Alkaline diet

The alkaline diet basically reinforces good, old-fashioned healthy eating. The diet recommends eating more vegetables, fruits and drinking lots of water and cutting back on sugar, alcohol, meat and processed foods. Alkaline diets also tend to be low in fat and calories, naturally promoting a healthy body weight and lowering heart disease risk factors. They also reduce or eliminate red and processed meats, removing a major contributor to heart disease from the diet.

Research on alkaline diet

 Alkaline diets reduce a person’s consumption of fatty and processed meats, and they encourage people to eat more fruits and vegetables. This offers several health benefits.

Here are some of the benefits that alkaline diet supporters may claim, and the scientific research either supporting or refuting them:

Promoting weight loss

Many strategies can help people lose weight.

Ultimately, weight loss depends on consuming fewer calories than one burns. Diets lower in fat and calories may promote weight loss, but only when a person remains physically active and eats a healthful diet with variety.

An alkaline diet tends to be low in calories, so it may help people lose weight.

Improving kidney health

Raising urine pH may improve health for some people.

According to a 2017 study, the typical diet of people in the world is very acidic. This can challenge the kidneys. For people with kidney disease, a lower-acid diet may improve symptoms or even slow the course of the disease.

For most people with choronic kidney disease, there is no need to follow a specific alkaline diet. Instead, simply reducing protein, such as milk, meat, and cheese, may help.

Preventing cancer

Some proponents of this diet claim that it can reverse cancer or support chemotherapy. There is no scientific evidence supporting these claims trusted source, and no studies have performed direct tests on this claim.

However, significant evidence from a 2010 study suggests that reducing meat consumption and eating more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains might prevent cancer.

The study looked at data from the 2010 European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. It found that consuming vitamin C, vitamin A, fiber, and a Mediterranean-style diet might reduce cancer risk.

The American cancer society (ACS) recommend a diet similar, but not identical, to an alkaline diet. The ACS advise avoiding processed foods, soft drinks, and many high-fat foods. Instead, it is more beneficial to eat a diet rich in fruit, vegetables, and whole grains.

Treating or preventing heart disease

In the U.S., heart disease is the leading cause of death trusted source. Lifestyle factors including poor nutrition and low activity levels are major contributors.

An alkaline diet may naturally raise levels of growth hormone trusted source, but the research is preliminary and inconclusive. Research finds trusted source that growth hormone supports body composition and lowers heart disease risk factors.

Alkaline diets also tend to be low in fat and calories, naturally promoting a healthy body weight and lowering heart disease risk factors. They also reduce or eliminate red and processed meats, removing a major contributor to heart disease from the diet.

Improving growth hormone levels

Better heart health is just one potential benefit of having higher growth hormone levels. Improving growth hormone levels may also promote better brain functioning, particularly memory and cognition trusted source.

Some evidence suggests that growth hormone improves overall quality of life.

However, the evidence linking an alkaline diet to increases in growth hormone levels is weak. Some studies have shown that correcting a highly acidic environment with specific supplements such as bicarbonate can promote alkalinity trusted source, but this does not necessarily mean that an alkaline diet has similar benefits.

Improving back pain

A small amount of research suggests trusted source that supplementing the diet with alkaline minerals might help with symptoms of back pain.

This research does not directly test the benefits of an alkaline diet, so it is uncertain whether alkaline foods might help with chronic pain.

Promoting healthy muscles

People tend to lose muscle mass as they age.

This increases a person’s risk of falls and fractures, and it may also contribute to weakness and chronic pain. A 2013 study offers preliminary evidence that an alkaline diet may improve muscle health.

Researchers examined 2,689 females in a long-term twin study. They found a small but significant increase in muscle mass among females following a more alkaline diet.

 ALKALINE DIET FOODS

People interested in trying an alkaline diet should eat more low-acid foods.

These include:

Fruits, vegetables, seeds, legumes, such as lentils, tofu

Lentils, tofu, and some seeds are good sources of protein, but it is important to eat enough to make up for the removal of dairy products and meat.

People interested in trying an alkaline diet should avoid high-acid foods. These include:

dairy products such as cheese and milk, processed foods, fish, coffee, alcohol, soda.

Written by: Divine James

Credit: www.medicalnewstoday.com