Monthly Archives: April 2012

Should You Care About Alkaline Beverages?

by drinks, health, vegetables, vinegar, , ,
Because the first thing you drink every day is really important why not start with something that's going to be good for your health?
 
When working with clients, I regularly remind people to start their day with an alkalizing beverage.  This invariably brings up the question, "What is an alkalizing beverage and why do I need to drink it?"
 

Second question first. Your body does better when it is in a more alkaline state. If you happen to remember from your high school biology class, a pH of 7.0 is base or neutral. You should be somewhere between 7.2-7.4 in order to be healthy.  When your body is in a more acidic state you can potentially be prone to illness.  

 

Effects of PH imbalance 

 

Maintaining an acidic body state for a long period of time can cause a wide variety of illnesses such as headaches, inflammation, bloating, acne, hair or nails that break easily, and other symptoms.

Because the body seeks balance, if it is too acidic it will pull minerals from your bones and from muscle tissue.  Eventually, you can experience a significant depletion of minerals.

 

How to maintain PH balance

 

However, simply drinking alkalizing beverages isn't enough. You actually need to consume a more alkaline diet.

Our modern American diet tends to be highly acidic, especially when it's high in processed foods and animal products. So in order to shift away from high acidity, it's a good idea to include more alkalizing foods in your diet. 

Ideally, most people appear to do best when they consume a diet that is 60-70% alkalizing foods.  This includes:

In addition to making sure you add alkalizing foods to your diet, it can be a good idea to start the day with an alkalizing drink. 

However, it's important to know that just drinking alkaline water isn't going to alkalize your body.  Studies indicate that drinking alkaline water does not increase body pH.

That doesn't mean there aren't any benefits though.  Drinking naturally alkaline water may help decrease the enzyme that can cause acid reflux. Other research seems to indicate that drinking alkaline water may be beneficial for people with conditions such as diabetes, high cholesterol, and/or high blood pressure.

 

What is an alkalizing beverage? 

 

Rather than simply drinking alkaline water, consider having a glass of water with 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice or raw apple cider vinegar. If you're not used to the tartness of either of these you may have to work up to it by starting with 1 teaspoon in a glass of water and increasing a teaspoon at a time.   

Adding a greens powder to water or a morning smoothie is another way to get an alkalizing beverage into your day.  Another option would be to drink kombucha or water kefir, either plain or adding a healthy slug to water glass.  This can be a great start to the day and one that has the added benefit of probiotics to further support gut health.

 

Vinegar and lemons are acidic so how can they be alkalizing?

 

 It's one of the odd properties of acid-alkaline balance.  Yes, we do consider them to be acidic however their ash, or residue after they have been broken down, is alkaline.  That makes them alkalizing food.  This alkalizing effect is also found with limes and grapefruits however not with oranges.

If you want to test to see whether your specific body state is more alkaline or more acidic you can purchase a First Morning Urine Ph Kit.These strips test either urine or saliva (urine is generally considered to be a better indicator).  If you are interested in changing your diet you could also consider getting a copy of The Joy in Living The Alkaline Way.  Both the pH Test Kit and the book are available online at Better Lab Tests Now. 

Simply enter the word Alkaline into the search bar to get a free copy of the book, order the test kit, plus find more information about alkalizing.

So yes, it's a good idea to start your day with an alkalizing beverage and drink for your health. And then evaluate your diet to add more alkalizing foods.

 

Sources

 

 

"Alkaline Water: Better Than Plain Water?". Mayo Clinic, 2021, https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/alkaline-water/faq-20058029. 

Koufman, Jamie A., and Nikki Johnston. "Potential Benefits Of Ph 8.8 Alkaline Drinking Water As An Adjunct In The Treatment Of Reflux Disease". Annals Of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology, vol 121, no. 7, 2012, pp. 431-434. SAGE Publications, doi:10.1177/000348941212100702.

"Preliminary Observation On Changes Of Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar And Blood Lipids After Using Alkaline Ionized Drinking Water--《Shanghai Journal Of Preventive Medicine》2001年12期 ". En.Cnki.Com.Cn, 2021, http://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTOTAL-SHYI200112005.htm.

Michelle Liew, B.A. "15 Signs Your Body Has Too High Acidity Levels And How To Fix It". Life Advancer, 2016, https://www.lifeadvancer.com/body-high-acidity-levels/. 

 

 

 

 

Basil mania

Basil Mania

by herbs and spices, recipes

Bay-sil, bah-sil, whatever you call it, it's one of the most fragrant and delicious herbs around.  High in vitamin K, basil also has some healthy properties to it's oil which is anti-bacterial and also highly anti-inflammatory.  These properties combine to make it a very heart-healthy herb to include in your diet. Recently I went to The Arbor Gate nursery and took their Basilmania class.  Starring Chef Chris Crowder and Herbal Expert Ann Wheeler it was an information packed event.

It turns out that there are a vast number of different varieties of basil.  According to Ann there are 64 native species of basil, however we now have hundreds of varieties because it is a “promiscuous cross polinator.”  I also learned that pepper basil is the only one which does well in the shade.  Three years ago I was given a gift of pepper basil from my friend Paula and it has indeed done well on the shadier west side of my house.  Now, due to rather mild winters, it's still going strong.  And it does indeed taste like a pepper plant.  The one basil which I was really taken with while at the nursery was the lime basil.  It is so powerfully fragrant and the leaves so deliciously citrus-y that I kept wanting to nibble at it.

In addition to talking about basil, there were demonstrations of different recipes using it.  Recipes mentioned included adding basil to tartelettes, a bellini, a vegetable mousse and more.  Here's one recipe created by Chef Chris Crowder shared from The Arbor Gate website:

Frozen Basil Strawberry Mousse

2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup sugar plus 1/3 cup
3 cups quartered strawberries
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1  tablespoon unflavored gelatin
1/3 cup sliced strawberries, for garnish
1 tablespoon chiffonade of fresh basil, for garnish

Process the basil and the 1/2 cup sugar in a blender or small food processor and pulse until combined, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed. Place quartered strawberries in a medium bowl and sprinkle with the basil sugar. Allow the mixture to stand for 20 minutes.

Cut parchment paper into 5 long strips, about 2-inches wide and 12-inches long. Wrap one strip of parchment around the top of a 3-ounce ramekin and secure with string or tape to form a collar that extends above the top of the ramekin. Repeat with the remaining 4 strips and ramekins. Set aside.

Whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form and refrigerate until ready to use.

Combine the lemon juice with 3 tablespoons of water and the gelatin in a small bowl. Allow gelatin to soften, about 5 minutes. Place the macerated berries and sugar in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Pour mixture through a fine-mesh strainer and press to release the juices; you will need about 1 1/4 cups of the strained juice. Discard the pulp and seeds.

In a small, heavy saucepan, combine 1/4 cup of the strawberry puree and the 1/3 cup sugar over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Just before the mixture begins to boil, remove the syrup from the heat and stir in the gelatin mixture until well incorporated and dissolved.

Combine the gelatin mixture with the remaining strawberry puree in a medium bowl. Set the medium bowl inside a large bowl filled with ice water. Stir the strawberry mixture until cooled and syrupy.

Fold the reserved whipped cream into the syrup mixture, gently but thoroughly, until well incorporated and the mixture is one solid color. Fill the prepared molds with the strawberry mousse, cover, and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.

Allow mousse to stand at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving. Remove the parchment paper from the molds and garnish with fresh sliced strawberries and basil.

However you pronounce it (and whether you think it's an -erb or a herb) basil is a delicious plant which definitely deserves to be made into more than just pesto.

Nutri-washing

by nutri-washing
fast food | photo: cohdra

McDonald's has just launched something they are calling the McDonald's Nutrition Network.  Yes, THAT McDonald's.  The one that sells fries and burgers and other foods that are generally not associated with a healthy diet.  The company is offering $5,000 grants in the New York/New Jersey area to fund nutrition programs.

Their claim?  They are simply trying to better serve their clients.  My take?  If you have read Appetite for Profit: How the food industry undermines our health and how to fight back (and if you haven't you should, it's a great book) you'll understand that McDonald's is simply creating a great opportunity to do some self-promotion, misdirection, and try to make themselves look good in the eyes of the general public. By creating this type of a program they can claim to be doing all sorts of good things; to be responsible partners in providing nutrition education, support health programs, etc.  It's the nutritional version of green-washing (making things appear greener, or more eco-friendly than they really are).

I'm sure there are strings attached to those $5,000 grants.  I'm also sure that McDonald's isn't going to change how they do business.  They will continue to sell these unhealthy foods because, at the end of the day, that's what makes them money.  These grants are a drop in the bucket, one that they can afford to drop because of the positive publicity and public image they are hoping to create.

If McDonald's really wanted to make substantive changes to support nutrition and nutrition programs they would change the food they have in their restaurants.  They would change where they source their food from.  They would create a new, environmentally conscious, health conscious, nutritionally balanced menu.  They have the world's greatest delivery system and deepest, most entrenched global business model.  They could be agents for amazing change.  But they won't.  Because the bottom line is about profit.

So before you get all excited about how they appear to be in supporting nutrition, stop and think about if they're really making any changes.  Don't listen to what they're saying, look at what they're doing.

Going Walden

by gratitude, health, holidays

I spent the weekend in the woods.  Maybe not really “going walden” but certainly headed in that direction.  It was a holiday of sorts, a get-away from my often hectic and over-scheduled life.  It was amazing, restorative, thought-provoking, and, most importantly, fun.  I disconnected from technology leaving behind my laptop, connectivity tools, news feed, and all social media.  While I did bring my cell phone that was for practicality reasons and I chose not to take or make any calls all weekend.  What did I do?

I laughed more in those 48 hours than I believe I have laughed in the last three months.  We're not talking polite chuckles or giggling either.  We are talking deep belly laughs, huge guffaws with a group of women all similarly roaring with laughter.  We were the noisiest campsite there and we were not constrained.

I reconnected.  Many of the women on this trip are friends who I adore.  They are fascinating, interesting, vibrant, intelligent, amazing people.  But we are all so busy with the demands of our modern lives that we promise ourselves in passing we will get together for that lunch or tea or whatever.  And yet somehow we don't manage to find the time.  This weekend we had nothing but time.

I ate very well.  Hats off to Colleen, our organizer and her sous chef, Natalie.  With four gluten-intolerant campers and one vegetarian out of nine women they pulled off a tasty, delicious, satisfying menu for everyone.  They did it without going overboard either.  It was simple, delicious, and unfussy.  While we all know food tastes much better around a campfire, I am a firm believer that it also tastes much better when it comes from whole foods.  Our menu was dinner: taco bar, breakfast: scrambled eggs and fruit, lunch: veggies and dips with fruit and gluten free cookies, dinner: cuban beans and cornbread with gluten free smores (gotta have those), breakfast: leftovers and fruit.  Yes, there were M&M's and chips and other foods there as well, but the menu was predominately simple, whole foods.

I reconnected with nature.  I had forgotten how restorative this is for the soul.  Yes, I go out in my garden, yes I take my dogs for walks through the woods, yes I look for opportunities to put my feet in the dirt.  But this was in the middle of a gorgeous state park with no distractions, hardly any traffic, and a quietude that just does not exist in my backyard.  There was wildlife all around us (we were fortunate to have Helen with us who is a birder and quite knowledgeable) and we saw deer, turtles, alligators, birds, bunnies, interesting bugs and more.  There was a lot of tree hugging (literally and figuratively) going on; I even had the opportunity for a most delicious, restful nap under a sprawling tree with a light breeze.

I remembered my appreciation for the basics.  Sleeping on a mat on the floor reminded me that I am fortunate enough to have a bed at home (and a quite comfy, large, well decorated one at that).  Having a public restroom available I was appreciative for the running water in the toilets, the sinks and the showers.  I was appreciative for all of the tax dollars and use-contributions that pay to maintain the state park system.  I also appreciated the quiet, the lack of distractions and the ability to slow down, even if just for that moment.

This is part of holistic living.  We need to find that balance; to find those moments in our lives that speak to us.  To be more than a particular aspect of our being — wife, mother, daughter, committee-member, professional, caregiver, insert-your-hat-here.  To let go of some of that, even if just for a short while, and plainly be ourselves.

And how was your weekend?