How to Alkalize Your Body – Episode

Empowering You Organically – Season 11 – Episode 93

Title: How to Alkalize Your Body

Hosts: Jonathan Hunsaker & TeriAnn Trevenen

Guest: None

Description:  What is pH balance? Your body’s pH balance, also referred to as its acid-base balance, is the level of acids and bases in your blood at which your body functions best. Tune in to learn which foods help keep you balanced.

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Importance of Balanced pH in the Body

What is pH balance?

Your body’s pH balance, also referred to as its acid-base balance, is the level of acids and bases in your blood at which your body functions best.

The human body is built to naturally maintain a healthy balance of acidity and alkalinity. The lungs and kidneys play a key role in this process. A normal blood pH level is 7.40 on a scale of 0 to 14, where 0 is the most acidic and 14 is the most basic. This value can vary slightly in either direction.

If the lungs or kidneys are malfunctioning, your blood’s pH level can become imbalanced. Disruption in your acid-base balance can lead to medical conditions known as acidosis and alkalosis. Both conditions require treatment from a medical professional, not simply dietary changes.

Different fluids are found inside the human body. The cells inside the body are often affected by the ph level.

If you experience stress, tiredness, excess weight, fatigue, aches, pains, poor digestion, and other serious disorders, the ph level inside your body may be too acidic.

The three things that might contribute more to the body to become overly acidic are ingesting acids, creation of acids, and improper acid elimination.

Role of pH in Everyday Life

1. Digestive system
   1. Hydrochloric Acid – produced in stomach and helps digestion of food without causing any harm to the stomach. If it gets too high there is pain and irritation in the stomach.
2. Acids Cause Tooth Decay
   1. Sugar is degraded by bacteria in the mouth and acid is formed. When the pH is lower than 5.5 tooth enamel is corroded. Our saliva is slightly alkaline, so it helps neutralize some acid.
3. Acid is Produced in Fatigued Muscles
   1. As a result of physical exercise, stiffness and pain in the muscles starts due to the formation of lactic acid. This reduces the oxygen supply in your muscle.

Foods to Help Balance Your pH

Ingesting foods which are considered acidifying foods as dairy, processed sugar, meat, alcohol, coffee, etc. overloads the ability of your body to neutralize all the acids.

If you want to obtain a well-balanced ph, you must have a proper diet and nutrition. It is wise to follow a detox plan which can greatly help the detox process. A diet consisting of foods high in alkaline, proper supplementation, and hydrating the body properly can aid the body in detox.

Alkaline Veggies to Add to Your Diet

If you have a condition that requires you to watch the alkaline and acid levels of your food, then you will be curious about which alkaline veggies you can add to your diet. Here are some of the best options for you.

Cauliflower

You first vegetable option is probably one you already eat on a regular basis, which is good news! This makes it a lot easier to add to your current diet, and still be on the alkaline diet your doctor recommends.

• This interesting vegetable is highly anti-inflammatory and provides a good amount of choline which is an important B vitamin for brain health.
• It is also an excellent source of antioxidants and phytonutrients which give the body a better chance at fighting free radicals.
• Cauliflower also helps cardiovascular health because of the agent sulforaphane which promotes proper cell formation of the veins and arteries.
• Another excellent thing about cauliflower is that it is often used in low-carb diets, so if this is something you need to watch out for, this is a great low-starch vegetable.

Radishes

Your next option is to add more radishes to your current diet, as they are also very alkaline vegetables. Radishes are known to have a cooling effect on the body, and was used by ancient Chinese doctors to help people deal with heat during hot weather.

• They’re also diuretic and help the body to flush toxins by passing them into urine and out of the body.
• They are high in vitamin C and other trace minerals.

Lettuce

Along with its alkalinity, lettuce provides a lot of the important trace minerals. These include phosphorous, calcium, iron, potassium, sodium, zinc, magnesium, and the vitamins vitamin B6, vitamin K, riboflavin, niacin, folate, Vitamin C, and Vitamin A.

• Studies have also found that lettuce contains chemicals that help to improve mood and can help to regulate anxiety.
• It is so easy to eat more lettuce, making this at the top of the list. You can add lettuce to sandwiches or burgers, make wraps with lettuce, have salads, and even add it to your pasta or casseroles.

Carrot

A high fiber vegetable, carrot is well known for its starchy fibrous body. It is high in pantothenic acid, folate, potassium, iron, copper, and manganese, and has excellent antioxidant properties.

• They have long been associated with the improvement of eyesight, and studies have shown that carrots can prevent some forms of muscular degeneration that are common as humans age.

Green Beans

More than just a staple food for some cultures, green beans are another highly antioxidant and anti-inflammatory food with great health benefits.

• Green beans have been found to be effective at reducing risks associated with heart disease. This is believed to be due to the high number of flavonoids.
• Green beans are also a major source of antioxidants.
• Since many people get green beans in the can, it is best you choose fresh or frozen varieties. If you do need them canned, get the no salt added variety, and give them a good rinse just to be sure you don’t have extra sodium.

Celery

Celery is a heavily fibrous plant that has its roots deep in history as an anti-high blood pressure medicine. It is highly anti-inflammatory and powerful antioxidant properties.

• Celery also contains quite a few trace minerals and vitamins.
• Another amazing effect of celery is its ability to stimulate liver functions. It does this by helping the liver to produce liver cleansing enzymes.
• It can help you to both lower your cholesterol, and to fight microbial infections in the body.
• Celery juice has also become very popular lately. You can get a juicer and use stalks of celery to make juice with celery alone. It has such a high water content, that it won’t take quite as much as other vegetables would for a similar juice.

Here are some of the top alkaline fruits to consider adding to your diet.

Coconut

This hard-shelled fruit is packed with a ton of benefits.

• Coconut has a history of improving skin by aiding elasticity and fighting oxidative stress.
• It is also great for your immune system, because it has a large amount of antiparasitic and antimicrobial properties.
• Coconut can also help to improve digestion of food, and make it easier for the body to absorb valuable nutrients
• One of the best attributes of coconut is that it can even help regulate insulin, which can help to prevent diabetes.

Papaya

Papaya Is a tropical fruit. This fruit is widely known for its ability to aid in calming the stomach and reducing the production of stomach acids.

• This can help to massively improve digestion.
• It’s full of vitamins B, and C and is heavily antioxidant, which fights free radicals that cause cancer.

Bananas

This yellow tree fruit is packed with great carbs and vitamins. Even though it contains a healthy dose of nutrition, it still has less than 120 calories.

• Eating a banana won’t spike your blood sugar, and they are absorbed quickly.
• They are very high in fiber, can help you to have proper elimination, and are very filling. This absorption and high fiber will make you to feel more satisfied and fuller.
• Bananas also have a positive effect on moods and can help you to relax and be able to sleep better.

Avocado

Avocado is among the most popular for use as a condiment, topping, or filling. One thing few people know is that they are higher in potassium than the average banana.

• They are also high in fiber and can help to lower your cholesterol.
• They contain massive amounts of vitamins and minerals that help to nourish the body as well.
• Plus, who doesn’t love avocado? This is an amazing healthy fat that is approved in the majority of diets and can fill you up in between meals.
• It works great in smoothies, to have as a snack, top salads, or add to sandwiches. There are endless ways to use more avocados if you are looking to have more alkaline fruits in your daily diet.

Grapefruit

This larger citrus fruit can help with cholesterol levels, and greatly impacts lipid levels.

• Grapefruit is associated with weight loss because of its effect on fats in the body and is full of vitamins like Vitamin C.
• It can also help to erode build ups of calcium like the calcium found in painful kidney stones.
• It is also popular to use as a late-night snack instead of eating carb filled junk foods.

Lemon

Lemon juice is a great way to stimulate action in the liver because it contains uric acid, which breaks down a number of toxins in the body.

• Lemon is also effective at dissolving kidney stones and can help to improve digestion.
• If you were to consume at least a glass of lemon juice a day, the acids can stimulate your intestines to create a bowel movement, and the juice can help to dissolve various substances that form plaque on the intestinal walls.
• The great thing about lemon is how versatile it is, and how easy it is to have more of it. For example, if you are looking to develop a new daily routine for your health, you can start each day with a full glass of lemon water. Just slice up lemon and add it to a glass, or you can even prepare a pitcher of lemon water the night before, then just pour it in the cup the next morning.

Cherries

Cherries are an amazing natural source of melatonin which is a hormone produced by your pineal gland.

• Science has discovered that eating cherries or drinking cherry juice can greatly help you to stay asleep for longer periods.
• Melatonin is also an antioxidant that can help to combat free radicals.
• Cherries are also full of powerful naturally occurring anti-inflammatory chemicals.
• If you are a fan of smoothies, cherries make a wonderful addition to your favorite recipes. Cherries have just the right amount of sweetness, so you can add just a few of them to your smoothie and it will be sweeter, even if the smoothie is a green smoothie with lots of greens.

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Jonathan Hunsaker:

Welcome everyone to another episode of Empowering You Organically. I am your host, Jonathan Hunsaker, and this is my cohost Terri-Ann Trevenen.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

Hey everyone.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

So today we’re going to talk about the pH balance in your body, whether it’s more acidic or alkaline and the importance of having a more alkaline body. And just some of the fruits, some of the vegetables, some of the foods that you can eat to help encourage your body to be in a more alkaline state.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

Yeah. So let’s talk a little bit about what pH balance is, your body’s pH balance, also referred to as it’s acid-base balance, is the level of acid and bases in your blood at what your body functions best. So before we even dive a little further, one thing we talk about a lot on the podcast is every person’s body is unique. I find it very interesting in this day and age that there are so many, one size fits all solutions, if you will, for health, that a lot of people will push. When in reality, you can test things like your pH balance. You can test things in your blood, in your stool, in your gut, and it looks different for all of us. And I think it’s really important, when we’re having this conversation, this is one of those aspects where you can really dial this aspect of your body in, in ways you probably haven’t thought of before. So you’re going to learn a little bit more about that today.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

So let’s continue on the pH balance. So the acid-base balance, acids and bases in your blood at which your body functions best. The human body is built to naturally maintain a healthy balance of acidity and alkalinity. The lungs and kidneys play a key role in this process, which I think is fascinating. If you didn’t know that, even if you’ve heard pH balance and you’ve heard about having that balance, your lungs and your kidneys play a key role in this process. A normal blood pH level is 7.4 on a scale of 0 to 14, where 0 is the most acidic and 14 is the most basic. So let me say that again, a normal blood pH level is 7.4 on a scale of 0 to 14, where 0 is the most acidic and 14 is the most basic.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

So putting that in context, a normal level is 7.4, you really don’t want to be all the way down here or all the way up here, unless you’re trying to achieve something and going one way or the other, which that’s a whole conversation for a different day, but you want to mostly be at that normal state, that normal range. This value can vary slightly in either direction and that comes into play in a lot of different things that you do with your health and that you put in your body and things like that. If the lungs or kidneys are malfunctioning, your blood’s pH level can become imbalanced. Disruption in your acid-base balance can lead to medical conditions known as acidosis and alkalosis. Both conditions require treatment from a medical professional, not simply dietary changes. So we’re going to talk a little bit later today about some things that you can use in your nutrition plan that help with a balanced pH and some of the benefits of those. But if you get too far one way or the other, and you face one of these conditions, the acidosis or the alkalosis, and you have to seek medical treatment to get back into a normal balance.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

I mean, oftentimes that happens because we’re out of balance to begin with. We’ve been eating a certain way for so long, we’ve had a certain lifestyle, a certain exercise regimen, or lack thereof, that’s caused us to go one way or the other. And I think it’s interesting because you always hear about disease can’t grow in the alkaline state, the more alkaline that you are, the better it is for your body. And as you look at the things that actually make you more acidic, it all makes sense. So if you have stress, tiredness, excess weight, fatigue, aches, pains, poor digestion, all of these things are a sign that you may be acidic, your pH balance is a little bit more on the acidic side.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

And there’re all kinds of things like more base waters, they’re alkaline waters that are out there. You’ll see those in the store and they’re 8.0 or 9.0 alkaline waters. There’re companies out there like Enagic inc and Kangen that make these alkalized machines that you can hook up to help alkaline the water. And they put all kinds of claims with that and I’m not going to say that it’s one way or the other. It’s probably not as magical as they’re saying it is, but there is benefit to alkalizing your body more and your blood and eating those foods that, in my opinion, they kind of calm the body down. That acid is, to me, more of a heat base, more of a hot energy, whereas if you alkalize it, it’s more of a cooler, more of a calming. And that’s what we’re going to find in the vegetables that we talk about, the fruits that we talk about that help make your body more alkaline.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

Yeah. And one other thing to talk about let’s get into the aspects of your body this really impacts. So first and foremost, the cells inside the body are often affected by the pH level. At the cellular level in our body, the changes that happen, the things that can occur really matter a great deal. And again, that’s a whole conversation for a different day as well. But at the cellular level, we can do a lot of things to impact our body. PH level is also tied to the cells in our body, so really having a balance here matters.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

What’s the role of pH in our everyday life when it comes to breaking it down for our body? So the first place is the digestive system. Hydrochloric acid is produced in the stomach and helps the ingestion of food without causing any harm to the stomach. If it gets too high, there’s pain and irritation in the stomach. So having that balance helps you to have a healthy digestive system, overall. The second one is acids cause tooth decay, which I know a lot of us would like to keep our teeth as long as possible. Sugar is degraded by bacteria in the mouth and acid is formed. When the pH is lower than 5.5 tooth enamel is corroded. Our saliva is slightly alkaline, so it helps neutralize some acid. Which let’s just stop and think about that for a minute, our bodies are so amazing the way that all the things work together, how your saliva can help neutralize some of that acid, just amazing what our bodies do. But this concept of having this balance, when it comes to the pH balance in your body even impacts something like your teeth and the decay of your teeth. So paying attention to things that you can have in your nutrition plan that can help keep this in balance. Like I said, we’re going to talk about that later, super important.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

Well, it’s why soda is so damaging for our teeth, it’s so acidic. It’s white, and we’ve all seen it since we were kids, you put the tarnish penny inside some Pepsi or Coca Cola or something else, and it comes out shiny clean. And so just imagine what that’s doing to your teeth, imagine what that’s doing to your body as you ingest the sodas and things like that.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

You mean soda is not good for you?

Jonathan Hunsaker:

No.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

Oh, that’s what all the marketing says. Don’t even get me started on a soda tangent. Don’t even get me started on a soda tangent. We drink very minimal soda here at our house, just not only for your teeth, but so far beyond that. The soda companies do such a good job of marketing soda, it’s incredible.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

But you can go to 7/11 and get a super big gulp, 64 ounces for like a $1.99. Talk about quenching your thirst.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

I know, right?

Jonathan Hunsaker:

It’s a little sick, right?

TeriAnn Trevenen:

The cheapest way to good health, right?

Jonathan Hunsaker:

You know what I love is, and I’ve seen this at KFC, Kentucky Fried Chicken, they have something at the drive through that says, “Upgrade your drink to 64 ounces and we’ll donate a dollar to childhood diabetes.” Like what are we doing here? So if you upgrade your drink to 64 ounces of soda, they’re going to donate to what’s causing the childhood diabetes already. And don’t worry, I actually didn’t go through the drive through, I’ve just seen pictures of it. So I don’t think that’s real chicken.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

Whatever you say. Okay. But honestly, let me just say one more thing on this tangent, not just those drinks, but you can go to the gas station now and those drinks that are like this big and this big around, and then you fill it up with soda. We’re talking about tooth decay, bacteria and sugar coming together in your mouth. When they show the diagrams of how much sugar is in one of those big things, there’s no question why we’re where we are with health.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

What gas station are you go and see where they’ve got cups this. I know they’ve got some big cups, but I feel like it’s a fish that you caught and it’s eventually gotten this big.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

You know like the big round ones that have the big handles and they have the big straws coming out? They’re a thing, you can all look them up. I promise they’re out there and I see people drinking them. And it’s like drinking a bag of sugar is really what it is. If you think about that in context, you would be like going into my pantry right now, getting out a big thing of sugar and sitting down and eating the whole thing. Like, “I’m just going to sit here and watch a show while I…” That’s what drinking that big thing of soda is like. So we digress, but obviously we’re pretty passionate about in our lives and soda. And it’s a very, very minimal thing at our house, it’s a rare occasion that soda happens for like really special events.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

Number three acid is produced in fatigued muscles-

Jonathan Hunsaker:

What special events do you have soda at? I’m sorry, I’m just curious. I understand if you need a little soda to mix with your rum right, that makes sense.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

We didn’t digress on this.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

But, what special events call for soda?

TeriAnn Trevenen:

I don’t know, when I take my kids to a movie and they are like, “Can we please have a soda? We never have soda. Can we just have a little soda?”

Jonathan Hunsaker:

No. Now, you want to make them sit for two hours and you want to give them a cup full of sugar and that’s going to be an easy experience?

TeriAnn Trevenen:

Okay. Well, I could give examples, but this will be a tangent we’ll never get off of.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

Sorry about that.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

So number three, acid is produced in fatigued muscles. As a result of physical exercise, stiffness and pain in the muscles starts due to the formation of lactic acid, this reduces the oxygen supply in your muscle. And fatigued muscles, not something any of us want to have, we want to be functioning full capacity, feeling well all the time. Fatigued muscles just means a fatigued body, it means a lot more pain. It’s that stiffness, there’s just so much that goes into that. So you want to make sure that you’re supporting yourself if you’re fatiguing your muscles, first of all, if you’re fatiguing your muscles and you’re not doing things to support that, to really help your muscles and your body recover, that’s really tough on your body from a working out perspective. But overall, we need to be doing things to really support those fatigued muscles just day in and day out. We’re using our bodies, we’re moving, we really need to make sure we’re replenishing that and really working on that.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

Absolutely. And I think it’s one of the things that discourages a lot of people when they first start working out, first start lifting weights, is that pain that comes with and it’s like, “I don’t want to feel like this every time after I work out.” Your body will build up a lactic acid threshold and you’ll be able to handle more and more of it. And it’s actually a good thing, it’s the same thing with stress, you’re kind of stressing your body a little bit. So don’t overdo it to where you can’t move the next day. But over time, over the next week, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks, you have less and less of that pain, less and less of that lactic acid buildup and the pain that comes from it because your body does adjust to it. And that’s a good thing, it helps your body deal with stress better, because that’s what working out is you’re slightly stressing the body. And if you just increase it a little bit every day, every week, it allows your body to actually manage stress even better.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

Yeah. And there’s actually a lot of… and this isn’t the purpose of this particular podcast, but I will say that there are supplements out there to help with recovery after working out and to really help muscle recovery and other functions of your body. So maybe we’ll do a podcast on that here in the near future because I love to work out and I love to get that muscle fatigue in and lift weights. And there’s a lot of natural supplements you can take that not only aid in that recovery and building up strong muscles and things like that in your body, but also have other benefits as well. So maybe we’ll talk about that in a future podcast.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

For those wondering, that branched-chain amino acids is phenomenal. Now I know there’s a lot of people that say, “Hey, do BCAAs help muscle growth and all that?” There’re no studies that actually prove that, but there are studies that prove that branched-chain amino acids can help the recovery of your muscles and the soreness of your muscles. So if you’re just getting into working out, if you’re finding that you’re getting more sore and fatigued, consider a branched-chain, amino acid drink or even capsule to take right after working out and that’ll help.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

Yeah, absolutely. So let’s move on to something I’m excited to talk about, food. I love food so much, I’m a big foodie and I love to cook, I love to go out to eat really great restaurants, I like to eat local. I just really enjoy food and what it means, bringing people together and how it makes us feel, especially when we’re eating in a way that helps us feel healthy, overall. Interestingly enough, ingesting foods which are considered acidifying through this dairy, process sugar, meat, alcohol, coffee, overloads the ability of your body to neutralize all the acids. So as I just mentioned, food can be something that’s really great and it can help us in our overall journey to health, but we have to be careful in what we’re putting into our body.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

If you want to attain a well balanced pH, you must have a proper diet and nutrition. It is wise to follow a detox plan, which can greatly help the detox process. We just talked about this in a podcast a few weeks ago, where you can do a daily gentle detox with the right herbs and right plants mixing them into a tea or into a supplement where you can get them into your nutrition plan that help aid in the detoxification of multiple organs in your body that help to all of the garbage out and help your body to stay healthy. So, that’s one way that you can do that. A diet consisting of foods high in alkaline, proper supplementation, hydrating the body properly can aid in the body and detox as well. So there’s a lot of things that you can do here to keep yourself in that normal pH balance range that you want to be in.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

And I think that it’s really an interesting point because we talk about detox and daily, yes, our bodies will naturally detox and with how much toxins that are in the environment, we should do whatever we can to help support our bodies in just detoxing more efficiently. I think one thing that people don’t always consider is how detoxifying greens are and green vegetables are, and specifically green juices. Even our OrganiGreens, our dehydrated green juice powder, consuming that on a daily basis not only is it good for all the nutrients you get, but it’s great. As a daily detox. We do have a daily detox powder as well, it’s filled with some other grains and herbs that are made to detox. But even something like our OrganiGreens, if you can’t get your daily juice, is phenomenal for just that daily detox. And it helps alkalize the body as well.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

Yeah, absolutely. So let’s talk about the good stuff. We’re going to talk about both veggies and fruits today and we’re going to unless fruits because I love fruits. I love veggies, but I love fruits even more. So we’re going to talk about veggies first and close out and save the best for last, in my opinion. If you have a condition that requires you to watch the alkaline and acid levels of your food, then you’ll be curious, what are those alkaline veggies you can add into your diet? So here’s a few that you can add in, we have cauliflower… and we’re going to talk about a few things around each of these, but let me just list a few of them and we’ll go back and touch on a few things. So we have cauliflower, we have radishes, we have lettuce, we have carrots, which I love, and celery. We were joking before we did the podcast. I would eat my celery with peanut butter.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

Which is acidic. Don’t do that.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

Cancel it right out. But at least I was being honest, I like my organic peanut butter with my celery. I just do. And then I’ll drizzle a little honey on there while I’m at it wall. True story. Anyway, but there’s a lot of benefits to these veggies that you can add in, not only do we have these benefits from an alkaline perspective, but there’s so many benefits to eating vegetables outside of that. So let’s talk a little bit about, first of all, my favorite, carrots. They have long been associated with the improvement of eyesight and studies have shown that carrots can prevent some forms of muscular degeneration that are common as humans age. It’s a high fiber vegetable, and it’s got a starchy fibrous body. It’s high in, let me say this the right way, pantothenic acid, folate, potassium, iron, copper, and manganese, and has excellent antioxidant properties, which we’ve talked about many times.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

I love carrots. I love that my daughters love carrots, by the way. When I’m trying to struggle to get them to get all the greens that need, and although carrot is not green, I get it, I still consider it one of those vegetables that they need. They eat carrots at every dinner and they also eat some sugar snap peas and snap peas, and other green beans raw, things like that. Which green beans is another very alkaline vegetable that I don’t think we mentioned that’s great. And by the way, we have notes on all of these vegetables. If you go to empoweringyouorganically.com and just check out our show notes, you will be able to see everything here. We’re not going to go through all of it on this podcast, you may fall asleep by the time we get through and talking about all the benefits of each vegetable, but we really just wanted to talk about the importance of having alkaline fruits and vegetables in your diet and just naming some of the big ones.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

Absolutely. Yeah. Green beans. I love green beans. And a lot of people don’t realize, they’ll go to the store and they’ll buy a can of green beans. First of all, if you’re going to buy a can of green beans from the store, then you want to be careful in what you select, you want the no salt added variety and you want to make sure you rinse them when you use them. But you can go over to the fruits and vegetables section of your grocery store, the produce section, and you can buy bags of green beans. And all you have to do is cut off little ends and you can eat the raw. Sometimes I just eat them raw. It’s not everybody’s favorite way to eat them or you can steam them with a little bit of water. It takes away some of those benefits when you steam vegetables, but it’s better to eat that than to sit down and eat a bag of Twinkies. Right?

TeriAnn Trevenen:

I love green beans and I prefer to get the fresh green beans that you can get in the produce section. And I think they are one of those veggies a lot of people kind of look over like, “Oh, I’ll just get some cans of this,” or they don’t really think about that. But my girls and I love green beans, it’s one thing that’s almost always in my fridge. They’re really, really effective at reducing risks associated with heart disease and they’re also another great source of antioxidants, which we also know that we need. So yeah, so many amazing things about vegetables. We have all the minerals and vitamins that come along with them. A lot of these vegetables that we’re talking about when it comes to your pH balance and alkaline today, they help with liver function, they help with lowering your cholesterol, they help you with your eyesight, just so many things that we need in our nutrition plan and that we need to incorporate into what we eat so that we can have a healthy functioning body.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

Absolutely. One last thing just to touch on really briefly is just celery. What’s interesting about celery, it’s so high in fiber it actually requires more calories for you to break it down and digest it than it’s actually in the celery. So if you are watching your weight or you’re looking for something to fill up on, you will actually lose weight by eating cellar, believe it or not.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

Not if you put the peanut butter on them.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

Not if you put peanut butter and honey on it.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

Guilty.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

And the other, celery juice, it’s becoming more and more popular. I get skeptical because a lot of people talk about new trends and new fads and these cure-alls, and they’ll do all that kind of stuff. And it’s not a cure-all, it is healthy for you. Adding celery into your regular green juice or just having celery juice is good, it will help alkalize the body, but it’s not the cure-all that you see posted all over the place.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

Absolutely.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

Wait, are we going to get to your favorites?

TeriAnn Trevenen:

The fruits.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

The fruits.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

I love fruits. And let’s talk a little bit about the alkaline fruits to consider adding to your… You’ll always hear me kind of go back and forth between diet and nutrition plan. I really try not to say diet because in my mind, diet is restrictive, it’s like, “This is how I’m eating right now.” And I can tell you that over the course of my life, my nutrition has changed for what my body has needed, for where I’ve been with my fitness, for where I’ve been with my health, as I’ve realized I’ve had some food allergies, everything has changed. And I think that word “diet” to me just sounds so restrictive. So you always hear me conflicted when I say that, you always hear me say, “Your nutrition. Your nutrition plan.” Because nutrition to me speaks to fueling your body and loving your body and caring for your body.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

So I’m not perfect. I really try not to say diet, but it comes out sometimes that I would much rather hear people talk about food as nutrition for your body. Your nutrition plan, how you’re choosing to eat, how you’re fueling your body. And just food is not to be restricted, it’s to be used the right way to help your body be healthy. That’s how I feel about it. So that’s why you always hear me get so conflicted when I say the word “diet.” I struggle with that big time. Okay. So coconut, papaya, bananas, avocado, grapefruit. I love, love, love grapefruit, lemon…

Jonathan Hunsaker:

Which grapefruits interesting because you think about it as being so acidic because it is Citric…

TeriAnn Trevenen:

So true.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

… but it’s alkalizing.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

Yeah. And lemons as well, lemons is on the list as well. And again, you can get all these show notes on the episode page for this particular episode, but lemons as well. I love lemons, I love lemon flavor, everything. On the non-healthy side, lemon bars, I love lemon bars. But I love lemon in my water, I love lemon in recipes, I love squeezing lemon on fish, on salad. I love lemon flavor, overall.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

Do you like lemon bars with your soda on your special occasions?

TeriAnn Trevenen:

When I go to the movie theaters and have my one soda a year… No true story. No true story. My kids drink soda only a handful of times a year. And I actually quit drinking soda, overall, when I was a junior high school because I saw how unhealthy it was and how it made me feel. You’ll see me every once in a while drink like a sip of a specialty soda, but I don’t drink soda and I have it for a long time. And I can tell you, I am living proof it makes a huge difference in your life. So let’s go back for a second…

Jonathan Hunsaker:

I wonder if people enjoy us picking on each other during the podcast?

TeriAnn Trevenen:

I’m not sure.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

I don’t know if they prefer it to be more serious and just get to the point or if we should just pick on each other the whole time.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

The whole time.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

You’ll have to let us know in the comments or when you rate us on iTunes. If you’re like, “Hey, stick to the points. We don’t need to hear all the jibber-jabber.” Or…

TeriAnn Trevenen:

“Stop talking.”

Jonathan Hunsaker:

“Stop talking, just get to the point.”

TeriAnn Trevenen:

“Quit being humans and just deliver the information.”

Jonathan Hunsaker:

Exactly.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

Coconut. So it actually makes me really sad I’m allergic to coconut, but it has so many benefits. It fights oxidative stress, it’s great for your immune system, antimicrobial properties, it improves the digestion of your food and Pokemon. And coconut just tastes great, I miss being able to consume that on a regular basis like I once did. I think that coconut’s an awesome one.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

I don’t have anything to add on that. I love coconut. I loved when I lived in Panama, we would get the fresh baby coconuts where you just cut the top right off and you drink the coconut water directly out. It hadn’t even formed into the meat coconut yet, we’ve called them pitas. And so they were just young coconuts, so delicious.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

So here’s an interesting thought and I’ve never even really put this together, but one time I had a friend tell me that pineapple in the United States was different than pineapple that she got… Like on the mainland for the United States was different than what she got in Hawaii. And she said that when she ate pineapple in Hawaii, she didn’t get canker sores and all that word stuff that can come from eating it in the United States. I wonder if people who are allergic to coconut, and I don’t know, this is just a theory, if they had fresh coconut just right off, cut open, drink it and eat it that way, if there’s actually an allergic reaction to it. It’d be really interesting to see if that’s a variation for people with those allergies.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

I find it interesting that there’s so many, and this is just a slight tangent, that we have so many allergies now that we didn’t have 50 years ago, 80 years ago, 100 years ago. Is this coming because we are cleaning things so much, we’re actually cleaning and disinfecting and so it’s getting rid of all of these things, which is causing more allergies to go on. We’re over-processing food, we’re over-processing that coconut and cleaning it and washing it and putting this detergent on it and all of these other things that now you’re allergic to it. I don’t remember growing up ever having to be concerned with if somebody was gluten intolerant or somebody couldn’t have peanuts at my birthday parties or things like that. So it’s very [crosstalk 00:26:03].

TeriAnn Trevenen:

Yeah, but look at how we process gluten now. We could go on a whole tangent about this, but look at how gluten impacts people. But one of the things that you should look at is look at what we do to the wheat that we use in breads now, processed, bleached, it’s not even a normal state that people [crosstalk 00:26:19].

Jonathan Hunsaker:

Well, the ancient grains wheat used to be high in protein. That’s why you can watch and read about how people would have a loaf of bread and that was part of the meal is because you’ve got a lot of proteins in it. We’ve changed the genetic makeup of wheat so much over the time that it’s not what it used to be at all.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

Yeah. Sorry. I just think it’s interesting if coconut fresh from somewhere where it’s actually meant to be grown would be different than just eating coconut. It’s just a theory I have, be interesting to test it out. Okay. So next thing, avocado, I love avocados. I love them in guacamole, I love them in salads, I love them on sandwiches, I love them in everything, I absolutely love avocado. High in fiber and can help to lower your cholesterol, has massive amounts of vitamins and minerals to help nourish your body as well. And it’s healthy fat is approved in the majority of diets and can fill you up in between meals. So this is a fat that you want. Obviously, moderation in all things, but this is a very, very healthy fat to have in your nutrition plan.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

Yeah. And I’m going to go on one last little tangent then we can kind of end the podcast there. I do think that it’s important to eat what’s in season and to eat what’s local as well. I think the avocado industry, it’s interesting how big it’s gotten and how everybody’s eating avocado everywhere. And there’re documentaries out there that you can watch of the avocado industry, which may make you not want to eat as many avocados because of what they have to do and what they go through in order to get all of these avocados to fill everybody’s desires. And I think that we often indulge a little too much in some of the things, it’s like, “Oh, this is great. I need it all the time.” I think that we would find ourselves in a healthier place if we ate what was in season and ate stuff that was local and ate stuff that…

Jonathan Hunsaker:

And not only is it better for the economy to buy locally from your local farmers and your farmer markets, but you’re actually going to get stuff that is going to help you overall in the nutrient density, it’s going to help you overall in fighting off allergies and things like that because these things are grown locally and so it’s like eating local honey and all of that kind of stuff. I think that it’s much more important to eat locally and eat what’s in season than just eating everything all year round and having it shipped halfway across the world to you. I don’t think that’s “natural.”

TeriAnn Trevenen:

Absolutely. In fact, we did a podcast with someone who’s known lovingly as Amazon John, John Easterling, where we talk about plants and herbs from the Amazon rainforest. One of the things he talked about in that podcast, it was one of my favorite podcasts I have ever filmed, he goes there all the time and spends time with the indigenous people. And when he goes way back in there into the Amazon rainforest and he spends time with these people, they live long, healthy, disease-free lives because they’re living off of what is in season, the plants and herbs, the fruits and vegetables that grow in that area in the Amazon rainforest, with the indigenous people he spends time with, for what’s in season. And so it’s this cycle of life that they live in there to survive and live and they just don’t have the emotional, mental, or physical things that we face in some of these more modernized countries where we’re shipping all our food in and we’re eating things year round that most people don’t eat year round if they’re living off the land.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

And so it’s absolutely driven, you see that just in that example alone, they’re eating and living off of things in season, they’re coming straight from the earth, they’re not being changed, they’re not being sprayed with herbicides and pesticides and they live long, healthy lives and they’re, essentially, disease free. So, I mean, I think there’s something to be said for that.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

And, again, for medicinal purposes, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with getting some herbs that come from other places around the world that may not grow locally, for medicinal purposes, for healing purposes and things like that. And I think you should shop at farmer’s markets, I just think that’s one of the best ways to support our economy. Especially in this situation that we’re in right now with coronavirus and COVID-19 and all of that, encourage you to shop less on Amazon and more at your local mom and pop shops and farmer’s markets and keep the money in your local economy. I think it would make it just stronger for everyone.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

All right, side notes. We were talking about acidity and alkaline, your body and now we’re talking about other craziness.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

Tangents.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

Tangents.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

Yes, there’re some fruits and vegetables that we just went through and we’ll have all of those with their benefits in the show notes. If you’re struggling with some of the things we talked about earlier that can be impacted in your body because of your pH balance, you should consider having it tested and see where it’s sitting. See if that’s something that you’re facing with your health that maybe you haven’t thought about. This is something you can absolutely test and I definitely think there’s benefit to getting it in check and getting it balanced and can really pay off big when it comes to longterm health.

Jonathan Hunsaker:

Absolutely. Thank everybody for listening. The show notes are at empoweringyouorganically.com. We talked about a couple of products in here that Organixx has, one is our OrganiGreens. It is a great way to get that gentle detox every day and to get alkaline fruits and vegetables into your diet. You can just mix it with water, ice water, mix with a protein shake, super easy and delicious. We don’t add any sweeteners or Stevia or anything like that, just the good, raw, dehydrated juice powder. And we also have a daily detox powder that is also great. It is stronger than a tee, but gentle enough to use every single day, it won’t have you chained to the bathroom if you use it. So check out those two products at organixx.com. Go to iTunes, subscribe, give us five stars if you like what we’re doing here. Go to empoweringyouorganically.com through the show notes, resources, all of that fun stuff. And we will see you on the next episode.

TeriAnn Trevenen:

Thanks everyone.

***

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The pH Scale

OrganiGreens

What Is an Alkaline Diet & Can it Prevent an “Acidic Body”?