If you are suffering from a chronic disease such as cancer, arthritis or diabetes, ensuring you enjoy a diet rich in foods with anti-inflammatory properties, can play a very important role when it comes to the management of the disease. We now know that many of these health issues can stem from inflammation and acidity caused from the consumption of what we consider a healthy "modern day" diet.
When we consume refined carbohydrates which are found in most breakfast cereals and supposed "health foods", several things happen. Our body breaks down the carbs very quickly into glucose. This spikes blood sugar levels causing our pancreas to release insulin to force sugar into cells to be used as fuel as well. Being a storage hormone, insulin also forces fat into fat cells to be stored. When our body breaks down the carbohydrates and burns them off, a bi-product called lactate or "lactic acid" is also created.
Have you ever engaged in an intense exercise and found a burning sensation in your muscles which usually subsides after a minute or so? That's lactic acid being created. While it's great your body is burning off the carbs, repeated consumption of high glycemic carbohydrates can cause high acidity and inflammation which can aggravate existing conditions as well as creating an environment in your body where new diseases can develop.
So what can we do? Well, for a start, reducing or eliminating processed refined carbohydrates such as pasta, breads and sugars will help reduce acidity and therefore inflammation and make a huge positive impact on your health.
Secondly, reducing other high glycemic carbs such as root vegetables such as potatoes and fruits such as watermelon and dates; and replacing them with plenty of alkalising above ground veg such as broccoli, green beans, cauliflower and fruits such as berries, will help provide plenty of nourishment without raising blood sugar levels.
When we sleep, we lay dormant for 6-8hrs, usually without taking in any fluids. During that time, even in a cold climate, our body naturally excretes around one litre of water through our sweat glands and mouth through breathing. The food and drink that we consumed the prior day is broken down in our stomach and filtered by our kidneys and liver however, unless you urinate during the night, the expelled toxins will still remain in your body until that first morning number one or two. Everything in our body becomes concentrated which usually results in an elevation of acidity and inflammation, which could explain those early morning creeks and cracks we sometimes experience when we first roll out of bed.
One of the most important things we can do for our health and brain function, is first thing in the morning when we wake, avoid the coffee for an hour and get rehydrated with a delicious alkalising drink such as the recipe below. You might think that ingredients such as lemon juice and apple cider vinegar are acidic, but they actually help your body become more alkaline when ingested. Then we have kombucha which is great for gut health and greens powder which all works brilliantly together to saturate your body with nourishment and start the day on the right foot.
As we stated above, leave the coffee for at least an hour after you have consumed your drink, as coffee will only dehydrate you further.
Make this part of your daily routine and you will soon notice the benefits.
INGREDIENTS:
100 mls Kombucha
200 mls Filtered Water
1/2 Fresh Lemon Juiced
1/2 teaspoon Amla Powder (Optional)
1.5 teaspoon Organic Greens Powder
75 gm Frozen Strawberries
1/2 teaspoon Stevia
1 teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar
METHOD:
1. Place all ingredients into a bullet blender and blitz until smooth.
2. Drink immediately.