Alkaline Diet Questions with Gareth (#15)

diabetes

Hey everyone!

Each fortnight we’re putting the best alkaline diet questions we receive from you to our Alkaline Diet Expert, Dr Young trained blood analyst and highly qualified nutritionist – Gareth Edwards.

Gareth is right at the very top of his field, so these answers are absolutely the best you’ll find from arguably Britain’s most qualified expert in this area!

Q&A With Gareth Edwards

Question One: Diabetes, Lactic Acidosis & the Alkaline Diet

Sadly I have just been diagnosed with diabetes and I also think my worse problem is Lactic Acidosis which is linked to diabetes I believe. I have to look into this a bit more carefully, but would I be right in thinking that by using your products I would lower the lactic acidosis? Also what dietary changes would you recommend?

OK, I’m going to start by challenging your mind-set slightly – if that’s OK! Coming from a place of wanting to help you with your health and well-being, I have to say that a diabetes diagnosis could be the best thing that ever happened to you. You should be on that path by asking these questions about diet and supplements.

Regular readers will know that both Dr. Young (author of “The pH miracle for Diabetes”) and myself have helped patients reverse diabetes (and associated conditions) without the use of any medication.

Diabetes, like any illness, occurs in an acidic body, so lactic and other acidoses are likely to be associated with a diagnosis. Lactic acidosis is usually bought about by a reduction in oxygen delivery to cells. This is likely to be due to poor formation or inter-action of red blood cells. (Live blood analysis should give you a pretty clear idea if this is the case.)

The best way to build healthy red blood cells (and alkalise your body) is to (dramatically!) increase your intake of low sugar, leafy green plant food. This needs to be accompanied by an increased intake of un-refined salt and bicarbonate mineral salts.

Ross’s Energise Alkaline recipe book is packed with ideas on how to start eating and drinking more of this stuff. Supplement wise, I’d recommend starting with a green powder (such as Doc Brocs) and drops that raise the pH mixed in filtered water. 2 to 3 litres a day should start to reduce acidosis.

The other important factor to consider is any medication you have been on. Most medications do promote acidity in the body. Reviewing these if any with a pH aware physician would be advisable.

You should probably also consider using pHour salts (as long as you are not taking regular medication). Mesure your urinary pH using the stix available from Energise and aim to achieve readings above 7 on a regular basis.

Good luck!

Question Two: Exercise/Sports Drinks – Alkaline Alternatives

I am transitioning and am also doing a reasonable amount of exercise. During classes (1 hr) I tend to just drink water, but for long periods of sustained exercise, such as 3-4 hr cycling (cross country) I have previously used energy gels or energy drinks as a boost. As I am transitioning, what would be the best way for me to get an energy boost during exercise, as I presume all classic energy products are acidic? Also, I know that exercise can produce acid in the body – is the best way to get rid of it by effective stretching and plenty of water and green juices? Eventually I want my body to run off its oil system and not sugar/carbs, but am not yet fully ready for this.

Great stuff! I am guessing that you have bought and read “Slow Burn” by Stu Mittleman. His epic world long distance record from San Diego to New York in 56 days (2 back to back marathons every day) came from teaching himself how to burn fat rather than sugar. In that book he outlines the mindset required to do it as much as the diet plan. Although it’s out of print you can usually order a copy on Amazon.

Alkaline Diet Recipe Book BannerYour analysis of gels and energy drinks is accurate. You could certainly use powdered greens and pH drops mixed with water to sustain you on longer rides. The only slight challenge is that the greens do bring your drink nearer to food status and it can get “held up” in the stomach. Water is generally absorbed lower down in the large intestine, so be careful that you remain hydrated while consuming greens. Mixing it at a weak concentration can help. I believe that Stu Mittleman actually used green powder capsules rather than a mixed powder, which he washed down with alkalised water.

Exercise will produce acids. Most of these are eliminated through sweat and increased respiration rate. Again I’d recommend a green powder and pH drops to help recovery. Green juice is an alternative. I’d use a glass or two of pHour salts too to help re-mineralise and alkalise too. You could use the supplement that Dr. Young and Stu Mittlleman have developed for Inner Light called Alka-blast instead.

Although a bit old and carried out on horses and dogs(!), this 1995 paper from the Journal of nutrition should give you further re-assurance that you are on the right track: click here to read!

Here’s something more recent on the effectiveness of using baking soda to enhance athletic performance: click here to read!

pHour salts contains sodium bicarbonate and other minerals in bicarbonate form.

Question Three: Being a Coeliac and the Alkaline Diet

I have one problem I am a celiac. Can you give some advice on this problem and living an alkaline life?

Aiming to avoid gluten containing grains (wheat, oats, rye and barley) can be compatible with an alkalising regime. In fact a regime based heavily around living, green, low sugar plant foods is the best way to promote and restore digestive health.

It might seem, as a diagnosed celiac, that you need to follow a more extreme version of the alkalising regime, particularly if you want to avoid animal protein. There may be an element of truth in that, but I would say that by doing so you potentially stand to gain more, in terms of health improvements than those who can afford to take things a bit more gently…

The foundation of healthy eating is big plates (or bowls) of fresh raw vegetables with sprouted beans, pulses or seeds. Add healthy fats from avocados, olive oil, hemp oil along with salt, pepper and lemon juice and you have a delicious, gluten free healthy building block for any meal. If you bought a de-hydrator you could make some falafel or flax seed crackers to go with it. Most of the recipes in the Energise Alkaline recipe book are also gluten free.

You really should be fine with a green powder supplements (such as Doc Brocs) that contain grasses from the grains that are thought to cause the erosion of the finger-like projections (called villi) in your intestines, but if consuming them concerns you (or caused a reaction) the pHruits & pHoliage powder that Energise sell does not contain any grasses. Mix that with puripHy and water.

On a broader note, I think it likely that there are other factors at play than just gliadin in causing erosion of the villi. Acids from grains may be part of the problem, but other acidic food stuffs could be contributors too. Alkalising with diet and green juices (including cabbage – mixed with cucumber and celery, to make it more palatable) should help you to re-build a healthy digestive tract. Using pHour salts should help the biological transformation of food into blood, through helping “break down” food and therefore make it more easily absorbed.

Rice and gluten free pasta could be used as accompaniments to meals. You may find that sprouted grains are ok, but you would want to build up your intestinal health with green plant foods and juices before trying this, monitoring any reactions carefully.

Question Four: Is Tofu Safe?

I am concerned about the use of Tofu. As I understand it, the phytates in unfermented soya inhibit the uptake of minerals. Since we are all reckoned to be short of minerals, can this be a useful food item?

Well…… this question has really made me stop, think, read and reflect. So thank you for that! Soya (from which tofu is made) is, arguably one of the more controversial food substances on the planet. Some researchers suggest that it is protective against degenerative diseases such as cancer, cardio-vascular disease and menstrual syndromes, while others suggest a link between reduced male fertility and even brain degeneration. Proving any of these claims conclusively is hard because of the potentially confounding effects of other foods eaten alongside tofu or soya.

The dietary goal of “alkalising” will effectively lead to increased mineral levels through reduced excretion. This is because the body uses minerals such as calcium and magnesium in order to buffer (neutralise) dietary and metabolic acids.

It is quite usual, for people to start eating less animal protein when they start following an alkalising dietary programme. This can leave a bit of a “hole” and the high levels of protein and oil found in soya beans can seem like a healthy way to plug the gap. The reality is that soya, whether it be milk or tofu, is likely to be less acidifying than most animal protein sources. Additionally, being a bean, it contains fibre, which meat, cheese, eggs and fish do not.

It is true that both soybeans and tofu do contain measurable levels of phytic acid. Grains, beans and pulses all do! Linseeds, sesame seeds and brazil nuts have higher levels, while oats, chickpeas and lentils have lower levels. Phytic acid binds to minerals easily and makes them insoluble. Once insoluble, they cannot be absorbed in the gut.

Cooking beans (as usually occurs to make soya milk, from which tofu is made) reduces phytic acid levels. Additionally most tofu is made by coagulating soya milk using calcium sulphate, which increases the amount of calcium that it contains.

If however you want to be super-keen and super alkalising, the best bet really is to sprout your soya beans and eat them raw. This will reduce phytic acid acid markedly and preserve the energetic qualities that further contribute to the alkalising effect of raw foods.

Clinically I don’t have problem recommending occasional tofu consumption to people as a meat substitute, but do have concerns that over consumption of cooked soya products (milk & tofu) could be un-wise.

I hope this goes some way towards answering your question. I feel it raises some important issues. Non-commercial, Government funded research in this area would be welcome. Discovering just to what extent tofu consumption might effect mineral balance is an important question for all of us.

Question Five: Pregnancy Symptoms & the Alkaline Diet

I am 8 months pregnant. I have low iron and supplementation isn’t really working- Can chlorophyll help iron deficiency? I really wish I could somehow read or find more information on pregnancy symptoms and acidity- like morning sickness, weight gain, low iron, fatigue- are these types of symptoms causes of acidosis? hormones?

Many years ago I heard the French Doctor Michel Odent (known primarily for promoting water birthing) explaining how the volume of blood increases during pregnancy. This, he stated, is the cause for the apparent anaemia so often witnessed during pregnancy, rather than an actual reduction in iron levels.

Having said that, I am conscious of many reported cases of increased consumption of green plant foods and bicarbonate salts (in combination) leading to increased haemoglobin (the iron containing protein in red blood cells) production. I have witnessed patients experiencing hair loss (considered a classic symptom of iron deficiency) reverse the condition with more green vegetables and salt.

It is a bit tricky to find stuff on alkalising and pregnancy but the solutions to imbalances should still lie in promoting alkalinity. Read Dr. Young’s explanation of the cause of nausea here!

When you are pregnant you really just want to be as healthily as possible. There’s no disputing that eating plenty of fresh (ideally raw) veg is good for you – so pack it in (to your tummy)!

These articles and videos featuring respected figures in the raw food world, relating to pregnancy may help too: Click here to view articles and videos!

This article may help: Click here to read!

Do some internet search around Julie Mennella of the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia (mentioned in the article) too.

Remember that green powder and pH drops can help work as a quick fix way if preparing fresh veg seems daunting!

Note: this not intended to diagnose or treat and professional health care should be sought in case of any doubt.

If you have a question for Gareth leave it in the comments below!

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  1. Celine Reply

    Hi Gareth, in relation to your answer on diabetes & the alkaline lifestyle can you please specify if you are referring to Type 1 (juvenile) or Type 2 (maturity onset) diabetes? As you are most likely aware Type 1 means there’s no insulin production from the pancreas whereas in Type 2 the body is just not processing the insulin properly due to being overweight, having a sedentary lifestyle etc. So it’s easy to see how the alkalinity can help and possibly reverse Type 2 diabetes. But what about Type1? Thanks.

  2. Grace Azadvar Reply

    Dear Gareth,
    I went on alkaline diet about 3 months ago. It was recommended by my homeopath who said I had too much acid in my body. One of the symptoms is quite a severe eczema on my hands. Incidentally, I’m also on a gluten-free and dairy-free diet. The first 2 weeks after I started my alkaline diet were great. I had more energy, my ph levels were improving daily, my skin condition was getting getter and I was loosing weight, which was an added bonus. The problem is that after 2 weeks everything went worse again and I’ve reached a stalemate. One day things are better and the next day they are worse as if my body simply got used to these new alkaline levels. Unfortunately I can’t use Mega Greens to make green drinks as I’m allergic to something in it and developed a rash on my arm. Is there any advice you can give me?
    Best regards, Grace

  3. Muriel Harley Reply

    Re Gareth’s Q&A this week. In Q1 you recommend use of ph hour salts -then in brackets – “as long as you are not taking regular medication” . I have never seen this mentioned before. Would you please qualify if this applies to all types of medication, or only for diabetes. I currently take several different types of medication ,so am rather concerned as I have been taking salts daily and wish to know if I should discontinue the practice.

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