Is Your PH Making You Fat
When we think of weight loss, what typically comes to mind?
– Counting Calories
– Exercise
– Watching Fat Intake
– Watching Portion Size
Yes, these help but calorie counting can be tricky and a little fat is good for you. However, did you ever consider that your body’s pH may be off – perhaps you’re a little acidic? Acids have a pH value less than 7, while everything above 7 is an alkali. You can test your own pH level with litmus paper you can find nearly anywhere, drugstores and pharmacies for certain. The accepted pH level for a human is between 7.1 and 7.6 after eating and around 6.1 to 6.5 before eating, anything above this is considered an alkali. When testing your pH, use your saliva as it’s more consistent and reliable.
What can cause you to be in the alkali range? Typically processed foods, caffeine dependency, too much sugar or alcohol, stress, lack of sleep, and the chemicals and additives in our food and environment. Our bodies try valiantly to regulate the level by removing acid residue from body tissues using regulatory mechanisms such as digestion, hormone production, breathing, and circulation.
If you’re acidic, your body will produce more insulin – this results in cells breaking down due to the increased demand to produce more insulin and the body will store more fat. Cells breaking down can lead to damage to the cell walls by free radicals that affect eyesight, inconsistent hormone regulation, age spots and wrinkles, memory problems and premature aging.
Acidic blood irritates the inner walls of the veins and arteries, causing them to weaken and interfere with the blood pressure. Acidity also disrupts lipid and fatty acid metabolization, which (again) affects hormone regulation. Hormonal imbalance means you’re more likely to gain or maintain your current weight, no matter what you do to become healthier. This will also make you more tired and less alert.
The good news is, improving your body’s alkalinity is fairly easy to do and won’t take long at all!
10 Ways to Improve Alkalinity
1 – Limit Alcohol intake
2 – Cut back on dairy, especially ultra-pasteurized and heated commercial dairy and those without live cultures and bacteria
3 – Eat your greens and other vegetables! (Looks like mom was right about those brussel sprouts! Load up on kale and other greens at least twice a day)
4 – Decrease consumption of sugar/processed/refined-salt foods
5 – Try for at least 30 minutes of exercise a day, which will decrease your stress. However, avoid over-exercising or strenuous exercise for long periods of time. Slow and steady wins the race.
6 – Limit servings of fish, chicken, and red meat to the size of your palm.
7 – Find a way to relax or reduce stress at work.
8 – Add some lemon to your water, it acts like a scrub for your insides.
9 – Cinnamon, swiss chard, and mustard are your new best friends – they all alkalize the body and are nice additions to any diet. Swiss chard is especially rich in nutrients and mustard has flavonoids which are antioxidants.
10 – More alkaline-forming foods include: avocados, honey, raisins, figs, coconut, soy products, and coconut.
