In case you need to know what it is before you find out how to start an alkaline diet, here’s a brief backgrounder.

What is an Alkaline Diet?

Your body works very hard to remain pH balanced, which is the acid-alkaline balance of substances in the body.  The idea of an alkaline diet is to help your body better balance your body’s pH levels. Much of what we eat tends to be acid forming. This includes red meat, chicken, fish, dairy foods, many nuts, seeds, caffeine, alcohol, and processed foods.

With highly acidic foods in your diet, your body struggles to maintain its pH balance. A normal blood pH level falls somewhere between 7.35 and 7.45, which happens to be on the slightly alkaline side of the scale.

To balance all the highly acidic foods we eat, an alkaline diet introduces more alkaline minerals mainly through eating more legumes, fruits, and vegetables.

The benefits of better-balanced pH levels in your body include improved bone health, lower risks of cancer and osteoporosis. Good pH levels have also been shown to help with weight loss, which also helps reduce the appearance of cellulite (or you can instantly start reducing cellulite with our anti-cellulite shapewear!).

Tips for starting an Alkaline Diet

There is some debate about which foods can be part of an alkaline diet. Lemons are very acidic but they are alkaline-forming in your body.  That said, here are some guideline for making the switch to an alkaline diet.

1. Drink Water - Whether it’s bottled or tap water, drink more of it. You can even filter it to get the right pH levels. A water pH of between 8.0 and 9.5 will help balance your body’s pH.
2. Think Raw - Luckily, you already know which foods are best for an alkaline diet. Generally speaking, they are those that most people consider to be healthy, including mostly plant-based foods. And they will do their job better if you eat them raw.
3. Go Slow - Especially if you’re transitioning from a very acidic diet, trying to make wholesale changes to your diet too quickly can be your first step towards failure. If you don’t eat many vegetables now, start simply by introducing more to your diet and leave it there. If you like your vegetables well cooked, start by cooking them for shorter times. It will all help to keep you on the diet for the long term.