02 Diet

[Skull Pilot]

Exercise is the best way to prevent bone loss and eating a diet that is a net alkaline (ph > 7) helps too.

No debate about exercise (at least weight bearing exercise, swimming is great for your heart but isn't going to help your bone density.) But an alkaline diet? What is the logic behind that? Especially since, by the time you digest it, your food is going to go from alternating acidic and alkaline environments.

You are familiar with blood and tissue ph yes?

A diet that leaves a net alkaline level will raise your blood and tissue pH.

And when I said exercise is the best way to prevent bone loss, I meant weight bearing exercise as well as aerobic. As with all things a varies routine is best as an unvarying routine has diminishing benefits.

 

[geauxtohell]

]
You are familiar with blood and tissue ph yes?

Yes.

A diet that leaves a net alkaline level will raise your blood and tissue pH.

Short of ingesting massive amounts of anti-acids what diet would do that and what is the physiological effect of pushing your body towards the high side of the pH level? Metabolic alkalosis is generally not a good thing.

And when I said exercise is the best way to prevent bone loss, I meant weight bearing exercise as well as aerobic. As with all things a varies routine is best as an unvarying routine has diminishing benefits.

I was just pointing out that, for bone strengthening, you have to do a weight bearing exercise (i.e. walking or jogging). Weight neutral exercise like swimming won't do anything for your bones, but anaerobic exercise is good for other things.

 

[Skull Pilot]

]
You are familiar with blood and tissue ph yes?

Yes.

A diet that leaves a net alkaline level will raise your blood and tissue pH.

Short of ingesting massive amounts of anti-acids what diet would do that and what is the physiological effect of pushing your body towards the high side of the pH level? Metabolic alkalosis is generally not a good thing.

And when I said exercise is the best way to prevent bone loss, I meant weight bearing exercise as well as aerobic. As with all things a varies routine is best as an unvarying routine has diminishing benefits.

I was just pointing out that, for bone strengthening, you have to do a weight bearing exercise (i.e. walking or jogging). Weight neutral exercise like swimming won't do anything for your bones, but anaerobic exercise is good for other things.

the pH of your stomach is not the pH of the entire body. We know that the body has mechanisms designed to keep the internal Ph at a slightly basic level. Eating highly acidic diet stresses those mechanisms a lifetime of these stresses can lead to less efficiency in the bodily systems.

I have taken my own saliva Ph levels when I started eating as I outlined earlier and over the course of a few months I raised the pH of my saliva (therefore i can reasonably assume my blood and tissue to some degree) from just over 6 (acidic) to just under 7.5 (alkaline).

The only thing I did was change my diet.

 

[editec]

If you can find Redwood Hill Farm goat milk yogurt in your area (Whole Foods carries it here), the vanilla flavor is fabulous - tastes like cheese cake!

I've never heard of this diet - what's the basic food plan?

Well, for example, today we had a blackberry-pecan parfait for breakfast, A cup of fresh blackberries and some pecan pieces mixed with 3/4 cup of plain Greek yogurt. We had a morning snack of steamed asparagus with olive oil and lemon juice (there's a lot of lemon juice in this diet). Lunch was a Cobb salad with romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, deli-sliced turkey and ham, reduced-fat cheddar cheese, and avocado with grapeseed oil, lemon juice, and dill drizzled on it (SOO good). Afternoon snack was half a peach with cottage cheese. And dinner was a grilled chicken breast with basil and more asparagus with Parmesan cheese.

Some of the other meals I can remember are toast with cottage cheese and avocado, omelets made with one whole egg and two egg whites and a variety of green veggies and cheese, flank steak with a berry sauce, like that. The idea is to cut out most carbs and concentrate on foods high in antioxidants and very nutrient-dense. Also, of course, you eat small portions and five times a day rather than three. Oh, and you drink 8 cups of water with a tablespoon of lemon juice per cup each day, and two cups of green tea. This being Arizona and warming up, we're drinking a lot more of both than that. I bought a case of diet green tea with citrus in bottles and another case of SoBe LifeWater, so that I can carry something with me while doing the census.

Sounds like a damned expensive diet to me.

You want to get healthier?

Stop eating preprocessed food.

They have too much sugar and too much salt, and they've cooked the nutrients out of them, too.

Not only will your food taste better, but it will be better for you, too.

 

[geauxtohell]

the pH of your stomach is not the pH of the entire body. We know that the body has mechanisms designed to keep the internal Ph at a slightly basic level. Eating highly acidic diet stresses those mechanisms a lifetime of these stresses can lead to less efficiency in the bodily systems.

I am aware of that, but your metabolism and respiratory system work in concert to keep your blood pH at a range of 7.35 to 7.45 via:

H2O + CO2 <=> H2CO3 <=> H+ + HCO3-

So if you alter your metabolic profile, you are just going to compensate with your respiratory system.

I have taken my own saliva Ph levels when I started eating as I outlined earlier and over the course of a few months I raised the pH of my saliva (therefore i can reasonably assume my blood and tissue to some degree) from just over 6 (acidic) to just under 7.5 (alkaline).

The only thing I did was change my diet.

You might have increased your renal re-absorption and your systematic bicarbonate levels, but you would still compensate by slight hypo-ventilation to push the equillibrium back to the right. Like I said, metabolic alkalosis is a pathological state that the body doesn't want to be in.

 

[Skull Pilot]

the pH of your stomach is not the pH of the entire body. We know that the body has mechanisms designed to keep the internal Ph at a slightly basic level. Eating highly acidic diet stresses those mechanisms a lifetime of these stresses can lead to less efficiency in the bodily systems.

I am aware of that, but your metabolism and respiratory system work in concert to keep your blood pH at a range of 7.35 to 7.45 via:

H2O + CO2 <=> H2CO3 <=> H+ + HCO3-

So if you alter your metabolic profile, you are just going to compensate with your respiratory system.

I have taken my own saliva Ph levels when I started eating as I outlined earlier and over the course of a few months I raised the pH of my saliva (therefore i can reasonably assume my blood and tissue to some degree) from just over 6 (acidic) to just under 7.5 (alkaline).

The only thing I did was change my diet.

You might have increased your renal re-absorption and your systematic bicarbonate levels, but you would still compensate by slight hypo-ventilation to push the equillibrium back to the right. Like I said, metabolic alkalosis is a pathological state that the body doesn't want to be in.

A pH of approx 7.4 is not alkalosis. In physiological terms it is the neutral. You really don't have to worry about alkalosis until your pH levels are well above 7.4 where a pH of 7 could rightly be called acidosis even though it is the value of chemical neutrality. And as with all values there is a range of "normal". My normal is not necessarily yours.

The point is that the body's natural pH is basic not neutral. There fore a highly acidic diet causes the body stress. Prolonged stress of bodily systems leads to premature breakdown of those systems and leaves the body more susceptible to disease.

 

[boedicca]

I have never understood how people can eat the greasy, rich food that is so common for breakfast: pork sausage, bacon, syrup, enormous omelets greasy with cheese . . . Ugh. I'm all for a solid, well-balanced breakfast, but just thinking about what many people eat in the morning makes me nauseous.

Those kind of breakfasts are for people who do heavy physical work all day. Such a person can easily handle 4,000 - 5,000 calories per day. For the rest of us, yogurt, fruit, or a bit of cereal should be plenty.

As an aside, this is another reason why I can't stand Starbucks. A mocha cappuccino and a scone burn up more than half the daily calories a woman should consume - yet this combo is pushed as a continental breakfast.

 

[Cecilie1200]

I have never understood how people can eat the greasy, rich food that is so common for breakfast: pork sausage, bacon, syrup, enormous omelets greasy with cheese . . . Ugh. I'm all for a solid, well-balanced breakfast, but just thinking about what many people eat in the morning makes me nauseous.

Those kind of breakfasts are for people who do heavy physical work all day. Such a person can easily handle 4,000 - 5,000 calories per day. For the rest of us, yogurt, fruit, or a bit of cereal should be plenty.

As an aside, this is another reason why I can't stand Starbucks. A mocha cappuccino and a scone burn up more than half the daily calories a woman should consume - yet this combo is pushed as a continental breakfast.

I don't have a problem with the food so much for the quantity and heaviness as I do for the greasiness and overly rich flavor. My stomach isn't awake enough to take that sort of abuse that early. Eggs are okay, as long as they're relatively plain, fruits and veggies are great, and simple carbs are what sits on my stomach best at that time of day.

I don't like Starbucks because neither their coffee nor their baked goods are good enough to warrant their ridiculous prices. I'd rather have wheat toast with fruit preserves and a coffee from the Circle K.

 

[Cecilie1200]

Okay, second day menu:

Breakfast - one slice of wheat toast spread with fat-free cottage cheese and a layer of sliced avocado. Much better-tasting than I expected, and my husband really liked it.

Snack - one cup of sliced red and green bell peppers. Always nice. I love raw veggies to snack on.

Lunch - one cup of lentil soup and a salad of mixed greens, cucumbers, and grape tomatoes drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice. I had never even SEEN a lentil before, and had trouble locating it in the store, but Joe and I both quite liked the flavor. Progresso makes a good lentil soup.

Snack - More sliced bell peppers. The menu actually called for edamame, which is another way of saying "soybeans", and I despise them, so I substituted the bell peppers again.

Dinner - Grilled salmon and steamed green beans drizzled with more lemon juice. As a kid, I only ever had canned salmon, which my mom made into fried patties. Barely tolerated them, and grew up thinking I didn't care for salmon. Quality salmon filets, though, are a whole 'nother kettle of fish (pun intended). VERY nice.

My tummy still feels a bit rumbly from wanting more food, but mostly, I'm just craving the crunch of my usual snacks rather than actually being hungry. I think by the end of the week, I'll be finding myself pretty satisfied, stomach-wise, by the menus.

 

[Cecilie1200]

Third Day:

Breakfast - Omelet with one whole egg and two egg whites, salmon, asparagus, feta cheese and dill. Absolutely wonderful. We both loved it. This is definitely going into our regular menu.

Snack - Sliced yellow and orange bell peppers with a handful of almonds.

Lunch - Lemon-Tuna Salad. Romaine lettuce, tuna in water, tomatoes yellow bell peppers, and carrots drizzled with lemon juice. Quite good. It was supposed to have pistachios on it, but I have no intention of paying $9 for a small container of pistachios, so we had some pecans with it.

Snack - Cherries with more almonds. Joe can't eat cherries (not sure why), so he had blackberries.

Dinner - Spicy Scallops with Spinach. I steamed the scallops and then sprinkled them with chili powder. Steamed the spinach. Then served them with sweet potato fries. Also a big hit. Joe took his to work, and I swear he's enjoying going off with a little packed lunch box almost as much as he's enjoying the food.

Joe reports that he went to donate blood on Tuesday, and while they think he needs to drink more fluids (he's been a bit resistant to drinking as much as the diet requires), his protein levels are just amazing. They were wanting to know what he'd been eating. So he's already showing some results. I'm feeling very good and cheerful, so this is definitely a good diet for mood control.