Alkaline diet

Summary

The Alkaline diet is focused on the premise that the excessive acidity of our blood could be the cause of many ailments (fatigue, osteoporosis, high blood pressure…). It, therefore, aims to limit acidifying foods and to consume alkalinizing foods regularly.

Weight loss	That’s not the goal
Food Choices	Very varied
In practice, this means	Easy to follow as long as you have a checklist with food to eat
Attention	Not recommended for children, pregnant and breastfeeding women.

The Alkaline diet: understand everything in 2 minutes

The origins of the Alkaline diet

Therapists Franz Xaver Mayr (1875-1965) and Howard Hay (1866-1940) were among the first to formulate holistic doctrines incorporating the concept of acid-base balance supported by blood pH determination techniques. Over the past three decades, it has been mainly the works of Dr. Catherine Kousmine and Christopher Vasey that have created this concept known.

The main principles of the Alkaline diet

This diet is focused on the assumption that a disturbed acid-base balance (chronic low-level acidosis) would lead to fatigue and decreased body activity.

It is recommended by the authors of this diet to measure your blood pH with urine strips once a day.

In the case of chronic low-level acidosis, this diet recommends:

1. Choose a predominantly alkaline diet.
2. Undertake a lemon cure to alkalinize
3. Oxygenate by regular physical activity
4. Take alkaline citrate supplements: only for people who cannot integrate alkaline foods into their diet

Authorized foods

Generally speaking, the higher the protein content of food, the more acidifying it will be. However, there is an extreme controversy around the classification of foods according to their acidifying or alkalizing characteristics. This is why there are several Alkaline classifications. For our part, we have chosen the one of nutritionist Susan Brown, co-author of The Acid-Alkaline Food Guide11. It used the scientific publications of many specialists in the field (Remer, Manz, Frassetto, and Jaffe) to build its classification.

The following is a summary table of the classification recommended by Susan Brown.

Food groups	Highly alkalizing	Moderately alkalizing	Slightly alkalizing
Fruits	Blackberry Strawberry Raspberry Cantaloupe Watermelon	Grapes Blueberry Apricot Apples Lawyer Banana	Coconut
Vegetables	Asparagus Celery Leafy green vegetables Endive Curly kale Sweet potato	Artichoke Potato potato Beetroot Broccoli Cabbage	Snow peas Carrot Cucumber Brussels sprouts Cauliflower
Meat, poultry, and fish
Dairy products, eggs			Clarified butter
Oils			Olive oil Of coconut Of cod liver Of a lawyer
Nuts, seeds, legumes, spices	Chestnut Ginger Pumpkin seed Sea salt	Black pepper Cashew nuts Garlic Cinnamon Soy sauce	Sunflower, sesame, flaxseed Almond Macadamia nuts
Bread, cereals, desserts			Sugar-free granola Oatmeal Apple crisp with oats and raw sugar Quinoa
Prepared foods or fast food restaurants
Beverages	Mineral water Ginger tea	Grapefruit juice Pineapple juice	Apple juice Grape juice Orange juice Green tea

Food groups	Slightly acidifying	Moderately acidifying	Highly acidifying
Fruits	Fig Date	Cranberry Pomegranate apple
Vegetables	Tomato Green peas Lima Beans Spinach Broken pea
Meat, poultry, and fish	Clam	Salmon Rabbit Chicken Liver Bison Lamb	Shrimps and prawns Lobster Bacon Hamburger Steak Sausage
Dairy products, eggs	Butter Curd cheese	Cottage cheese Cream cheese Egg	Camembert cheese Cheddar cheese Yogurt
Oils	Sesame Of canola Of sunflower	Of soy
Nuts, seeds, legumes, spices	Baked beans Red bean White bean Chickpea	Groundnut	Nuts Soybean bean Iodized table salt White sugar
Bread, cereals, desserts	Brown rice Brown rice bread Buckwheat flour Roasted buckwheat	Whole wheat bread Whole rye bread Corn tortillas Corn semolina Homemade fruit pie	Ascending Bagel White or chocolate cake Savory cracker Commercial Fruit Pie
Prepared foods or fast food restaurants	Mayonnaise	Popcorn Ketchup Mustard	Crunchy Pizza Roast Beef Sandwich Tacos Chicken croquette
Drink	Milk Kefir Black tea Tomato juice	Wine Brown beer Coffee* Coffee Rice drink	Blond beer Espresso coffee Carbonated drink Soy beverage Smoothie milk

*Some sources consider coffee to be alkalizing, but despite the fact it contains some minerals and does not contain protein, it is acidifying. It is a “calcium thief” and therefore a risk factor for osteoporosis.

Food groups, mainly alkaline

Mainly acidic food groups

Fruits
Vegetables
Spices and herbs
Almonds and seeds

Meat and alternatives (except nuts and seeds)
Milk and Alternatives
Bread and Alternatives
Processed products and desserts
Beverages containing caffeine
Alcohol

How the Alkaline diet keeps you in shape

Too much acidifying food (meat, sugar, starchy foods, coffee, alcohol) combined with too little alkalizing food (fruits and vegetables, nuts, shelled fruits, and seeds) generates chronic low levels of acidosis. This can lead to problems like osteoporosis, hypertension, loss of muscle tissue and sleep disturbances, according to proponents of the acid-base balance diet.

By consuming foods that are more alkalinizing or acidifying depending on your general condition, you may improve your well-being by no longer experiencing the symptoms listed above.

To date, no serious scientific study has supported these hypotheses, so it is by experimenting with the diet you can define whether it provides you with better well-being or not.

Typical one-day menu with the Alkaline diet

Breakfast (breakfast)	Buckwheat pancake Raw sugar Almond butter Raspberries Greentea
Lunch	Tomatoes in sesame oil and pumpkin seeds Brown rice Salmon Mineral water
Snack	3 figs
Lunch	Cauliflower soup Wholemeal bread Butter 1egg

The advantages and disadvantages of the Alkaline diet

Advantages

Overall food balance respected

Since all food families are represented in this diet, satiety is generally reliable and allows you to stay in a balanced diet with vegetables, starchy foods and a protein source at every meal.

Easy to follow

Relatively easy to follow if you appreciate fruits, vegetables, nuts, shelled fruits (almonds, cashews, etc.) and seeds much because these are the most alkalizing foods.

The challenge, for some at least, will be to reduce coffee, alcohol, chips or soft drinks. These are acidic drinks and foods. It is important, from the perspective of the Alkaline balance, to limit their consumption to a minimum.

Disadvantages

This may interfere with digestion

The introduction of many vegetables and whole starchy foods can disrupt digestion in people who are not used to it. Consider adding these foods gradually to your diet.

Also read: LeDiet diet (or Fricker diet)