Sep 09
21

high alkaline foods

Foods that are highly alkalizing are fruits and vegetables. These foodstuffs produce a negative PRAL (Potential Renal Acid Load) rating when the nutritional content is analyzed. For people interested in the alkaline acid diet and optimum pH balance of the body it is worth noting that within this group of alkali producing food, some produce has a more beneficial effect on the body than others. For example, according to the study by Remer and Manz, rasins are one of the most highly alkalizing fruits and spinach is a high alkaline vegetable, both being great for health. We must remember that it is not the amount of acid contained in fresh fruit that determines the acid alkaline balance but rather the pH of the ash after we have burned the food in our bodies.

What I was interested to discover was further details regarding high alkaline foods. There were two parts to this question regarding their health benefits. Firstly what are the highest alkaline fruits and vegetables that we can include in our diets? And secondly what is it about the nutritional content of these foodstuffs that cause them to have a strong base (alkali) forming effect? Knowing what these foods are may be useful in combatting the effects of acid foods.

Using the data from the study Potential renal acid load of foods and its influence on urine pH. the highest alkaline forming fruit, out of those measured, was raisins with a PRAL value of -21.0 while for vegetables the highest was spinach at -14.0. The negative values indicate alkaline forming foods while a positive value would indicate an acid forming potential. The formula that I will be using as the basis for the comparison of the alkaline properties of the fruit and vegetables I mention in this article follows:

acid-diet-formula

For the sake of comparison I shall include the relevant nutritional information for apples, oranges and raisins to see if there are marked differences in any of the nutrients.

Raisins PRAL = 0.49*3.07 (protein) + 0.037*101 (phosphorus) – 0.021*749 (potassium) – 0.026*32 (magnesium) – 0.013*50 (calcium) = -11.9697

Apples PRAL = 0.49*0.26 + 0.037*11 – 0.021*107 – 0.026*5 – 0.013*6 = -1.9206

Oranges PRAL = 0.49*0.70 + 0.037*12 – 0.021*169 – 0.026*10 – 0.013*43 = -3.8897

The nutritional data for these fruits was taken from the United States Department of Agriculture site (see references). This is a great site regardless of what diet you are interested in. It contains details of the nutritional content of a wide variety of foodstuffs. The site makes it possible to determine the PRAL values for any alkaline acidic foods we are interested in. Using the PRAL Calculator that my brother wrote for me, you can check the Potential Renal Acid Load of any food you want. As can be seen from the figures above, even though raisins have higher levels of protein they also have much more potassium. This seems to be what accounts for the large negative value and therefore the highly alkalising effect they are reported as having. So a simple option to consider for those wanting to combat the effects of an acidic forming diet would be to eat more fruits in general but in particular, raisins.

One of the main goals for people interested in the alkaline acid diet who want health is to alkalize by eating healthy quantities of acid and alkaline ash foods. We must also remember that incorporating exercise into our lifestyle is an essential part to becoming healthier overall. Being aware of the high alkaline foods such as those discussed in this article offer ways to get an extra alkali kick.

References: USDA National Nutrient Database

Thomas Remer, Triantafillia Dimitriou and Friedrich Manz Dietary potential renal acid load and renal net acid excretion in healthy, free-living children and adolescents American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 77, No. 5, 1255-1260, May 2003

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Mar 11
20

Info About Upper Back Pain Relief

Upper back pain is generally not as common as lower back pain but this does not mean that it is less indicative of severe underlying conditions like the latter. This type of pain may be due to professions wherein you are in a prolonged sitting position, or it may be an injury as well, this pain radiates upward towards the neck area and is usually accompanied by neck stiffness. Upper back pain relief starts with radically changing your sitting habits, if not your profession, straightening your back while in a prolonged seated position is the number one key to upper back pain sciatica treatment.

After correcting your posture, exercise is next or stretching for the upper back muscles, sciatica exercises are conducted regularly to strengthen the muscles and keeps it from going spastic and causing further pain. To relieve your back using chest exercises, sit on the floor and extend your legs out, grab your legs on the side and slide them towards your feet naturally pulling on your hamstring. Bend to the bottom, so your head points towards the stomach. Count up to fifteen breaths, while just at this position, repeat three times. You can also strengthen your back in a kneeling position, otherwise known as the child’s pose, kneel on the floor and extend your arms over your head palms flat on the floor and face downward, imagine reaching your arms out and at the same time pulling your back up, feel the tension in your back, hold for 15 seconds.

One other exercise that I recommend and that is easy to do is the supine stretching technique, done by lying on the ground, level on your back. Gradually lift your knees in a hugging type motion towards your chest. Feel the gentle stretching of your back. The best time for this stretch exercise is as soon as you wake up in the morning.

Whatever stretch relief you choose, always remember that it is crucial that you keep your family doctor or specialist in the loop on whatever pain management you are undergoing, remember that some normal stretches may be hazardous to people with extreme back injury or severe scoliosis, so before adapting any of the exercises mentioned, ask permission from your physician.

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Jan 11
24

Alkaline Breakfast

Beginning your day by having some alkaline breakfast foods is a great way to start your day. The reason for this is that when our bodies are in the best state of pH balance we feel more energetic, enthusiastic and motivated to deal with the challenges of the day ahead. It is well known that when our bodies are in too acidic a state then we often feel lethargic, tired and even ill. There is much more to good health than just our acid/alkaline balance but it is definitely something that we should pay attention to.

Alkaline foods are in the main, fruits and vegetables. Therefore an alkaline breakfast is going to contain a few portions of fresh produce. How we choose to prepare it is a personal choice. In this article what I want to present are a few options that you may want to try if you are wanting to start looking and feeling healthier.

Eating more fruits and vegetables is not exactly an original dietary suggestion. But the interesting thing about following the alkaline diet is that it gives an interesting rationale as to why these foods are good for us.

Alkaline Breakfast Menus

There are a host of different things that we can have at breakfast time that fill us up, give us energy and provide us with a morning alkaline boost. Below are some ideas of foods and drinks that you can consume at breakfast. If you have any other ideas, please leave a comment at the end of this article.

Grapefruit are a great choice for breakfast. They have lots of fiber and even though they are citrus fruits, they actually help us to alkalize. They are also quite good at making us feel full and have lots of vitamin C. You can read more about the effects of certain foods and see how they are classified on alkaline diet food charts.

Grated carrots are another decent option. Again, depending upon the size of your carrots, one or two of these can fill us up quite nicely and by eating these we get plenty of vitamin A as well.

Of course, it is not the case that we can or should only eat alkaline foods at breakfast time. The important point is to ensure that we eat a few servings of fruits and/or vegetables as this ensures that our breakfast will help us to alkalize. So you can have things like banana on toast.

Also, if you like cereal then why not eat that? You could make yourself a fruit and vegetable drink with a juicing appliance to go along with it. There are so many different juice recipes for health that you can find online that I shall not discuss them here.

The alkaline diet is not against a fried breakfast of bacon, sausages and eggs even. If you had a green juice to go along with this, it could potentially still be an alkaline breakfast. But we have to remember that acid/alkaline balance is not the only thing that we have to think about with regards to the foods we eat. A fry up once a week is okay but we do not want to eat a fatty breakfast every day. This could have some serious health consequences down the road.

Finally, coffee is in fact alkaline. But this does not mean that we should drink too much of it. I am a great advocate of drinking coffee because we enjoy it and not because we need it.

I hope this has given you some ideas about how to alkalize your diet at breakfast time.

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