Healthy foods for healthy bones — by Umoyo Natural Health

Is your body acidic or alkaline? and why should you care?We’ve all been taught that milk helps to build healthier bones. But it turns out this is just not true. Milk actually contributes to an acidic environment in the body creating weak bones and an optimal environment for disease. In fact most of the foods we eat are acidic, leading to acidic bodies.

Essentially, to be healthy, our blood needs to be slightly alkaline at a pH of around 7.36. Commonly consumed highly acidic foods include meat, dairy (including milk), processed foods (crisps, biscuits, white bread, crackers etc.), soft drinks and sugared snacks. These are the worst offenders for creating acidic people! Conversely, raw fresh fruit and vegetables are alkaline, raising our pH to a more alkaline state. Unfortunately most people eat way too much of the acidic foods like meat and diary, and much too few raw fresh fruit and vegetables. Typically this happens for years on end.

What happens when our blood becomes acidic?When our blood starts to become acidic, the body needs to adjust. In order to adjust to a more alkaline state, the body pulls alkaline minerals, such as calcium, from your bones. By robbing calcium from your bones, your pH can become more alkaline which helps with your body’s immediate problem; but for your bones, it creates longer term problems. And there are many other health problems associated with having an acidic diet and body.

Dr. Robert Young tells us in ‘the pH Miracle’, that just about all health problems stem from our bodies being acidic. This is in part because parasites, bad bacteria, viruses and candida (yeast) overgrowth all thrive in acidic environments. These micro-organisms however cannot survive in an alkaline body.

In fact it’s also been found that cancer doesn’t do well in an alkaline environment, and is most often found in bodies with a pH of around 4 or 5, which is highly acidic. The fact that forty percent of the population are expected to have, or already have, a problem with cancer at some point in their lives, says a lot about the acidic nature of people these days, caused largely by what we eat.

The pH scaleOn the pH scale, 7 is neutral, anything above 7 is alkaline and anything below 7 is acidic. pH is essentially a measure of the proportion of oxygen to hydrogen. Substances and bodies with more oxygen than hydrogen will be on the alkaline side; whereas those with more hydrogen than oxygen fall on the acidic side. Pesticides and chemicals in our foods and environment are also acidic. Soft drinks, just so you know, have a pH of between 2.4 and 4 — so stay away from them!

Good sources of calciumThe robbing of calcium means weak bones are created over time. We regularly see this after about 50 or 60 years of acidic dietary habits, when bones break easily and osteoporosis is common.

If you’re wondering where to get your calcium for healthier bones, now that you know that milk isn’t helping, the answer is in green leafy vegetables. These provide an abundant source of calcium that is bio-available, meaning that it’s easy for your body to absorb. Nuts and seeds are also a great source, especially sesame seeds. So, to ensure you have healthy bones and reduce the risk of cancer, go for the green leafy vegetable and other unprocessed foods and drinks.

This article was submitted by the Umoyo Health Clinic. Kim Otterby, Umoyo’s founder, drinks a green smoothie every single day, in order to keep her body alkaline, and takes a fantastic green superfood combination — ‘Green Power’ with A Vogel’s Multiforce Alkaline Powder.

Want to find out if your body is acidic? Then visit Umoyo Health Clinic for a Live Blood Analysis. For quality health foods and supplements, visit an Umoyo Health Shop near you.