Does altering the pH level in your body with an alkaline diet play a huge part in getting you healthy? Faye Remedios gets a bit of a chemistry lesson. Supermodel Elle Macpherson, popularly known as ‘The Body’, credits her fabulous looks at the age of 54 to maintaining an alkaline body. She is such an enthusiastic proponent of this lifestyle that she reportedly carries around a pH balance urine-tester kit to make sure she stays in an alkaline state—which is nutty even by Hollywood standards. But she’s not alone: Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston and Victoria Beckham are believers too. So, what is this trend all about? Does it really help you? And how do you go about incorporating it in your life? We explain the alkaline diet to you. Read on to know more.
Cosmetic physician and author, Dr Jamuna Pai says this trend has basis in age-old Indian wisdom. “It was ancient practice to brush your teeth with a stick from the neem tree, also called datoon. This datoon stick had anti-bacterial properties, and not only helped one maintain oral hygiene but also cleansed the gut. After cleaning their teeth, people would rinse their mouths to expel a yellow fluid called ‘pith’ or bile, which signified an acidic system. They would continue to rinse till the colour of the water changed to nearly white, which was the sign of a clear gut with an ideal acid-alkaline balance.”
Reading the pH
If you score 7.1 to 7.4 on the pH scale, you are exactly where your body needs to be: slightly more alkaline than acidic. “At this level, your body is brimming with antioxidants, anti-ageing phytonutrients, essential minerals and vitamins, all of which will keep you young and healthy,” says Dr Pai. Basically, the alkaline diet is based on the acid/alkali theory of disease. “When we break down the food we eat, we are left with some waste products made up of the acidic content of food, called ‘ash’. Supporters of the alkaline diet believe that too much acidic ash leaves us vulnerable to diseases,” adds Dr Banerjee. Acidosis is when the body is unable to eliminate toxins, resulting in a host of chronic health problems. Nutritionist Kanchan Patwardhan says, “A body in a very acidic state will seek balance by drawing nutrients such as calcium or magnesium from the bones. This makes you prone to osteoporosis and makes your skin pale, your hair dry and your nails brittle.”
Going on an alkaline diet can also improve your overall health and keep diseases at bay because you are shunning unhealthy, refined, packaged foods, and opting for natural, wholesome, fresh foods. So, your heart health improves as you are eating less sodium and oil, you eat healthy fats instead of trans fats, and your skin and hair also show improvement due to the dietary changes you have made. Obviously, results don’t show overnight, so continue with the diet for at least 15 days to see how things look.
On the flip side
While this diet has its proponents, as with any diet, it’s not fool proof and experts advise treading with caution. There’s a school of thought that dismisses the pH diet altogether, and believes that our bodies are designed to maintain this balance without us having to do anything extra. Apart from this, it is also confusing to know which foods are acidic and which are alkaline. For instance, lemons are acidic in nature but turn alkaline when eaten on account of how they are metabolised by the body. Then, there is the aspect of overdoing it and going too alkaline. This causes your pH levels to go above 7.50, resulting in a condition called alkalosis. This causes neurological hypersensitivity, which can lead to irritability, nervousness, and muscle spasms.
The key, as always, lies in moderation. Dr Banerjee says, “It is not necessary to eat only alkaline foods in order to get your pH levels to be alkaline; a certain percentage of the diet can be acidic, but it is best to fill up on neutral whole foods, like fruits. There is much debate as to whether food can actually change the pH level of your blood, and therefore change the way your body handles certain diseases. At the end of the day, (the efficacy of this diet) could simply be a matter of eating better and cutting out unhealthy foods from your diet.”
Basically, any diet that encourages a high consumption of fruits, vegetables and plant-based foods, while restricting processed junk, is a good idea. What something like the acid-alkaline debate does is gets you to evaluate what you’re eating and how it affects your overall well-being. And there’s never a bad time to take stock of that.
Also, because this diet restricts a lot of food and food groups, it is difficult to keep it going for long. It is easy for those who are vegetarians or vegans as they do not have to make too many dietary changes, however, if you are a meat eater and can’t stay without eating your rice and bread, this will require some effort to follow.
Dig in!
Load up on these healthy foods when on an alkaline diet:
Melons
Bamboo shoots
Coconut water
Guava
Strawberries
Almonds
Chestnuts
Tofu
Do the test
If you want to check your acid-alkaline levels, head to your local drugstore and pick up a pack of pH test strips. Dip these into your saliva or your urine. “You can test your pH levels often throughout the day, but the best time to do so is at the same time each morning. The goal is to get your morning pH between 6.5 and 7.5,” says Dr Banerjee. Test yourself first thing in the morning before eating or drinking or else wait for one hour before or two hours after a meal.
This will help you understand the actual acid-alkaline level of your body and then you can accordingly plan a diet. It is best to consult a nutritionist who can draw up a diet chart for you and also monitor your progress and make modifications accordingly. Following a diet without really knowing your body can do more harm than good.
Grab a plate
Eating a diet high in alkaline-forming foods is said to promote health and wellness by reducing the strain on our body’s detoxification mechanism. Dr Pai believes you can prevent the spread of diseases like cancer and improve your ability to combat ageing by alkalising your system. The recommended diet encourages a high consumption of fruits, vegetables and healthy plant-based foods and lots of water. Stress, smoking, caffeine, sugar, refined flour and meats are all no-nos.
“Fresh green juices are rich in chlorophyll and antioxidants, and are nutrient-dense,” suggests holistic health expert Mickey Mehta. Instead of completely overhauling your diet, which is not only hard to do but can even be counter-productive, Dr Pai suggests bringing in changes gradually.
Tips to begin following an alkaline diet:
Since it is difficult to go on this diet in one go, all of a sudden, making small dietary changes can help you get there eventually. Here are some tips that can come in handy.
Pick grilled, boiled, steamed or baked over deep-fried.
Go easy on dairy. Milk is acid-forming, so it needs to be offset with alkalising foods such as vegetables.
Cut down on processed and red meats.
Keep away from bad fats—trans, hydrogenated and saturated fats—and eat monounsaturated and omega-3 and omega-6 fats, present in some nuts like walnuts and almonds, and oils like corn, olive and sunflower.
Avoid processed and packaged foods and those packed with preservatives and additives.
Limit your alcohol intake. Yes, that includes wine.
Load up your plate with antioxidants in the form of coloured fruits and vegetables, like berries, mango, papaya, carrot, pumpkin, tomato, spinach, broccoli, lemon, sweet potato, beetroot and wheatgrass. Drink lots of vegetable juice.
When eating out
In case you eat out often, and are starting the alkaline diet, you can manage and continue to do so as most restaurants offer vegetarian or vegan options. You can opt for a salad with a light dressing like vinaigrette or lemon juice. You can also order baked dishes. Soups are a great addition you can have when eating out but choose clear instead of creamy soups as they are lighter and healthier. If you want to drink something, you can opt for vegetable juices instead of fruit. Ask the staff to not add sugar. Or, simply have lime juice or coconut water. Avoid alcohol as that is restricted in this diet, but on a cheat day, you can opt for a glass or two of wine. Ask for gluten-free options as they are free of wheat which is restricted in this diet. You also get gluten-free bread now, if you can’t do without your morning toast, you can opt for that instead of regular breads available in the supermarket.
Does it work for Indians?
“This diet works perfectly in our hot, tropical weather,” says Dhvani Shah, healing diets specialist, The FIMS Diet Clinic. “However, it deviates slightly from our traditional cuisine, which is largely cereal-based. It is still doable given the easy availability of fresh fruits and vegetables. You might have to get used to juicing and prepping salads.” If you are used to eating an Indian diet for most meals, you might want to take an expert’s opinion on how to make the switch. Look for cooking tutorials that give you alternate ingredients to use when on this diet, or use the ones that are permitted in an alkaline diet in a creative way.
As for exercising while on this diet, Dhvani recommends you continue with cardio, which generates oxygen and aids the alkalising effect of the food. Yoga, meditation and outdoor exercises work well too with this diet. Many celebrities are on the Pilates bandwagon and swear by the benefits of this workout. The only restriction that you may have is that you cannot do all the exercises at home so you will have to find a studio that offers this exercise style along with a trainer who can guide you on how to use the equipment the right way.
While the alkaline diet started as a rage in Hollywood, and several A-listers have followed it, in India, Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez swears by it. She loves to eat clean and avoids sugar at all costs. Her diet essentially consists of fresh and gluten-free foods. She also avoids processed foods, and believes in eating foods that add antioxidants to her body and keep her system alkaline.
While the best way to keep your body healthy and agile is a mix of eating right and exercising regularly, it is also vital to eat what suits your body. many a times, we blindly follow trends endorsed by celebs thinking if it has worked for them, it will have the same effect on us too. But, we fail to realise that their diet plans are carefully monitored by experts and structed according to their health, age and lifestyle. So, don’t just get on a diet simply because it is popular, do consult a doctor and dietician who can help you with what’s right for your body.
Photographs: SHUTTERSTOCK
**Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only; consult your nutritionist for further advice.
With inputs from Kriti Saraswat Satpathy
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