I Pompously Walked Around as a Healthy YOUNG Person, or so I Thought

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So the other day I got sick, like really sick....like save me Oprah, save me Tom Cruise, save me baby Jesus sick..... And here I always thought I was pretty healthy and generally aware of what I ate (since leaving my teen years).

 Well, BAM! I got ill...what...the...fuuck ......and now that I look on it if I had paid attention to my body more I would have noticed a couple changes that I now remember started occurring. Also if I had an even better diet.

What my diet may have been like before you may wonder? well for starters, maybe the usual commercialized morning items; eggs, bacon, cereal, you name it....but well...in small portions, then lunch let’s see, as a Jamaican....most Jamaicans would get this, when we do lunch, we LUNCH...I would have my veggies on the side with maybe some oxtail oh lord, oxtail....this is making me drool but back to this blog; I would have oxtail with my veggies and maybe some brown rice here n there you get the point. Either way, I thought I was doing good because I was having my veggies, adding a little brown rice here and there, exercising, drinking more water (by the way I WAS a pepsi  fiend, but now I remember the exact day I took a sip like an AA member....I’m so and so days clean). Basically, I was looking at what I was adding to my diet and not necessarily to what else I usually ate. BIG MISTAKE

After I got sick and went through the mill, I started learning, exploring and studying a lot more of what I ate and the control I could have had with preventing my illness. Food is the remote....it controls everything. You don’t just eat and then cure your ailments with medication and continue to eat like it ain’t no thang but a greasy chicken wing....your eating habits IS making you ill. It’s a vicious cycle.   

I didn’t realize that one’s body chemistry (literally) was THAT important. I didn’t realize (because I never looked into it before) that what you ate controlled the ph of your blood/body. Here’s where it got interesting and I wondered why no one seemed to have told me before because it’s like gospel to me now, orrrrrr maybe my ears and eyes weren’t as keen to it because I pompously walked around as a “healthy YOUNG person,” or so I thought.

I’m going to break it down as much as I can and don’t worry it doesn’t continue being technical to the end.

Our blood has a ph level. Ph stands for potential hydrogen. PH level’s can either be acidic, neutral or alkaline. The ph scale goes from 0 to 14, 7 is considered neutral and anything below it is considered acidic and of course anything above 7 is considered alkaline. In the body, you want as healthy of a balance as possible. A ratio of 80/20 or even 70/30 is considered good, the higher percentage being alkaline. What you consume will ultimately determine your ph level.

 We live and die on a cellular level and if our cells are healthy, we are healthy, and they need a mostly alkaline environment to perform optimally. When food goes through the process of digestion (using up what it can AS food), it burns off and leaves a residue behind in the body called ash. The ash can either be of an acidic or alkaline nature.

I’m writing this the simplest way I can, so I hope everyone is following. I hope you find it as interesting as I did. We are going to get back to the ash but so far the “buzzwords” are:

• PH (potential hydrogen)
• Acid
• Alkaline
• Neutral
• Ash

Now, in the body, you have mineral reserves. I won’t list them because why give you something else to remember right? especially if you were one of the people who found biology and chemistry boring in school. Anyways, the body has these reserves which are alkaline based, alkaline ash keeps these reserves full and cells take from these reserves to keep the ph in your body stable (more alkaline). The cells go and take from these reserves to turn any strong acidic ash in the body to weak acid, of which is easily eliminated from the body. Now picture your cells working on the acid, their stomachs and pockets are full so they easily and merrily work at doing this, because hey, the mineral reserves are full. Now when we consume an extensive amount of acidic food the reserves in the body aren’t replenished. In fact, the cells now barely have any money, no food, they’re stressed out and begin to work overtime with few resources to make this acid ash as alkaline/weak as possible, they are not happy, they are working hard because they must maintain their environment and keep their home as happy for them as possible. Their performance is no longer optimal as their home becomes more acidic, this acid is toxic, this is now where disease shall thrive, ‘n thrive it shall.

There have been many studies done worldwide and the results are always the same. Disease, ailments, poor health is a result of an acidic environment. Disease cannot live in an alkaline environment, it loves and flourishes in acidity. It’s like when an ant finds the garbage ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh the heavens open up.

Now like I’ve said in my past blog posts, I never want to tell people what to eat, it’s their life, all I ever want to do is share my culinary experiences and make eaters just more aware of what they are eating. Below I have placed some charts that will show you what foods are acid and alkaline. There are a few foods that conflict with different researchers as to whether or not they should be classified as alkaline or acidic, but for the MOST part, you will see an accurate representation. 

Initially when I checked it out myself I didn’t realize how acidic I was eating. Almost everything I grew to love was acidic, and by-the-way sugar especially white/refined sugar is indeed the nazi of all foods. Frankly its poison; I’ll take a moment to allow you to sob as I did for all the simple carbohydrates.

First signs your body may be too acidic:

• You have a body odor anywhere on your body and WITH or WITHOUT using deodorant.
• You have an elevated heart rate
• You get sick quite a few times throughout the year, don’t only think about the flu or a cold. Think about skin ailments, sinuses, digestion problems etc
• Your urine has a strong odor and is generally always concentrated, even the first one in the morning.
• Low energy levels.

For those who are interested, this is a SMALL peak into what I eat now:

• No black pepper (the body does not digest it properly and therefore does not take lightly to it)
• If I need to use cooking oil, it’s strictly coconut oil
• If I use salt, its sea salt
• I eat foods that are as organic and fresh as possible (the way nature truly intended from the dawn of time; only seems right)
• I drink at least 62oz of water a day
• When I wake up the first thing I do is drink 16oz (a small water bottle) of water, then I eat fruits, then a breakfast meal, usually one with a decent amount of protein.
• I juice/blend a lot more than I have ever in my life; beets, carrots, all things green, sometimes fruits (fruits I rather eat) etc etc
• I eat pear (avocado) with almost everything, I’m addicted, I’m not in denial
• I avoid dairy, eggs, sugar, wheat products as much as possible...hey I’m not perfect, temptation is REAL people
• I avoid meat as much as possible, listen...what did I say about temptation?
• I try not to take pills for anything (they are very acidic)
• I don’t eat most of the ingredients you find in my previous blog post; such as MSG, Sodium nitrate etc      
• I avoid gluten and yeast when I am aware of its existence in a meal
• Apple cider vinegar (with the ‘mother’) is boss, look it up and use it!

The alkaline diet is a lifestyle as with any healthy diet....if the food you already consume is mostly alkaline, kudos to you. If you try an alkaline diet and it tastes bad to you....bless your soul, ‘Learn How To Cook’ cookbooks are all around us, use one. I am not a weight watcher, and for those who are, learn that not all calories are created equal, and focus on the QUALITY of your nutrition.

I could go on and on with this blog, but thank the goodness of baby unicorns that I’m tired right? whew

Please feel free to add and comment to this post. I learn from your experiences as well, and also I’m sure you can let me know if I missed anything! Restaurant experiences to come! And yes I shall call their names!