Energise Alkaline Diet & Natural Health Blog » weight loss

How to Lose Weight with the Alkaline Diet

Ross — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 01:56:00 +0000

How to Lose Weight with the Alkaline Diet

This week Gareth Edwards, our Alkaline Diet Expert and highly qualified nutritionist, is giving some incredible advice on how to lose weight with the alkaline diet, alongside a very clear and easy to understand description of why acids make us fat – once you understand this, weight loss is a really simple equation.

The Alkaline Diet for Weight Loss

Article by Gareth Edwards

Last week I went to a business breakfast. This is unusual for me, but the subject of the debate “Should we tax foods that make people obese?”
grabbed my attention. To observe Dr. Ian Richardson (a government advisor on obesity) and Richard Powell (a spokesman for Coca-Cola) “debating” the issue was interesting and, to some extent enlightening.

There was however one statement that Dr. Ian Campbell kept repeating like a mantra, that I felt showed a slightly myopic (short-sighted) perspective. “Let’s not forget that this is a simple issue” he said. “Eating too much and not doing enough exercise is the reason why people become obese. It’s a simple (by implication: calorific) equation.”

My observations of patients and acquaintances does not however support this.

All too often I see people who are actually not eating huge amounts of food and are doing reasonable amounts (or even high levels) of exercise and still weight seems to stick to them like glue.

Weight gain. An acid problem.

The reality is that it’s all too often the type of food we eat, liquids we drink or crucially, remedies that we take that have the biggest influence of all. Time after time with patients, I’ve seen people actually shedding pounds while eating pretty large amounts of food every day.

When we start to understand that weight gain is actually a healthy defence by your body to protect it from liquid acids, we can start get a clearer understanding of how to lose weight.

How we work:

All the time that we are doing anything other than lying in a (naturally induced!) trance like state, on the floor, we are producing acids. Digestion and metabolism (our cells “working”) produce acid. Our bodies have clever mechanisms for shedding these. We pass urine, breath, perspire and defecate partly in order to maintain a neutral pH in our bodies.

Diet, lifestyle and ……. other factors:

There are, however, certain situations where the filters to our body’s swimming pool (we are after all about 60% water) get overloaded. Here are some possible causes of acidic overload:

Dehydration: In order to wash dietary and metabolic acids from our bodies, we need to drink enough to “wash the acids out through
urine, perspiration (and even defecation).
Acidic drinks and liquids: consuming large amounts of sweetened, fizzy drinks, fruit juice (other than lemon, lime and grapefruit),
alcohol, and vinegar. Remember “diet” drinks with artificial sweeteners can be even more acidifying than their regular couter-
parts.
An acidic diet: regular intakes of meat, fish, eggs and cheese are all likely to leave acidic residues in the body. High intakes of sugar and
refined (white) carbohydrates will have similar effects
Under (and over) exercise: exercise increases perspiration and respiration. High levels of anaerobic (beyond our body’s ability to
replenish oxygen) exercise, followed by acidic drinks or dietary choices, can actually increase acidity.
Negative emotions: stress, anxiety, (in-appropriate or excessive) anger and grief, can all have acidifying effects on the body.
Medication: modern pharmacology is an incredibly intelligent business. Huge amounts of money and some of the most intelligent minds have been applied to developing drugs. In extreme circumstances such as a road accident, they can be life saving and life transforming. The flaw however lies in the philosophical approach behind their development. Pharmaceuticals are (sometimes) fantastic at symptom manipulation. They rarely however are used to treat the cause of a disease or condition. Medication is likely to acidify the body. A urinary pH test should confirm this. Note: neither Gareth nor Energise are advising that you do not take prescribed medications. Please consult your doctor before making any decision about any health condition or your general health

The Outcomes of An Acidic Lifestyle

Overload (over-weight):

If acids start to build up in our body fluids or tissue, our clever bodies will usually create a way of keeping them away from vital organs and body tissue. We’ll actually start to lay down fat to buffer (neutralise) the fat and keep it in a “safe” place. This safety mechanism may help preserve you, but it’s not ideal in the long term.

Underweight:

When some people become over-acidic the micro-organisms that thrive in an acidic environment actually start eating the food you consume (and make you even more acidic). The acids can also erode the delicate finger-like projections in the intestines, where food is absorbed. This can lead to congestion and fermentation in the intestine and an inability to gain desired weight or body mass.

Turning the tide

So if you want to achieve a healthy weight, here’s what you can do:

Hydrate with alkaline water: Adding pH drops or pHour salts to water which is alkaline is a good start. Adding green vegetable, grass and herb powder (i.e. green drink) will help nourish you in alkaline way and provide soluble fibre to help draw toxic elements from your body.

Start with weak concentrations and build up to one scoop per litre of greens three to four times a day. Washing out stored acids can
require super-hydration. Build this up slowly and be sure to maintain an intake of mineral salts.

Fresh Vegetable Juices: Once or twice a week, more often if you can, make yourself a fresh green vegetable juice or wheatgrass juice. Use cucumbers and / or celery to give the fluid content and use green veggies such as spinach, kale, broccoli, lettuce, rocket, chard and anything else you can get your hands on! Here is an alkaline vegetable juice recipe I posted to the blog a few weeks ago, and here are Energise’s Juicers!

Buy the Energise Alkaline Diet Recipe Book and get busy! (buy some sprouting jars to add extra super-nutritious variety – click here for Ross’s article on Sprouting)

Exercise:Find a form of exercise that you really enjoy (walking, playing with kids, cycling, swimming, judo, tennis) and do it for at least 20minutes three times a week. Eat and drink alkaline drinks and food afterwards to “recover”. pHour Salts is especially effective after exercise to replenish the body with alkaline salts (electrolytes) and to neutralise lactic acid build up.

Manage Emotions: Acidic foods can be a way to anaesthetise ourselves from unwanted feelings. There’s an interesting article by Nicola Gratrix about this in this month’s Get Fresh magazine from the Fresh Network. Getting help from the right place with emotional issues can be a huge part of gaining a healthy shape. Doing work you love, following your passions and processing emotional cellular memories or interpretations with a programme like “the Journey” can all help. You might like to read “Feel the Fear and do it Anyway” by Susan Jeffers.

Check-in for a Check-up: If you are following a super-alkaline diet, hydration and exercise programme and still not shedding (or gaining) the pounds you desire, I would encourage you to review any medication you are taking with a pH and nutritionally aware physician. Quite often conditions such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure or diabetes will start to resolve once you start to alkalise, so you should be able to have an open discussion with your physician, based on measurable factors.

Most of all …. Have some fun experimenting with new ideas, drinks and flavours. What better time than summer to whip up a fresh water-melon and grapefruit cordial!

Gareth

Remember: you can now book in a 30-minute telephone consultation with Gareth for just £45. Gareth is an exceptional nutritionist and will be able to offer you specific advice and guidance and help you build a nutrition plan specific to your needs. Click here to book a telephone consultation with Gareth Edwards.

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.

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

Alkaline Diet Questions with Gareth (#12)

Ross — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:47:22 +0000

Alkaline Diet Questions with Gareth (#12)

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: Alkalising and Pregnancy

I am currently trying to get pregnant and I take supergreens for two weeks of the month. I take my greens then abstain around ovulation until my period starts. I feel it would be much more beneficial to take my greens every day, but is this safe if I conceived?? Is alkalising safe for pregnancy?

Yes! I’d recommend that you take them all the time. When you’re feeding your baby they’ll be great too!

Question Two: The Accuracy of pH Testing Strips

My saliva and urine has shown 5.75 for 4 weeks now, from going from a heavy meat-eater to a vegetarian and adding ph drops/greens. I don’t think they show the correct pH levels?

There’s going to be some flushing out of stored acids when you do this. If the pH stix are still showing a low pH in a couple more weeks start to look more closely.

If you want to check the accuracy of the stix you could invest in a metre: Click here to see the product range from a company called Cole Parmer.

Make sure it’s properly calibrated!

Remember that even vegetarian diets can be slightly acidifying, but you should be better off than you were on a diet high in animal protein.

Question Three: Is Wheatgrass Safe To Take When On Medication?

I would like to ask if wheatgrass safe if you’ve had a heart attack and are taking beta blockers and aspirin. We are taking 5ml of wheatgrass in juice everyday I would be very grateful for your advice. We have also been on the alkaline diet for 3 days.

The only possible challenge that I can see is that wheatgrass is a strong alkalising agent. Sometimes “de-toxing” too quickly can give some short term discomfort. Wheatgrass really is super healthy and dissolved in other juices I think it is unlikely to present you with any difficulties. Do make sure that the other juices are low sugar vegetables and fruit (i.e. not sweet fruit).

Cardio-vascular incidents can be concerning, but taking control of your health with healthy and alkalising dietary and hydration choices, as you are doing, has to be the best way to speed and aid recovery. Beta blockers and aspirin are designed to change your body and blood biochemistry, but you can have a huge effect with diet and hydration too.

You might want to consider reviewing changes in markers such as ESR, blood pressure and pulse rate with your physician, with a view to increasing the emphasis on diet and hydration over pharmacy. If any markers that are outside the reference ranges improve as you start to change what you eat and drink a discussion about reducing your medication, with your physician, should become possible.

Question Four: Are Coral Calcium Supplements Alkalising?

Could you give me some advice? This seemed like a good time to get into good alkalising eating habits as I’ve recently had a tongue operation, removing pre-cancerous cells, and been on liquids for about a month. I’ve just started introducing solids but I have problems digesting a lot of raw vegetables (they produce a lot of gas). My pH has been about 6.5 on the cooked vegetables and I thought it would be a good idea to take alkalising supplements to boost it, so I started using the phion drops and their green drink and some live-coral calcium capsules. The problem is, my readings seem to be more acidic now. Shouldn’t the coral be alkalising? I thought it was mostly calcium and magnesium, but could the trace minerals cause this? Does this mean I can’t use it to alkalise? The only other thing I can think of is the ph strips being old (the readings aren’t really clear). Do they have a life? I’d appreciate your help.

Coral calcium is a slightly controversial supplement from several points of view. Probably the most important question to you right now is does it make you more alkaline? You could try dissolving one or two of the coral calcium capsules in water and see if that raises the pH. That said I would probably recommend using Dr. Young’s pHour salts product (or even pure baking soda) rather than the coral calcium.

You may also find that some of the ingredients in the pH ion products that you are using may be having a slightly acidifying effect. Some people get on well with these products, but I would be cautious about pro-biotics and some of the algae. Try switching to Doc Broc’s Powerplants and use the Dr. Young product puripHy. I know categorically that puripHy lifts pH as we have tested it with a meter.

The accuracy of the strips is a potential issue, but they are usually right. For someone really applying themselves to their health, like you, you may want to consider getting an electronic meter to measure the pH of fluids. You would however need to calibrate the meter to be sure of its accuracy. Apparently this is a good one: Oakton® Waterproof EcoTestr™ pH 2 Pocket pH Meter. Click here to view this meter.

Do also persevere with trying to eat more raw food. Juicing your green vegetables should help and adding (not using exclusively!) cabbage juice should help. The pHour salts should also help you to break the food down, hopefully reducing flatulence.

Question Five: Weight Loss and Menopause

I am trying to shed about half a stone in weight, but going through the menopause it seems that whatever I do it just keeps anchoring itself to my belly and legs. I have cut out all sweet carbs, I never eat bread and rarely eat a potato, rice is a no-no and pasta occasionally. It just seems determined to stay and I have the most profound craving for sweet foods – what do you recommend in your array of supplements to help get rid of the weight and stop the sweet cravings? I have tried your green drink and still have some, but it fills me with gas if I try to drink it more than once a week. Looking forward to any help you may have to offer.

The fact that you are struggling with the green drink suggests that you may have a digestive in-balance. You could start by drinking a glass of water with a scoop of pHour salts dissolved in it on rising. Cravings for sugar can be helped by increasing your salt intake. This can feel counter strange when there are so many public health warnings encouraging you to avoid salt, but I have seen several patients’ blood pressure drop when their salt intake goes up. Use pHlavor spray and a good quality Himalayan or sea salt.

After that, I think I’d come back to your diet at the moment. Make sure that you are eating plenty of fresh (and ideally raw and mainly green) vegetables. Have plenty of healthy oils (olive and hemp particularly). Avoiding excessive carbohydrate intake is advisable, but often people replace that with calorific animal protein, such as fish or chicken. Chicken (and even fish) can be acidifying so if making more vegetarian choices means eating some grains or potatoes don’t be too afraid of the occasional addition of rice, lentils or whole grain pasta.

Flushing acids out of your body is important for weight loss. Drink two litres of water a day with pH drops such as puripHy added. If you can start adding tiny amounts of green powder (such as Dr Young’s Doc Broc Greens)that should help too. Be sure to take some gentle and enjoyable exercise. Medication can make weight loss more challenging.

Question Six: Can You Build Up Toxic Levels of Alkaloides by Consuming The Same Greens?

I have recently started making fresh green smoothies and bought Victoria Boutenko’s book on the subject. She makes a point of changing your greens at least every other day, since otherwise you build up toxic levels of alkaloids. From this I would gather that a powdered green couldn’t be taken more than 1x a week, since there are so many different greens in them. If you could shed some light on this for me, would be great.

Dietary variation is a good thing. The idea that endlessly consuming the same few foods (even if they are healthy) could lead to toxicity has some potential validity. I have huge respect for Victoria Boutenko (and her whole family). I do wonder if there is any scientific evidence to support her suggestion that alkaloids from green plant foods can produce toxicity when a particular plant is consumed regularly over a sustained period. It would be interesting to know what her evidence is for this view, or is it just a hunch?

If there is any validity in the suggestion, or clinical evidence to support it, then I would say that the plethora of ingredients in green powders will actually dilute any potential toxicity. Your exposure to one particular element would be dramatically reduced. Remember that what she is suggesting is that if you eat or drink say spinach and cucumber (and no other greens) every day there is potential that the alkaloid elements within them (which are different to the alkaloids in say chard) could build up and cause toxicity.

If you are concerned about this issue then you could have two or even three different brands of green powder that you rotate on two or three day cycle. I am not sure that I feel this is necessary. Remember that the green powders are packed with plenty of vital nutrients that your body needs. Juicing and blending a variety of fresh green plant foods is essential for ultimate well being too.

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

About Ross Bridgeford

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

Losing Massive Weight with The Alkaline Diet

Ross — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 09:08:15 +0000

Losing Massive Weight with The Alkaline Diet

This week Gareth Edwards, our Alkaline Diet Expert and highly qualified nutritionist, highlights ways how you can achieve better health and a healthy weight by following a diet, exercise and hydration regime based on alkalising – permanently!

The Magic Key to Weight Loss and Increased Health

I’ve been alkalising and …… I’ve put on weight. This true statement raises several interesting points, but fortunately is not the case for the majority of clients who seek my advice, wanting to lose weight. It is fairly rare that somebody comes to see me, with weight loss being their only health goal. In reality excess weight is usually associated with other health challenges of fatigue, elevated markers of risk for cardio-vascular disease (e.g. cholesterol) or other concerns.

When you want to lose weight, the reality is that you really want to do is get more healthy. Following a diet, exercise and hydration regime based on alkalising is rapidly proving to be one of the most effective ways of improving your health and achieving a healthy weight – permanently!

Too Heavy or …. Too Thin!

I’ve had many clients who have been delighted at the apparent ease with which they have lost weight when following an alkaline diet, hydration and exercise programme, quite often where other regimes have proved unsuccessful.

The important distinction to make however is, that a programme based around alkalinity and living foods should not only help you to lose weight, but also build health. You are not aiming to restrict calories or deprive yourself. It is about re-balancing your pH and re-energising your body.

Why Alkalise?

Weight gain is one of the ways that bodies can “adapt” to a build up of excess acidity. We are producing acids all the time just by existing and if additionally we start eating and drinking acid forming foods and drinks our body’s ability to adapt can become overloaded.

When the acids can’t get out some people’s body’s start to warehouse them in fatty tissue, while in other people’s case they actually start to eat into the body and “burn it up”, making them too thin.

The Magic Key to Weight Loss and Increased Health:

When one listens closely to testimonials from people who have succeeded in shedding unwanted pounds, through alkalising, a common theme is the dramatic (I repeat ….!) increase of their intake of green plant foods. Spinach, kale, chard, parsley, watercress, cucumbers, wheatgrass and even the green leaves that grow on the top of beetroot, lie at the heart of rebuilding your health (ergo: loosing unwanted kilos / rebuilding an undernourished body).

These plant foods have a plethora of weight normalising qualities:

1. They are low in sugar. (Stage 1 of any weight loss / health building programme – reduce your sugar intake).

2. They are high in nutrients. (They are high in vitamins and minerals essential to the functioning of a healthy and energised body)

3. When raw they have a high level of electrons or negative (alkalising) charge. (This quality can facilitate energetic “flow” within your body.)

4. They contain high amounts of magnesium. (Essential to make your heart pump and for elimination of unwanted matter through … the back door)

5. They are packed with chlorophyll. (The essential building block for healthy red blood cells – your health / weight loss “currency”)

6. They contain high levels of fibre. (Weight loss / health gain is as much about shifting unwanted matter out of your body as it is what you put in. (Remember that other sources of fibre such as bran and apples can be acidifying.)

But Vegetables are Hard to Buy / Prepare / Store. I don’t like Green Vegetables. How Can I Eat the Quantity Required?

If you have ever had any of these thoughts (and even if you haven’t!), put an order in for green powder and drops (or start drinking the ones that are lingering in your cupboard!). It’s pretty close to the real thing and you can get buckets under your belt with relatively little hassle. The alkaline water (mixed with pH drops), should make you pee more. That’s a good thing. It’s another route out for the acid.

Breaking the Vicious Cycle:

Many people who find themselves carrying a pound or two more than they would like, have an additional challenge. They actually lack the energy to get up and do much about it. Drinking or eating your greens and other nutrient dense plant foods along with alkaline fluids, healthy fats and salt should help you to start feeling like you want to get up and start running around or at least moving more. Actively choosing public transport (for example) is better for you and better for the planet.

Winter Olympics:

Exercising more in the Northern hemisphere at this time of year, can be a tough call if you don’t aspire to being the next Amy Williams (1st British individual gold medal since the Stone Age at the Winter Olympics).

Some people recommend re-bounding. Apparently you can get a lot more out of short periods than with other forms of exercise. You can also listen to Owl City or Lady Gaga while you are doing it and you don’t have to go to the gym if you buy one from Energise For Life (such as The Juice Master Energise Folding Rebounder) !

Increasing your respiration rate to help eliminate unwanted acids should definitely help. Taking things to the next level and building up a sweat can really help to get the acids out too. Make sure you don’t go anaerobic for too long tough as that will build up acids. Hydrating with greens and pH drops and alkaline food afterwards is essential too.

Should you Follow an Alkalising Regime if you Feel that you are Underweight?

In a word: YES!

In my own case I dropped quite a lot of weight when I started alkalising. I have put on three kilos in recent months even though I’m on a (mainly!) alkaline diet. Before you start visualising a very large person, I’m still well within the healthy range for body mass index (BMI).

If you feel you’re under weight consider adding pHour salts and greens (such as Dr Young’s Doc Broc Greens) to your daily routine. Sometimes an inability to digest and absorb food is a major contributory factor to being underweight.

What To Do if it Doesn’t Seem to Work ….

If you have increased your intake of alkaline green foods, you are drinking your greens and pH drops, exercising more and still don’t seem to be getting the results you want here are some other factors to consider.

Look after yourself emotionally. Over eating can be a way of “pushing down” unwanted feelings. I’d particularly recommend The Journey intensive with Brandon Bays for helping to get things moving in a friendly and relaxed environment.
Look at other areas of your life. Do you have a sense of purpose? Do you really enjoy your job?
Are you regularly taking any medication including oral contraceptives or have a hormone releasing coil fitted? Almost all medications have an acidifying effect on the body. Discussing possibilities for reducing your dose, maybe even stopping with a qualified physician could be a way forward. (You should consult your GP before doing this).
Consider using clay (such as Young pHorever Terra pHirma Montmorillonite Clay)to help draw acids from your body. Mix it with psyllium (such as Ispaghula Husk) if you experience any constipation.

Remember:

As acids are mobilised from body tissue, you may experience pain and digestive upset. Keep your alkaline hydration up and consider using pHour salts or acupuncture for pain management. (You should consult a pH aware physician if symptoms persist).

Action Plan for Weight Loss / Building Health:

Alkalise! Drink your greens (such as Dr Young’s Doc Broc Greens or perfectlyhealthy Mega Greens with MSM), eat more green vegetables and fruits (cucumbers, avocados). Make green juices (vegetable based) and green smoothys. The Energise For Life Alkaline Lifestyle Course and recipe books should help.
Use Dr. Young’s pHlavor spray and your green drink to help overcome food cravings, for carbs, sugar or chocolate.
Exercise. Walk, swim, rebound, dance, run around with the kids, take the stairs not the lift. Gently to start with.
Avoid constipation! Fresh vegetables and pHour salts should help to keep you regular.
Buy and read the pH miracle for weight loss. Don’t get too hung up the finer detail. I’ve had clients lose huge amounts of weight with greens, pH drops, pHour salts and a mainly alkaline diet and hydration plan.

General Note: if you experience any adverse symptoms, you are advised to seek the guidance of a nutritionally informed physician.

About Ross Bridgeford

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

Alkaline Diet Questions with Gareth (#8)

Ross — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 01:54:16 +0000

Alkaline Diet Questions with Gareth (#8)

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

These answers do not replace the advice that can be gained from a consultation and review of your full medical history. If you experience unwanted symptoms you should consult with a pH aware, nutritionally oriented physician.

Question One: The weight won’t come off – no matter how hard I try!

Hi Suzi,

I really would start with the green drink (such as the Dr Young’s Doc Broc Power Plants). Mix it in very weak doses if it gives you wind, but you need to hydrate with nourishing fluids.

Next stop would be regular salt. Increasing your intake of un-refined sea-salt would be my next recommendation (such as Young pHorever pHlavor Mineral Salts). That should help with reducing sugar cravings.

Next stop – diet. Make sure that you are having plenty of fresh, ideally raw green plant food. Start at breakfast, if you can. Make sure that you are having enough healthy fats (olive and hemp oil, avocados, almonds and sprouted seeds) to keep your calorie intake sufficient. Keep animal protein, tea, coffee and fruit juice to a minimum.

Medication can disrupt body processes and leave you craving for sugar, so consider reviewing any thing you are taking with your GP, particularly hormone replacement therapy, if you are taking that.

Question Two: Can you be too alkaline??

Is there any risk of too much alkalinity in the body causing insufficient hydrochloric acid to come into play in the stomach to properly break the food down?

No! The day I read Dr. Young’s first article proposing his view that hydrochloric acid was the by product of alkalising reactions in the stomach, rather than a compound produced to “break down” food, several pieces of the human metabolism jig saw dropped into place for me.

When we eat high amounts of acidifying foods, such as animal protein or drink large amounts of acidifying fluids, such as alcohol or fruit juice, we can experience acid reflux, gastric pain or nausea.

Making your body too alkaline would be a bit like experiencing too much joy …… It’s unlikely to happen! We are always producing metabolic acids that need to be counter-acted. That said drinking neat chlorine would be ill advised. There are certain dilutions that are required to place alkaline substances in touch with our skin (inside or out)!

Question Three: Teeth and Alkalising

My question is all about teeth and alkalising. I expect it could relate to quite a few people out there who have previously been addicted to sugar, but are now alkalising.

I have been seriously alkalising for nearly 18 months. I’ve not touched sugar, meat or any of the bad guys during that time and have eaten an 80/20 alkaline / acid balance diet – mostly raw but with 20% healthy grains. I’ve also done several week-long cleanses. My teeth have been aching since I started this. I had 2 extracted some months ago (my choice, as I didn’t want to have more root-fillings – I already have two but now disagree with them).

Four months ago, in order to try and stop the aches, I went onto a 100% raw
diet. I also take 5 scoops greens per litre x 4 daily and I have an ionizer. However, the aches are still there on a daily basis coming from the root fillings (there is a shadow underneath on x-ray).

So, are you going to tell me that I must have the root fillings taken out? (That would mean I will have had 4 teeth extracted and I’m only early forties). The problem is that there is no really satisfactory way to fill the gaps – implants and bridges aren’t ideal for a number of reasons and to wear a denture at this age fills me with horror … I’m clinging onto the belief that I can somehow alkalise enough to keep the 2 root-filled teeth in situ, alkaline and without pain. I’m going by Dr. Young’s theory that matter changes according to the terrain, therefore any bacteria there should be able to change back to healthy cells. Last summer I had a healing crisis where a fever came on and I could really feel my teeth and loads of catarrh came out. There was real improvement afterwards, but it’s come back since I lost a crown and the dentist had to go down the roots of one of the root-filled teeth again – it’s brought it back.

I have recently heard about Beck’s magnetic pulser – do you know if this
could help? I feel I need to bring on another healing crisis but don’t know
how to. I couldn’t tolerate doing a cleanse for more than a week, it makes
me feel too weak.

I would be really grateful for your take on this – it’s been going on some
time and I need to resolve it.

It sounds like you’re on the right track and that you have a healthy mind set around these issues, but I can understand that it must be frustrating.

While I am not a dentist, I agree that keeping your teeth in your mouth, has a lot going for it! People do have root fillings and not experience subsequent pain, so working to get your blood “clean” and your general health “strong” has to make sense from every angle.

The more that I do this work, the more that I realise that in certain people’s cases, shifting underlying acidity can be challenging and …. take time. It’s difficult to know exactly where you may need to go to step up your regime, but the fact that you feel very weak after a week’s cleanse may suggest that you still have underlying imbalances.

I understand the theory behind increasing your greens to four scoops per litre, but it’s not a path I’ve ever pursued myself or recommended to clients. At this level, you are taking the drink into “food” territory. It’s going to become more like eating. I’d recommend reducing the concentration, while still maintaining a high intake of fresh green plant foods, smoothys and juices. That may help to “wash out” stored acids.

pHour salts can provide some degree of pain relief so you may want to use that. Salt mouth washes and gargles may help too.

Blood analysis with an experienced practitioner should help you to see if you have succeeded in making your blood healthy and whether there are still acids stored in your body. Acupuncture can also help with pain relief and re-balancing your body’s metabolism.

Question Four: I’ve been alkalising but with no results yet – why?

I have been alkalising very closely for 9 weeks now without much incident or improvement. My skin hasn’t improved much at all unfortunately. I feel my body is struggling to absorb the nutrients I provide. However, 5 days ago I developed acute and explosive gas and diarrhoea. Smelly is not the word!!

I have linked this to the green drink with pH drops. If I cut down the amount of alkaline drink the symptoms subside substantially. I have of course been drinking the same drink for 9 weeks with no effect. Have you ever heard of this happening before? Could this be a positive effect?

I have heard of this and think it likely that it is a sign that things are shifting. Dr. Young normally recommends using his cleansing product pHlush when people experience these types of “cleansing” reaction. Make sure that your green drink does not contain pro-biotics, enzymes or algae and keep up the good work! Stepping things up by doing a three to four day cleanse as outlined in the pH miracle books may help accelerate things, but remember that this is a long term game ……

[note from Ross: I've also blogged my diary of a Three Day Cleanse which might help you see what's involved!]

Question Five: Manging high blood pressure without medication

Hi Gareth, I wonder if you have any tips for managing high Blood Pressure (BP) without use of medication. My family and I are vegan, I am not overweight, don’t drink or smoke and I have high BP. We have green drink before each meal. We apply the 80/20 rule to our diet. I look forward to hearing from you. Kind Regards, Pam.

Hi Pam. Thanks for your question. I guess I’d consider two factors straight away. Review your sodium intake. Are you adding enough salt to your food? If someone is told they have high blood pressure they often stop this. My own experience with patients with high blood pressure is that they often see their blood pressure drop with more un-refined sea (or other salt) with their food. Using pure sodium bicarbonate or Dr. Young’s pHour salts can also help increase your body’s supply of alkalising salts. These mineral salts are the principal elements that your body will use to help reduce acidity. [Note from Ross: just to reiterate that normal table salt is not what Gareth is referring to - he is referring to natural, alkaline salts such as unrefined Himalayan/Sea salt or pHlavor salt from Dr Young - refined table salt is chemically cleaned, contains numerous toxins and is dried out at such extreme temperatures that it completely alters the chemical composition of the salt making it extremely damaging to health].

Grains and pulses contain phytates which can reduce the absorption of these minerals. Eating bread, pasta and hummus and cooked lentils in large quantities can therefore also reduce your absorption of these vital minerals. Sprouting grains and pulses should reduce this effect. Drinking tea and coffee can also disrupt mineral balance and absorption.

It is likely that your elevated blood pressure is associated with elevated acidity that may be as much to do with past events or habits as it is related to your current diet, hydration and lifestyle choices. I’d encourage you to drink your greens with pH drops throughout the day to facilitate the elimination of acids through increased urination.

The other factor that should help, but is not always appealing at this time of year is of course exercise. Make sure it’s pleasurable and sustainable (low speeds over longer time frames). Make sure that there is plenty of fresh green leafy food in your diet too.

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

About Ross Bridgeford

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

Weight Loss Tip from Oprah…Honestly It’s Good!

Ross — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 02:10:01 +0000

Weight Loss Tip from Oprah…Honestly It’s Good!

Crikey, in the last two months I’ve now actually used material from both Oprah and Dr Phil. This is pure coincidence! Don’t be fooled into thinking I just watch trashy telly all day – it’s just not true!

The fact is, whenever anything to do with dieting or weight loss is on the radio or tv it piques my interest. Not only because, like all y’all, I like a good success story, but also because I am interested to hear how different people have achieved results.

Anyway, this was the story of Stacey Halprin (here’s her book) who lost over 400lbs (that is approx over 3x me!).

The tip was this:

When you are dieting, if you have a mishap don’t just write off the whole day and think ‘well I’ve stuffed today up, I’ll start again tomorrow’ – just get straight back onto it! If you’ve had a splurge lunch then just get back on and have a normal dinner. Don’t go and have a bad dinner and put things off!

The main point here is:

Don’t beat yourself up – nobody is perfect all of the time
Don’t then go and overcompensate and starve yourself at your next meal – this will probably just lead to a vicious cycle
Don’t give up on that day – just get back to normal with your next meal or snack!

As Stacey rightly points out – this simple distinction could be the difference between winning and losing.

I have to say, I agree.

Ross

About Ross Bridgeford

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

Why I Love Essential Fatty Acids (and how fats make you slim!)

Ross — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 03:38:24 +0000

Why I Love Essential Fatty Acids (and how fats make you slim!)

Fat is the most important thing in my diet. I love it. Making sure I eat plenty of fat is my primary health goal every day. In fact, the one supplement I will never go without is a high quality fat supplement.

WHY?

There are so many reasons, so read on and I will give you the highlights. I promise that by the end of this article your opinion on fats will have changed and you will be hunting down some quality fat supplements of your own!

What Are The Important Fats

For optimal health, energy and wellness I strongly urge you to give some focus to the omega 3, 6, 9 and coconut oil that you consume. Here is a rundown of the basic facts of each to get you started!

Omega 3: The important omega 3′s are ALA, EPA and DHA. The human body cannot make omega 3 on its own so it is essential that we supplement our diets. Omega 3 is also the fat that we are most deficient in. Experts suggest that we need between 20-40ml of omega 3 per day to function optimally. To get this through diet alone is difficult, even if we eat oily fish and nuts every single day. Especially as a lot of the foods (fish & meat included) are farmed in a way that makes them less nutritious than in days gone by.
Omega 6: Omega 6′s are LA and GLA and are found in safflower, sunflower, hemp, sesame and flax. However, remember that when oils are exposed to light, air or heat they become toxic, so 99% of the sunflower and safflower oils that are commonly used are useless for health purposes. Using these (or any of the oils mentioned here) raw and fresh on salads, pastas etc is a great way to increase the amount of healthy fats in your diet. But remember – many of us actually consume too much omega 6 in relation to omega 3 which can cause problems (getting the ratio between 3, 6 and 9 is important).
Omega 9: Omega 9 is mostly OA, which is found in the lovely olive, almond, avocado and macadamia oils. Again, the ratio is important, but many of us use less of these oils, so this is not something we need to consider quite so much. The handy thing is that these oils all taste delicious, so they are easy to incorporate into our lives.
Medium Chain Tryglycerides (MCT) from Coconut Oil: MCT are hard to come by, and almost all other oils we consume are long chain. We specify coconut oil because it is almost always organic, is incredibly resistant to heat, light and air (unlike all other oils) so it can be cooked with and still healthy, and because it tastes great!

Background and Benefits of Fats

Forget everything you know about fat for a moment. Fats get a bad rep. For years the health industry and food manufacturers have bundled all fats, good or bad, together and have told us to keep them out of our diets. However, there are two sides to the story of fats. It is absolutely true that you should aim to completely eliminate the ‘bad’ fats, such as trans-fatty acids and saturated fats. However, there are also the ‘good’ fats, also known as Essential Fatty Acids that are so beneficial and vital to our wellbeing, yet sadly we are chronically deficient in them.

As mentioned these Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) are called essential because the body absolutely requires them to function, yet it cannot manufacture them itself. It relies upon us to consume these fats, namely omega 3 and omega 6. These fats are so important that even if we eliminated the bad fats from our diets completely, we would still, eventually, die if we did not ingest any of these EFAs. We simply cannot live without these fats!

Do you, or have you ever suffered from any of the following:

* Dry skin, acne or skin disorders such as eczema, psoriasis or rosecea
* Constipation
* Weight gain
* Low energy levels
* Brittle hair and hair loss
* Poor nail growth
* Deterioration of liver and kidneys
* Depression
* Inability to sleep
* Low immune system
* Digestion problems, inflammation, bloating
* Allergies
* Low libido
* Tingling in arms and legs

These are just a few of the symptoms of omega 3 and 6 deficiency. And these symptoms show up fast!

Personally, I used to suffer from dry skin, eczema in my ears (very irritating!) and quite bad acne. These ALL cleared up within a few weeks of proper EFA supplementation. My father was well on the path to arthritis in his shoulder (years of cricket!) and could not lift his arm above shoulder height. After a month on the fats he had proper functioning again. He couldn’t believe it and spread the word to all of his friends who all also felt similar benefits.

We are chronically deficient in these fats and they are just so important.

And here are some of the benefits…

Aside from the few benefits I have personally noted (written above), Udo Erasmus has found that proper consumption of EFAs can lead to the following:

Increased Energy: Omega oils increase oxidation rate, increase metabolic rate, increase energy levels and increase stamina.
Weight Loss: Increased metabolic rate means that we burn more calories. Helps kidneys dump excess water held in tissues. Help decrease cravings, lower glycaemic index of foods and suppress appetite.
Cardiovascular Disease Prevention: Consumption of EFAs may prevent heart attacks and also reduce risk of sudden death due to cardiac arrythmias. Omega oils have a number of heart-healthy effects, including reducing triglyceride levels, raising levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol and reducing blood pressure.
Decrease in Symptoms of Inflammatory Diseases such as Arthritis: Omega oils are successful in the treatment of symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis particularly in its early stages. EFAs are also very useful in the treatment of PMS (and related cramps) and inflammatory bowel disease.
Strengthened Immune System: Omega oils can make hormone-like eicosanoids that regulate immune and inflammatory responses. Omega 3 has anti-inflammatory effects and can slow autoimmune damage;
Improved Brain Function: The brain is over 60% fat and omega oils are vital components of our nervous system. They are needed to make the neurotransmitter serotonin. Depression and other brain diseases show decreased levels of omega 3;
Increased Recovery and Healing Capabilities: Omega oils are necessary for cell growth and division. They form all cell membranes and regulate vital cell activity;
Healthy development of Infants: For nervous system development, a growing child needs optimum omega 3 fatty acids.
Decreased Possibility of Infection: Omega oils have anti-fungal, anti-yeast, and anti-microbial properties, helping to protect against infections;
Stronger Bones: EFAs aid in the transport of minerals that keep bones and teeth strong, helping to prevent osteoporosis;
Protected Genetic Material: EFAs regulate gene expression, and omega 3′s inhibit tumor growth;
Reduced PMS Symptoms: Studies indicate that omega 6 intake was voted, by women, among the top three most effective PMS treatments. Omega 3 may be even more effective;
Clearer Skin, Stronger Nails, Shinier Hair: EFA deficiency often leads to dry, flaky skin, weak hair, and brittle nails.

More recently, studies have also highlighted the positive effects of essential fatty acids on the development of infants, in treating ADHD and other behavioural problems, in treatment for depression and to treat Alzheimer’s disease.

Just some of the big fat lies

I’m not going to go into this too much, but there are some unholy scandals out there with regards to the lobbying and marketing of the butter and mainstream oil industries. Here are my two biggest issues that I have:

Any fat, oil, butter, margarine, shortening, lard etc becomes toxic instantly once it is heated, or exposed to light or air. And apart from coconut oil, which is unique in it’s properties, there are no other oils on earth that are meant to be solid. To make an oil solid you have to REALLY refine it, with light, heat and air. REALLY refine it.
So what’s my problem?

My problem is this: there are thousands of oils, margarines and butters out there that are being marketed at healthy. Lowering cholesterol, containing omega 3, being good for your heart etc. It is all absolute bull****. I am stunned that they are allowed to get away with this. Which brings me onto point two…
Governments, the world over are literally bribed by the canola, sunflower, vegetable oil manufacturers. These oils, in the way that they are manufactured and delivered to consumers (not only are they sold in plastic containers that have been proven to leak toxins from the plastics into the oils, but the containers do not protect the oils from light or heat) – means that they are extremely unhealthy. Thousands of research studies have linked the use of margarines, canola and other vegetable oils to the onset of degenerative disease. At the same time, thousands of research studies have linked the intake of high quality, cold pressed omega oil blends (particularly omega 3) with the prevention and recovery of degenerative diseases.
Again, what’s my problem?

The problem is that the oil companies are absolutely bribing governments not to ban their products or put warnings on their labels.

There, rant over!

The Right Fats Don’t Make You Fat

I’ve mentioned weight loss in regards to consuming healthy fats a few times already in this article, which might be confusing you – so I thought I’d clear it up quickly.

It is such a great shame that it was decided that all oils should be labeled together as ‘fat’ because their effect on the body, and the way the body uses them could not be different.

The body stores saturated and monounsaturated fats. When you consume sweets, simple carbs and starches the body uses what it can quickly, but the majority of this energy is converted into saturated and monosaturated fat and is stored. In short, it isn’t easy for the body to use this type of energy and it can lead to overeating and sugar addiction as in the absence of good fats, the body seeks more and more.

Good fats such as the omegas and coconut oil are easily used by the body as slow-burn energy. The body is able to store much more of these fats as energy and literally none contribute to the increase of your waistline.

Udo Erasmus, the world’s leading authority on fats and oils states:

In our culture, most overweight results from excessive consumption of sweet and starchy foods. If we limit our intake of carbohydrates to our body’s energy requirement, normal body weight is one of the benefits. Fats suppress appetite and therefore help to stabilize body weight. The good fats (omega-3 especially and omega-6) increase body fat burning, decrease body fat production, and increase body heat production (i.e. fat burnoff without exercise).

For best results, lower carbohydrate intake and increase consumption of good (omega-3 and omega-6) fats made with health in mind.

This is also especially true of coconut oil, which as mentioned is a MCT – meaning that the body can utilise this fat rapidly as energy, and none is stored as fat in the body.

I know it might feel weird at first putting spoons of pure fat into your body – but these fats are different, in fact, I really wish they weren’t even called fats because it is SO misleading!

How To Get Enough Fat in Your Life

So the final piece of the jigsaw, now you know how important fats are, that the right ones won’t make you fat and that the right ones are essential for your health is this – how to get enough!

Supplements

The two main supplements we highly recommend are:

Udo’s Choice: this is simply the very best oil supplement in the world. Period. There is no better quality oil supplement out there. Udo’s Choice contains only organic ingredients and the product is cold pressed to retain all of the nutritional benefit. It supplies a range of omega 3, 6 and 9 in a 2:1:1 ratio which is optimal for human health and has a pleasant nutty taste, meaning that it is delicious on salads, pastas and vegetables. 100% vegetarian. Click here for more information on Udo’s Choice.
Coconut Oil: as mentioned, coconut oil is one of a kind in that it provides a clean, organic source of MCTs, as well as being extremely heat, air and light resistant so it is the only healthy oil you can cook with (making stir frys healthy again!). Coconut oil is also known to increase your metabolism dramatically and give the body and instant source of clean, slow burn energy! It is also delicious, making it a really easy supplement to take. It honestly just takes like Bounty chocolate! Click here to get your hands on some lovely coconut oil.

These are the foods I believe to be healthy, and high in omega 3, 6 and/or 9:

Other oils: while flax and hemp are the highest in omega 3, olive and avocado are good, clean sources of omega 6 & 9.
Nuts & Seeds: go for flax, almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pine nuts etc. All the ones you know are good and healthy! BUT avoid peanuts – they are always stored for ages and end up full of fungus and mold
Avocado: eat plenty in salads and for snacks
Oily Fish: while I’m a vegetarian myself, I understand and appreciate that oily fish are a smart addition to your diet

So there you have it – make a commitment TODAY to get more omega-3 into your diet – every day!

Further Reading

Udo’s Article on Fat’s and Weight Loss
Udo’s Article on Cooking Oils and how bad they are
Udo Erasmus on Fats & Oils

WH Foods rundown of omega 3

Mercola’s Article on Coconut Oil

About Ross Bridgeford

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