The Alkaline Path

The purpose of this path is to restore balance in your intestinal flora. Due to factors such as diet, lifestyle, and medications, this balance may have been disrupted. Contrary to common belief, acidic foods don’t make your body acidic; they can prevent your body from eliminating acidic waste. Excess acid waste causes organ dysfunction, which in turn leads to illness-- including asthma, allergies, eczema, migraines, arthritis, insomnia, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and many others.

This path may look radically different from what you're accustomed to. But don’t worry; this is not for the rest of your life, just until the balance is restored. Generally, with close adherence to the program, this balance can be accomplished in 3-4 months. Depending on how you used to eat, you may not be able to return to your old eating habits and still achieve your health goals. When the time comes, your practitioner can advise you on a maintenance diet appropriate for you.

Initially, some people experience mild to moderate detox symptoms. These can include headache, nausea, “brain fog,” dizziness, sugar cravings, minor skin outbreaks, and cold hands and feet. These detox symptoms are temporary, typically lasting from a couple of days up to two weeks. If they persist, contact your practitioner. Once you go through the detoxification period, we believe you will feel a lot better.

What To Avoid

SUGAR Avoid all sugars and sugar-containing foods, including:

  • Table sugar

  • Corn syrup

  • Fructose

  • Honey

  • Molasses

  • Maple syrup

  • Date sugar

ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS Avoid all artificial sweeteners; as well as products made with artificial sweeteners such as:

  • Nutrasweet

  • Equal

  • Aspartame

  • Saccharin

  • Splenda

WHOLE GRAINS

  • Corn

  • Popcorn

WHITE FLOUR Avoid all white flour, as well as white flour products including:

  • Pastries

  • Breads

  • Crackers

  • Pasta

YEAST PRODUCTS Avoid Brewer’s Yeast, B-Vitamins made from yeast, as well as all yeast-containing pastries, breads, crackers, pasta, etc.

DAIRY Avoid all cheeses, milk and milk products

FRUIT Avoid fruit (fresh, canned, or dried) and fruit juices

COFFEE, BLACK TEA Avoid all including decaf; PHatea is okay

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES Avoid all

MEATS Avoid processed meats, such as:

  • Bacon

  • Sausage

  • Ham

  • Hot dogs

  • Corned beef

  • Pastrami

  • Luncheon meat

CHLORINATED TAP WATER Avoid

FUNGUS FOODS Avoid fungus foods, such as mushrooms, blue cheese, etc.

LEFTOVERS If a food has been in the refrigerator for more than 3 days, discard

NUTS Avoid peanuts and peanut products

OILS Avoid peanut oil, trans-fats, and partially hydrogenated oils

VINEGAR Avoid all vinegar-soaked products or vinegar dressings, such as pickles, pickle relish; condiments containing vinegar, such as mustard, etc.

CEREALS Avoid all cereals with added sugar, dried fruits, or white flour

VEGETABLES Avoid canned vegetables

LEGUMES

  • Kidney beans

What You Can Have

SUGAR

Agave Nectar, Stevia, brown rice syrup extract in moderation (no more than twice a week)

WHOLE GRAINS

  • Quinoa

  • Spelt

  • Buckwheat

  • Millet

  • Brown Rice

  • Whole Wheat

  • Whole Grain Flour

  • Whole Grain Pasta

  • Oats

  • Vegetable Pasta

BREADS

Any whole grain unsweetened bread without yeast (you will find these in the refrigerator or frozen sections.) Products made with baking soda, baking powder or true sourdough culture are fine.

CRACKERS

Whole Grain, unsweetened crackers such as:

  • 365 Brand – Woven Wheats & rice crackers

  • Brown Rice Snaps

  • Mary’s Gone Crackers – Any variety

  • Ryvita – Any variety, Pumpkin seed oat and sunflower seed oat are especially good

DAIRY

  • Whole milk yogurt

  • Plain kefir

  • Buttermilk

  • Unsweetened plain

  • Raw milk cheese

  • Cottage cheese

  • Ricotta cheese

  • Goat milk

FRUIT

  • Lemons

  • Limes

  • Tomatoes

  • Coconut water

  • Avocados

  • Young coconut juice

  • Tomato juice

TEA

  • Pau D’Arco and PHatea

  • Some herbal teas (check with your practitioner)

ALCOHOL

  • Some medicines and tinctures containing alcohol (check with your practitioner)

MEATS

  • Chicken

  • Turkey

  • Grass-fed beef

  • Buffalo

  • Lamb

  • Venison

  • Quail

  • Duck

  • Goose

  • Pheasant

  • Cornish hens

  • Roast beef

FISH

  • Salmon

  • Shrimp

  • Water-packed tuna

  • Clams

  • Oysters

  • Lobster

EGGS

  • Omega-3 or free-range, fertilized eggs in moderation (max 6/week)

VEGETARIAN SUBSTITUTES

  • Tofu, tempeh, miso; best if organic

BEVERAGES

  • Bottled or filtered water, sparkling water— hot or room temperature; avoid ice cold drinks; squeeze of lemon or lime is okay

FUNGUS FOODS

  • Shiitake, Reishi and Maitake mushrooms

LEFTOVERS

  • Leftovers can be frozen to keep fresh longer

NUTS

  • Almonds

  • Brazil nuts

  • Cashews

  • Hazelnuts

  • Pecans

  • Pumpkin seeds

OILS

  • Olive

  • Coconut

  • Almond

  • Flax seed

  • Safflower

  • Sesame

  • Apricot

  • Butter

  • Ghee

  • Walnut

  • Sunflower

VINEGAR

  • Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar (Lemon juice makes a good substitute for vinegar in salad dressings)

CEREALS

Any whole grain can be soaked overnight and cooked in the morning for hot breakfast cereal. Other hot cereals:

  • Bob’s Red Mill – has over a dozen varieties to choose from, the “Mighty Tasty GF Hot Cereal” is especially good

  • Arrowhead Mills – also has a wide selection. The “4 Grain with Flax” is especially good

These cold cereals have no added sugar:

  • Arrowhead Mills – Shredded Wheat

  • Ezekial 4:9- Original, Golden Flax and Almond

VEGETABLES

  • All fresh vegetables

  • Frozen vegetables

LEGUMES

  • Black beans

  • Garbanzo beans

  • Lentils

  • Pinto beans

  • Lima beans

A good general guideline for this program is to Avoid Sugars (decrease acidity) and significantly increase your servings of vegetables (increase alkalinity). From the variety offered on this list, you can see it is possible to load up on carbs and proteins. While you would technically be in compliance, you would be missing the goal of the program. Nothing decreases acidity faster than vegetables and almost none of us get enough in our diets. Your goal should be at least five servings per day.

You can find helpful information on our website at www.wholehealthcenters.com