercises (this is suggested in Alkaline Recipe 4: The Ultimate Liver Cleanse Recipe).

I think the most important thing with exercise is that you enjoy it enough to make you want to do it! If you don’t like running and you enjoy walking or power walking then ….
Running or more vigorous exercise can make you sweat more and breath more deeply. That is important to facilitate the elimination of acid. I do however accept that power walking may accomplish both of these. More vigorous exercise can however also make you more acidic if you promote sugar burning metabolism (rather than fat burning) or exceed your body’s oxygen delivery capability (anaerobic exercise).

I would recommend having a glass of pHour salts and water or water and lemon juice on an empty stomach / on rising. Ideally, you would then do your power walking (or other exercise) and then have a juice or alkaline smoothy. The ingredients in the liver cleanse and other juices will need some digestive “work” so might slosh around while exercising if consumed directly prior to commencing. You can do your breathing exercises before or after physical exercise, if you wish. Experiment with sequences to see what works best for you.

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!

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 week Gareth Edwards, our Alkaline Diet Expert, Dr Young trained blood analyst and highly qualified nutritionist, writes about the importance of alkaline minerals for our health.

In this article he concentrates on what he calls the “major players”, which are the four alkaline minerals sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. They are particularly important for our cellular metabolism and for our overall health.

The Importance Of Alkaline Minerals For Health

If you’re interested in alkalising or health in general, you are probably aware of the importance of minerals to health. You might add salt to your food or avoid it. You may choose to take a supplement containing minerals. You may consciously eat foods that contain high levels of minerals you consider to be beneficial. It is possible that you might also avoid foods or drinks that inhibit the absorption of minerals into your blood stream or those that promote or increase their excretion from your body.

This week we’d like to focus on four minerals, why your body needs them and how you might make sure that has the “right” balance of them. We’ve chosen to look at the four minerals contained in Dr. Young’s product pHour salts, but they are contained in other alkalising mineral preparations too.

Four Major “Players”:

Sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium all serve major roles in cellular metabolism (i.e. making us function).

Sodium:

It is the most abundant mineral in body fluids (outside cells). It’s essential for nerve transmission, maintains fluid balance and acts as a major component of one of our body’s instant response buffering systems. Buffer systems are the way that our bodies neutralise acids that are formed in the body by everyday cellular function. Most interestingly and controversially, it is believed, in some circles that it can act as the foundational mineral for trans-mutative changes into the other three following minerals in the body.

Potassium:

It is the most abundant mineral inside our cells. It also is required for nerve transmission as exchanges with sodium ions help create the electrical flow information through our nervous systems. Additionally it maintains pH balance in the cell. When it passes out of the cell hydrogen ions can move in. Concentration of hydrogen ions is what creates the pH (potential of hydrogen). This mineral which is abundant in vegetables and fruits has been associated with a lowering of blood pressure [1].

Magnesium:

It is a huge player in making your body run. It’s central to turning food into energy. It’s needed for the pump that maintains mineral balance in the cells. It too is required for nerve transmission and muscular contraction. Crucially it is essential for functioning of the heart muscle. There are high levels in dark green leafy vegetables as it is the central atom in chlorophyll (the pigment that makes plants green).

Calcium:

It is the most abundant mineral in the body due to it’s presence in bone structure. It too plays an important role in nerve transmission, blood coagulation and the maintenance of muscle tone.

Upping the Anti:

While your body needs all of these minerals for function it can also use them to buffer acids. The Swiss pH focused natural therapist Christopher Vasey, who works closely with pHion suggests that while making alkaline food and hydration choices can help “turn the tide” of increased acidity, it can have limits. He suggests that as acids are released from tissue, they can upset the delicate pH balance of the blood.

Your intelligent body will not allow this to happen and so deep cleansing and release of accumulated acid in tissue may be prevented. He suggests using supplemental minerals in their alkaline form to directly neutralise these acids and allow them to pass into the blood and be eliminated from the body. He also suggests juicing as this makes alkaline minerals more available.

Action Points for Promoting a Healthy Mineral Balance:

• Make healthy, alkalising diet and hydration choices wherever possible. Vegetables and (low sugar) fruits are packed with these minerals. Juicing them will facilitate the ease with which they can be absorbed by your body.
• Ensure that you get some daily sun exposure (maximise at weekends) to increase Vitamin D production, which will allow you to absorb and metabolise Calcium.
• Consider using an alkaline mineral supplement such as pHour salts daily, in order to help promote the release and buffering of acids stored in tissue.
• Find healthy alternatives to tea and coffee which can both deplete mineral levels. So can alcohol and stronger acids from Animal protein and vinegar.
• Sprouted pulses and beans are preferable to cooked or tinned ones as they contain compounds that can bind to minerals and limit their absorption.

1. Houston M.C., Harper K.J. (2008) Potassium, Magnesium, and Calcium: Their Role in Both the Cause and Treatment of Hypertension.

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.

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 week Gareth Edwards, our Alkaline Diet Expert, Dr Young trained blood analyst and highly qualified nutritionist, gives you a quick start guide to the alkaline diet outlining the most important steps to transition to a more alkaline diet and lifestyle.

As Gareth deals with clients every day who want to become healthier and more alkaline, he knows how difficult it can be to change common unhealthy lifestyle patterns and to achieve long term health.

A “Back to Basics Guide” by Gareth Edwards

If the whole idea of alkalising your body is as confusing as a really hard sudoko puzzle or the plethora of products and information on the subject sends you …. off to the pub, then hopefully this week’s article is for you. It’s a “back to basics” guide, but in reality trying to get too complex and clever could make things unnecessarily hard for any of us.

Alkalising really is just “getting healthy” with a few twists from mass media messages on the subject. It’s based around the (back to third form chemistry) principle that the pH of our body fluids, and therefore body tissue, is the biggest factor that affects our over-all health and wellbeing.

As society has become more urbanised food has been increasingly packaged and preserved which makes it more …. acidifying. Add to that the fact that pollution and electro-magnetic fields can all have an acidifying effect on your body and that anything, other than lying on the floor in a trance, makes acid in your body and all of a sudden there is a possible solution to the health tangle we can sometimes find ourselves in.

Literally “washing” your body, on a daily basis, with fresh ionised air, sunlight, alkaline fluids and foods are the most effective and powerful step you can take to achieving health.

So here are three steps you can take:

1. Start to understand which foods have an alkalising effect on your body and which ones are acidifying. There are lots of sources of information on this subject, but I would recommend that you either buy the pH miracle by Dr. Robert and Shelley Young or look at the quick guide that Energise for Life have created here: Click here to view the acid/alkaline food chart.

   While common sense is a great guide as to what is healthy and what not, some finessing on the subject will be helpful. Obvious examples of acidifying liquids would be vinegar, colas and orange (or other fruit juice). You’d be right to avoid these. More confusing might be lemons, limes, grapefruits and tomatoes. They are all alkalising, once you’ve digested them. Let your common sense take over, they’re low in sugar and packed with vitamin C (and other beneficial nutrients).

   Queen or King of the alkaline pantry is any vegetable that’s green. If the thought of eating that sends you …. back to the pub, then hold on! To start with mix them with things you like. Avocados are great alkalisers and so is olive oil and (probably to your surprise) unrefined, raw and unprocessed salt.

   Start making more vegetarian choices generally and use more nuts, seeds, beans and lentils for your protein, rather than meat, poultry, cheese and fish. Sprouted beans and seeds are dynamos and a better way to boost vitamin levels than a pill. The Energise recipe book is packed with great ideas for alkaline meals and drinks too.

2. You are what you drink…… one of the most powerful steps you can take in this process is to keep changing your body fluids. Plain, still, filtered water usually has a slightly alkaline pH. By adding small quantities of alkaline mineral salts to it you can lift the pH (make it more alkaline). Drinking two to three litres of alkaline water a day will …. make you pee more. That’s washing the acid out of your body.

   If you add freshly made green vegetable juice to that water you’ll have a cleansing, energising drink. That could be “hassle” if you’re busy, so adding powdered green vegetables to the water is quick, nutritious and should help to stop you reaching for the biscuit tin between meals. You’ll find a selection of powdered greens and “pH drops” on the Energise site. I personally prefer the ones which only contain vegetables (not seaweed) and low sugar fruits. (such as Dr Young’s Doc Broc Power Plants)

3. Try to get fresh air and winter sunlight. As winter draws in, the comfort of sitting in doors next to the radiator can become magnetic. I’ve just been on a week’s walking holiday with my wife slightly(!) south of England. As I got ready to walk, George Michael’s humorous 90’s hit “Outside” started running through my head. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend going outside for the reasons that George sings about, but getting fresh air and even a little drop of winter sunlight on a daily basis are crucial to eliminating acidic waste and helping your body absorb and use calcium. That also helps keep your body alkaline.

   The more I work as nutritionist encouraging people to alkalise the more excited I am by its potential to help people achieve optimum health and wellbeing. There’s scarcely a week goes by that I don’t hear fantastic stories of people that have overcome health challenges, boosted their energy and achieved a healthy weight by following these principles. Get busy… in an enjoyable, explorative way!

   If you want to read more click here!

Disclaimer: Not intended to diagnose any condition, please seek help of nutritionally aware physician if experiencing health challenges.

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

As part of my gigantic new alkaline water resource, I edited this snippet of my mega-interview with Dr Young where we chatted about alkaline water.

Enjoy:

Ross
www.energiseforlife.com

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...

Hey everyone!

I recently emailed out to a heap of folks as a thank you and to say thanks I simply said:

Let me know your BIGGEST alkaline diet and alkaline food question & I will answer it for you in 24 hours

Needless to say I got a HEAP of responses! True to my promise I answered every single one of them personally and uniquely – but I thought it would be a fantastic idea to share the replies here so that you can all learn from them and hopefully it might prompt a few conversations in the comments!

So here is my first response, but there are a heap more to follow.

Why Are the Alkaline Food Lists So Different?

Question: Hi Ross, I have decided to ask you the question on alkalinity, thank you. The thing is that every article that I have ever read about the acid/ alkaline balance, and what foods are indeed alkaline differs from so called expert to expert.

I do have some knowledge myself and would also be guided by my own intuition, but it is nevertheless confusing when there is so much difference of opinion.

For example, I always believed that bananas were an alkaline food, even though as a food source I don’t think they are always as beneficial as is often claimed, and potatoes ie white, red etc have always been known to be very alkaline and potato juice has been used to neutralise acid in the stomach for centuries, and yet certain articles cite same as being acidic. Also there are differences in the acid/alkaline ratio quoted in differing articles re various foods. I’m not mentioning any names in particular as I have come across many articles and books on the subject and it is always the same, and so is rather frustrating as one doesn’t know who is right.

If you can shed light on this it would be great.

Answer:

This is a GREAT question and one I am asked a LOT. It has become one of my missions to educate and answer this question for as many people as possible. It was so confusing for me when I first started out and it frustrates me that there are still millions of people worldwide who still have this question – or worse – are following bad advice and are eating the wrong things!

Firstly – here is our Energise list of alkaline foods and acid foods. Our list is based upon the research and theories of Dr Robert Young, who is the leading researcher in the alkaline diet field.

Now, onto the explanation. I’ll copy and paste this from a blog post I wrote a while back about different alkaline food lists as this is a good start:

I know it is quite confusing to see such differences in the charts. This amount of conflicting information is the main reason I set up energiseforlife.com and I believe our chart (based on the research of the Alkaline Diet pioneer, Dr Young) is the most accurate.

The reason that other charts show such disparity is because they base their classifications on the readings for the Potential Renal Acid Load research (PRAL). This is not an accurate source for this purpose. The reason for this is, to test for PRAL they basically burn the food at an extreme temperature and then take a read of the ‘ash’ that is left behind and what it’s pH is.

While this does give a read of its alkalinity from the mineral content of the food, this is only half the picture. By burning it at such a high temperature they also burn away all of the most acid-causing content of the food, namely sugar. That is why on some charts high sugar fruits are listed as alkaline. Bananas for instance are high in the alkaline mineral potassium, BUT they are also 25% sugar which makes them very acidifying when we consume them.

Dr Young has also tested the blood (through live blood analysis) of over 40,000 people and has seen first hand the effect different foods have on the body. So his classification of acid/alkaline foods is really the most accurate and the most relevant to the effect foods have on our pH levels.

(by the way, the blog post is answering the top 10 alkaline diet questions – so feel free to have a read)

So, basically, the main difference between the alkaline food charts comes down to one simple thing:

Some charts determine acidity or alkalinity on the food before it is consumed & others (like mine) are more interested in the effect the food has on the body after it has been consumed.

Personally, I have no interest in what a food is before I’ve eaten it – I want to know whether it will alkalise or acidify my body. Make sense?

Some stand out examples include fruit, as you mentioned, such as banana – but another great example is the low sugar fruits such as tomato and lemon. These are listed under the PRAL charts as acidic, and in their natural state they are – but they are very, very alkalising once consumed and are a really integral part of the alkaline diet – featuring in hundreds and hundreds of recipes.

I hate to think of the amount of people there are out there who are eating a heap of high sugar fruits every day and are not getting any tomato, avocado, lemons, limes etc.

Some people I have spoken to even eat ONLY fruit for half of the day. They are literally living the acid diet!

I hope this helps clear things up. I have a video here with my good pal and Energise nutritionist Gareth, where he explains why lemons are alkalising. Gareth has trained with some of the best nutritionists in Britain and has gone through months of training and research with Dr Young who is the leading authority on the alkaline diet – so I thoroughly trust his opinion.

I hope this helps!
Ross

——Resources——

Click here for my Alkaline Diet Recipe Book (Paperback)
Click here to book a telephone consultation with Gareth Edwards

Click here for my list of alkaline foods and acid foods – it is a PDF download with explanations, a printer-friendly, stick-on-the-fridge cheat sheet and a super-large list of acid and alkaline foods. It’s awesome.

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 week Gareth Edwards, our Alkaline Diet Expert and highly qualified nutritionist, is writing about the importance of having sufficient levels of alkaline minerals in order for our buffering systems in our bodies to maintain the crucial and delicate pH of our blood at 7.365.

He also explains why Dr Young’s pHour Salts is a fantastic alkaline mineral supplement in helping to maintain the crucial alkaline state of our bodies and therefore optimum health!

The Importance Of Alkaline Minerals For Optimum Health!

The Food Standards Agency (a British Government organisation) issues a thick book known as “The Composition of Foods”. Originally compiled by McCance and Widdowson some sixty years ago, this book shows mineral and vitamin levels present in a wide range of food stuffs. Disturbingly, but not perhaps surprisingly, one can plot a trend over the years that these tables have been produced, showing a progressive decline in essential mineral levels in vegetables and other foods.

Intuitively we probably know that that probably isn’t a very good thing. What makes it particularly important to us, is that we have buffering systems in our bodies that maintain the crucial and delicate pH of our blood at 7.365 and this uses minerals to function.

The next potential challenge to our health comes from the fact that increased use of pharmaceutical remedies, longer distances from field to plate, greater pollution levels and general adulteration of the food chain, means that most of us face a higher acidic “load” than those who were around when the first McCance and Widdowson food tables were issued.

So what are we to do?

Before jumping to Private Frazer’s (from Dad’s Army) conclusion that “we’re all doomed” take a moment to look at some exciting and refreshing scientific research. In March last year, the peer reviewed journal “Cancer Research” published a paper by Robey et al. (and others) showing that the pH (acidic) tumours could be raised (made more alkaline) by giving patients bicarbonate salts. This also resulted in a reduction of metastases (the spreading of tumours to other body parts).

Also last year, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism published a study by Dawson-Hughes et al. showing that the administration of potassium bicarbonate led to reduced bone depletion (osteoporosis) in older men and women. This is particularly significant because the body draws calcium from bones in order to buffer (neutralise) acids. It is important to note that in this trial potassium alone (not in the bicarbonate form) did not help maintain calcium levels and bone density.

Bicarbonate is the alkaline form of minerals. It is (I imagine) universally accepted that large quantities of alkaline salts are secreted by our bodies as part of the digestive process. If however we are using these resources up in ever greater quantities and yet we are effectively consuming less of them, then there is a strong case for supplementing with bicarbonate salts.

One way to raise your body pH (become more alkaline) with mineral salts is to drink glasses of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) mixed with water. I have known this to be helpful and effective for patients. Make sure that the baking soda you use is pure (no anti-caking agents or other chemicals) if you want to try this.

There are however compelling arguments for consuming a broader spectrum of minerals in the alkaline form. It is important for the body to maintain a balance between sodium and potassium. Maintaining an intake of both of these minerals is important. The same is true of calcium and magnesium. In short large intakes of sodium or calcium without potassium or magnesium to balance them is not advisable. A healthy balance is naturally maintained by alkaline (high vegetable) dietary choices. Once we start supplementing it is important to maintain a balanced intake.

Dr. Young’s pHour salts product seems to tick a lot of boxes in helping maintain the crucial alkaline state of our bodies in the face of acidic challenges. It contains sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium in bicarbonate forms. (It is worth noting that producing the latter two minerals in bicarbonate forms is considered chemically challenging. I am however assured that Dr. Young has found a method of consistently producing powdered alkaline forms of these two essential minerals).

How To Take It:

I have now been using pHour salts for several years and I am happy to recommend them to virtually all of my clients (see cautions below to understand where I might not).

I generally recommend mixing a scoop of the salts with a glass of water and consuming before anything else in the morning. This can be particularly beneficial in helping to settle my stomach if… I haven’t followed my own advice in what I’ve eaten the night before. You can then have another glass before lunch and dinner.

You may wish to build up to this slowly and the taste will probably take some getting used to. The other option is to mix the pHour salts with green powder and drink them regularly through the day.

Cautions?

pHour salts is quite a strong alkalising agent. That’s generally quite a good thing, but take a moment to reflect on what happens when you put alka-seltzer in water. There’s quite a fizz! The active ingredients in this once ubiquitous remedy are aspirin, sodium bicarbonate and citric acid. The fizz is what occurs when the alkaline sodium and the citric acid mix with water.

When pHour salts meet with strong acids it is likely there will be some kind of “reaction”. It is therefore advisable that you start slowly with small quantities and build up your intake over time. If you are taking or have taken medication for a sustained period of time, it is advisable to consult with a qualified, pH aware physician before starting.

Some people are concerned that taking pHour salts (or other un-refined salts) may lead to increased blood pressure. My experience with patients has confirmed Dr. Young’s and my opinion that the reverse is true. These substances have been part of regimes that have helped patients lower raised blood pressure.

It is however important to remember that pHour salts are not a substitute for alkalising dietary and hydration choices. They need to be used as a supplement to them.

Who Should Use It?

You should!

For most people looking to improve their health, increasing your intake of bicarbonate salts should be highly beneficial. At a rescue remedy level, it’s particularly good for helping with indigestion and for speeding up recovery times after physical exercise (less aching muscles). They can help stop urinary tract infections (UTI’s) quickly too.

The scientific evidence strongly suggests that they can be protective against and helpful in arresting tumours and maintaining healthy bone mass. These are things we all want. Start slowly.

Remember to consult with a pH aware physician before starting if you are on or have been on regular medication.

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...