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I am just as guilty as the next guy who has tried to lose weight with the not-that-ridiculous notion that diet soda would reduce my overall calories and somehow increase my health. There is a relatively equal amount of information on the internet saying that aspartame is safe and unsafe, plus the people saying it's safe have more credibility indicators (like doctor or PhD), while the people saying its unsafe are just flimsy nutritionists and hippies at this point, so why not just go with the more convenient option? I knew a guy that was over 400 lbs that switched to diet soda and lost 100 lbs in 6 months, claiming that was the only thing that he changed. That is however, the only example I have ever seen of such a result in my personal life, and I have witnessed hundreds of failed attempts, including myself. There are a lot of sweeteners out there, and many of them are not so famous, but I will do my best to go one by one to figure out once and for all whether hours of internet research can actually figure this problem out. 

First off, the FDA says they're all safe, otherwise it wouldn't be legal for america to shovel them in by the pound. After all, using real sugar to sweeten your toothpaste would be somewhat counterproductive to the purpose of cleaning your teeth. The key word is safe, nobody said they are healthy, other than the blurry interpretations that people make when they're trying to be "right" because they read an article once. You might notice that people get pretty passionate when you attack their limited conventional diet wisdom, so tread lightly if you learn anything from this blog. 

Taste Buds
Sweetness doesn't just come from sugar -- there are hundreds of organic, synthetic, and inorganic compounds that taste sweet. Many plants contain sugar derivatives known as glycosides. Stevia, for example, is a plant high in glycosides that has been used for centuries to sweeten foods and drinks. To be clear though, it was not used in the way we use it today in America.

The degree of sweetness we taste depends on how well the receptors in our tongue interact with the molecules of the sweet food. The stronger the interaction, the sweeter we perceive the taste.

Taste scientists at a company called Senomyx have identified the taste bud receptor that is responsible for finding what we consider "sweet." (Believe it or not, they have a lab full of tiny manufactured taste buds that glow green when in contact with sugars and other sweet substances.) Sugar and artificial sweeteners bind to this receptor, creating the sweet sensation that we get when we eat them. The receptors are found on the surfaces of cells all over the tongue and inside the mouth. They send messages to the brain through the our oral mucosa glands to tell it that we're eating something sweet. 

Artificial sweeteners are compounds that have been found to elicit the same (or a similar) "sweet" flavor we get from sugars. Some are low-calorie because they are so much sweeter than sugar and only a tiny amount is needed. Others are low-calorie (or no calorie) because our bodies can't metabolize them. They simply pass through our digestive system without being absorbed.
Knowing this, does it make sense that all artificial sweeteners would cause cancer or other side effects more than sugar itself? Or is it reasonable to believe that there is a sugar equivalent or even a better alternative out there? Good question, and despite the fact that I started my research on this topic to prove that artificial sweeteners are unhealthy, I have come to realize that it may be just as reasonable to extract the glycosides from a plant as it is to extract the sugar from one. Who decided sugar was healthy anyways?

Controversy
So how did artificial sweeteners get such a bad wrap? It's appears to be all Saccharin and Cyclamate's fault (Sweet and Low and Sucaryl). When public health trends such as an increase in certain types of cancer show up, scientists look to newly-introduced substances. These two sweeteners were the first up to bat, and they were eventually both linked to bladder cancer in laboratory mice and rats. Studies associating saccharin with bladder cancer may have spurred the long-term perception that all artificial sweeteners could cause cancer. Cyclamate still has not been approved for use in the US since it's discovery in 1937, but can be purchased as Sucaryl in the UK. 

Saccharin is in-fact approved by the FDA, and has quite a history to back it up. It turns out that the bladder cancer studies in rats and mice were found to be absolutely true, but the reason it was overturned was that this doesn't correlate to humans. In 2000, the warning labels on foods containing saccharine were removed because scientists learned that rodents, unlike humans, have a unique combination of high pH, high calcium phosphate, and high protein levels in their urine. One or more proteins that are more prevalent in male rats combine with calcium phosphate and saccharin to produce micro-crystals that damage the lining of the bladder. Over time, the rat's bladder responds to this by over-producing cells to repair the damage, which leads to tumor formation and cancer. As this does not occur in humans, there is currently no reason to believe that saccharin causes an elevated bladder cancer risk. I'm sure we've all heard the casual smart guy tell you that it was approved because the saccharin concentrations in the study were 9000% of the rat's body weight and humans don't use that much, but while that is partially true, that wasn't why. 

Regardless, ever since the saccharine approval roller coaster, artificial sweeteners have been scrutinized to the point of absolute exhaustion by the public and scientific community, to the point that the FDA released a statement saying that they are actually more confident in the safety of artificial sweeteners than any other product they have ever tested.

That doesn't mean that it's not still a hard sell to folks like me and you who are avoiding processed foods as a general rule. Let's look at the more popular ones.

Saccharin (additional information): pH 1.66
Saccharin is 300 times sweeter than sugar and not metabolized by the body, so it has no calories. Saccharin is believed to be an important discovery, especially for diabetics, as it goes directly through the human digestive system without being digested. Although saccharin has no food energy, it may trigger the release of insulin in humans and rats, presumably as a result of its taste, but this is not conclusive as the same study states "No statistically significant changes in plasma insulin were found." You may find this to be a common theme among artificial sweeteners, seeing as the triggers for insulin release are currently thought to be related to our taste buds.

Aspartame (formerly known as NutraSweet, now called AminoSweet): pH 4.3
This is by far the most commonly used artificial sweetener. The majority of major brand diet sodas and "diet" foods contain aspartame. It is 200 times sweeter than sugar, and is completely broken down in the body unlike many other sweeteners that go undigested. When it is broken down in the body, the result is two amino acids: Aspartic Acid and Phenylananine, as well as a small amount of Methanol. Phenylananine is a necessary amino acid in your body, found in many fruits, vegetables, meats and milk, and has been identified as safe for all except those who have an extremely rare genetic disorder called phenylketonuria, which is a very serious condition that is to be treated regardless of any contact with artificial sweeteners so as to avoid symptoms such as mental retardation and seizures. The approval process did not reveal any concerns about the Aspartic Acid, but Methanol is another story. Methanol, also known as rubbing alcohol or wood alcohol has very well known negative side effects when ingested in large quantities. Methanol ingested in large quantities is metabolized to formic acid or formate salts, which is poisonous to the central nervous system, and may cause blindness, coma, and death. However, the amounts produced when ingesting aspartame are akin to eating a slightly degenerated (ripe) piece of fruit. 

Sucralose (Splenda): pH varies between 1 and 5.5 (chemically modified to match what it is being used for)
This sweetener has made a huge insurgence in the last few years marketing itself as "made from sugar." Sucralose is 600 times sweeter than table sugar and is undigested by the body. It is commonly found in baked goods because it does not break down under heat like aspartame does. While I don't particularly approve of using this product (more information to come) there is a silver lining. Due to its excellent cooking properties, it is most commonly used as a replacement for High Fructose Corn Syrup, the bane of America's health. Don't think you're cutting that genetically modified corn out of your diet just yet though. Splenda mixes sucralose with corn (malodextrin) and corn (dextrose) as bulking agents since sucralose itself doesn't take up much space in your baked goods. While the FDA still approves it as healthy, recent studies are showing that sucralose reduces the healthy bacteria in your intestines by up to 50%, severely reduces your bodies ability to regulate calorie intake (likely related to the bacteria) causing weight gain, increases the pH in the intestines, and affects glycoproteins in your body causing certain crucial medications to be rejected by the body. A "Expert Panel" funded by the makers of Splenda concluded that this study was not rigorous enough, and the FDA did not pursue the matter. 

Stevia: pH varies between 6 and 8 depending on brand and ratio of steviosides. 
Available for centuries in Japan and other countries in the far east, this product is a new addition to America's diet. It was rejected by the FDA in 1990 unless labeled as a dietary supplement due to an anonymous complaint from the food industry causing them to state that there are insufficient studies to deem the product safe, then after rigorous studies, an extract of the stevia leaf called rebaudioside A was finally approved in 2008 as a food additive. Stevia has become a favorite among green dieters and health fanatics because it is the most alkaline of the sweeteners, it comes from a leaf (rather than tar or chemically engineered sugar), and it has centuries of use in countries that have low incidence of cancer and diabetes. It is 300 to 400 times sweeter than sugar, depending on the quality of the product. It was previously thought to be undigested in the body, but recent studies have shown that a small amount of stevioside is absorbed in the body through the intestines during fecal reuptake. The brand of this product does matter because the amount of rebaudiosides in the product has a strong effect on the taste and is not yet standardized. Stevia has a negligible effect on blood glucose, and may even enhance glucose tolerance. Due to this, it is recognized as safe for diabetics. In relation to diabetes, studies have shown Stevia to have a revitalizing effect on β-cells of pancreas, to improve insulin sensitivity in rats, and possibly even to promote additional insulin production, helping to reverse diabetes and metabolic syndrome (starting to sound good huh). South Americans have in fact used stevia leaf for generations in their "ethnomedicine" to treat diabetes. The political controversy (read here) around this product serves as an interesting example of how easily Coca Cola and PepsiCo were able to block the use of stevia leaf for others until they themselves were ready to get their own products approved (Truvia and PureVia are still the only two stevia products available on the market according to my research).

Conclusion
In the end, it is important to note that the FDA does not exist to make sure Americans stay skinny or even happy for that matter, and they do fold to industry pressure in addition to having ALL of the studies performed by the approval applicants themselves. Their stamp of approval simply says that this food is "Generally Recognized As Safe." Ask Morgan Spurlock of Supersize Me if you can do terrible things to your body with an excess of table sugar, something that no American has ever insisted should be outlawed. It is important to note that the pH of all of the sweeteners except for Stevia are extremely acidic (keep in mind that the pH scale is logarithmic meaning every point on the scale is 100 times more acidic or alkaline). Most of these sweeteners are not something that necessarily needs to be avoided like the plague, but rather considered to have no place in a perfectly healthy diet. Stevia being the only natural option, its colors appear to shine through as one would expect, and I have been unable to find any credible negative consequences of Stevia. If I were to attempt to rank the sweeteners in order of least to most dangerous, it would be Stevia (white packets) > Aspartame (blue packets) > Saccharin (pink packets) > Splenda (yellow packets). Stevia being the obvious choice when available, but if you're at Starbucks and don't have that option, opt for sugar in the raw or the blue packet if you insist on skipping the calories.

P.S. I wrote this article over the course of two weeks and did a large amount of research. I honestly started out to explain why the artificial sweeteners are unhealthy. The credible evidence all seems to point to the information that I stated above, and the fact is, they simply are not THAT unhealthy. Comments and corrections are welcome. 


 
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So far today you've had a breakfast made in your Vitamix Blender consisting of a well rounded mixture of dark leafy greens and a variety of other plants to ensure that you have all the essential nutrients to power you through your day. It's lunch time and your smoothie is a thing of the past, so it's time to head to Whole Foods and refuel at their incredible salad bar to push you through the rest of your day, avoiding the cheese and sticking to pure olive oil or vinegar as dressing. But there's a problem. Chipotle is right next to Whole Foods and you haven't had a bite of meat, cheese, or even anything resembling a simple carbohydrate or sugar in 2 days. Just the thought of a Chipotle burrito gives you that weird burning tingling feeling in your stomach that you KNOW a salad just won't satisfy.  That's what we're talking about. That Feeling! What IS that feeling! The highly informed nutrition researcher inside your head knows that the super salad you were going to build has more than enough nutrition to power you through the day, but your stomach insists that it needs some white rice NOW and wants the animal protein you have been so effectively starving it from. It turns out, there is a reason for this and that feeling is real and can be stopped. 

It's the Microbes
We all know that our body is made up of billions of cells and we would like to believe we are getting pretty good at understanding how those cells interact with each other, or at least the microbiologists are doing it for us. A topic not so commonly discussed outside of the Kombucha drinking nutrition fanatic community are the billions of micro organisms that your body is a host for. We all know about the bad bacteria that cause infections and make a two day old cheeseburger extremely unappetizing, but it turns out there are extremely normal and perfectly healthy bacteria that reside on your skin, in the saliva and oral mucosa (cells in your mouth that tell your stomach what's in your mouth by releasing hormones) in the conjunctiva (inside of your eyelids), and the gastrointestinal tracts. These little buggers have a massive impact on everything from infections to acne and dry skin, as well as the way food tastes to you and what you crave for lunch. I would love to cover all of them, but I doubt you would read a 50 page blog post, so I'll focus on those responsible for your cravings. 

Why did my food die?
Let's start at the beginning of the process. When you leave a Twinkie sitting on the counter for a few days unpackaged, it will likely dry up and turn a bit more rubbery than usual, but that's about it. The moment you remove the skin from a fruit however, it begins to turn against you. Two days later you have a completely degenerated food product that you wouldn't dare to use for anything but the compost bin. So why did your food die? Well, you're not the only one that knows fruits and vegetables are nutritious. Granted, there are numerous processes taking place helping the food to compost itself, a major component of that is all of the microbes that are feeding on it. Does that mean that you eat those microbes when you eat that food? Yep.

Eww, I ate how many microbes?
Don't worry, as long as your food is good food, your microbes are good too (let me know if there is an exception do this). Here's my best "Microbes for Dummies" explanation of what takes place. When you take a bite of your food, your saliva immediately begins reacting chemically with that food and your mouth releases enzymes into your saliva that your oral mucosa tell it to. At the same time, existing micro organisms test the water and see if that food works for them. Some of the micro organisms decide they can eat that food, and help you break it down, excreting waste products that are either helpful or harmful to your body, depending on the food and the microbe. Others decide that it's not for them and opt to wait for something that suits them better. A nearly identical process, with regard to micro organisms, takes place in your stomach. Don't forget though, the food brought some micro organisms with it. Some of these will decide to stay and help, others will decide to stay and fight, and some will simply die when they hit the various chemical soups in your body.

So why do I still want Chipotle? 
Remember that confusing word I keep using called oral mucosa, well I would like to double down and introduce its cousin the gastric mucosa. These mucosa are glands that make up a layer in the surface of their respective body parts (mouth and stomach) and they are the ones responsible for releasing hormones into your bloodstream to tell your brain what to do next in the digestive process. Well it turns out they are also responsible for keeping your brain in the loop on what your body wants to eat today. Where do they get their information? You guessed it, from those hungry little micro organisms living in your body. So the micro organisms that came in with your Twinkie and managed to survive and thrive, well they want more Twinkies! But those that entered your body by hitching a ride on a stalk of broccoli would prefer you stick to the greens and they are willing to fight for it. Crazy huh?

Time to starve those little buggers.
Now that we understand that annoying hunger feeling, we can finally start to manipulate it. You would be surprised how much easier it is to stick to your healthy regimen in those first 3-7 "cleansing" days when you know that there is an end in sight. You are literally starving to death the micro organisms that were helping you to break down your junk food (and then asking for more) and stocking up on the health food craving types. At first, this can feel like you are starving right along side the bad micro organisms though, because they are fighting like hell to get you to put that junk food in your mouth so that they can feed. Don't give in, you'll find that the worst of it is usually about 3 days unless you prolong the process with what you may have previously considered a "harmless" snack. On day 4 or so you will wake up feeling refreshed, lacking hunger, and when it comes time to eat you'll be happy to scarf down a giant salad.

In conclusion, it always comes back to the fact that the foods we always knew were healthy still are. But sometimes it's handy to have some nice ammo when your friends aren't exactly supporting your food choices by claiming that you're starving yourself without meat products. Enjoy!






 
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Being ripped is awesome. Simple: 3 protein shakes per day, have lean meat at every meal, and only eat carbs after an anaerobic workout exceeding 20 minutes. Those poor cave men. They didn't know all of this! Not to mention Power Gels weren't around yet for that quick energy boost when they had not caught their food for the day yet and started getting fatigued. Never fear, grab a handful of berries off of the nearest tree, rip up some roots from the ground, and get back on track with your persistence hunt of 26.8 miles so that the village can share some veil today before the meat spoils.

Even if you're good with a spear, it would be pretty challenging to procure your own meat at every meal before the days of farming, industry and refrigerators. Ok, you get the point. I'm not done writing this post yet, so I'm not going to tell you that there is enough protein, carbohydrates, and fats in a plant based diet to help you reach all of your superhuman fitness goals. Instead I would like to propose that we figure it out together and see what the results are, because I would like to know too.

First, let's talk about protein:

Proteins are described as essential and nonessential proteins or amino acids. The human body requires approximately 20 amino acids for the synthesis of its proteins. The body can make only 13 of the amino acids -- these are known as the nonessential amino acids. They are called non-essential because the body can make them and does not need to get them from the diet. There are 9 essential amino acids that are obtained only from food, and not made in the body. If the protein in a food supplies enough of the essential amino acids, it is called a complete protein. If the protein of a food does not supply all the essential amino acids, it is called an incomplete protein.

All meat and other animal products are sources of complete proteins. These include beef, lamb, pork, poultry, fish, shellfish, eggs, milk, and milk products. Protein in foods (such as grains, fruits, and vegetables) are either low, incomplete protein or lack one of the essential amino acids. These food sources are considered incomplete proteins. Plant proteins can be combined to include all of the essential amino acids and form a complete protein. Examples of combined, complete plant proteins are rice and beans, milk and wheat cereal, and corn and beans.

You can imagine why body builders tend to gravitate toward the simpler options rather than relying on food combinations to perfect their amino acid profile. It is admittedly quite difficult to find a protein source as convenient and abundant as animal products, but let's look at what you can accomplish without them in an attempt to avoid highly acidic foods keeping in mind that "Low" in protein is relative to how much you eat.

A typical salad that I eat on a daily basis contains Spinach, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Tomatoes, Avocado, Tofu and Olive Oil. I usually put some salt and pepper on top to add some flavor. Courtesy of http://nutritiondata.self.com/ I came up with these: 

Spinach (half of a 10 oz package): 32.5 Calories, 4g Protein, 5g Complex Carbohydrates, 3g of Dietary Fiber, 224mg Sodium (NOT Salt - the alkaline mineral sodium), .5g Fat, .5g Sugars. In addition: Niacin and Zinc, Protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Vitamin K, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.

Read More http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2626/2#ixzz291umDIb2

Cauliflower (half of a large head):  105 Calories, 8.5g Protein, 22.5g Complex Carbohydrates, 10.5g Dietary Fiber, 126 mg Sodium , .5g Fat, 10g Sugars. In addition: Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Magnesium and Phosphorus, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Folate, Pantothenic Acid, Potassium and Manganese.

Read More http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2390/2#ixzz291sMjcXr

Broccoli (1 Stalk): 51 Calories, 4g Protein, 10g Complex Carboydrates, 4g Dietary Fiber, 50mg Sodium, 1g Fat, 3g Sugars. In addition: Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Thiamin, Riboflavin, Pantothenic Acid, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Selenium, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Folate, Potassium and Manganese.

Read More http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2356/2#ixzz291wZ4sOh

Tomatoes (1 Yellow Tomato): 32 Calories, 2g Protein, 6g Carbohydrates, 1g Dietary Fiber, 49mg Sodium, 1g Fat, (No Data on Sugar on site). In addition: Thiamin, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Vitamin C, Niacin, Folate, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.

Read More http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2776/2#ixzz291xzZnjz

Avocado (1 California Avocado): 227 Calories, 3g Protein, 12g Complex Carboydrates, 9g Dietary Fiber, 11mg Sodium, 21g Fat, 3g Saturated Fat, 0g Sugar. In addition,  Vitamin K and Folate.

Read More http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1844/2

Tofu (2 Slices Extra Firm Raw 168g): 92 Calories, 12g Protein, 2g Carbohydrates, 0g Dietary Fiber, 53mg Sodium, 2g Fat, 1g Sugars. In addition: Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Copper.

Read More http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/legumes-and-legume-products/4412/2

Olive Oil (1 Ounce):  248 Calories, 28g Fat, 4g Saturated Fat, 1mg Sodium. No additional notable nutrients.

Read More http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fats-and-oils/509/2

So what would the nutrition label look like on that salad?

Calories: 787.5
Protein: 33.5 g
Complex Carbohydrates: 57.5 g
Dietary Fiber: 27.5 g
Sodium: 514 mg
Fat: 55 g
Saturated Fat: 4 g
Trans Fat: 0 g
Sugars: 14.5 g (not counting tomato due to no data)
Cholesterol: 0 g

And you'll never have to touch a multivitamin again. 

If you're looking to reduce calories further, the Olive Oil is the obvious calorie culprit, but you need to be careful reducing calories too much because you will lose muscle along with the fat. Overall, the nutrition facts on a high quality spinach salad are not what the average person would expect. 

The recommended daily amount of protein varies from source to source, but generally is somewhere around .37 g per pound of body weight. So if you weigh 175 lbs, two of these salads per day has you covered. If you're interested in salad for breakfast, or take on the blender option I suggested in my last post you can manage to have 3 of these bad boys per day (hopefully with a bit more variety than exactly what I posted) and you will be at a healthy 2362 Calories, 100.5 g of Protein, 172.5 g of Complex Carbohydrates, and 165 g of Fat. 

If you feel you need more Calories in your diet, it's not difficult to dump more than 1 ounce of olive oil on your salad, or increase the amount of tofu, and if you get hunger pangs at first in between meals (which shouldn't happen if you eat often enough), I highly recommend drinking Green Drinks to make sure your blood sugar levels stay comfortable. 

It does appear that one can replicate a traditional diet for sports with entirely plant based foods, and it doesn't even require a large amount of creativity. This is not to say that replacing your tofu with meat is going to be catastrophic to your health, but if you're looking to repair a damaged body, or maximize your nutrition, vegetables seem to be up to the task.  

Before I go, there is one more important point to make. The below is taken from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition website

"Muscle wasting appears to be an adaptive response to acidosis (14-17). With muscle breakdown, amino acids are released into the bloodstream. These amino acids provide a substrate for the hepatic synthesis of glutamine. Glutamine is used by the kidney to synthesize ammonia (18). Ammonia molecules spontaneously accept protons and are excreted as ammonium ions; the excretion of ammonium thus removes protons and mitigates the acidosis."

So basically, your body breaks down your muscle in order to neutralize excess acid in your body. This would certainly be counterproductive for the guy who just drank a protein shake with milk (acidic) after his lean chicken dinner (acidic) and Red Bull (do I have to say it?) before his work out.

There are definitely a lot of different ways to reach your fitness goals, and our bodies are extremely resilient, but if you are looking for a lifestyle that has no downside and will guarantee an increase in your health there are certainly notable benefits to going out of your way to get your protein and other nutrition from high quality alkaline foods. 



 




 
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On my quest for witty topic sentences and references to various other diets, I came across this site (a list of every diet ever) as a great example of how people are extremely interested in new ways to lose those pounds and stay healthy, but the common principles in the diets that work are always the same. If you're looking for the Alkaline Diet on that site, it's called "The pH Miracle Diet" based on Dr. Robert Young's and his wife's book The pH Miracle.

This probably isn't the first time in your life that you've been told to eat your vegetables, so I'll be sure to explain the reasons why it matters.

What makes a food alkaline?
The answer might not be what you expect. It turns out that many foods that would intuitively seem acidic, are in fact alkaline when digested, and the same goes for the reverse. For example, lemons, limes, and tomatoes are all alkaline when digested in your body. But that doesn't make sense! I'll explain. Citric acid is a "weak" acid, meaning once it's done it's job in providing energy in metabolism it's eliminated easily via sweat and respiration. It is alkaline forming in that it stimulates the formation of calcium carbonate in the body. Calcium carbonate then neutralizes the "strong" acids in the body, acids that can only be gotten rid of through urination, including uric acid which is the end result of protein metabolism. In fruits such as lemons, the mineral content is also taken into consideration, and the lemon's alkaline minerals are many: calcium, magnesium, potassium, and selenium. So after the citric acid has done it's job and is easily eliminated, one is left with a very alkaline "ash" or end product from the fruit.

Got all that? Don't worry, nobody expects you to do a chemical analysis on everything you eat. Not only have people done that for you, but most of them are "no brainers" anyways. See the chart below:



So there you have it, now you just have to be 100% disciplined: drink plenty of water, avoid sugar, coffee, alcohol, cigarettes, meats, and dairy products and limit your sugary fruit intake. It's the easiest diet ever! Okay, you caught me fibbing again. There is still hope. I'll break it down for you into simple steps:

  • Drink a TON of water: Minimum should be half your body weight in ounces e.g. if you weigh 200 lbs, you need about 100 ounces of water per day (about 3/4 of a gallon). I do at least double that and couldn't feel better. There are 4 ways your body can get rid of acid: Urination, Defecation, Sweat, and Breathing. These all require a large amount of water in order to work properly. In addition, you will tend to lose some water weight when you get hydrated because your body turn off "dehydration mode" and stop storing extra water in your cells (making you look fat).
  • Eat vegetables with every meal: The goal here is to get the veggies in, then do whatever you want after that. Your body can handle chocolate cake when it follows a giant salad for dinner, but the snowball effect of resource depletion begins to occur when you have a hamburger for dinner and follow it up with desert. The goal is ultimately to have somewhere between 70-80% of your foods and drinks be alkaline, because it requires 4 parts alkaline to equal one part acid in your body. 
  • Drink green drinks: This one might be new to you, but it's catching on fast. It's hard to get enough veggies every day, and we're American. We like quick fixes, powders, and pills. Fortunately, there are a number of companies selling green drink powders now, that actually work incredibly well. Typically, they consist of a large number of vegetable, grass and herb ingredients as well as a smaller number of fruits. They are juiced or finely ground, then dehydrated and made into a powder that you can mix with water. There are a lot of brands to choose from and they all work, but some better than others. My favorite tasting green drink is Delicious Greens 8000 and it's also one of the cheapest (due to the fact it was sold on infomercials and sells a huge volume, not because the ingredients are no good). It's a lot sweeter than the others due to the Stevia content, but it's great for mixing in smoothies or directly in water. The highest quality green powder I have found is made by Vibrant Health and is only slightly more expensive, but has a much more grassy taste. You will get a noticeable healthy energy boost after drinking one of these. Another option if you're totally gung-ho is to make your own green drinks in a blender. Spinach, kale, cucumbers, ginger root and most leafy greens will generally pulverize into a liquid without much trouble, If you have the financial means, I highly recommend a Vitamix blender, but for some people that might mean they're late on their car payment. Blendtec makes a slightly cheaper and functionally equivalent model as an alternative. If you have to choose between blender or juicer go with a blender, because it keeps the fiber to slow digestion and reduce glucose spikes in your bloodstream. 
  • Optional: Do a cleanse: This one is not for everyone, but you won't believe the benefits if you can stick it out. The process is simple, go on a liquid diet drinking only green drinks and water for 3-7 days. This will give your body a very well deserved break, and allow it to replenish all of it's vitamin and mineral reserves. It's called a cleanse for a reason though. Remember the 4 ways your body can get rid of acid? Well expect Urination, Defecation, Breathing, and Sweating to all happen quite a bit. Usually somewhere around day 2.5 or 3 you might get a headache, diarrhea, or even throw up in some cases, as well as breaking into a cold sweat or getting light headed. This is your body saying "Okay.....I'm pretty convinced you are going to stop putting acid into me and I'm all replenished, so I'm gonna start working on the stuff I stored away." The good news is that you've made it over the hill at that point. Generally a few hours later you will feel better than ever and that feeling will stick with you. 

Do these things and you can expect to see very effective weight loss (that stays off), acne will disappear, blood pressure will level out, cholesterol will correct itself, acid re-flux and heartburn go away, and virtually all diseases will die (or never develop) in an alkaline environment. 

Hope you enjoyed the post! I will answer questions in the comments section if anyone has any. And if you are buying the products recommended, I would appreciate you using the links on this site because Amazon will pay me a small commission without increasing your price (plus they are the cheapest place to buy them).
 
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Remember back in your high school chemistry class when your teacher talked about how pH is a measure of the activity of the solvated hydrogen ion p[H] which measures the hydrogen ion concentration in a given substance? I don't either, I just stole that from Wikipedia. Most of us do, however, remember the term pH and know that it refers to how acidic or alkaline (basic) a substance is. Although Wrigley's Winterfresh Gum so nicely reminded us that our temperature is "A blistering 98.6 degrees inside your mouth" no marketing campaign has successfully socialized the concept that the human body has a hefty pH requirement in order to keep itself alive. Well I'm here to spill the beans. When your pH is too acidic it will generally cause drastic changes to your body which, unfortunately, we see quite often in today's world. An acidic pH leads to weight gain, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, fatigue, acne, bone decay, vision decay, diarrhea, and in extreme cases coma or death. 

Let's start by taking a look at some background as to why this is so important. We all know how it feels when you get the flu and your body temperature climbs up in the 100+ degree Fahrenheit range, but what is it about that which causes you to feel so awful? Your body is like a giant automated laboratory doing thousands of chemical reactions all the time and temperature is a key factor in the speed that a reaction takes place. Unfortunately, not all chemical reactions are affected in the same way by a temperature increase. So when your temperature raises by 2 degrees, some of the chemical processes in your body take place 1% faster, and others take place 50% faster. You can imagine the havoc that this causes and this is why your body has so many mechanisms to regulate your temperature. 

As it turns out, your pH balance is similarly important and analogous to your body temperature. If you poured bleach, or battery acid in your veins in even the tiniest of concentrations, it wouldn't be long before you were in a coma. Even a .2 deviation from 7.36 pH in your bloodstream will put you in the hospital. As you can see in the figure above, other parts of your body have appropriate pH values which are different from your blood. For an in-depth explanation of how digestion works, follow this Link, but if you're reasonably knowledgeable and don't have time to read that, allow me to do my best to summarize one major way that acid affects the body:

  • How Acid Makes You Fat and Raises Your Cholesterol: When you eat acidic foods they are broken down in your saliva, then stomach, then small intestine like any other food. Depending on the type of food (Fat, Protein, Carbohydrate) when the partially digested food is pushed into your small intestine, it will either be greeted by enzymes from your pancreas, small intestine, liver or some combination of each. These enzymes, as well as saliva and stomach acids are manufactured in your body by using all of the essential minerals we know to be necessary in a healthy body, such as all of the B Vitamins, Vitamins C, A, D, E, and K in conjunction with minerals such as calcium, sodium, magnesium, potassium and others. In general, this process is very effective, and when acidic food is eaten in smaller amounts it doesn't cause a problem, but when a person eats pizza for breakfast, lunch, and dinner they can create an environment inside their body where they are vitamin/mineral deficient because the body has used all of its resources digesting food. The human body is designed not to allow it's blood stream to become too acidic (this is regulated by hormones released by the cells of your mucosa in your stomach and small intestine). The good news is this won't kill you yet because your body has a backup plan. Fats and Cholesterol are relatively inert (don't react with chemicals) and particularly resistant to acid. So in the event that your body does not have enough resources to neutralize the acid in your food, it will proceed to prepare your veins and arteries for the upcoming acid by coating them with cholesterol. In addition, it will increase your fat stores as a buffer to the acid. This is good news for the guy who wants to stay alive, but not so great for your figure.
 
So why are alkaline foods important to losing weight and lowering cholesterol? Can't we just reduce calories and take the yolks out of our eggs? Many failed Atkins Dieters serve as proof that you do, in fact need vegetables in your diet (notice I didn't say fruit, I said vegetables). You will notice highly accelerated weight loss when you begin replenishing your alkaline reserves (vitamins/minerals) and eliminate acidic foods from your diet, as well as an almost immediate reduction in cholesterol. 

So, I'm Sold. How do I get Alkaline?
I hate to do this to the 10 of you that will read this first blog post before I type up my second blog post, but that is the topic of my next blog post, so stay in touch!