You are what you eat.

You know this saying.

Here I want to concentrate on

pH balance in your body. 

Lose weight!

You know why? Because overweight is not good for your feet!

What Is "pH"?

The body is largely made up of water, a medium which is biologically useful in allowing nutrients, oxygen and biochemicals to be transported from place to place. This water-based medium can have either acid or alkaline properties which are measured by a graduated scale called pH (for "potential hydrogen"), wherein 1.0 to 6.9 is considered acidic, 7.0 is neutral, and 7.1

to 14.0 is alkaline. The lower the pH number, the greater the acidity, and the higher the pH number,

the greater the alkalinity.

Why Should I Be Concerned About My pH Levels?

Since most of the body is water-based (making up 50-60% of our total body weight), the pH level has profound effects on all body chemistry, health and disease. An imbalanced pH describes the pH level of the body when it becomes too acidic or too alkaline

for long periods of time. Extended pH imbalances of any kind are not well tolerated by the body. Fundamentally, all regulatory mechanisms (including breathing, circulation, digestion, hormonal production, etc.) serve the purpose of balancing pH, by removing caustic metabolized acid residues from body tissues without damaging living cells. If the pH deviates too far to the acid side or too far to the alkaline side, cells become poisoned by their own toxic waste and die.

Can An Imbalanced pH Cause Serious Problems?

Yes, especially as a person grows older! Although

it may generally go unnoticed and undetected for years, an imbalanced pH (either consistently too acid or alkaline) leads to the progression of most, if not all, degenerative diseases including Cardiovascular Disease (the #1 killer in the UK), Cancer (the #2 Killer in the UK), and Diabetes, as well as the never ending frustration of excessive systemic weight gain.

What Causes pH to Become Imbalanced?

Most diets cause an unhealthy Acid pH. In fact, DIET appears to be the major influence in maintaining appropriate pH levels throughout the body. Research shows that when food is metabolized and broken down, it leaves certain chemical and metallic residues,

a noncombustible "ash" which, when combined with our body fluids, yields either acid or alkali potentials of pH. Certain foods are "acid-forming" in nature, whereas others are known to be "alkali-forming."

Article adapted from ‘Acid Alkaline’ by Herman Aihara

 

Every reflexologist will ask you about your diet.

As it was said, your diet has a major contribution

to such diseases as: cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes. People who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis are advised to have an alkaline diet. Generally now in our diet we need more fresh fruit

and vegetables that grow locally (alkaline).

Below there is a pretty comprehensive list of acid

and alkaline foods. 

Any comments or supplements are welcome: bet@artofreflexology.co.uk 

 

Acid or Alkaline

Acid-Alkaline Forming Foods

Foods may be classified in relation to the metabolic process as acid alkaline. Alkali's are soluble salts and acids are corrosive agents which have trouble combining with other things. A balanced diet contains 35% acid forming foods and 65% alkaline forming foods.
 

Highly Alkaline

 

Mineral water, Potatoes, Bananas, Figs, Orange juice, Spinach raw, Watermelon, Dandelion Greens, Dates, Prune, Raisins, Swiss Chard.
Almonds, Avocado, Banana-Yellow, Bean Fresh, Beet, Blackberries, Carrot, Chives, Cranberries, Endive, Grapes Sour, Kale, Peach dried, Persimmon, Pomegranate, Plum, Raspberries, Spinach.

Alkaline

 

Apple & Fresh Apple Cider, Apricot fresh, Artichokes globe, Bamboo shoots, Bean snap, Beans sprouted, Berries most, Blueberries, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Cantaloupe, Cauliflower, Celery, Cherries, Chestnuts, Chicory, Coconut Milk, Collards, Corn fresh and sweet, Cucumbers, Daikon, Eggplant, Escarole, Garlic, Ginger root, Gooseberry, Grapefruit, Guava, Horseradish fresh and raw, Kelp, Kohlrabi, Leek, Lemon and Peel, Lettuce, Lime, Loganberry, Mango, Melons, Milk raw, Acidophilus Yogurt, Whey, Goats Milk.

 

Neutral Oils

 

Cold Pressed, Expeller Pressed, Almond, Avocado, Coconut, Canola, Cottonseed, Linseed, Olive, Sesame, Soy, Sunflower, Walnut.
 

Highly Acid

 

Alcohol, Caffeine, Tea, Sugar, Tobacco, Drugs,

Meat: Bacon, Beef, Lamb, Pork, Veal, Liver

and other organ meats,

Poultry: Chicken, Turkey, etc.

Fish, Seafood, Shellfish

 

Artichoke root, Barley, Bread, Buckwheat, Wheat grain, Corn dry and products, Custards, Flour all, Ginger preserved, Honey, Lentil dry, Mate, Millet, Oatmeal, Peanuts, Rice all, Rye Grain, Soy Bread, Soy noodles, Sorghum, Grain, Spaghetti and other Pasta, Sugar Cane, Beet Raw, Nuts: Walnut, Hazel, Brazil, Pecans, etc., Gravy, Broth.

 

Yogurt with active cultures

Buttermilk, buttermilk pancakes and biscuits

Sour cream

Most fermented foods and aged cheeses

 

Acid

Chocolate, Cereals,

Dairy: Cheese, Cream, Pasteurized Milk Products,

Yoghurt; Mayonnaise,

Asparagus, Beans dried, Cashews, Coconut dried, Cranberry Juice and concentrate, Egg yolk, Filbert, Fruit Jellies (Jams Canned, Sulphured, Sugared, Dried), Grapes Sweet, Dry Peas, Plums Damson, Tofu fries, Water-chestnuts.

 

Acid Fats

 

Butter, Margarine, Lard.

 

 

Lose weight

       Leonardo da Vinci called the human foot                               ‘a masterpiece of engineering                        
                          and a work of art’. 

He was not wrong. Considering the size of the feet        in relation to the body they support, the humble feet are a real mechanical masterwork.

 

The foot and ankle are made of:

 

- 26 bones (1/4 of the bones in the human body are 

   in the feet!),

- and 33 joints,

- more than 100 muscles, tendons (fibrous tissues that

  connect muscles to   

  bones), and ligaments (fibrous tissues that connect

  bones to other bones) and a network of blood vessels,

  nerves and soft tissue.

 

These components work together to provide the body with support, balance, and mobility. A structural flaw or malfunction in any one part can result in the development of problems elsewhere in the body. Abnormalities in other parts of the body can lead to problems in the feet. 

 

You can imagine what extra strain must be put on your feet if they need to carry additional 15, 20, 25 or more pounds every step, every day!

 

 

Here there is a good news:

Reflexology massage helps to lose weight.

 

 

Through improving your:

 

·         digestion,

·         blood circulation,

·         hormonal balance,

·         resistance to stress.

 

Often my clients tell me, after several sessions of massage, that they feel much more relaxed and don’t get easily irritated by daily pressures.

 

And that better approach means for me: we don’t need to comfort ourselves by overeating!