5. Acid/Alkaline Balance

Why is it important to have acid and alkaline balance?
 Eating a raw and living foods diet and managing the stress in your life will keep your body pH-balanced, which helps your body healthy and disease free.

Every food and beverage is measured on a pH scale from zero to fourteen, with zero being the most acidic and fourteen the most alkaline. For example, the pH of stomach acid is 1, diet soda is 2.5, coffee is 3, water is 7 (neutral), broccoli is 8, mineral water is 8.5, and baking soda is 12 (similar to Alka Selzer). You can monitor your pH on a regular basis by the use of litmus strips that can be purchased at most health food stores.

The human body has an amazing ability to fix itself through endless checks and balances. This is especially evident with the blood's pH level. If the pH of the blood becomes unbalanced by the smallest of margins, the body quickly brings it back into balance through a number of buffering systems.

These buffering systems include the lungs, blood, kidneys, and minerals. When our blood becomes too acidic because of food we have eaten or we are feeling stress, these mechanisms kick in to bring the blood pH back into balance.

When the body is too acidic for a long time, the systems and organs of your body work overtime to bring it into balance. However, the body is not designed to function like this for long periods of time. If this goes on for months or years, systems and organs become exhausted and give in to disease.

Osteoporosis is confusing or many people. Often they think they can eliminate it by increasing their consumption of milk and dairy products. All animal products are acid. Calcium is one of the most alkaline minerals in the body, and when our blood stream becomes too acidic, it will rob the calcium from the bones, teeth and tissue. The bone mass becomes depleted, which leads to osteoporosis. Therefore, we must understand that calcium deficiencies are not caused by insufficient intake of dietary calcium. Calcium deficiencies are actually caused by excessive acidity or "acidosis."

Most Americans eat diets full of high-protein flesh foods, high sugar, high fat and low complex carbohydrates, which are all acid forming. Therefore, again are the vivid connections between our health and what we eat. However, eating a raw food diet helps the body shift from an acidic state to a more alkaline state.

There are so many options available to people wanting to improve their health by changing their present diet to eating a more raw diet. All vegetables have calcium, but the dark leafy greens have the highest amount. There are literally hundreds of recipes of delicious raw foods, such as salads with sprouts, warm or chilled soups, dips, pesto, and pates from sprouted nuts and seeds, entrees and dessert options. Eating a raw food diet does not equal a boring diet with bland tastes.

Our classes show you how to prepare delicious foods that have a balanced pH and maintain the enzymes of living food. You'll also learn about warming foods in a dehydrator, which is a thermostat-controlled environment where the food does not get above 105–110 degrees—this preserves the enzymes and is especially nice in the winter months.