This
topic is a difficult one as it challenges age old eating habits and
beliefs; it even challenges the economic interests of our countries
and governments.
Not
all foods are immediately toxic in the body, but too much of them
can be, but some foods are just plain toxic and should be avoided.
To
keep it simple, there are two kinds of foods, those which leave an
alkaline residue in the digestive tract, such as fresh fruits and
vegetables, and those that leave an acidic residue, such as most nuts,
grains and high proteins foods.
Of
the acid forming foods there are 2 kinds:
-
Those
which are acid forming
because they have an abundance of acidic minerals (nuts and
grains)
-
Those
which are acid forming
because they are difficult to digest and just plain toxic (meat,
dairy, soft drink).
The optimum
diet for a clean body consists of 25% acid
forming foods and 75% alkaline
forming foods.
It
should also be noted at this point that there is a difference between
acid forming foods and acidic foods. Oranges for example are acidic,
but once ingested into the body are alkaline forming. This is due
to the fact that the acids in the orange are easily broken down
by the body, leaving a large amount of alkalizing minerals (calcium,
potassium…) in their wake.
Below
is a list of commonly accepted foods which are toxic or highly acid
forming in the body:
-
White
flour products
-
Soft
drink
-
Meat
-
Salt
-
Refined
sugar
-
Cooked
or fried oil
-
Pasteurised
milk
For
more information on why the above foods are toxic in the body, I refer
the reader to the book “New Dimensions in Health From
soil to psyche” by David A. Phillips, one of Australia's
leading nutritionists.
Some of the
reasons are summarised below.
-
Calves fed pasteurised
cows milk die within one week, the enzyme required to digest
it (lactase) has been killed by the heating, along with a bunch
of other enzymes.
-
Human bodies
are designed to be vegetarians due to our long digestive systems
and our relatively weak stomach acid (weaker than a cat for
instance). Even if we were meat eaters, like tigers, the meat
should be eaten raw not cooked, as cooking kills all the enzymes
required to digest the complex proteins.
-
Heart disease,
high cholesterol, strokes and cancer(the biggest killers in
the western world) are almost unheard of in countries too “poor”
to afford meat, such as China. It is also interesting to note
that the above diseases are on the increase in China as it becomes
more “wealthy”.
-
Soft drink has
enormous amounts of refined sugar in it which leaches minerals
from your body in an attempt to become “whole” again.
Besides everyone knows sugar is bad, but possibly it is underestimated.
Also the high levels of carbon dioxide toxify the blood.
-
Salt (sodium)
cannot be absorbed by the body unless it comes directly from
a plant. Tomatoes, celery, beetroot and many other foods are
high in sodium. In fact most foods naturally contain sodium.
The sodium molecules in table salt (and sea salt, as this is
where table salt comes from) are too large to be used by the
cells of the body, so they float around the body hardening arteries
and creating havoc. Even your doctor will tell you to stop all
salt if you have high blood pressure or cholesterol (along with
meat products, eggs ...).
"Sodium chloride or table salt has the opposite effect of
organic sodium. Table salt actually takes organic sodium out of
the body, and causes more damage to normal intestinal mucosa than
any other substance! Stay away from sodium chloride as if your
life depended on it. Good sources of organic sodium are celery,
okra, black mission figs, carrot juice, beets, whey (goat milk
whey is far superior to cow’s milk whey and is less mucous-forming).
A doctor-prescribed low-sodium diet will cause more harm than
good, unless it only restricts intake of table salt." -
http://www.cleanse.net/newsite/articles/minerals.html
-
In grains, almost
all the nutrition and fibre is contained in the germ, which
is removed to make white flour. The white flour coats the delicate
intestinal walls and ferments. Without fibre, or the germ, grains
are dangerous. Mother Nature wasn't silly when she created grains;
they are not supposed to be separated from their germ by a machine.
