If you’ve tried dieting in the past, you may have heard the myth about alkaline diets. Alkalizing your body by eating mainly bicarbonate-rich foods doesn’t change the pH of your blood very much, if any. However, alkalizing diets have proven health benefits by increasing the acid buffering capacity of the blood immensely and lowering chronic disease risks.
What Is an Alkaline Diet?
Alkalizing your body involves eating foods rich in bicarbonate, which is mainly found in plant food sources. Alkaline diets are also sometimes referred to as alkaline ash diets or alkaline acid diets. The Hallelujah diet is a diet that alkalizes the body, helping you ward off cancer and other diseases naturally. When following an alkaline diet, you’ll avoid foods high in acid. While doing so doesn’t change your blood pH, alkaline foods help buffer acids, increasing your body’s natural ability to fight disease.
Which Foods Are Included in Alkaline Diets?
Foods included in most alkalizing diets are:
- Low-acid fruits
- Most vegetables
- Whole grains
- Soybeans
- Tofu
- Other soy foods
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Legumes
- Plant oils
- Avocados
- Herbal teas
These foods are considered alkaline because they have a higher pH than acidic foods. Some supporters of the alkaline diet believe in drinking alkaline water, mineral water, or baking soda mixed with water to further alkalize the body.
Foods to Avoid when Following Alkaline Diets
When following an alkaline diet, you should AVOID the following high-acid foods:
- Cheeses
- Other dairy foods
- Meat
- Fish
- Shellfish
- Eggs
- Refined grains (such as white bread)
- Processed foods
- Added sugars
- Convenience foods
- Alcohol
- Caffeine
- Acidic fruits
- Acidic vegetables
- Coffee
To sum it up, when alkalizing your body you’ll avoid animal foods and steer clear of acidic fruits and vegetables—such as tomatoes, oranges, and grapefruits.
Does Alkalizing Your Body Work?
The reason alkaline diets benefit your health isn’t because low-acid foods lower your blood pH level. Your stomach stays acidic to break down the foods you eat, and your body maintains a steady blood pH level in order to survive. However, eliminating meat, processed foods, refined grains, alcohol, and added sugars is effective for weight loss and reduced disease risks. Compared with traditional American diets, studies show that plant-based diets offer numerous health and wellness benefits such as a lower risk of obesity, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, diverticular disease, and eye cataracts. Additional studies found that diets rich in alkaline foods cause very small increases in blood pH, and alkaline-forming foods appear to help:
- Improve bone mineral density
- Protect against osteoporosis
- Improve muscle mass
- Protect against chronic illnesses
- Reduce cancer cell invasion
- Excrete toxins from the body
- Reduce heart disease and cancer risks
- Lower total mortality rates
Protection against disease from an alkalizing diet is also due to antioxidants, other vitamins, minerals, and fiber, which are abundant in plant foods.
What Should I Eat?
When following the Hallelujah Diet to reap extensive health benefits and avoid disease, choose an all-plant-based diet containing about 85% raw plant foods and 15% cooked plant-based foods. Choose a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, oils, and plant proteins (such as tofu and seitan).
Getting Started with the Hallelujah Diet
Getting healthy has never been easier when following the alkalizing Hallelujah diet! God designed plant foods to naturally protect your body from illness and disease. That’s why chronic disease runs rampant in a society of people who eat mainly refined, processed foods and animal foods. You’ll look and feel younger, have more energy, and reduce disease risk factors (such as high cholesterol and elevated blood sugar) when beginning the Hallelujah diet. Sign up today to eliminate sickness naturally and receive delicious meal plans and recipes!
