Food

I have been dealing with some G.I. issues for a few years now. After getting an upper endoscopy and learning that I had inflammation of my esophogus I decided to not take the doctors advice of going on a proton inhibitor and seek the advice of a naturopathic doctor. I can't tell you how happy I am that I made that choice. Not only has she helped me to feel better but working with a naturopath has opened my eyes to a whole new way of thinking when it comes to healing our bodies. "The world is facing the largest health crisis in recorded history. Modern synthetic practices have all but destroyed us. Every illness of the past, so carefully kept under control or thought to be eliminated, is emerging in more and more virulent scourges, as artificial suppressants no longer avail. Stronger medications are manufactured that only further stifle health. Earnest but futile researchers mutate generations of animals. They seek answers in unnatural compounds, as chronic poor life marches us toward the grave with the names of new illnesses scratched across the tombstone."

The other night I was in Whole Foods and came across a book that has really captured my attention called Alkalize or Die by Dr. Theodore A. Baroody. The book is a little confusing at first because there is ALOT of information in it but the basic message is that in order to be healthy and STAY healthy you need to maintain the proper alkaline-acid (pH) balance in your body. The first sentence in the first chapter says, "The countless names attached to illnesses do not really matter. What does matter is that they all come from the same root cause...too much tissue acid waste in the body!" "Think about it this way...Too much acidity in the body is like having too little oil in your car. It just grinds to a halt one lazy Sunday afternoon. There you are - stuck. The body does the same thing. It starts creaking to a stop along the byways of life and you find yourself in some kind of discomfort. I watch this with great concern as people of all classes and lifestyles suffer from this excess. It is the bane of rich and poor, young and old alike. Meat eaters and vegetarians are not exempt. Cowboys and congressmen also suffer its gradual effects."

While there are other factors that can affect our pH balance such as our emotional and spiritual well being, exercise, medications (nearly ALL prescription and over the counter medications are acid producing, thus the 'cure one ailment and a new one pops up' syndrome), it's really pretty simple - EVERYTHING we put into our bodies does one of two things - helps it or hurts it. The things that help it have more alkalinity than acid and the things that hurt it are more acidic. Our bodies have a reserve of alkaline so when we foolishly eat things that put us into a highly acidic state our body immediately attempts to rebalance itself but here's the thing - we do not have an endless reserve and once it's gone, if we don't replenish it through our diets, guess what happens? The acids deposit into our tissue and start to make us ill. It's ultimately what causes disease of all kinds, "When there is overindulgence in acid-forming foods (especially fried or processed foods), the body sickens. In its marvelous wisdom, the body will make every possible effort to rebalance this transgression by expelling as quickly as possible, all the acid-forming residues. But when this alkaline reserve is depleted, death follows."

The book has lists of foods and their alkaline/acid levels and a wealth of other information that I will have to continue to refer to before I actually comprehend it but it all makes perfect sense to me. Especially seeing as I've come to know my body and it's reactions to food very well over the past few years. I can accept what Dr. Baroody says as truth because it's been my personal experience.

Here's what I found to be maybe the most important thing said in the book so far, while I truly believe 1000% that it matters WHAT we put into our body, it is just as important to eat the proper portion of food -

"On reviewing nearly 2000 reported cases of persons who lived more than a century, we generally find some peculiarity of diet or habits to account for their alleged longevity; we find some were living amongst all the luxuries life could afford, others in the most abject poverty - begging their bread; some were samples of symmetry and physique, others cripples; some drank large quantities of water, others little; some were total abstainers from alcoholic drinks, others drunkards; some smoked tobacco, others did not; some lived entirely on vegetables, others to a great extent on animal foods; some led active lives, others sedentary, some worked with their brains, others with their hands; some ate one meal a day, others four or five; some few ate large quantities of food, others a small amount; in fact we notice great divergence both in habits and diet but in those cases where we have been able to obtain a reliable account of the diet, we find one great cause which accounts for the majority of cases of longevity: moderation in the quantity of food."

"You are what you eat" (and how much) or better yet, "You are what you ingest". Now go eat an apple or something (preferably with no chemicals on it)!

xo,
Carrie