The western lifestyle has prioritized convenience over quality in many aspect of everyday life. This is what’s led countless of Americans towards processed meals that are quick and easy to make. But these meals lack nutritional value, especially key alkaline minerals used by your body to neutralize acid.
This is actually an alarming trend because the body thrives when it’s slightly more alkaline and factors like poor diet, stress, illness and inactivity can quickly make it alarmingly acidic. This is why alkalizing foods is great for your diet.
Why Acidic Blood Is Bad
Acidosis, or high acidity, is one of the main causes of diseases like multiple sclerosis, cholesterol, arrhythmia, immunodeficiency disorders, joint pain, lethargy, heart disease, diabetes and cancer (1,2).
When your body gets too acidic, it attempts to balance itself out on its own by leeching alkalizing minerals such as sodium, calcium, magnesium and potassium from your bones, muscles and organs (3).
To get your body back into balance without harming yourself, add alkaline and mineral-rich foods to your daily diet and cut out inflammatory acidic foods like sugar, wheat and dairy.
Top 5 Alkalizing Foods
Eat one of these everyday to detoxify your body for acidic build-up and get you back on track!
1. Swiss Chard
Swiss chard is a green leafy vegetable from the same family as kale and spinach. Not only is it alkaline, it’s also full of vitamins A, and C magnesium, potassium, iron, and dietary fiber (4).
It also contains bone and blood-healthy vitamin K as well as lutein, which can prevent cancer and DNA damage (5,6).
2. Melon
All types of melon, including honeydew, cantaloupe and watermelon are alkaline and full of fiber and water, which is important for healthy digestion.
Cantaloupes contains zeaxanthin, which are important for eye health and beta-carotene, which fights cancer and prevents cell aging. They are also full of potassium, which regulates blood pressure and choline, which regulates sleep, muscle movement, learning, memory and inflammation (7).
Its cousin, watermelon, contains lycopene, which is important for heart health, bone health and prostate cancer prevention (8).