Understanding the importance of acid-alkaline balance in your own body is essential tool in taking control over your health! This doesn’t have to mean overhauling your entire lifestyle, you just need to learn the basics and take a few simple changes in your daily routine.

What is the acid/alkaline balance? First, a little chemistry: A pH level measures how acid or alkaline your body system is. The scale runs from 0-14. A pH of 0 is totally acidic, while a pH of 14 is completely alkaline. A pH of 7 is neutral. For good health, your body needs to be slightly alkaline and maintain your blood’s pH level.

The foods and beverages you consume each day have a direct impact on the acid and alkaline balance in your body. When you are stressed or make poor lifestyle choices (like eating fast and processed foods, refined sugar, GMOs) your body is constantly trying to bring you back to a more alkaline state. It usually starts pulling minerals like magnesium and calcium from your bones, teeth, and organs to neutralize the acid. An overly acidic diet eventually can lead to a weakened state, excess weight and cause a variety of health issues and diseases (allergies, arthritis, allergies…etc.). Some researchers also claim that a serious acidic state can be responsible for certain kinds of cancer too.

So, start to alkalize your body and create balance by following these few steps on a daily basis that will clean and oxygenate your body and blood:

1. Drink a lot of water (preferably with lemon): You should drink half your body weight in ounces every day to keep your body systems regulated. Start your day with a large glass of water with the juice of a whole, freshly-squeezed lemon. While lemons may seem acidic, they have the opposite effect on your body and also provide you with high amounts of vitamin C too.
2. Drink tea instead of coffee: Green tea is highly alkaline (try jasmine or sencha). Or if you are one of those Gilmore girls, just switch to a less processed, less acidic coffee like bulletproof or brands labelled ‘low acid.’
3. Avoid sugar and use natural sweeteners: Sugar is one of the most acidic things we consume (you need over 30 glasses of neutral water just to neutralize the acidity of ONE can of soda). Use stevia, coconut sugar or small amounts of honey instead of sugar.
4. Eat more vegetables and fruits: Add salad or other greens to every meal, which are highly alkaline and oxygen rich. Drink fresh green vegetable juices as often as possible.
5. Move: Exercise to create more oxygen in your body that also help you to relieve stress. Dance, hike, do yoga, play with your kids and have fun! J
6. Don’t stress too much: Meditate as often as possible, practice deep breathing, get into nature often and try to get plenty of sleep. Taking long baths, daydreaming, or going for a walk after dinner can also help you to feel more centered and calm your mind and body.

… and never forget that making healthy choices will not only help you to improve your health, but also to make you feel good.