Step 1: Transitioning
When
making the transition to an alkaline diet, you want ease into it, if
necessary, with a series of small victories, rather than trying to master
the whole thing at once. Don't discourage yourself by trying too change
to much too quickly. Make changes gradually. That is generally best
for the body anyway, and increases the chances that you'll succeed in
the first place and the chances that you'll stick with it for
the long haul. Moving toward an alkaline lifestyle is a process - not
a single event or an overnight transformation. As you make your way
"home,", enjoy your journey. Work through one transition at
a time, allowing at least a week, and up to two to three weeks if you
need to, to get acclimated at each step. Or take on a few together if
that feels comfortable. Move on when you feel at home with them. You'll
be building a solid foundation, and then with layer upon sturdy layer
on top - it'll be built to last.
The
twelve transitioning steps are: (click on a transition to move to it's
description)
Transition
1: Breakfast
Probably
the single biggest change you will make on this new program is in what
you have for breakfast.
Americans
need to have a change of heart and mind concerning breakfast. Almost
all of the conventional choices - eggs, pancakes, syrup, hot or cold
cereals, fruit, juice, coffee, yogurt, bread products, sausage, bacon
- make your body acidic or promote (or contain!) yeast or fungus or
other microforms. Many contain huge amounts of sugars and simple carbohydrates,
which acidify the blood and tissues, creating the environment that promotes
the microforms. Others are dense sources of protein (and, almost always,
fat), which, in addition to being high in parasite activity, also promote
microform overgrowth. All of these acidic foods are also low in water
content - and extremely constipating. It's no wonder laxatives are on
of the best-selling over-the-counter remedies. On top of all that, we
eat them in dreadful combinations (eggs and home fries, cereal and milk,
toast and jam). What a way to start the day! Your body deserves to be
replenished much more gently and wholesomely after a night fast.
So
don't let the first meal of your day slow you down. This basically means
making the same choices at breakfast that you would at any other time
of the day. It may seem strange at first, but you'll be doing yourself
a big favor by switching over to soup, say, a veggie wrap, or salad.
Or how about a big plate of steamed broccoli? Try switching to buckwheat
as the cereal grain of choice. The American way - tremendous doses of
sugar and protein, not to mention a big dollop of caffeine - might give
you a short shot of energy initially, but over the long term the negative
impact is drastic.
So
begin with this new breakfast strategy, starting your day with a low-carbohydrate,
high fiber, high-water-content - and delicious - meal. Try it even just
for a couple of weeks if you don't feel ready to sign on forever. If
you're like most people, you'll find your new breakfast provides a great
amount of energy and burns longer into the midday without the drop in
blood sugar that so commonly occurs with a starchy, sugary breakfast.
Once you experience how good you feel, I think it will be the junk food
breakfast that seems strange. (back to
top)
Transition
2: 70/30
This is
another giant step: build each meal to be at least 70 percent alkaline
(and thus 30 percent acid). Better yet is 80/20, which may be necessary
if you are ill. If you're already doing this at breakfast, lunch and
dinner will be simple by comparison. This is a visual measurement, not
a measurement by weight or calories. Just give the vegetables the starring
role on your plate. The earth is 70 percent water. Our bodies are 70
percent water. Make your plate match: 70 percent high-water-content,
alkaline food. (back to top)
Transition
3: Raw
Cooking
your food literally takes the life right out of it, and makes it take
longer to digest, so the more food you eat raw, the better. Raw foods
are alkalizing, and so fit in that 70 to 80 percent we were just talking
about. Ideally, all of that three-quarters of your plate is covered
with raw, high-water-content food - like having a huge raw salad with
a side of brown rice or beans or pasta or tofu. And at least half that
portion should be raw. (The other half should still be vegetarian and
alkalizing, like cooked soup, or steamed veggies, or stir fry.) Start
with that and as you get comfortable with the progress work up to the
ideal. (back to top)
Transition
4: Dessert
Phase out
sugary desserts. One sugary dessert can ruin even the best alkaline
meal. Now that you're fully alkalized, for the most part, you don't
eat dessert as you know it. For a treat, try slices of vegetables, a
handful of raw almonds, or some fresh fruit. Taste buds that may now
be dulled by the effects of extreme sugars and salt will come to appreciate
the humbler sweetness of vegetables. A cookie or candy bar will seem
much too sweet, even intolerable. You will see.
You
may have some cravings until your sugar addiction wears off and you
blood sugar levels stabilize. Understanding why you get such cravings
may help you ride them out. Find other things that will take the edge
off, so you won't give in to early temptations. "Cheating"
just makes the cravings last longer. However, if you eat something not
on your plan, waste no time beating yourself up over it. Just get right
back to your plan. (back to top)
Transition
5: Meat
Getting meat out of your diet is painless when you go gradually.
Cut back on and then get rid of the red meat first - beef, pork, lamb,
and anything else you have. Make chicken the next to go, then turkey.
Then comes ocean fish. (You might want to include, as we do,
the occasional fish on your menus. If you do want to have some animal
protein occasionally, we recommend trout or salmon, as they are relatively
safe, and are rich in omega-3 oils, which are essential fatty acids.)
Start
with an alkalizing vegetarian meal once a day, then twice, as you work
your way to full time. At the same time, experiment with building in
more tofu, as well as raw nuts and seeds, including almonds, hazelnuts,
and pecans and sunflower, pumpkin, flax, and sesame seeds. Almonds are
especially good - substantially alkalizing and high in protein and calcium.
(back to top)
Transition
6: Dairy
This step may actually be key to the first (breakfast), if you're one
of the many, many people who can't think what to eat in the morning
- or give to the kids - if not a bowl of cereal with milk. The first
thing to do is work on milk. Switch to soy milk (though it is hard to
find one that isn't full of added sugars in the form of rice syrup)
or rice milk (also sugary). Move on to nut or seed "milks."
They are good sources of protein and calcium, and have that richness
and creaminess that is so pleasing. You can dilute them to taste. They
are good for adding texture in salad dressings or soups, or just to
drink. After you've eliminated milk, other dairy products, such as cheese,
yogurt, and ice cream, will be easy to cut out, finding transitional
substitutes at first and eventually going without. For an interesting
look at other reasons why you shouldn't have dairy products, please
go to our "Got Milk?" page of this
site. (back to top)
Transition
7: Yeast
Bread
is another tough one for a lot of families, but you must get rid of
the yeast. At our house, we first went to yeast-free bread (your health
food store or health food section of your local supermarket will have
some choices), then to rice crackers, then sprouted whole wheat
tortillas. In addition to simple substitutions, you must also open up
your thinking to meals that don't include bread or other yeast products.
If you are one of those people who wouldn't know what to have for lunch
if it didn't involve a sandwich, or breakfast if it didn't include toast,
this may actually be the biggest challenge for you. Focus on what you
can have, what is good for you, rather than what you can't have. The
recipes section gives plenty of meal ideas
to help you on your way. Get rid of mushrooms too - they are fungi,
just like yeast. (back to top)
Transition
8: White Flour
If
you've eliminated yeast breads and baked deserts, you've most likely
gotten rid of of the major source of white flour in your diet. The other
big hurdle is usually pastas. Most recipes will work well if you substitute
cooked whole grains such as millet, spelt, rice, and buckwheat. For
noodles, soba noodles, which are buckwheat, are a favorite, and satisfy
the need for a chewy, warm food, especially in winter. If we use pasta
other than soba noodles, we try to make sure it is made with vegetables
(or wheat) and without eggs - and serve it as a side dish, never a main
course. (back
to top)
Transition
9: White Rice
Here's a
simple one for you: Switch to brown rice. Or alternate, as we do, with
white jasmine or basmati rice, which are natural white rices, or wild
rice (or combinations). What we're really after here is all refined
grains. You need to give the boot to anything that isn't whole grain.
Best, as always, are sprouted grains. And remember, cooked grains belong
in that 20 to 30 percent of your meal that is acid (except buckwheat
and spelt, which are not acidifying). The one starch you should abandon
altogether, because of the high sugar and fungal content, is corn.
(back
to top)
Transition
10: Added Sugar
Eliminating dessert might have taken care of a lot of
this, but now it is time to scrub out the rest of the unnecessary sugars.
Check your cereal, bread, and anything you bought prepared. Don't rely
on artificial sweeteners, because they all convert to highly toxic acids
that can harm the brain. If you need a sweetener to help you transition
while your taste buds adjust, try something natural like chicory root
powder or stevia (made from a plant), which you can find at the health
food store.
(back to top)
Transition
11: Fruit
With the
exception of the low-sugar fruits we keep mentioning - tomato, avocado,
lemon, lime - fruits are intense sources of sugar, and must be eliminated
if you are ill or have troublesome symptoms. Once you are in balance,
you may still want to use it rarely and with care (and properly combined),
as a treat. Fruit has nutritional value, but most have just too much
sugar to use freely. (back to top)
Transition
12: Condiments
Most condiments
are full of sugar, salt, or both. Or they contain fermented or acidifying
ingredients. Experiment to find your favorite alternatives to ketchup,
mustard, vinegar, mayonnaise, barbeque sauce, soy sauce, and so forth.
Your best allies are healthy oils, lemons, garlic, onion, ginger, and
spices. The oils we suggest are grape seed oil, flax seed oil, pumpkin
oil, and olive oils. All oils should be added to food that has already
been cooked, since heating oil destroys its vital components. Better
yet, use it to make salad dressings. Rather than cooking in oil, steam
your food and add oil as you are serving it.
Lemon
and lime add freshness and zest to just about any dish, and because
of the low sugar content are alkalizing to boot.. It also helps stop
sugar cravings. They are another key ingredient for many salad dressings.
Garlic, onion, and ginger are all natural antifungal and antiparasitic,
not to mention their nice strong flavors, so include plenty of them,
as well. Getting creative with spices is going to be the key to making
delicious meals that appeal to your taste buds. Remember, experiment!
(back to top)
Completing
Your Transition
Once your transition is complete, and your symptoms (if any) are gone,
and you are stable, natural, healthy weight, your body will be in appropriate
alkaline/acid balance. Although you've done all this work because you
are adopting a new way of life, not some short-term diet plan, we do
want to note that a healthy, balance body can withstand a certain degree
of "cheating." Not that we're recommending it, mind you, but
we don't want you to think that the occasional sensational, acidifying
indulgence will undo all you've accomplished. Though you'll have to
be stricter in the beginning, that kind of treat here and there may
no problem at all for a balanced system. Once you've gone through all
these steps, and transformed the way you eat, you'll have gotten well.
Now, to stay well, of course you've got to continue on the path you've
set so far. It's time to go on a Cleanse.
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