In this article, we’ll talk about whether an alkaline diet or alkalizing supplements can help diabetics to manage their disease.
First of, if you have diabetes, please do NOT rely on this guide as a replacement for seeing a doctor and following their prescribed treatment plan.
Having said that…
Did you know that a major roadblock to meeting your diabetic goals could be a simple imbalance in your body’s pH levels?
… and more precisely, a problem of acidity?
In our article, we’ll argue you can reverse the harmful effects of acidity by alkalizing your body (with diet or supplements).
Here’s the #1 system we recommend to alkalize the body:
Warning: We’re not going to talk about the same old tired dieting advice for diabetics in this article. You already know how to “watch your carbs”.
… we’re revealing a breakthrough health concept for diabetics here.
Many medical professionals now believe that one of the keys to managing diabetes is neutralizing the acidic waste in your body.
And since the diabetic epidemic is so widespread in the U.S., we’ve dedicated an entire post to the subject. In this article you’ll learn about the diabetes crisis in America, how acidity poisons the body, its effects on diabetes, and how to counteract acidity.
Quick Article Guide:
- Introduction: The Diabetes Crisis in America
- pH Balance 101 for Diabetics
- What do pH Levels have to do with Diabetes?
- How Alkalizing the Body May Help to Prevent, Manage, or Reverse Diabetes
- Alkaline Diet Tips
- Alkalizing Supplements
The Diabetes Crisis in America
The National Diabetes Statistics Report released their diabetes report on June 10, 2014.
This report revealed that in 2012 there were a total of 29.1 million Americans, or 9.3% of the population had diabetes.
Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death in the U.S.
The John Hopkins Medical Center states that 90 – 95% of those who have been diagnosed have Type 2 diabetes.
Almost as many as 7 million Americans may not even know they have the disease.
Challenges Faced By Diabetics in Managing the Disease
When first diagnosed with diabetes, many people encounter a host of problems in learning how to control and manage the disease including:
- Social challenges such as changing their lifestyle to learn how to effectively monitor their blood sugar levels
- Cultural challenges as in changing their lifestyle which includes losing weight and increasing their exercise regime
- Dietary challenges to understand what foods they should avoid, limit, and learning to eat regularly, and limiting their caloric intake
- Financial challenges in being able to afford the medications prescribed and adjusting to a new lifestyle to combat the disease
- Adhering to the therapies prescribed by their physicians
Type 1 Diabetes will always present ongoing challenges in the management of the disease, but you can still take proactive steps to minimize its impact on your health.
Type 2 diabetics have a much better opportunity to not only successfully manage their disease but even to reverse it altogether.
pH Balance 101 for Diabetics
Regardless of the type of diabetes you have been diagnosed with you can take very positive steps to significantly improve your health and get “Phit”.
You can limit the effects of diabetes by understanding how the food you eat affects your health.
We’re not just talking about the glucose levels in your food, we are talking about how foods you eat affect the pH levels in your body.
What does pH mean?
The designation pH refers to the amount of alkaline or acidic levels of a solution. The pH scale ranges from 1 – 14. Levels 1- 6 means that substance will be acidic and levels 8 – 14 means that the substance will be alkaline.
Level 7 is neutral which means that it is neither acidic or alkaline.
The ideal pH level in the human body is 7.4.
Our blood pH has a very narrow range in which you maintain good health and this is in the range of a blood pH level of 7.35 – 7.45.
… and just as our body has an ideal temperature of 98.6, which you don’t want to deviate from, the same holds true for our body pH levels. In this article, we’ll only be covering the effects on the diabetic body when they are acidic (as most Americans are).
Although the body metabolizes the food you consume and does its best to internally adjust the pH levels, it can only do so much to maintain a healthy pH level.
Now, some researchers say that there are number of external and environmental factors such as pollution that are causing problems with our pH balances. This is likely true to some small extent and is unfortunately something you have little control over.
The biggest factor that does affect out pH levels on a much larger scale is the food you eat!
This is largely due to our Western diet (high in meats, sugars and processed foods, and low in fruits and veggies) and lack of nutrients in our food.
At Living Phit we know how the types of food you eat will impact your pH levels because some foods are very acidic while some foods are very alkaline, and many other foods will vary as being mildly or moderately acidic or alkaline.
What Do pH Levels Have to with Diabetes?
It turns out that the pH level of the body and the type of food you eat has a lot do with your overall health, the prevention of a variety of diseases, and especially as it relates to diabetes.
A diet which is very acidic in nature has been found to be the culprit in precipitating or acting as a major cause for many diseases, including diabetes.
An acidic based diet can lead to acidosis which can result in the onset of a variety diseases such as diabetes, and in particular Type 2 Diabetes.
How Diet Induced Acidosis Can Cause Diabetes
What is diet induced acidosis?
For our Type I diabetic readers, we’re not referring to ketoacidosis here.
Dietary acidosis simply means the body has accumulated too much acid, and the body no longer possesses the natural capacity to neutralize it.
Most Americans are acidic according to a recent US Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey… not just diabetics.
Dr. Michael Lam states that an acidic diet can result not just in causing obesity, but also in causing diabetes.
The reason is because an acidic diet lowers your pH level below its optimum level of 7.4 and will cause you to be insulin sensitive!
An acidic diet can cause the body to stimulate the body to genetically react to the syndrome of “feast or famine”, and in this case it acts as a famine response.
The result is that the body begins to not only produce more insulin but also to hoard more calories which results in weight gain.
Acidosis has also been shown to affect and disrupt the insulin producing pancreatic cells in the pancreas.
Other significant health effects caused by acidosis which has a direct bearing on diabetes includes:
- Accelerates free radical damage and can result in pre-mature aging
- The corrosion of veins, arteries and heart tissue
- The disruption of lipid and fatty acid metabolism
- Reduces the delivery of oxygen into the cells
- Alters your energy metabolism
Acidosis is directly influenced by what you eat, and can either be a direct cause or increase the negative health effects of diabetes!
How Alkalizing the Body May Help to Prevent, Manage, or Reverse Diabetes
When you eat a food or consume a beverage, the body will break down what you ingest into either an acidic or alkaline residue.
By focusing on a diet which is largely alkaline, as the body does need some limited acid based foods, your body will achieve a better state of homeostasis which is simply a fancy means of stating that it will be in a proper equilibrium or normalcy.
The ideal type of diet that you should consume should consist of a diet that includes foods that are 60 – 70% alkaline, and foods that are 30 – 40% acidic.
By doing so, your body will be better able to not only prevent the onset of diabetes but also help you to better manage and even reverse the effects of diabetes (Type 2 specifically) as it will assist in helping your body achieve the following:
- Adjust your sugar levels
- Normalizes your insulin levels
- Helps you to lose weight
- Adjusts your metabolism
- Assists in the better absorption of vitamins
- Eliminates carbon dioxide (which is acidic)
Simply by adjusting your diet to a more alkaline based diet, the negative health affects associated with diabetes can have the potential to be significantly reduced.
It may even be possible for those who have been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes to reverse the disease altogether.
Alkaline pH Diet Tips for Diabetes
A proper diet for diabetics would need to be largely vegetarian in nature but as stated previously, some limited acid based foods taken in small quantities is also essential for the body to maintain normal health.
Some of the most acidic foods which should be either avoided or taken in only small quantities include the following:
- Meat
- Fish
- Poultry (except chicken breast)
- Dairy Foods
- Processed Foods
- White Sugar
- White Flour
- Caffeine
- Yeast Products
- Alcohol
The ideal foods that you should include with every meal and which every diabetic should include in their diet that have a strong alkalizing effect on the body include:
- Lots of dark leafy green vegetables
- Soy based foods
- Some types of nuts and legumes
- Olive oil
- Spices and seasonings
- Proteins such as salmon or chicken breast which have lower acidity
For those of you who don’t have diabetes we would have also included fruits in the above category because, even though fruits are acidic in their normal state, they actually metabolize into an alkaline product.
However, many of these fruits also contain high sugar levels which can cause harm to a diabetic.
Also, be sure to visit our complete list of high alkaline foods.
Alkaline Supplements for Diabetics
We understand that in our fast paced world many of you won’t always have the opportunity to eat the way you should.
The problem as shown by the CDC (Center for Disease Control) estimates that 69% of American adults are overweight.
We understand at Living Phit that asking Americans to change their diet is sometimes not realistic.
Not a problem!
It also happens that there are some great supplements that you can take that will counter the negative effects of acidic causing foods.
That’s why we recommend the ‘average’ person supplements their diet with alkalizing pH drops or pills.
There are many excellent choices of alkalizing agents on the market but our personal preference is Alkazone drops Full Disclosure: We earn a commission if you click this link and make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. .
Take charge of your life and take control over your diabetes by learning to eat right!
And, if you find eating the proper foods to be a problem, then use an alkalizing pH drop or pills such as Alkazone drops.
Find your way to good health and start Living Phit today!
*These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
