UGW: Awesomeness

The Seven Most Alkaline Foods

1. Spinach

ALL leafy greens should be eaten in abundance but spinach is my absolute favourite because it’s easy to buy, easy to use in recipes and salads and is delicious. Baby spinach or fully grown spinach are nutritional powerhouses and are incredibly alkaline.

As with all green foods, spinach is rich in chlorophyll, a potent alkaliser and blood builder.

It is also super high in vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, folate, magnesium, iron, vitamin c, vitamin b2, calcium, potassium, vitamin e, dietary fiber….need I go on?

I doubt there is a more all around healthy food on earth and I highly encourage you to eat spinach throughout the day, every day.

2. Kale

Kale is another leafy green beauty that is widely known for its cancer-fighting, cholesterol-lowering, antioxidant-rich, detoxifying goodness.

Less popular than spinach, but only because it has a history of being cooked poorly (like cabbage) – when done right it is absolutely delicious.

If you eat kale 2-3 times per week you’ll know it. Like spinach it is massively high in vitamin k, vitamin a and vitamin c and being leafy green it also has a huge chlorophyll content.

The reason it is so powerful against the cancer fight is that kale contains at least four glucosinolates. I don’t want to lose you here by using words like glucosinolates – all you need to know is that as soon as you eat and digest kale, these glucosinolates are really easily converted by the body into cancer fighting compounds.

Also quite amazing for lowering cholesterol, it should be noted that steamed kale is more effective for cholesterol lowering than raw.

3. Cucumber

The beauty of cucumber is it’s water content – 95%. That is phenomenal and you won’t find that anywhere else. It’s the daddy of water-content. This of course makes it an incredibly hydrating food to consume, that ALSO contains superb amounts of antioxidants, including the super-important lignans. These highly beneficial polyphenols have more commonly been associated with the cruciferous vegetables, but their content in other veggies such as cucumbers is gaining more and more attention.

Cucumbers contain a right load of lariciresinol, pinoresinol, and secoisolariciresinol (don’t try to pronounce), three lignans that have a huge and very strong history of research in connection with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease as well as several cancer types, including breast, uterine, ovarian, and prostate cancers.

The best thing about cucumber is that they provide the base for practically every alkaline soup, smoothie and juice – giving you a very alkaline, very nutritious base that also tastes great.

In terms of the actual nutrient RDA per serve, cucumbers contain fair amounts of vitamins K and C, and slightly less of vitamin A and the B vitamins. Cucumbers also contain the following alkaline minerals: calcium, iron, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, selenium, copper, manganese, iron and zinc.

4. Broccoli

Broccoli is just a must. If you are serious about living with health, energy and vitality you simply have to eat broccoli, if not on a daily basis, then at least 4 times per week.

Broccoli has been proven over and over and over again to be incredibly powerful in inhibiting cancers, supporting the digestive system, the cardiovascular system, the detoxification processes in the body and also supporting the skin, metabolism, immune system, being an anti-inflammatory and providing ample antioxidants.

Sound good?

Eaten steamed or raw its a hugely alkaline, hugely nutritious food. Please, please, please eat lots and lots of it. Put it in salads, juices, smoothies, soups…steam it with other veggies – you can even roast it if you’re having sunday lunch.

Don’t let a meal go past without thinking to yourself “how could I get some broccoli in here?”

5. Avocado

I eat a LOT of avocado. Not a salad, smoothie or soup goes by without me adding at least 1/2 an avocado per person. I probably eat at least five-seven per week, myself.

Now, I know a lot of people give avocado a bad rep because it is a high-fat food (85% of it’s calories come from fats) – but this is totally insane. These are good fats that will not make you gain weight. If anything, due to the high content of oleic acid (making it an omega 9 fat and very similar to olive oil), it can lower total cholesterol level and raise levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDLs) while lowering low-density lipoproteins (LDLs), also known as the “bad” cholesterol. Oleic acid also slows the development of heart disease, and promotes the production of antioxidants.

These beneficial omega oils also help speed the metabolism, actually leading to weight loss rather than gain.

So now we’re over the fat issue, avocado also contains a wide range of other nutrients that have serious anti-inflammatory, heart health, cardiovascular health, anti-cancer, and blood sugar benefits.

Containing key antioxidants such as alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lutein, selenium and more – it is a powerful, alkaline, nutrient-dense superfood.

6. Celery

Celery, like cucumber is a favourite because it’s alkaline AND really high water content, so is used very frequently as a base in juices and soups (not so much smoothies as you have to juice it first…and then you have double the washing up).

One of celery’s big benefits is it’s vitamin C level, which has the well known benefits – but two of it’s lesser known nutrients are phthalides which have been shown to lower cholesterol and coumarins which have been shown to inhibit several cancers.

The beauty of vitamin C rich foods are that they help with the most common and most challenging health concerns – they support the immune system, inflammation (so helps with arthritis, osteoporosis, asthma etc), and vitamin C also helps significantly with cardiovascular health.

If you are on a weight loss journey, you’ll also be happy to hear that this alkaline staple contains plenty of potassium and sodium and so is a diuretic – meaning it helps rid the body of excess fluids.

7.  Capsicum / Bell Pepper / Pepper

The antioxidant superpower, bell pepper is one of my all-time-favourites because it is sweet, crunchy and refreshingly delicious. You can use it in almost any meal raw, grilled, fried, roasted and it is always a winner.

Here are just SOME of the antioxidants bell pepper contains:

• Flavonoids – luteolin – quercetin – hesperidin • Carotenoids – alpha-carotene – beta-carotene – cryptoxanthin – lutein – zeaxanthin • Hydroxycinnamic Acids – ferulic acid – cinnamic acid

Of these, the cartenoids are the most interesting. Impressively beneficial to our health cartenoids are highly researched and get a lot of attention in the health field…and bell peppers contain over 30 different members of the carotenoid nutrient family. The only other food that is close to this is tomato…and all other foods are also-rans.

Bell peppers have shown up in research relating to decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, macular degeneration, cancer, inflammation and more.

Alongside these lesser known or more complex-named antioxidants, bell pepper is one of, if not the best food source of the more common antioxidants: vitamin C, vitamin A and vitamin E.

In fact, bell peppers contain twice as much vitamin C as oranges.

I really want you to think about this: If you made a smoothie or juice containing just 1/2 a cup of each of these seven ingredients it would give you:

Vitamin K – 1326% RDA Molybdenum – 13.5% RDA Vitamin C – 243% RDA Potassium – 35% RDA Manganese – 68% RDA Magnesium – 32% RDA Vitamin A – 386% RDA Fiber – 47% RDA Calcium – 22% RDA Iron – 22% RDA Folate – 66% RDA Vitamin B2 – 21.5% RDA Vitamin E – 16% RDA Vitamin B6 – 22.5% RDA Vitamin B5 – 15.5% RDA

ALL IN ONE DRINK?

Can you imagine this? Leaving the house every morning having already consumed 243% of your vitamin c intake, 47% of your daily fiber needs, 68% of you manganese and 32% of your magnesium, over 22% of you vitamin B2 – imagine all of the incredible antioxidants? Before you’ve left the house?!

This really is giving you not only huge antioxidants, huge alkalinity, huge chlorophyll, huge detoxification nutrients – but if you want to go really mainstream – its giving you the recommended 5 Veg a Day before 9am!

2.) BRUSH YOUR TEETH: After a meal/snack, brush your teeth. Don’t ruin your sparkly-clean teeth by eating again. And besides, nothing tastes good when your mouth is minty-fresh. Have you ever tried drinking orange juice after brushing your teeth?! The horror, the horror!

3.) STOP MINDLESS EATING: If you must have a snack, especially in the evening, portion out your snack and put the container, bag, or box away. When you eat in front of the television/computer, you won’t realize how much food you’re actually putting into your body. Tip: choose wisely and pick a healthy snack that will allow you to feel satisfied.

4.) MAKE BETTER DECISIONS: If you don’t feel satisfied after a meal, chances are, you didn’t consume enough calories and/or the best calories for your body. You’ll probably want to have an all out binge fest later on in the day, whether it’s healthy foods or not. Start your day the right way by making choices that will keep you full and focused. The 10 most filling foods.

5.) RETHINK YOUR SHOPPING LIST: If you purchase unhealthy snacks, they’re going to eventually end up somewhere and that place is your body. Don’t buy tempting, unhealthy snacks when you shop (TIP: go shopping when you’re full). If you don’t have any junk food on hand, then you won’t risk consuming empty calories. Stock up on good choices as a “just in case of an emergency” for when the munchie monster strikes.