Get Alkalized!

As technology and our lifestyles have changed with the times so have our diets. We are now eating stuff out of boxes, cans, cartons and bags, most all of which are highly processed.  Most likely in the last week you have had several of these: coffee, bread, rice, pasta, steak, wine, beer, pizza, fast food, chocolate, soda, chips, cookies and medications of some sort. I'll bet that if, you're like I used to be, you probably have 3 or more of these each day. Eating foods like these coupled with our daily stress are sure things that will cause our bodies to become too acidic. Over time, this high pH (acidic) state of our body will most likely cause us health issues at some point in the future.

So why is pH so important? The main reason is the simple fact that our blood needs to maintain a nearly constant pH of around 7.35-7.45. If our blood strays just a bit from this, the result will be serous damage to our body and even death. But never fear, our bodies are wonderful creations equipped with systems to maintain our blood's pH even while having bad eating habits.

A healthy body is able to maintain our blood's pH through the systems of elimination of acidic residues and toxins or by adding buffers to adjust it. The elimination of acidic residues and toxins is done through our urinary tract, our skin and through respiration. If we are not able to eliminate all the excess acid residues and toxins in this manner, our body will move them to our extremities or put them in fat cells (and even create more fat cells) to protect vital organs such as our heart and lungs from becoming too acidic. At the same time, a healthy body is also able to produce its own buffers to adjust blood pH. If our bodies are too acidic and no longer able to keep up then blood pH is adjusted through the removal of calcium and magnesium from our bones and muscles. The result of either system being overly taxed results in an overly acidic body eventually causing health conditions such as bone and muscle loss, muscle fatigue, bone spurs and bone pain, inflammation, arthritis, chronic skin conditions and fungus or even cancer - all pretty scary stuff.

If you want to test your body's pH, you can get a pretty good idea by simply using pH test strips that you
can buy at most drug stores or health food stores.

You can either test your saliva or your urine. Of course, test your saliva between meals and before drinking any liquids. It is good to test yourself two or three times a day over a period of several days to get an idea of whether or not you are overly acidic. Also, it's a good idea to take note of your diet during these times as well to see how different foods may be affecting your body's pH. A healthy pH reading for saliva would be 6.5-7.5 and 6.0-7.0 for urine.

 Now comes the challenge of what to eat. Many health experts are recommending that we adopt an alkaline diet, rich in foods that help make our bodies more alkaline. A good place to start would be a diet with 50 to 75% alkalizing foods. Such foods include most fruits and vegetables, especially dark green leafy vegetables like kale and spinach, cucumbers, peppers, broccoli and avocados. 
                                                                                     
Also, fruits like lemons and limes are very good "alkalizers" as well (I know this is counter intuitive, but many acidic foods become alkaline in the body due to the minerals left in the body after digestion). And we should also limit foods that are acid forming. Unfortunately, these foods are probably the ones that we include in most of our daily meals. A short list would be most grains and grain products such as pasta or bread, meats, eggs, nuts, sweets, coffee, black tea, carbonated beverages, dairy and any processed foods including most canned foods. Also, most medications and supplements are acidifying as well.

Where to start? Don't go crazy and try to change everything all at once. I suggest adopting one or two things from this list and see how it affects your pH. Keep adding until your pH is where you want it to be.

• Green Smoothies - Green smoothies are a great way to change a typical acidic breakfast of eggs, toast or cereal with a super alkalizing drink.
• Limit Acidic Beverages - I know we have to have our coffee or carbonated beverage, but try keep it to a minimum and switch to alkalizing drinks such as herbal teas or fresh lemon or lime juice in water. Also, if you have to add sweeteners, use stevia which is alkalizing. Substitute milk with unsweetened almond milk.
• Raw Apple Cider Vinegar - Mix a teaspoon or two of raw apple cider vinegar in a glass of water 3 times a day between meals will help you become more alkaline..
• Juice- Juicing fruits and vegetables can be a great way to alkalize. Limit sweet fruits and stick with mostly vegetables for best results. Also, wheat grass works wonders for me.

• Adopt a New Grain - Experiment with grains such as quinoa, buckwheat, millet, amaranth and teff. They are all gluten free and much healthier choices than grains such as wheat and rice. Also, sprouted sprouted grain bread is much better than traditional bread. Sprouting makes grains more like vegetables and unlocks many nutrients. Ezekiel bread is a good choice but I really like Dave's sprouted wheat bread. 
• Snack Better - Try carrying a bag of dried dates or figs or raw nuts such as almonds, sunflower or pumpkin seeds with you for when you want something to get you by until the next meal. Or an apple or some veggie sticks work too.
• Eat a Salad - No, not that little one that's iceberg lettuce and mostly croutons and ranch, but one that fills your plate with dark, leafy greens, peppers, tomatoes, avocados and sprouts (sprouts are super good for you!). Include some raw nuts or dried fruit if you'd like and top with your favorite "healthy" dressing. Remember to eat the rainbow! 
• Find some Alternatives - Instead of eating that big "gut bomb burger", check the menu and have a veggie burger instead if available. Also, sweet potato fries are a healthier choice than traditional fries. You might be surprised at how good they are. Or make your own veggie burgers at home. Try meatless tacos with seasoned quinoa, potatoes or spaghetti squash. Also, nut cheese can be a tasty alternative to other cheeses. For condiments, choose Vegenaise instead of mayo and try Bragg's line of products. Finally, use Himalayan or Celtic sea salt instead of processed salt. Both have alkalizing minerals in them.

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If you are like me, I'm sure you most likely need to work on your diet and add some healthier choices. Try some of the suggestions from above. Best wishes and get alkalized!

Ooh, it's Green!

"Ooh, it's Green!" or something of the sort is the response I usually get when I show off one of my green breakfast smoothies. And I would have to admit that, at first I wasn't really keen on drinking anything with buzzed up greens in it. Really, If you want to have something green, have a salad right? And smoothies are really supposed to look like something from an Orange Julius or maybe even the McDonald's drive through.  Well look is one thing and taste is another so I figured I would try the infamous green smoothie since I was told they taste great.

I'm guessing I've been doing green smoothies regularly for about 3 years now. I remember when I first started the breakfast smoothie routine. I'd start with some almond milk, yogurt, whey protein powder, a banana, maybe some peanut butter,  frozen fruit and a small handful of fresh, organic spinach. Dang! It was pretty good in spite of the light green color and I couldn't even taste the spinach.

Well, the good thing about lifestyle changes is they don't have to happen overnight. The green smoothie that I describe above is far from the green smoothie that I have daily today. My "smoothie making" skills evolved and my tastes changed. Now I see the greens as my a blank canvas on (in) which to add a nearly infinite combination of healthy ingredients. Case in point, I have many friends who make green smoothies now and everybody's are different but they are all a healthy alternative to a typical "American" breakfast or lunch.

So if you're looking to adopt just one healthy change to your lifestyle, I'd recommend the green smoothie as one of your best choices. Once you start with green smoothies, you'll feel refreshed and energized each morning. Maybe it's just knowing that you've just loaded up on super healthy live food full of enzymes, vitamins and minerals. Ever wonder if you're getting your daily 5 servings of fruits and vegetables? If you do your smoothie right, you'll have them and more by the time you leave the house each morning. Smoothies are great for your digestion, help you lose weight and can keep you from having that morning carb crash. They may also help lower blood pressure and cholesterol, reduce your chances of getting type 2 diabetes and reduce joint pain and arthritis. The list goes on...

So what's in a green smoothie? Here's my list of things you might try.

• Liquid Base - You have to have something in there to get things moving. These might include water, milk or nut milk, juice, kefir, kombucha, rejuvelac, coconut milk or water.
• Greens - Yes, for it to be green you need greens. It is suggested that you rotate greens as they all have a different nutritional profile. Spinach is a good place to start as it seems to have a pretty neutral taste. Other suggestion would be chard, kale, baby greens or lettuce, collards, beet greens, dandelions, chicory, cilantro, parsley. Remove any woody stems or parts from the greens.
• Binder Fruit/Vegetable - If you want your smoothie to be smooth you'll need to include something with lots of soluble fiber in it. This will keep things from separating and help give your smoothie a better taste, feel and texture. My three favorites are bananas, mangoes and apricots but avocados work well too. Other ingredients that help are pear, peaches, peanut butter and almond butter.
• Fruits - If you use banana or mango in your smoothie, you don't really need to add more fruit but it's nice for variety and will make it taste awesome. Plus it's a great way to use up that box of apples or bag of oranges that are likely to go bad soon. I like apples, oranges, berries, pineapple, kiwi and grapes.
• Probiotics - These are some of the good yeasts and bacteria that you want in your digestive tract. They will help fight bad bacteria which may cause sickness and help with digestion. These are optional but I would recommend them if you want your smoothie to be a "one stop shop" health drink.  I use kefir or kombucha regularly in mine but you may also use rejuvelac, yogurt with live culture such as Activia or probiotic capsules or pills.
• Super Foods -  Why not? If you're going to have a healthy drink, make it super healthy! A few of these would be chia seed, raw honey, bee pollen, raw coconut oil, baby coconut, ground flax seed, goji or acai berries, spirulina, raw cacao or hemp protein. I use raw coconut oil and ground flax in most all my smoothies. I also enjoy bee pollen and chia when I have them.
• Something Cold - You'll want your smoothie to be cool and refreshing so add any of the following:  ice, frozen bananas, frozen fruit. I love the tropical mix of frozen fruit when I have it but usually I just use ice which works fine.
• Vegetables - O.K. While we are on the super healthy drink kick, we might want to add some veggies. I usually do this if I have a smoothie for lunch to give it more of a "V-8 type" flavor.  You might add celery, cucumber, tomato, carrots, beets (love the color - a red smoothie!), cilantro or parsley.
• Something Acidic - A good smoothie should be fruity.  I usually add some fresh lemon/lime juice or raw apple cider vinegar to taste.  This will make a bland smoothie come alive.
• Supplements - If you have supplements that you just can't seem to remember to take, take them with your smoothie or add them to it. Some that I've incorporated into my smoothies are:  fish oil, vitamin powders, probiotics, green powders and protein powders.

What about Blenders? Most gurus of the green smoothie swear by the Vitamix which is a great blender. However, you may not want to put forth that kind of money to get started with smoothies so I'd recommend trying whatever blender you already have first. We started using the Magic Bullet Blender until we realize we wanted bigger smoothies with more goodies in them. We bought a second blender that burned up within a week or two. We finally got a simple two speed Oster blender for $50 that we've been using for years and it does a great job. So I'd highly recommend it as your first blender if you don't want to pay the $400 or $500 for a top of the line blender.

So here is one of my smoothies (Note that it makes two large servings).

I start with 1 1/2 cups kombucha tea (or other liquid) and add greens to the top. This one also has 6 large strawberries in it. Blend.

I fill the blender up with spinach again and blend again.

I add two bananas, juice from one lime, 1/2 cup flax seed and two heaping tablespoons of raw coconut oil.

A couple of bananas, ground flax seed and raw coconut oil

I blend once more until smooth with a couple handfuls of ice cubes.

Ready to serve!

I'm now ready to serve, drink and enjoy!

His and her smoothies

You may want to start with something a little more simple so here's what you might want to try for your first smoothie.

Ingredients for one serving:

1 cup juice
1/2 cup yogurt
1 banana
1 cup baby spinach
several ice cubes or frozen fruit of choice

Blend together all ingredients until smooth. Serve and enjoy!

As you can see, the sky's the limit when it comes to green smoothies. You can make them as simple or as complex as you want and they can be different every day. You'll never get bored and your body will thank you.

For more history and information on green smoothies, visit the people who made them popular at http://www.rawfamily.com/recipes .

Watching the Grass Grow

Buying local, seasonal and organic produce has become a common practice for people living the "whole foods" lifestyle. What a great concept to be able to buy local, healthy produce from your own community - produce that is fresh picked, alive, and ready to nourish your body. You may start with the first greens of spring, move onto berries and stone fruits. Then would come tomatoes, corn, beans and peppers. Finally we would enjoy melons, squash, potatoes, beats and carrots and such.

Anyone who lives in the northern reaches of the United states or Alaska would soon realize that this practice of buying local, seasonal and organic produce only works until about the end of October leaving November, December, January, February and most of March to fend for whatever types of healthy foods we can find.

Many times these winter season foods have been stored for months or shipped to our local supermarket from thousands of miles away. Those tomatoes that you buy might last a week before they begin to self destruct while those that you had fresh from your garden last fall would last a month on the counter before doing the same. Face it. It's just hard to get that same freshness and vitality from winter produce.

It is no wonder that this time of year is also Flu season. There has been quite a bit of research done on the healthy effects of eating a raw "plant based" diet. These foods are alive and full of enzymes that help our bodies easily digest them releasing the many vitamins and minerals provided from such a diet to nourish our bodies. On the contrary cooked and heavily processed foods are void of life and enzymes causing our bodies to work harder to digest them which can weaken our immune system making us vulnerable to the seasonal colds and flu common during the winter months.

It has been shown that eating these cooked and processed foods causes a condition called "digestive leukocytosis", which is an immune response causing an increase in white blood cells in our bodies. In the 1930's some research was done by  a Dr. Kouchakoff' who found that

after a person eats cooked food, his/her blood responds immediately by increasing the number of these cells. A rise in the number of leukocytes after eating was a well-known phenomenon called 'digestive leukocytosis.' Since digestive leukocytosis was always observed after eating, it was considered a normal physiological response. No one knew why the number of white cells would rise. It appeared to be a stress response—as if the body was reacting to something harmful, such as exposure to toxic chemicals, an infection, or some sort of trauma.

However, through further research it was found that digestive leucocytosis does not occur after eating raw, whole foods. Eating raw foods then allows your immune system to save it's energy for other things like the cold and Flu that everybody in the office is sharing this time of year.

Raw, whole foods? Local, seasonal, organic? Where? If this is a key to good health during the cold and Flu season, what can we do? Might I suggest that you spend some time watching the grass grow? Yes, in spite of the snow in my yard, I've been watching the grass grow since November - the wheatgrass. And what a great place to watch it grow but perched on top of my entertainment center above my TV.

Wheatgrass is a simple solution for something grown local, in season and organic. It has tons of benefits to keep you healthy in the meantime while you wait to reap the fresh produce of the warmer months to come.  According to the Mayo Clinic's web site,

Wheatgrass does provide a concentrated amount of nutrients, including iron, calcium, magnesium, amino acids, chlorophyll, and vitamins A, C and E. Wheatgrass fans say that its rich nutrient content boosts immunity, kills harmful bacteria in your digestive system, and rids your body of waste. Some proponents tout wheatgrass for cancer, anemia, diabetes, constipation, infections, skin conditions, colon cleansing, ulcerative colitis and joint pain, among other health concerns. Wheatgrass may also be promoted as a good way to help meet your daily target for vegetable servings.

There is a lot of information about the immune boosting, healthy benefits of wheat grass so I encourage you to do a little research on your own. Most likely, you will be like me and realize that growing wheat grass in the winter months makes a lot of sense so get started!
 

I keep three flats going at a time to ensure that I'm able to get 4 or 5 ounces of juice per day split between my wife and me. 

Wheat grass flat



Ready  for the juicer

Juicing with masticating juicer

My favorite green energizer -wheat grass juice

So stay healthy this season by growing your own "local, seasonal, organic" raw goodness in wheatgrass. You will enjoy watching the grass grow but not nearly as much as you'll enjoy the energizing benefits of this wonderful "seasonal" drink.

Welcome

 I like to think of myself as a pretty healthy guy for approaching the 50 year mark.  I've always been active and passionate about the outdoors and tried to eat a relatively healthy diet. I've never really been too over weight or had any really serious health problems other than an on and off struggle with asthma. I've been blessed in that regard because I've always had some bad habits too. I have always loved to eat. Eating a whole pizza by myself or a second piece of cheesecake were commonplace. I would drink coffee all day long until I swithched to a few beers in the evenings and more of each on weekends. I'd get into the cookies or ice cream or whatever other sweets I could get in to. Out of all this was born my desire to balance these bad habits with some healthy alternatives such as eating better and exercising regularly.

Over the past 4 or 5 years I've been working out with two guys who are in excellent health, Phil and Jeff. Phil lives a cleaner lilfestyle than I do as he doesn't drink coffee or alcohol and he's been exercising regularly for years. Jeff is a raw vegan who rarely has anything that strays from this category and has recently begun exercising regularly over the past several years as well. Anyway...whether it was biking or skate skiing (which are our main activities), I was always lagging behind Jeff and Phil.

After a year or so we became more equal in performance during our workouts but Jeff, the raw vegan, seemed to consistenntly have the edge over both Phil and me. I was amazed at this as I always thought that elite athletes needed to eat tons of fish and lean meat, dairy and carbs like pasta (not that I really consider us elite athletes). Yet Jeff could go strong for a 70 mile bike ride or a 20 mile skate ski. I realized that some days my legs would feel weak and I just couldn't seem to be competitive while other days I felt reallly strong and was able to challenge Jeff and Phil.

Given all of this, I decided that Jeff was either endowed with some kind of great exercise gene or that there had to be something to this raw vegan thing. So I began to adopt some of Jeff's diet suggestions. I started with green smoothies for breakfast. I progressed to eating a mostly vegetarian diet. Then I graduated to having breakfast and lunch mostly raw. And currently, I am working on trying to eat mostly raw foods but also trying to focus on alkalizing foods as well.

Currently, Jeff and I now seem to be the leaders during our workouts. Phil is now making comments like "I guess I'll have to become a vegetarian to keep up". I now feel consistently strong during exercise and realize that diet has made all the difference.

I'll be the first to admit that lifestyle changes like these are not easy but they will make a huge difference in ones life. However such chages will most likely help you feel better and have more energy, lose weight, sleep better, perform at a higher level while exercising and look younger! I'm hoping that, through my blogs, I can help others adopt a few healthy changes in their daily routine. So stay tuned for lots of hopefully interesting stuff be it a green smoothie for breakfast, a new grain like quinoa or teff, wheat grass shots or microgreens, a garden tip, new recipes or maybe even an exercise tip just to mention a few possible topics.

Best wishes!

Keith

Kick some Asthma!

As we start the new year, many of us once again return to making resolutions about our health. Maybe we want to lose weight or eat better. Maybe we want to exercise more or quit some of those bad habits that we have. I wish you luck, but if you are like the average person resolutions are soon forgotten and we return to our old ways just to start over again the following year.

Well even if your diet doesn't work out, or if your new exercise routine fizzles, I want to encourage you to be proactive with your health. So many times, we become sick or have a health issue and we rush off to the doctor looking for answers. I've been there and doctors can be a great resource to help us get better many times with just a cream, some pills or possibly a shot and life is soon back to normal. This is all great when this quick fix works. But what about the times that you don't get better and have to go back? More cream, more pills, another shot? At some point we have to say enough.

Now let me tell you my story. At 45 years of age, I had struggled my whole life with asthma resulting in numerous trips to the doctor or to the emergency room in the middle of the night. I was given painful allergy tests and weekly shots to reduce my reactions to pollen and other airborne particles. Doctors gave me pills, inhalers and specific instructions how to get better and manage asthma through their use.  I was ok with that for a long time because it worked.

Then came the day that I had to see my allergist to renew my prescription for my inhalers. One was for asthma attacks and the other was for daily use to prevent them. The resulting visit required me to breath in tubes and do a variety of tests to check my lung function. The doctor asked me if I was taking my daily inhaler as prescribed and I guiltily told him that I only used it when I was feeling short of breath. I was told that this was not sufficient and that I needed to take it twice a day as directed. He went on to tell me that I had the lungs of a 60 year old and that if I didn't manage to get my asthma under control right away, I'd develop chronic obstructive airway disease (COPD). OK, COPD or take my medicine as directed? This was not a tough decision for me. He sent me home and told me to come back in a month to see how I was progressing.

A month later, I returned to my allergist who asked how I was doing. I told him that I was taking my medicine as directed and felt like I was getting worse. Some more tests and he sent me off with a prescription of the highest dose provided for this medicine. After several more weeks, my asthma was getting even worse. I was constantly short of breath and taking my rescue inhaler several times a day. I found myself clock watching so I could take my next dose of meds to try and feel better. I was relatively young, exercised regularly and ate a pretty healthy diet. I was not going to live the rest of my life taking large doses of inhaled steroids to prevent the ominous COPD that was ensuing if I didn't. That is when I said enough is enough.

I decided to research some natural methods to control my asthma. In my search I came across the Buteyko Breathing Method developed by Konstantin Pavlovich Buteyko . His belief was that asthma is a reaction to hyperventilation or "overbreathing". This overbreathing causes us to breathe out too much carbon dioxide (CO2) from our lungs. Healthy lung function should maintain an ideal 6-7% CO2. So where do we get that CO2 from when the air we breathe in has less than 1%? Our body has to make it! So asthmatics breathe in such a way that we purge our lungs of most of this CO2. The result will be an asthma attack or a reaction to this lack of CO2 in our lungs.

This was a revelation because, as asthmatics, our tendency is to try to breathe in deeper and more air when we feel an asthma attack coming on. We struggle to force air into our lungs which only makes our body react more. What really needs to happen, is that we need to breathe less so that we can build up the CO2 reserves in our lungs. Aha! Now I understood why I had to keep taking higher and higher doses of asthma medication. The medication allowed me to continue to breathe improperly which would create an even stronger asthmatic reaction from my body. And this overbreathing would also explain why some people have exercise induced asthma as an increase in breathing rate could cause CO2 deficits as well.

Now how did I put all this knowledge into practice? I went to Amazon and found a book by Patrick McKeown titled "Asthma-Free Naturally: Everything you need to know about taking control of your asthma". This book was a great resource in understanding asthma and the Buteyko Breathing Method. After reading the book, I began working on my breathing on a daily basis. After three months, I was able to quit my asthma medication and have not used it for over three years now. I live an active lifestyle and exercise regularly without any asthma symptoms.  I regularly will go for a two or three hour bike ride or skate ski in the cold of winter while being asthma free. 

Of course, it's highly unlikely that you will ever learn about the Buteyko Breathing Method from your allergist. I'm betting that he/she probably doesn't really even understand the connection between CO2 content and lung function. So I encourage you all to be proactive in your health. If it doesn't feel right, don't do it. God gave us miraculous bodies that can heal themselves in many cases without modern medicine if we take the time to understand and remediate the causes of our illnesses rather than just taking a pill or a cream or a shot to alleviate the resulting ailments.