The Ultimate Healthy Cupboard

Do you want to eat healthier in the New Year? After you have eaten everything that you have now in your cupboard consider replacing them with these foods which are alkaline and healthier for both you and your kids.
Here is an idea of what should be on your new grocery list –
• Irish steel-cut oats. Oats do contain some gluten, but for most people they are quite tolerable and they are okay for most kids with asthma to have.

• Mixed-grain hot cereals. Be sure they’re gluten- and sugar-free—and this means no honey or maple syrup

• Rice cakes. Stay away from the ones with too much sodium or funky flavorings (like sour cream and onion rice cakes!)

• Flax crackers

• Gluten-free bread. There are many delicious alternatives to the usual bread you buy. Try some sprouted breads, as they are easier to digest and are less processed.

• Sweet potatoes, yams

• Grains: brown or wild rice, millet, quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, corn.

• Nuts: almonds, walnuts, cashews, soy nuts, macadamia nuts, filberts, etc.

• Seeds: sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, hemp, flax. Flaxseeds must be freshly ground rather than eaten whole, otherwise you won't get full nutritional benefit.

• Nut or seed butters: almond butter, tahini, cashew butter, peanut butter (all unsweetened)

• Vegan butter

• Vegan mayonnaise

• Nondairy protein powder (soy, hemp or orris root-based)

• Beans and legumes: black beans, lentils, chickpeas, lima beans, adzuki beans, black-eyed peas, edamame, and fava beans. Dried ones are best

• Tofu

• Tempeh

• Fake meats: burgers, sausage patties, “meat crumbles,” “chicken” patties. Make sure all are gluten-free.
• Artichoke, rice, or quinoa pasta

• Pasta sauce

• Vegetables: kale, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, zucchini, eggplant, collard greens, squash of all kinds, tomatoes, etc.

• Mushrooms: shiitake, hen of the woods, portobello. Grilled, they make a great main dish and are almost as good as a steak

• Salad: arugula, radicchio, endive, mixed greens, peppers, avocado, tomato, radish,

• Fruits: apples, raspberries, cherries, peaches, blueberries, goji berries; frozen fruits for smoothies

• Citrus and exotic fruits lemons, limes, and unsweetened pomegranate juice for sparkling-water cocktails

• Herbal teas such as mint, chamomile and fennel.

• Nondairy milk, such as rice, almond, hemp, or soy milk (unsweetened)

• Healthy sweeteners: xylitol, agave nectar, and stevia for smoothies, milks, cereals and baked goods.

• Extra-virgin olive oil, expeller-pressed organic canola, high-oleic versions of sunflower and safflower oils, walnut oil, and flaxseed oil (the last is good to pour over things like salad or baked yam, but not to cook with).

• Seasonings: garlic, ginger, tamari; Himalayan crystal or Celtic sea salt. Regular table salt is bleached and stripped of minerals

• Flours to cook or bake with: bean, pea, soy, potato, buckwheat, tapioca, nut and seed, arrowroot, and rice. There are also prepackaged flour mixes that cater to the gluten-free shopper.

• Popcorn

• Corn chips

• Guacamole

• Hummus

• Soy cheese (rennet-free)

• Frozen spinach, broccoli, and cauliflower to throw into smoothies . . . you won’t even taste it!

• Vegetarian stock for cooking
Try some prepared foods from health food stores. They are often very tasty and nutritious too.

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Eating Healthy and Blood PH

The best way to detoxify and prevent illness is to balance the pH in your body using the acid/alkaline pH balance approach to diet.
People are most addicted to eating the foods that they like with little consideration of whether or not the food is good for them. They often have resistance to changing their eating habits. Many people are also incredibly daunted about diet changes when they see the list of potentially acidic foods on the list that they now have to avoid – this includes red meat, fast food, soda pop, refined sugar, baked goods, hydrogenated fats, and coffee.
Considered highly acidic, all of these foods create a pH imbalance and cause congestion in the colon. You have probably heard the phrase –'Death begins in the colon.' Trouble with the colon is the leading cause of disease.
Ailments often begin with constipation and other bowel problems, or with congested sinuses and continually getting sick with “colds.” Continued imbalance of the acid-alkaline state can lead to health problems from inflammation, chronic fatigue, ulcers, back pain and many other illnesses.
Your body is healthiest when it is in a slightly alkaline pH balanced state that is above 7.0 (with 0. 0 being most acidic and 14.0 being most alkaline). You would be dead if your acid level was 0.0 by the way. Death starts to progress once your body drops in acidity below 6.0.
The blood pH stays at about 7.41 and your body will do what it has to in order to keep it at that level. So if you eat too much acidic food the body will buffer those acids and store them in your tissues.
Acids stored in the body over a long period of time show up as congestion, swelling, inflammation and then stiffness. Eventually tissue and cell death occur.
Achieving perfect balance depends predominantly on understanding and applying the acid/alkaline balance to your diet.
With steady focus, and a willingness to experiment with alternatives, acidic foods can be given up or in the very least cutback on so you can stay healthier.
Many people find it hard to give up some of these acidic foods right away.
Here are some simple suggestions for food substations that you can experiment with at home that can help reduce the unhealthy cravings for the real thing.
Sugar – Maple syrup or agave nectar, both of which alkalize the body can be used as substitutes for the 'slow sweet killer.'
Salt – Use pink Himalayan salt which has no toxins and contains eighty-four elements found in your body
Flour – Replace white flour with spelt or rice flour which are both superior sources of fiber
Rice – If you must eat rice then eat brown rice which has higher sources of trace minerals
Dairy – Replace cow's milk with brown rice milk, oat milk, almond milk or hemp milk. Hemp milk has omega fatty acids.

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