To Get Healthy, Start from the Inside

By: Rick Bellanti – February, 2018

If you’re like me, you see yourself and judge yourself from the reflection you see in the mirror daily. There is more to our health than what our reflection tells us or what is being seen as a number on the scale. The best place to look is inside you, where all the magic is happening behind the scenes. Many things that you feel going on with your body like aches, pains, inflammation and swelling starts with what we are putting into our bodies and eating on a daily basis.

Did you know that the foods we eat daily can change the makeup of your body and the way we feel in our everyday lives?

Let’s talk about pH Levels in our body. The pH level is one of the most important balance systems of our bodies. The term pH stands for potential of Hydrogen. It is the amount of hydrogen ions in a particular solution. The more ions, the more acidic the solution. The fewer ions the more alkaline the solution. The pH level is a measure of acidity or alkalinity, on a scale of zero to fourteen, with zero being most acid, fourteen being most alkaline and seven being mid-range. The most critical pH balance is in the blood.

We all should strive to have an alkaline based body, but is yours too acidic?

Are you feeling drained, irritable, do you often have headaches or dry skin and hair? One of the things I suffered from was muscle cramps and inflammation of my joints. These are just some of the common ailments of having excessive levels of acid in our bodies, and not everyone knows that the acidic pH level of our body is causing it. Not surprisingly obesity, joint problems, ulcers, heart issues may be caused by the excessive levels of acid trapped within the body. If there’s one common thing with all the mentioned health problems, it’s acidity in the body way above normal.

The first thing I would recommend is purchasing pH level test strips, they are very inexpensive (I bought a box of 100 strips for $6.00 on Amazon). You can test by using your urine or saliva and get your levels. It has a color code right on the package to match up and get your pH level. You should do this twice daily (afternoon/evening) keep a little chart and monitor the changes. It’s best to not test first thing in the morning as your urine will be different and not an accurate measure. Once you see your levels, it’s time for changes!

I’m sure there are plenty of supplements or prescriptions you could be prescribed, but the easiest way (and most cost effective) is simply diet. Not necessarily being on a diet, but changing our diet to more alkaline based foods. The top ten of those are: garlic, red radish, lemons, tomatoes, spinach, cucumbers, avocados, celery, broccoli and wheat grass. Almost all of the green vegetables are great like: kale, alfalfa and zucchini (my personal favorite). Now you don’t only have to eat only these vegetables, just incorporate them more and more into your diet. To really eliminate the excessive amounts of acid in your blood, tissues and organs, a huge fraction of your diet should consist of these alkalizing foods.

If your body is on the higher end of the Acidic level, you’ll need to cut back on things like bread, coffee, aspartame, meats like lamb and pork, processed foods and smoking.

If you are suffering from the symptoms of excessive acidity in the body, it is time for you to take extra care in your daily diets. Lack of sleep and over work is also a major factor in having your body in an acidic pH level. So, take a break, relax and eat your greens, your body will thank you.

Rick Bellanti is a wellness columnist and is on a journey himself to lose 240 lbs, and has lost 160 lbs since the start of 2015. If you have any questions or comments, please post them to his Getting Healthy with Rick Bellanti Facebook page and once a month he will address a few of the topics here.