Look around the market, and you see countless products promoting "alkaline" food and supplements. Vitamin C, which is an important daily supplement now has an alkaline version under the generic name of "Sodium Ascorbate". Manufacturers still cannot remove the name "Ascorbic Acid" as I heard it is required by the BFAD. Fern-C is a very successful brand today. I personally use Daily-C, at least 1000mg a day. The flipside to this is ofcourse cost. An alkaline version of vitamin C is many more times expensive than the regular "acidic" version.
I spoke to one of the local Pharma companies producing regular vitamin C and they actually had a valid point. They have to make the vitamin affordable so a lot more people can buy it. And besides, according to them, only a very small fraction of the population cannot tolerate the acidity introduced by the vitamin they produce. That's another way of looking at the picture I guess.
But for me, Alkaline is King! If you can afford it, why not?
Alkalinity or Acidity is measured in pH (potential of hydrogen). The range is from 0-14, and a reading below 7 is acidic while above that is alkaline. A healthy body should have a pH reading of at least 7.4. In fact, studies have shown that in an environment where the pH reading is at least an 8.5, cancer cells die! (Otto Warburg, MD, PhD Nobel Laureate) That is why an alkaline lifestyle does help prevent cancer.
Not all acidity though comes from what you take in your mouth. Psychological factors like stress, also contribute to acidity. Even too much exercise where muscles get strained and thereby release too much lactic acid will cause cramps.
You know when you are acidic when you have low energy level, frequent aches and pains, poor indigestion, high blood pressure, shortness of breath, and insomia.
Some very quick ways to solve this is to drink water - lots of it. Eat more of the living foods as we call it - raw vegetables like cabbage, brocolli, carrots, cauliflower, spinach, tomatoes, and ofcourse WHEATGRASS! You can also increase your fresh fruit intake from apple, lemon, mango, papayas, pineapple, watermelon, and grapes.
Ofcourse, avoid acid foods or as much as possible reduce your intake. Examples: red meats, corn, peanuts, sugar, chocolate, softdrinks, dairy, alcohol, and coffee. Imagine, coffee alone has a pH level of 4! Not good .... But, did you know that there's Wheatgrass Coffee already available in the market today? So essentially it removes the acidity issue of coffee. NO, it is not colored green. It looks and tastes like the real thing and it is made from arabica beans. Let me know if you are interested.
So as a general rule, try to eat 80% more alkaline food. Do yoga or whatever it is that will relieve you of stress from time to time. Remember, we only live once, let's make the most of it.
To good health,
Wheatgrass Man
