Can I have an alkaline diet with Raw Food? The beauty of a Raw food diet, is it is plant based with non of the acid producing ingredients like dairy, meat and processed foods. If you are wanting to maintain an alkaline diet, a Raw Food diet is your best option.
An alkaline diet helps to maintain proper PH levels in the blood. A Standard Western Diet usually consisting of large amounts of meat, dairy and grain products will typically stimulate a more acid (rather than alkaline) state in the body.
Our internal organs as well as our immune and digestive systems function best within a PH range of 7.35 – 7.45 However, a Standard Western Diet is most likely to create a PH level more acid than this.
Here are some helpful tips to creating a more alkaline PH in the body:
- Drink a minimum of 2 litres of filtered water every day to help neutralize acid. In addition to this, avoid or minimise your consumption of coffee, black tea and soft drinks as they are highly acidic
- Avoid artificial sweeteners for the same reason. These include (but are not limited to): Sucralose, Aspartame, Saccharin and NutraSweet. Not only are they highly acidic but can also create significant stress on the body’s nervous system.
- Add more ‘green raw foods’ to your diet including leafy greens, cucumber, celery, broccoli, cabbage and spinach. Also consider including a supplement such as barley green powder. Green supplements are nutrient dense and highly alkalising.
- Fresh lemon juice added to your raw food diet is highly alkalising. Add the juice of ½ a lemon to a glass of warm water and drink every morning (15 minutes before consuming anything else). Apple cider vinegar can be used as an alternative to lemon juice if you prefer.
- All red meats are highly acidic and can also place considerable stress on the digestive system. More raw foods = less acidity. So reduce or eliminate as many processed, pre-packaged canned, fined flour and white sugar laden foods as possible.
- Stress can contribute to body acidity. When the body is in ‘stress mode’ digestion and detoxification is often compromised. Try including a bit of yoga, meditation or a walk into your daily routine.