Are you depleting your body by eating these foods?

Are You Depleting Your Body By Eating These Foods?

Did you know that you may be eating certain foods that are stripping your body from essential minerals?

In order to flesh this out, I’m going to talk about the pH balance in your body and what that has to do with your body’s health.

Here are the nuts and bolts:  your body was designed to optimally function within a narrow pH range.  That means that if your blood becomes too acidic or too alkaline, your body has mechanisms to return itself to the correct and healthy range.

If your body goes too far to either end of the pH spectrum, it can cause major problems and ultimately death.

Most of the time, in our modern culture, our issue is with the acidic side of the spectrum.  And that is because so many of the commonly processed, highly refined and sugar loaded foods we consume cause our body to shift more acidic than is healthy.

Here’s the rub–your body is always going to work to regain health.  And the way your body works to counter too much acidity is to leach out the minerals in your bones.

Minerals help keep your body alkaline.  Many of us have a double whammy happening.  Our diets are not mineral rich to begin with, and our acid-forming diets are causing our bodies to leach minerals out of our bones in order to regulate our pH levels.

So what’s the solution?  It’s a 1-2 punch.  Reduce your acid promoting foods and replenish your stores with mineral dense foods.

Here are the 3 biggest “acid forming” culprits and 3 brightest “mineral replenishing” rockstars.

Acid Forming Culprits

1.  Caffeine and soft drinks

2.  Sugar

3.  White flour

4.  Meat and Meat products (*from factory farmed “conventional” animals.  The meat and animal products (like eggs, cheese) from organically, pastured, grass fed, ethically raised animals has a completely different nutrient profile!)

Mineral Replenishing Rockstars

1.  Dark leafy greens:  Spinach, kale, collards, swiss chard.

2.  Cruciferous vegetables:  Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower.

3.  Sea Vegetables (aka seaweed)

Even small shifts of decreasing the culprits and increasing the rockstars will make a marked difference in your health– start slow and keep the momentum going!

Could you use a little help in realigning your diet to one that supports your highest level of wellness?  Would it make a difference to have a focused, step by step process that would lead you to greater well being and vitality in all the core areas of your whole-person health?

Today is the perfect day to start in a new direction.  And TODAY is the first day of the 2012 group run of Designed for Wellness.

I’m beyond excited about the amazing group of women who have signed up for the course this time around.  We have over 80 women in class and the momentum and energy is already buzzing!  I know this is going to be an incredible 3 months together.

And this is my last invitation to join us.  I’ve put together an incredible bonus package only available to this current group (valued at $185), there are 5 live coaching calls with me for personal support, we have 12 weeks of progressive steps that will take you to a whole new level of your well being and vibrancy…and we have a community of women that are ready to rally around each other and keep the momentum building and growing.

Will this be your time to step forward and do something vitally important for yourself?  I hope so.  Here is the course page, if you’d like more information. If it is a good fit, I hope you’ll say yes and join us.  I’d love to get to know you better and support you on living the life you most deeply want to live.

Now, tell me…which of the culprits will be hardest for you to cut back on…and which of the rockstars will you upping in the coming weeks?  And, as always– please do share this with those you know who may benefit from it as well!


Comments

14 responses to “Are you depleting your body by eating these foods?”

  1. Um. As I sit here with a cup of coffee. Ugh!

    Is there a way to know our pH level easily, or should we just assume it’s off-kilter if we’ve had coffee or sugar?

    How long does it take to get back to good?

    1. Health food stores (and probably pharmacies too) sell pH paper for self-testing that may be used for a guideline. Mine are manufactured by genuinehealth.com. Being knowledgable about which foods and beverages are either acidic or alkaline can help food choices to ensure a neutral pH balance.

    2. Hi Kacie,

      I have to say Karen’s response below is fantastic- you can monitor yourself pretty easy with pH papers- you can simply pee on them throughout the day to get a sense of your acidity- a lot will have to do with your overall diet AND your emotional/mental state- stress sends us headlong into acidity!

  2. I think the most difficult things to decrease would be the sugar (yum, chocolate!!!) as well as the meat products. I wish that we could eat organically as a family but I find it cost-prohibitive! Would love to increase my sea veggies but not sure how… any tips? : )

    1. Kristen, I slowly upped my cacao percentage so now I eat 85% stuff with no guilt (and now desire to scarf the whole bar, since it doesn’t have that yum! sweet! gone! MORE! chain reaction in my mouth).

      If you need to buy regular meat (and I just served exactly that two nights in a row) then stick with ruminants. If you’re buying grocery-store chicken, skim the fat and trim the skin (sad, I know) because toxins are stored in fat. Nourished Kitchen has a post on how to get 5 meals out of a $30 organic chicken, if that helps!

      I can get a seaweed salad at the grocery store fish counter which (altough disturbingly bright green) is quite delicious. I’ve heard of putting a little dried seaweed in your pepper grinder. I do sneak it into anything savoury and flavourful like pasta sauce with vegetables, or meatballs. Usually it hides, but if you use more it gives a salty, umami taste so just be sure to reduce any other sources of salt in your recipe. And there’s always nori rolls!

      1. Great tips! Thank you!!

      1. Awesome – thanks Lisa! I will try it!

    2. Lauren- Brilliant response– completely agree on all accounts..bravo!

  3. What about drinking one of those energy drinks that contain Apple Cider Vinegar? I’ve been turned on lately to Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar Concord Grape/Acai drinks and I love them! I don’t usually drink them everyday, but I’ve heard good things about incorporating apple cider vinegar into your diet; that is has amazing health benefits. I’m wondering if the vinegar doesn’t neutralize your body’s pH level? Do you know anything about that?

    1. Linne,

      The funny thing about acidity is that foods can be acidic themselves, but the issue is in whether they cause your body to form acidity– and vinegar (as well as lemon) do not- they are uber healthy and will promote appropriate alkaline states within the body, so keep on keeping on!

  4. […] stumbled upon a couple of blogs lately talking about food and wellness, and most recently it was Lisa Byrne’s weekly newsletter (delivered this morning) that really spoke to me.  Dr. Oz’s 4 Most […]

  5. Catherine Avatar
    Catherine

    How does this measure of acidity relate to the acid produced by your stomach? I have reflux, and many foods recommended to avoid are ones I love, dark chocolate, vinegar, citrus, spicy foods. As well as the caffeine and carbonated drinks. Are the acidity of your stomach and the acidity of your body related?

  6. Thank you for pointing out that even small shifts can lead to improved health. I love coffee and I love green foods, leafy and seaweed. At this time my main sources of seaweed are beans cooked with kombu, kombu in miso soup and the occasional futomaki I buy. Yum.

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