So you think you can eat enough greens to alkalize without supplements or alkaline water?

US Surgeon-General, David Satcher, blasted the health establishment rules at the Greenville Hospital System’s Minority Health Summit. he blasted the apathetic attempts at nutrition by the average American, and pointed out the consequence; massive diabetes outbreaks across the nation. Diabetes, the focus of the fourth annual minority health event at the Carolina First Center, messes up almost every organ system in the human body, Satcher said. It’s a cause of blindness, limb amputations, kidney failure, heart disease and stroke. The Satcher prescription calls for at least 30 minutes of exercise five days a week and a minimum of five servings of vegetables and fruits daily. Better yet, he said, 60 minutes and nine servings. Also, eat whole grains instead of foods made with white flour, brown rice instead of white, and choose low- or nonfat dairy products."

This is very interesting to me. Last night I watched the ABC Science show, Catalyst, (see it here) where Australian researchers at the Garvin Institute showed the correlation between fibre intake and inflammation. They have actually observed this link, the first time ever, between fibre, bacteria and cells.

Fibre is the 'chaff' for the horses - in this case the kilo and a half of bacteria in our gut. The bacteria feed on the fibre, and in doing so, ferments it into short chain fatty acids, which then come into contact with immune cells. Receptors on the immune cells use these short chain fatty acids as 'signal' activators. When they meet, the receptor on the cell signals the immune cell to 'get to work' reducing inflammation. The program interviewed a woman in Perth who has had spectacular results in improving both her diabetes and her cholesterol just by ensuring she took in 40 grams of fibre every day. The program called this a 'whopping amount' pointing out that most of us only get around 12grams.

To me, 40 grams isn't 'whopping'. It's the 12 grams that are whopping. Whoppingly inadequate and indicative of the total failure of our system to educate us about diet. Of course it's easy to blame the fast fooders, the school lunches, the Cokes.. but really, 40 grams isn't 'whopping' in our household and we love what we eat.

There are two important points I want to share here. Firstly; we still have a few of that amazing DVD "Simply Raw' where we see ordinary '12 gram' people beat their Diabetes 1 and 2, on a raw diet. So is it the raw food or the fibre, or both?

I believe the raw food that the people in the DVD consumed was exceptionally good, organic etc, AND high fibre, so it worked both ways. I also believe their diet suddenly gained greenery - that is, they began eating greens as well as fibre, so they began to alkalise.

We've heard many stories from alkalizing clients who were struggling with diabetes but we can't legally talk about them here. But it's my belief that alkalizing and fibre and greens are all MAJOR contributors to the return to vitality.

Inflammation is a big news right now. Look up inflammation diets on Google and you'll see they are a hot subject. It's just so obvious; inflammation happens through excess acidity, and excess acidity is a result of inflammation. Yes, fibre gets our immune system to reduce inflammation with the help of our gut flora, but our immune system is only capable of working if it's healthy, wellfed and strong, which brings us back to greens, hydration and alkalizing.

The beauty of our human bodies is the interdependence of all of its aspects. A kidney isn't just a kidney. It does what it does as an eliminator, but it supports or takes part in so many other important functions. And when we see this kind of research identifying one such inter-relationship of fibre to immune cells, it reminds us of our own magnificent body.. and hopefully allows us to give it a little more care and attention.

I love this stuff! I love to see what I am capable of in this amazing age of scientific advances and release and sharing of information! And I love to watch my mind connect the dots between these isolated facts and studies. Alkaline balance is to do with everything we do; heart, elimination, immunity, lungs, skin... It is, to me, the base, the substrate of our body systems. Ignore it at our own risk, yet as David Satcher pointed out, most of us are doing just that.