You know alkaline food is good for you. You know it’s the best way to fight acid, reduce inflammation, slim down, gain boundless energy, and fight diseases from the common cold all the way to cancer.
But did you know it can also be a delicious way to eat?
This is one of the most important mindset shifts I see my patients make. And I recognize it because I made it too.
When I first heard about the alkaline diet, I was eating about 70% acid and 30% alkaline. That’s a far cry from the way I eat now, which is 80% alkaline and never exceeding 20% acid, or the 80/20 Alkaline Rule as I like to call it.
I ate tons of sugar, and that was one of my biggest sources of acid.
I had tried giving up sugar before. But it never worked.
Why? I always associated giving up sugar and other acidic foods with pain. As in, that would be too hard, I’d miss my favorite foods, and those healthy foods just can’t taste as good.
Newsflash: That mindset is never going to lead to what you want.
If you feel like you’re depriving yourself, you’re not going to make lasting changes in regards to your diet.
I’m willing to bet you already know that from experience, right? Pretty much everyone who has ever tried a diet knows that.
It was only when I shifted my mindset that I made the change for good. And once I did, it went from being too hard and too much of a pain to easy (or I should say, easier at first as it does take time to change a lifelong addiction) and enjoyable.
Like I always say, moderation, not deprivation!
So today, I’ve got 5 tips for making alkaline food that is not only healthy, but a pleasure to eat. Remember, I’m a certified raw food chef, so I’m all about delicious food, as long as it’s alkaline (THAT is why I became certified).
- Pump up the flavor factor.
This is the single best advice I can tell anyone who wants to lose weight, get rid of fatigue, or prevent illness. Don’t skimp on the flavor!
Keeping your food full of flavor from meal to meal is the best way to stick with the alkaline lifestyle.
Now don’t get me wrong – I enjoy carrot sticks as much as the next guy. But unless I’ve got some garlicky hummus to dip them in, I’m going to lose interest pretty quickly (IF I even get started!).
So, as you’re meal planning – and this goes for lunch as much as dinner because lunches often get left out and feel pretty bland as a result – take a moment with each meal to think about how you can incorporate flavor.
Making zoodles (zucchini noodles) for dinner?
Same thing – they are healthier, but ALONE, blahhh! Pair them with a Thai curry or a flavorful Italian tomato sauce, or one of my favorites, Spinach Lemon Pesto, BOOM!
Prepping salads for weekday lunches?
Whip up an alkaline creamy herb dressing or use the herbs and spices you have on hand to create your own zesty dressing.
Tired of eating plain raw almonds and cashews as a snack? Toss the nuts with spices and herbs like rosemary, basil, sea salt, and cayenne.
Whatever you’re making, think flavor. Keep fresh herbs in your kitchen (better yet, grow you own), stock your pantry with a wide variety of spices, and try new combinations each time you cook.
And if you like a little caliente, chili peppers and dried spices like cayenne are alkaline and naturally raise the metabolism, so don’t be afraid to add heat!
- Satisfy all the senses.
You know the saying: You eat with your eyes first. The great thing about eating alkaline is that foods that are good for you are also beautiful!
Many of the most colorful foods are also the most nutrient-rich. So fill each meal with a rainbow of alkaline foods – red bell peppers, beets, sprouts, cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes – and you’ll enjoy it that much more.
But it doesn’t stop there. Have you ever heard that your sense of smell is closely tied to your sense of taste?
If you’ve had a cold and been stuffed up, you’ve probably experienced this for yourself. Food is bland when it only hits your taste buds.
Let the aromas of alkaline foods fill your kitchen using herbs, spices, and cooking techniques like roasting and sautéing.
- Don’t skimp on the salt.
There’s a lot of confusion out there about this, and people often think they are doing something wrong or bad for their health by adding salt to their food.
Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, what if we put all the fish in the ocean on a NO-SALT diet? They would die, and we are no different!
One of the fastest ways to kill yourself is by restricting the salt in your diet. Your body requires salt to be alive.
Our bodies don’t run on calories, proteins, fats, or carbs. Our bodies are electrical and we run on salt.
Remember, you are made up of more than 70% water, and in case you never thought about it, that’s salt water, my friends. Just like your tears, the water in your body is salinated.
So here’s the deal with salt and why there is so much confusion.
Not all salts are created equal! Just like with fat, there are salts that heal and salts that kill.
Table salt is heavily processed with numerous additives and at the same time, stripped of the good stuff in sea salt. An astounding 77% of our sodium intake comes from restaurant and processed foods, so you’re already getting more of than enough of this anytime you eat out or eat food that comes in a package.
So don’t cook at home with table salt. Instead, use as much as you want of the good-for-you salts.
These are 4 salts I recommend because they are rich in minerals and trace elements, which we all need more of:
- Celtic grey sea salt
- Himalayan sea salt
- Redmond Real Salt
- Hawaiian Black Sea Salt (with activated charcoal from coconuts)
So many foods come alive in flavor with just a sprinkle of salt. That’s why just about all processed food, even sweet ones, have salt in them.
Steal a trick from the big food companies by adding good-for-you salt to just about everything you eat.
- Adjust your sweet tooth.
If it’s sweet foods you love, there are a lot of ways to satisfy your craving while fully living this lifestyle at the same time.
But more importantly, you need to make sure your sweet tooth is not trying to tell you something.
Consistently having a sweet tooth could mean you’re DEFICIENT…and not in chocolate!
On the other hand, when you crave sweets your body crying for more magnesium, one of the most universally deficient minerals in humans.
We’re consuming less magnesium though vegetables now than ever before because the mineral is less present in our soil.
Did you know that…
- It now takes 60 servings of spinach to get the same amount of MINERALS as just one serving in 1948!
- We have to eat 8 oranges to get the same amount of Vitamin C as our grandparents got from 1 orange.
- Since 1950, the calcium in our broccoli dropped from 130mg to 48mg.
- Compared to vegetables grown in 1975, veggies today have 37% less iron and 30% less Vitamin C!
So what’s the takeaway?
Even when you are TRYING, it has become tremendously hard for you to get the nutrients that you need on a daily basis!
Supplementation is not a luxury, it’s become a necessity!
Magnesium is perhaps the biggest deficiency I see all across the board with my patients, young to old…
I recommend you take a magnesium supplement but don’t make the mistake most people make.
Never take magnesium by itself, as it can cause other minerals (especially calcium, potassium, and sodium) to become depleted. Look for a supplement that contains all 4 crucial alkaline minerals, and make sure that the calcium and magnesium is in a 1:1 ratio.
You also want to make sure you get a quality magnesium supplement because your standard tablet is expensive rocks that just pass through your system and become expensive urine!
Instead, opt for a powdered mineral supplement like Alkamind Daily Minerals that will boost your absorption and assimilation by 70 to 88%.
Once a magnesium deficiency is out of the way, your desire for sugar will cut way back, and it won’t take as much sweetness to satisfy you (be sure to add in some healthy fats as well). But it’s still nice to have sweet options to end your day or for a special treat.
Keep in mind any of our alkaline smoothies can be an afternoon snack or dessert – they don’t just have to be for breakfast! And you can check out these delicious desserts too:
- Frozen Chocolate Tropical Monkey
- Alkaline Strawberry Ice Cream
- Spiced Pear and Apple Crumble
- The Original Vanilla Coconut Chia Pudding
- Add more of the alkaline foods you love.
Adding just one or two raw alkaline foods into your diet every day will make a huge difference for your health without feeling like sacrifice or deprivation. I call this the ADD, not subtract approach to health…and it works!
To start, try to eat one additional alkalizing food every single day, and then later you can add on as you go.
Great alkalizing foods to start with include:
- Avocados – add slices to top salads, bowls, and soups instead of cheese
- Raw almond butter – use it anytime you would reach for peanut butter
- Red bell pepper – sautéed, as a snack, or sliced to top a salad
- Jalapeño – slice it and top just about anything you want to have a little kick
- Celery – perfect sauce and soup starter because it’s so full of flavor
- Cauliflower – makes a versatile side dish instead of potatoes
- Ginger – grate it into savory dishes and replace sugar with it in sweet foods
- Lemons, grapefruit, and limes – add citrus flavor to practically anything
- Tomatoes – as a sauce, as a snack, stuffed, or as a soup
- Squash – butternut, zucchini, summer, and spaghetti provide you with tons of options
As you add more and more alkaline foods, you’ll naturally be replacing acidic foods with these better choices. Before you know it, you’ll be a lot closer to the 80/20 alkaline lifestyle than you think!
Want to know whether your favorite foods are alkaline or acidic?
The Ultimate Alkaline/Acid Food Guide has easy, clear information about the acidity or alkalinity of hundreds of foods, so get your free copy now.