An alkaline diet can have a lot of benefits for our health. I read a book entitled “The Alkaline cure” when I was younger to try to change some bad habits in my life, but the challenge was so big, that I wanted to know more about it. I spoke with Lisa, who explained more about the process and what this type of diet consists of.

“We are born alkaline, our perfect PH is 7.36, but we often end up following an extremely acidic base, which lowers the alkalinity levels of our body, with harmful effects on our health”, said Lisa Morrissey, B.Sc.Dip Acu & TCM, Cert Clin. Med.

Different types of food can have an effect on the PH balance of the body. Certain foods can affect the acidity of the body, and that change in PH can therefore be used to treat or prevent disease. “For the body, the perfect PH in 7.36 and there are some foods with exactly the same PH that the body is supposed to have.” Coconut water is one of those foods: “Coconut water has exactly the same PH that is found in the body, so when you drink it, it keeps you in perfect balance”, explained the specialist.

What kinds of foods are alkaline?

You are maybe asking what kind of food could we eat if you want to follow an alkaline diet? “Mostly green vegetables are alkaline”, said the specialist. Cauliflower, broccoli, seasonal fruits, nuts, onion, garlic, ginger and citrus fruits, like oranges, quinoa, lemon and tomato are some examples. Perhaps you are asking yourself: Citrus fruits are alkaline? Yes, they are, because they seem acidic when eaten, for those who have reflux, for example, but when they pass the throat and reach the stomach, they support the alkaline system in the body.

Otherwise, what kind of foods is acidic?

“The diet that people usually have nowadays is very acidic, because we like to eat meat, fish, coffee, sugar that’s as all acidic”, she said. So “we don’t have to eat just alkaline food, but when you eat this it will balance your body, because generally our food is unconsciously very acidic”, explained the specialist.

Another interesting tip is drinking coffee and alkaline water. “That’s why if you drink coffee and alkaline water, this will balance that, if you drink alkaline water after breakfast, it will help balance”, clarified the specialist.

If you don’t do anything about it and continue with the acidic diet the symptoms will begin with “getting fatigue, followed by joint pain, too much mucus in the body, in the stomach then the next stage is inflammation response”, she said.

The inflammatory response is a defense mechanism that evolved in higher organisms to protect them from infection. Its purpose is to localise and eliminate the injurious agent and to remove damaged tissue components so that the body can begin to heal.

During the interview with Lisa Morrissey, one of the things I realise is that drinking alkaline water is not always a good option. To achieve this state of alkalinity of the body, there are many who choose to buy water bottles that place an alkaline PH on the label. You need to be careful. According to Lisa Morrissey, “when you buy water in a bottle that’s already made alkaline we have to be very careful with the molecular structure”. Sometimes, some brands can make the water alkaline by chemical process and this water is not good for our health and the water becomes very difficult to absorb by the body “so you end up drinking more water, indeed, you can drink three litres and still never have enough and you are still thirsty”, said Lisa Morrissey, an Authority in integrative health.

Is it easy to change our food habits?

Not really. The first thing I found difficult was the amount of food, with this diet you will eat less quantity of food than we are used to. “We eat more than what we really need”, said Lisa Morrissey.

“In the beginning it is difficult but you do get used to”, she explained. “The easiest way to do it is to spend time preparing, thinking about the options you have when you go to eat out, to a restaurant, for example”. If you are not prepared and you go out to a restaurant without any option it can be hard to keep to your diet.

However, the challenge sometimes starts inside the home. “In the beginning it is difficult, but after a couple of weeks the family observe that you look better, are more healthy, and this inspires them to do the same. They respect and get influenced”, explained Lisa Morrissey who also gave us advice about what she does: “I cook something for me and something for other people and, usually, they want to try”.

Do you think that is hard? “Give yourself a target like one or two weeks”, said Lisa Morrissey. After that, “when we start feeling much better, it is easier to keep the diet”, because you will want to keep feeling that way.


Author

Paula Martins is a fully qualified journalist, who finds writing a means of self-expression. She studied Journalism and Communication at University of Coimbra and recently Law in the Algarve. Press card: 8252

Paula Martins