A lot of my clients when they first come to me are experiencing fatigue, body pain, depression or anxiety, gastrointestinal complications, and an inability to lose weight—all signs of chronic inflammation.
When living with chronic inflammation, your body's inflammatory response can eventually start damaging healthy cells, tissues and organs. Over time, this can lead to tissue damage and the development of chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cognitive decline and dementia in older adults.
The first step towards great health and reducing this risk begins with helping the body become more alkaline. One way to achieve this is to add more anti-inflammatory foods to your diet.
So let's cover the basics of how to reduce inflammation in the body with an anti-inflammatory diet, including: alkalinity vs. acidity, the health benefits of implementing an anti-inflammatory diet, and anti-inflammatory foods to include in your diet.
Alkalinity vs Acidity
Before we begin, let’s review some basics about pH, acidity, and alkalinity. Acidity is measured on pH scale, which can range from zero to 14. If the pH is lower than 7, it is acidic and if it is higher than 7, it is alkaline. A pH of seven is neutral.
pH in the Body
In the body, the acid-alkaline balance is important. This is because many functions in the body occur only at a certain level of acidity or alkalinity. For example, the skin, stomach, bladder, and vaginal area are highly acidic to protect us from outside invaders. Whereas most of our other organs and cells function best in an alkaline pH.
Because many enzymes and chemical reactions in the body work best at a particular pH, a small change in the pH can have a profound effect on body function. The pH level at which your body works best is around 7.4.
Benefits of Implementing an Anti-Inflammatory Diet
Western diets typically leave our bodies very acidic because they are overloaded with poor fats, over consumption of protein, not enough fiber, and too much sugar. When the body becomes too acidic, it leads to inflammation and an increased risk for other diseases and disorders as I mentioned above. However, an alkalizing diet helps to balance your pH level, ultimately reducing acidity.
When you have a more alkaline environment your body is able to function at optimal levels. For instance, alkalinity can aid in the reduction of inflammation, including the brain, gut, skin, joints and muscles.
In addition to alleviating inflammation, an anti-inflammatory diet also inhibits the growth of yeast and bad bacteria. This also allows for better detoxification in general.
I have found many of my of my clients flourish when following the proper anti-inflammatory diet and detoxification protocol. This reflects a lifestyle change that can make life significantly better, especially when dealing with the symptoms I outlined above, which dramatically impacts our overall quality of life. It is also important to identify specific food allergies or sensitivities that may also trigger symptoms.
Foods to Alkalize the Body and Reduce Inflammation
The pH of the food itself does not dictate how it reacts in our body. For example, one might think that fresh lemons and limes and raw organic apple cider vinegar are acidic, but they actually become alkaline when consumed.
Prime examples of acid forming foods are animal proteins, sugar, coffee, juice, and processed foods. While alkaline foods include:
Most fresh or frozen organic fruit, ideally berries
Plant based protein sources
Fresh vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, peas, cucumbers, asparagus, celery, radishes, beets, sweet potatoes, b eets, carrots, squash, leafy green vegetables such as uch as kale, collard greens, arugula, cabbage, and bok choy
Legumes — lentils, navy beans, adzuki beans, mung beans, and others
Raw nuts and seeds, except peanuts
Brown rice and quinoa
Ground flaxseed
Garlic and other herbs
Lemons
Avocados
Olive oil
Coconut oil
Alkaline water
Green tea
Are you looking to renew, reset and revitalize your body so you can banish bloat, kick start fat loss, dramatically increase energy, and wake up feeling happier and healthier. Schedule a free health strategy session with me today.
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