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Greens Make the Body More Alkaline
By Victoria Boutenko
Sometimes I feel that in the search for health, we have
been going over the same ground for many decades. In the meantime,
the most prevalent illnesses, heart disease and cancer, are
getting worse every year. Let us look at the statistics.
- Coronary heart disease is the single leading cause of
death in America today (466,101 deaths in 1997)
- This year, 1,500 people will die from cancer every day,
making it the second leading cause of death in the US.[1]
As I observed both in Russia and in United States the allopathic
medicine seems to have been focusing on the secondary causes
of disease. To me that’s like pushing a car that ran out of
gas with your bare hands instead of putting gas in, or comforting
a hungry person instead of feeding them. So what is the main
cause of disease?
Today we have an ocean of confusing information, articles
in which different experts state many different reasons for
illness. However, I think that the main reason for illness
was stated very clearly in 1931! Over 75 years ago, Otto Warburg
was awarded the Nobel prize for his discovery that cancer
is caused by weakened cell respiration due to lack of oxygen
at the cellular level. According to Warburg, damaged cell
respiration causes fermentation, resulting in low pH (acidity)
at the cellular level.
Dr. Warburg, in his Nobel Prize winning study, illustrated
the environment of the cancer cell. A normal healthy cell
undergoes an adverse change when it can no longer take in
oxygen to convert glucose into energy. In the absence of oxygen,
the cell reverts to a primal nutritional program to nourish
itself by converting glucose through the process of fermentation.
The lactic acid produced by fermentation lowers the cell pH
(acid/alkaline balance) and destroys the ability of DNA and
RNA to control cell division. The cancer cells then begin
to multiply. The lactic acid simultaneously causes severe
local pain as it destroys cell enzymes. Cancer appears as
a rapidly growing external cell covering, with a core of dead
cells.
Dr. Otto Warburg finished one of his most famous speeches
with the following statement: “…nobody today can say that
one does not know what cancer and its prime cause is. On the
contrary, there is no disease whose prime cause is better
known, so that today ignorance is no longer an excuse that
one cannot do more about prevention.”[2]
Otto Warburg won the Nobel Prize for showing that cancer
thrives in anaerobic (without oxygen), or acidic, conditions.
In other words, the main cause for cancer is acidity of the
human body.
By the time I read his genius speech, he had been dead a
long time. I wonder, if this discovery was so important that
he received the Nobel Prize, why doesn’t everyone know what
pH is?
As soon as scientists discovered what healthy human blood
pressure and temperature are supposed to be, devices were
invented to measure them. Whenever I went to a doctor, my
blood pressure and temperature were measured, but I don’t
ever remember a doctor measuring my pH. High blood pressure
and fever, though not pleasant, do not cause cancer. The acidic
condition of the blood does. It is not my opinion; it is what
the internationally renowned scientist Dr. Warburg has proven.
For this statement he won the Nobel Prize. As the outcome
of the recognition of his discovery, I think it is vital to
make pH information available at once to everyone.
It makes great sense to me that children should study the
pH index of all foods at school and all foods that are sold
to the public should have their pH index printed on the content
label, together with calories and nutrients. For example,
parmesan cheese should have a red warning label with a pH
sign saying it is extremely acid forming, +34! While spinach
may have a golden medal sign with a pH index –14, as an excellent,
alkalizing food. The indexes have been measured in biochemical
research and cannot be guessed by just looking at foods. Some
of the foods are surprisingly alkaline or acidic; for example,
most people are amazed to learn that lemon is the most alkalizing
fruit, while walnuts are acidifying. I think it’s important
for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food pyramid to reflect
the pH of different foods as soon as possible. I imagine that
many people’s health could instantly be improved by their
ability to consume alkalizing foods that are more beneficial
for human health.
Considering fats to be the main contributor to weight gain
is a popular delusion among dieters. This misconception leads
to massive confusion and explains why so many overweight people
are not succeeding in losing weight. I am sure that many people
would be shocked to find out that we may gain weight from
eating, say, cheese, not only because it is rich in fat, but
mostly due to its high acidic level. In response to high pH
acid, the body creates fat cells to store the acid. For example,
almonds have 70% fat, and pork has only 58%. However, pork
has one of the highest acid values, -38, while almonds are
alkaline forming, +3.[3] This is why it is so crucial to know,
in addition to nutritional value, the pH index-- to have it
available and handy at every store, printed on each food label,
showing its ability to alkalize the body.
I remember how in 1965 my mother was in tears after reading
an article in a Russian health magazine that stated that watermelons
and cucumbers do not have any nutritional value. They were
our family’s most favorite foods. Forty years later, I am
learning that cucumbers and watermelons are so alkalizing
that they could neutralize the acidifying effect of eating
beef. I am glad that my parents continued to buy watermelons,
despite of “scientific” recommendations.
Many years ago, back in Russia, when I was studying to be
a medical nurse, our professor told us, that the cholesterol
in our food did not contribute anything to the blood cholesterol
level, because our own liver makes it all. Therefore I was
not surprised or disappointed by the diet that my father was
receiving while staying at the cardio center. After my dad’s
massive heart attack, they served him beefsteak with gravy
and milk. Later, after reading a lot of books and articles
about the importance of the proper pH balance in the body,
I understood, that the so-called "bad" cholesterol,
lipoprotein (LDL) is made by our own liver in order to bind
the toxins and deactivate the acidic waste that came from
certain food, not to cause arteriosclerosis. Unfortunately,
I bought my first book on this topic, “Alkalize or Die”[4]
two months after my father died from his second heart attack.
Food is not the only cause to alter our pH balance. There
are many other factors, such as stress, our mood or music.
It is very possible to stay on the best alkalizing diet and
still be overweight, tired and unhealthy. Anything that is
stimulating could leave an acidic residue in our body; correspondently
any activities that are calming and relaxing could make us
more alkaline.
Factors that potentially could make us more acid: hearing
or saying harsh or bitter words; loud music and noise; being
in a traffic jam; feeling jealousy or revenge; hearing baby
crying; overworking and over-exercising; beginning or finishing
school; going on vacation; watching scary or stressful movies;
watching and listening to TV; talking on the phone for a long
time; taking on mortgage; paying bills and credit cards, etc.
Factors that potentially could make us more alkaline: giving
or receiving a smile or a hug; laughter and jokes, classical
or quite music; seeing a puppy; hearing compliment or blessing;
receiving a soft massage; staying in a cozy and clean environment,
being in nature, watching children laugh and play; walking
and sleeping under the stars and moonlight; working in the
garden; observing flowers; singing or playing a musical instrument;
sincere friendly conversation, and many others.
I find it helpful for myself to observe my inner body reaction
to different events around me, and if I notice unwanted feeling
of inner stress I try to make changes not only to my diet
but to my whole way of living.
Being uneducated about pH balance breeds a lot of confusion
among people who are looking for healthy diets, trying many
different things, very often without positive results. For
example, in my own experience I have been eating only raw
food for many years, which while a vast improvement on my
previous diet, did not reach optimal results until I began
to eat a lot more greens. I read several books and articles
on this subject and bought litmus paper with which to measure
my pH. However, every time I measured my saliva or urine,
it was almost always acid. So I got even more confused and
stopped measuring. I was convinced that my diet was the best
it could be, because what could be better than a raw food
diet? I never understood the importance of keeping the alkaline
balance of my body.
Since I started drinking green smoothies, I decided to check
my pH balance once again. I tested both my saliva and urine
and was surprised to see that my litmus paper had now the
stable green color of alkalinity!
As soon as I clearly noticed the tight connection between
the food that we intake and our pH balance, I purchased for
my family plenty of pH measurement tape and placed it in the
bathrooms and kitchens, available at any time, so we could
check our pH balance every day and rest assured that our health
is out of danger. After staying so many years on a 100% raw
diet, I have come to the conclusion that it is impossible
to maintain a good alkaline pH balance without consuming large
quantities of dark leafy greens, approximately two bunches
or one to two pounds every day. Some people try to keep a
normal pH balance by taking supplements containing dried greens.
While this is certainly better than eating only French fries,
I strongly believe that to consume fresh greens is thousands
of times better, because supplements are processed food and
their nutrition content is altered, as a result of which some
of the nutrients (like?) disappear, so that the ratios of
the nutrients change greatly. Also, when consumed in forms
of capsules and tablets, they enter our body in huge, concentrated
doses, and any extra nutrients create extra work for the elimination
system.
For this reason, out of all the choices that we have in
consuming greens, the green smoothie is a winner, because
it is a complete food, it is fresh, and it takes less than
a minute to prepare.
Sources:
1: http://yourfuturehealth.com/resources_statistics.htm#cancer
2: The Prime Cause and Prevention of Cancer. Dr. Otto Warburg
Lecture delivered to Nobel Laureates on June 30, 1966 at Lindau,
Lake Constance, Germany
3: The pH Miracle. Robert O. Young, Ph.D., Shelley Redford
Young. 2002, Warner Books, NY
4: Alkalize or Die. Dr. Theodore A. Baroody, Jr. 1991, Eclectic
Press, NC
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