I received the question above today, and it's a good one.
I was a vegetarian for 12 years.
Now I eat meat, chicken, lamb, fish, and LOTS of saturated fats. I have a coconut oil smoothie twice a day, and lots of greens. A diet like mine isn’t an alkaline diet. It’s an acid-alkaline diet and my main philosophy isn’t just alkalizing. It’s alkalizing AND as close to total carbohydrate reduction as I can. On this diet I’ve seen friends who were skinny gain weight, and friends who were obese lose weight. I eat very little fruit – a few blueberries with my coco oil smoothie.
As you can see, I'm neither raw nor green, but I'm thriving, and so is everyone I recommend my diet to. Although.. I don't actually personally recommend it to many because it's always a battle to get anyone hooked on sugar to give it up, and honestly, I don't have the time to 'convert' people one on one.
Alkaline diet as purveyed on the net still has some work to do. Over my decade of consulting I've come to see that the old axiom 'one man's meat is another man's poison' is true. We can't all leap onto the same diet. I've also noticed that the purveyors of alkaline diet are moving the same way, now saying that raw is simply too hard, and that if you keep working towards the 80/20 rule (80% alkaline ash producing foods, 20% acid ash producing foods), you'll do OK.
Most purveyors of the diet are also interested in selling you their products - and that includes us. But there are some very good people out there putting in a great deal of work to educate the public and to provide free information to all. just understand that we are all selling you our products and we are all still learning ourselves.
That being said, it's not hard to see that my diet doesn't look like the ideal alkaline diet as 'sold' on the net. Frankly, it's not, and it's the result of a huge amount of research on both my part and my partner Cassie, who is the best health researcher I know.
So let's dissect it line by line: 1. I was a vegetarian for 12 years.
I did pretty well, considering I did what almost all vegies do. It's called the lazy vegetarian syndrome.
I ate bread and pasta to fill me up. Almost all vegies do. Raw foodies, who can't have bread, get their energy form sugar in the form of fructose in fruits.
I tried to cut it out, but because it is carbs I was trying to cut out, and I wasn't willing to replace them with high voltage foods like red meat, my energy suffered. looking back on it, I'd have to say the energy I got from my sugar and carbs was all quite transitory and i still suffered the ups and downs and lack of 'earthing' that one sees so often in 'lazy vegies'.
I still don't understand it, but when I began on alkaline water, I suddenly had an urge to eat meat. When I did, I had an amazing experience. It was as if a part of me returned.. a warrior aspect of myself and it felt.. strong. I've heard of similar experiences from many alkaline water users when their body seems to come alive again and start asking for what it wants.
2. Now I eat meat, chicken, lamb, fish, and LOTS of saturated fats.
And I have energy. Strength. Endurance. Fire. I read enough of Mary Enig's and sally Fallon's Eat Fat Lose Weight book to understand that I'd been led up the garden path by experts on the fat question. To encapsulate what they and other excellent writers say, when we became carb dependent and were told to reduce fat, we lost the source of energy we previously received from fat. At the same time I was researching coconut oil and actually wrote my own book about it. Coconut oil is a saturated fat. It also worked for me to slow up my obvious first symptoms of Alzheimers'. within 3 days of going onto a double dose of coco oil and kefir smoothie daily, my mind 'twanged' up into shape.
But meat?
Let's take a quick tour of our history, courtesy of Dr Wolfgang Lutz MD in his book, Life Without Bread. Dr Lutz says:
"In the beginning, during the abiotic-biotic transition, which stretched over about a billion years, nutrients consisted of carbohydrates. later, animals lived ona mixed diet of plants and other animals. The first primates were insectivores, eating mostly animal matter (and some plant substances) whereas the apes succeeding them were mainly vegetarian, but also ate a fair amount of raw meat. As tree-dwellers, the apes' diet consisted chiefly of leaves, fruit and shoots, some meat, but little starch.
Then, about six million years ago, the hominids branched off to develop along their own lines, and this involved a transition to the life of a hunter and to a diet consisting almost exclusively of meat and fat, which formed the bulk of the human diet until a few thousand years ago."
Yes, meat. But always grassfed and organic production.
3. I have a coconut oil smoothie twice a day, and lots of greens.
We've talked about the smoothie, but not the kefir. Kefir is a mould that converts milk into a yoghurt-like form. You drop the mould into a jug of milk, wait 36 hours at room temperature, and you have kefir. You remove 'Clarence' (our name for the mould) and store him in a small jar of milk while you consume your kefir.
Both kefir and yogurt are cultured milk products…
…but they contain different types of beneficial bacteria. Yogurt contains transient beneficial bacteria that keep the digestive system clean and provide food for the friendly bacteria that reside there. But kefir can actually colonize the intestinal tract, a feat that yogurt cannot match.
Kefir contains several major strains of friendly bacteria not commonly found in yogurt, (Lactobacillus Caucasus, Leuconostoc, Acetobacter species, and Streptococcus species).
It also contains beneficial yeasts, such as Saccharomyces kefir and Torula kefir, which dominate, control and eliminate destructive pathogenic yeasts in the body. They do so by penetrating the mucosal lining where unhealthy yeast and bacteria reside, forming a virtual SWAT team that housecleans and strengthens the intestines. Hence, the body becomes more efficient in resisting such pathogens as E. coli and intestinal parasites.
Kefir’s active yeast and bacteria provide more nutritive value than yogurt by helping digest the foods that you eat and by keeping the colon environment clean and healthy. Because the curd size of kefir is smaller than yogurt, it is also easier to digest, which makes it a particularly excellent, nutritious food for babies, the elderly and people experiencing chronic fatigue and digestive disorders.
Now, if you've read Dr Robert O. Young's books and followed his web discussions, you may be wondering what the hell I'm up to, because Dr Young says we must absolutely not allow any 'mould' into our bodies. 'Mould' in his view, includes mushrooms, an excellent source of alkaline mineral potassium, and also riboflavin, niacin and selenium. He further suggests that we should not consume vinegar 'because it is fermented'. Well I can't agree. Every time we breath in, we are ingesting thousands of mould spores. We have kilos of mould within us in a symbiotic relationship with our body. Without mould, we wouldn't live a week, because mould in the form of various yeasts breaks down pathogens in our food. Mould, yeast and bacteria all play their part in fermentation and breakdown of our food into energy. Mould is used to create enzymes in the body. From what I have read, mould, fungus and bacteria act in a concerted, synergistic dance of food conversion within our body. Being synergistic, trying to eliminate one of the 'dancers' will almost certainly affect their ability to achieve their purpose; good digestion, good elimination and efficient energy conversion.
I also disagree with his definition of moulds. Surely home use, store bought vinegar today is basically acetic acid, and as such, how can it be called a mould? And yet he does. Moulds are also yoghurt, tempeh, red rice yeast and all cheese. Wines and beers have also undergone fermentation, but does it follow that when you drink a '62 Montepulciano Rosso you are ingesting live mould?
So as I said earlier, I believe there is work to be done on acid/alkaline theory by some of its proponents.
And obviously, Dr Young wouldn't be recommending my Kefir.
Finally, my diet is possible because it is an acid/alkaline diet, not an alkaline diet. i am eating and drinking ample yet not excessive amounts of good acids and in the form of daily fresh greens, good alkalis.
I posted a tiny comment on our Facebook page this morning about limes being 150% more acid than lemons and Leigh asked for clarification. "Hi," she wrote, "would love more explanation please. I thought limes and lemons were alkaline producing when eaten?"
It's a 'given' in alkaline theory that a lemon or lime is an excellent alkalizing method. And so it is.. with a little proviso I'm about to share.
Fundamental theory
The fundamental theory of alkaline balance is that we require sufficient alkaline minerals in our alkaline buffer. This 'buffer' is actually held in the blood and in other parts of the body so that when required to neutralise excess acid, it is available. A healthy body will have enough alkaline minerals that will be used by the body to produce enough Hydroxyl ions (negative hydrogen ions) to be able to react which the acids and neutralise them.
The key to the science is the idea that it's not the amount of acids and alkalis we consume, but the amount left over after metabolism. Sang Whang, author of Reverse Aging says that an absolute majority of our foods (about 98%) is made up of carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen. Only protein contains nitrogen. These are the energy givers, and they actually burn, using oxygen as the fuel. After they burn, they become acid waste, including acetic acid, cholesterol, lactic acid, fatty acids, carbonic acid, uric acid and ammonia.
The 2% of the food that isn't any of the above is alkaline and acid minerals, including potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron, sulphur, chlorine, iodine etc..
So that a mere 2% of what we eat is classed as 'alkaline' if there is more of the first four above, and 'acid' if there is more acids in the 2%.
Where beginners get into trouble is trying to find 'alkaline food'. There's no such thing; all foods are a mix of acids and alkalis. Trying to live by an 'alkaline diet' will simply deprive you of the fuel that runs your body.
Now here's where I differ from the lemon argument. The lemon argument says it's a wonderful fruit because it has low-to-no sugar and a good supply of alkaline minerals that will be left over after metabolism. All true so far. But the taste of the lemon is acidic; indeed, it's loaded with citric acid. So you will stock up on your alkalis (within the limits of how much lemon juice you can drink) but you'll also be stocking up on citric acid. Just because the ratio of citric acid and alkalis is beneficial doesn't mean the citric acid can't hurt you.
You can't just change 'a little bit'.
It's my belief, (only from my own decade of observing people alkalizing), that if you are still following an acidic diet in any form, the excess acids that can't be immediately converted into salts and CO2, or released as urine, will be stored as toxins in the body fat. If you eat too much food, the excess acids that your body can't immediately handle will be shunted off into fatty tissue, where it can't hurt you, at least in the short term. It's the body's modern way of protecting the vulnerable kidneys from overload, and the rest of the body from inflammation, which is the effect of excess acids.
Lemons aren't enough.. So yes, your lemon has increased your alkali reserves, but it's odds on that if you are already excessively acidic and your body has taken this strategic retreat on, then the lovely alkalis you just got will be used up and the acetic acids will be sent off to your buttocks waist or belly fat.
Just have a think about the acid/alkaline ratio between one lemon juice and a pizza. It's obvious your lemon juice is 'wasted' as soon as it becomes available in your buffer.
My feeling is that you really need to eat less. Excess eating means excess and immediate acids and the need fro the body to take immediate action to alleviate a plunging blood pH. I have read a number of doctors who say that you'll begin converting live bone from your skeleton within hours of eating an oversize steak, just because you have to; blood pH is so important it comes first in line for remedial action.Moderate exercise also has a major part to play in burning up excess acids. Not flat-out hardcore gym work; that produces its own acids, but I find it hard to live without the benefits of my 5 km walk around the Cape most days.
An Acidic Body is Voracious
So a lemon drink in the morning is going to supply 2% or less alkaline minerals (per volume) for your alkaline buffer, but an acidic body is voracious for alkalis, and my feeling is that unless you commit to a more rounded approach to alkaline balance, you are wasting your time. Sure, a lemon will help cleanse a sluggish liver in the morning, or make you feel sharp for a while.. but the body is always working to keep that blood pH down, and you're going to have to change more about your lifestyle than a lemon drink!
I intentionally didn't finish my discussion of Hydroxyl ions as pH, because it's a bit heady. However you can download my white paper on the subject here. It's been reproduced on countless websites round the globe, and it really does take you to the next level of understanding the difference between alkalinity and pH.
Boy, the data is really coming in thick and fast, as more and more scientists concur on the need for a more alkaline diet. Here's another study that concludes in part that "increasing the alkali content of the diet may attenuate bone loss in healthy older adults."
And while you are in a browsing mood, remember that great book I recommended, Building Bone Vitality" by Dr Amy Lou Lanou? Take a look at what the New York Times had to say about it here.
The usual diagnosis method for gout is invasive; doctors are required to draw fluid from the gout area and check for the presence of uric acid crystals.
Now computer assisted tomography can actually 'see' the crystals, as in this pic. Unfortunately so far, unless you live in Canada, the new technique is not much good to you.
Also, one wonders the real use of such a wonderful technique when gout is pretty darn self-evident, and easily diagnosable. So is the therapy; alkalize! More about the technique here
Last weekend our Sydney Morning Herald had an article on three people following three radically different diets.
The first one was a fitness instructor who only ate raw meat. The second was a woman who had been eating only fruit for years and looked like she'd blow away if someone opened a window.
The third was a Chinese Traditional medicine therapist who made the most sense by a country mile.
Dr Qi Chen, 50, but looking thirty, discussed his and his family's diet. He eats up to 70% rice, with more vegetables and less meat - about half the meat ordinary Chinese eat. For breakfast, he eats Congee - rice porridge mixed with green barley and sweet potato. He encourages his son to eat one egg a day for the brain, the memory and thr lipids (fats) Like Cassie and I, he's not a dairy fan at all. 'Once children grow up, no more milk. Too much growth hormone in it. If adults have too much growth hormone, can be prone to cancer".
He's also like me in that he doesn't try to drink lots of water, because he believes that drinking too much water makes the kidneys work too hard. He won't drink tap water. and if he does, he leaves it out overnight for the gaseous chlorine to dissipate. I only drink about a litre and a half a day because my ION LIFE water is so hydrating, my body tells me it's had enough with less.
"We don't drink mineral water. Australian mineral water is too acid. You have to check the pH level. if over 7, this water good. Lower then seven should be avoided. It can cause stone in the body - kidney stone, gallstone."
His basic dietary philosophy revolves around keeping the body in an alkaline rather than an acid state. He believes that cancer cannot survive in an alkaline environment, and that normal cells mutate because of an excessively acidic inner terrain. "Too much free radical. That make our DNA mutate. Alkalized blood makes our DNA more stable."
When we began to talk about alkaline balance eight years ago they thought I was nuts. How things change!
It appears that Americans are taking up better diet choices for the simple reason that they can't afford the rubbish they (and we Australians) usually scoff (pardon my skeptical bent) The graph above from the Wall Street Journal is very clear; less money may actually mean better health!
Last night was a great night for us. We hired the local theatre and screened “Simply Raw: 30 Days to Reverse Diabetes” This video just blew us away when we saw it, so much so that after watching it at home we immediately decided to share it by hiring the local theatre. It’s one of those rare videos that has you jumping for joy.
We printed brochures, we advertised, we talked about it on our blog, and after all of that the 110 seat theatre held just 42 souls. And please don’t mention breaking even!
And yet, for us, it was a roaring success, due to a large degree to one little boy.
Now you’d think that a movie about curing diabetes naturally would bring diabetics, wouldn’t you? Me too. But it actually seemed to bring raw foodies, and general natural health people – at least that’s the feedback we got from people as they filed into the theatre.
It was only after the show, as people gathered in the foyer, that we discovered young Matt. All of ten years old, he’d come with his parents, and his Dad approached me first. “Are you hoping to run a 30-Day retreat?” “Yes, we are.” I answered. “Are you interested?” “Not me,” said Dad, “Him! Do you have age restrictions?” I looked at this beautiful kid. He was looking back at me with open, hopeful eyes. “Are you a diabetic too?” I asked. “Yep” he said, his eyes never leaving mine. “And would you want to go 30 days on raw food like the film?” I asked. “Yep.” He answered. No question about it. He knew what he’s seen.
Of course, we have no ‘policy’ about age. Hey, we haven’t even arranged the retreat yet. But I’d love to see young Matt there. He’s Type 1 diabetic; the one the experts say is incapable of producing insulin. Yet we’d just witnessed a young man on the video who got completely off his injections and medications, who stopped peeing at all hours, whose sight stopped deteriorating, and who had, as a result of his 30-day experience, decided on a change of lifestyle to naturopath specialising in raw foods so he could ‘spread the love’. (And only after the retreat did he learn that he was a misdiagnosed Type 1 ‘incurable’). I saw an old, overweight lady completely off insulin return home and begin a local awareness program targeting doctors and health care centres. I saw a elderly Italian American man change before my eyes into someone with light in his eyes and purpose in his life.. all because the proof was incontrovertible. The retreat worked.
So even though there was only one young diabetic we know of attending, it was still such a great night that I awoke this morning still buzzing - because I knew we had something that can change lives right here in the palm of our hands.
So.. there WILL be a 30 day retreat in the new year. There WILL be a chance to attend. It WILL change lives, attitudes and futures.
I also will have copies of the DVD so you can experience the Video yourselves and pass the message on to your friends.
My lesson of the night came from watching a 26-year old man on the video. He was being asked why he didn’t want to make the final jump to no insulin at all. His answer: “Because all my life, every doctor I ever went to told me I’d be on insulin for the rest of my life.” That explained to me why we had so few diabetics responding to our advertising and brochures. They believe that investigating a cure for diabetes, when their doctor has told them it is hopeless, will only bring on new pain and disappointment. So rather than investigate and come along, they stayed home with their insulin.
This morning I talked to Peter, my own doctor. He agreed. People don’t believe they can be healed, and he added that research into anti-diabetes drugs is taking on more and more complex drug research avenues. Just like cancer, just like heart disease, just like just what is happening for about every ‘incurable’ ailment. And yet think about it! Raw food diets heal diabetes!
So if you have a friend with Diabetes type one or two, please tell them to check out my site. If they just sign on to my newsletter I’ll make sure they have access to news as it happens about the video and the 30 day retreat. Why? Because I love the feeling of getting up in the morning knowing I changed the world in my small way yesterday!
For you Aussies.. please let me know if you'd like a local screening and we'll see what we can do in the new year. You can email me at ianATionlife.info
Readers are asking me about who really does have the 'real thing' with the amazing images of crystalline water seen in the press, video and on websites.
There are a number of companies with Dr Emoto's pictures associated with their product. In our discussion with Dr Emoto's staff at Hado International, Dr Emoto's Institute, we were told that there are many examples of his images being used without authority or tests having taken place. I have talked to many people who have bought water units because they believed that the unit created the crystals like Dr Emoto creates, but never realised that the truth may not be quite as advertised.
If you are in doubt, email Dr Emoto's Australian representative, Lawrence Ellyard here and ask him yourself. If you'd like to see the images of water from an ION LIFE Water alkalizer, click here.
Here's a 5 minute video clip about the work of Dr Shinya, whose colonoscopic movies make er.. gripping viewing. If you can overcome your reluctance about rectal views, there is some amazing evidence about the effect of alkaline water and diet on colon health. Click Here
