I had an intuition about my body this week. What it needs is more water than food. I’ve followed every weight reducing regimen and change of food there is. I’ve used all the calorie apps, counted walking steps, used the shakes, on and on. I have lost some weight but not as much as I should have and not as much as I want to. My goal is 140. I’m no longer addicted to sugar, wheat or any food and I’m still storing too much fat. I also workout regularly and have a physical job for a living. I’m convinced I’m deeply dehydrated. I think we all are. They say to drink half of your body weight in ounces and I wasn’t doing that but I was drinking 64 oz. a day. That’s not enough. I now have a rule for myself and that is, when I’m hungry, I must first drink a full 20 oz. of water before I eat. If I’m still hungry, then eat the healthy, alkaline way I’m eating now until I’m only part of the way full. This is the precursor to the alkaline-based diet.

Alkaline/acid balance in the body is called pH. Our S.A.D. or standard American diet is definitely acid producing as well as our farming and environmental practices that are leeching key minerals from the soil and thus our food. The link below is a very comprehensive look at this issue done by the National Institutes of Health.

The Alkaline Diet from NIH

“As we age, (or become more sedentary) there is a loss of muscle mass, which may predispose to falls and fractures. A three-year study looking at a diet rich in potassium, such as fruits and vegetables, as well as a reduced acid load, resulted in the preservation of muscle mass in older men and women. Conditions such as chronic renal failure that result in chronic metabolic acidosis result in an accelerated breakdown in skeletal muscle.”

What really breaks down muscle is laziness and believing all the excuses aging gives you to sit on your ass and eat and drink too much. There are too many examples of 70 and 80-year-old people passing up people in their 30’s in a race because they’re more fit. You’re only as old as you feel. Yet the medical profession loves to use aging and fear to prescribe more medications. Don’t buy it.

“There is some evidence that the K/Na (potassium and sodium) ratio does matter and that the significant amount of salt in our diet is detrimental. Even some governments are demanding that the food industry reduce the salt load in our diet. High-protein diets may also affect bone health but some protein is also needed for good bone health. Muscle wasting, however, seems to be reduced with an alkaline diet and back pain may benefit from this as well. An alkaline environment may improve the efficacy of some chemotherapy agents but not others.”

Alkaline diets may result in a number of health benefits as outlined below:

1. Increased fruits and vegetables in an alkaline diet would improve the K/Na ratio and may benefit bone health, reduce muscle wasting, as well as mitigate other chronic diseases such as hypertension and strokes.

2. The resultant increase in growth hormone with an alkaline diet may improve many outcomes from cardiovascular health to memory and cognition.

3. An increase in intracellular magnesium, which is required for the function of many enzyme systems, is another added benefit of the alkaline diet. Available magnesium, which is required to activate vitamin D, would result in numerous added benefits in the vitamin D apocrine/exocrine systems.

What is going on with potassium and sodium balance in our bodies, which is hugely important, is that in order to be balanced and processed we have to be fully hydrated daily.  You can eat all of the alkaline-producing food that you want but all of it flows through every organ and tissue on a river of blood which is mostly water. The acid balance in your muscles is maintained only if you drink enough water.

I will let you know how it comes out but I’m not counting calories, eating nutrient-dense foods when I’m hungry but drinking water before I eat. This better work. I’m sick of being heavy.