The Alkaline Diet: Benefits and Risks

We’ve all seen pictures on the Internet and in the magazines featuring the ever-slender Victoria Beckham. Could it be that she is the newest in a long line of celebs to follow the alkaline diet? She’s not the only one. Other enthusiasts - such as Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Demi Moore, Kirsten Dunst and even designer Marc Jacobs - claim that the alkaline diet does wonders for their digestion, complexion and state of mind.

What is an Alkaline Diet?

The alkaline diet is mainly a raw vegetarian diet. The general idea of the alkaline diet is that - while focusing on specific foods - you help balance your body's ideal pH level in addition to improving your fitness and losing weight. However, a healthy body manages to maintain its pH balance on its own, without the need of such a restrictive diet. In addition to fresh vegetables and some fresh fruits, the alkaline diet plan includes soy products and some nuts and grains.

The Alkaline Diet: Giving up Bad Habits

When focusing on the acid/alkaline diet, it will be no surprise to you to learn that the most acidic foods are sugar, yeast, dairy products, plain carbs, alcohol, and almost all refined, cooked foods. These probably mirror every person’s bad eating habits, with colas and carbonated drinks, pizza and potato chips, cakes and chocolate cookies, plus everything that goes into your microwave. Add to this list bread and meat full of fat, ice cream and caffeine, and of course smoking - all the things you already know are doing more harm than good.

The Alkaline Diet Benefits

A diet rich in fruits and raw vegetables - such as the alkaline diet - is known to raise urine pH level, therefore lowering the possibility of developing kidney stones, which is usually the case when following a protein diet. Nutrition experts have also laid emphasis on the fact that alkaline diets could prevent bone loss and other chronic illnesses, or even help recover from backache. However, these claims have yet to be confirmed with laborious studies on the many benefits the alkaline diet has to offer to a dieter’s health and over-all wellbeing.

The Alkaline Diet Risks

So far, no scientific research proves that the acid alkaline diet could alter your blood pH. However, people suffering from a kidney condition or other medical issues that involve specialist care, for example diabetes, are advised against following an alkaline diet plan. Also, be wary of diet websites that require a monthly fixed charge for alkaline diet recipes or pertinent information: sometimes they create more problems and fail to help you lose weight!

See also:

Victoria Beckham's Alkaline Diet Plan

What is the Raw Food Diet

The Raw Food Detox Diet

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Victoria Beckham's Alkaline Diet Plan

Wonder how Victoria Beckham stays so svelte? Find out more about the alkaline diet Victoria Beckham is currently on, which is becoming the hottest new celebrity diet in 2013!

Although celebrity diets might seem different to you than the regular diets us mere mortals follow, we have to bear in mind the fact that we could always try one of them, as these are as typical as any other diets. In case you want to look like a star though, you must have determination when it comes to following their favorite diets. For instance, if your purpose is to look like Victoria Beckham and wear size four clothes, then you should know that you have to follow her alkaline diet with as much regularity as she does.

The alkaline diet is based on an eating plan that is very low in acidity and that includes alkaline foods such as raw spinach, avocado, nuts, sprouts, linseed oil, olive oil, cold-water fish and broccoli. The alkaline eating plan also encourages the consumption of large quantities of water. On the other hand, the diet absolutely forbids the consumption of any kind of meat, sugar, caffeine, carbonated drinks, condiments, pastas and white rice.

All in all, you have to know that in fact all acidic foods are left out, so you must get used with the idea of giving them up before starting the diet. Besides the fact that by following this diet you can end up looking like Posh, thanks to it you can also have your insomnia, headaches, muscle pains and bloating problems relieved. Moreover, it is believed that the alkaline diet might also help combating allergies, heart diseases and improving energy levels, so it cannot hurt giving it a try.

It looks like the alkaline diet is not only Victoria Beckham’s current diet, as celebrities like Jennifer Aniston and Gwyneth Paltrow follow it as well. In fact, it seems that this is the diet of the year, as it is highly balanced and healthy. Besides, it can also generate impressive weight losses.

Victoria Beckham has started following this diet as a result of getting the Honestly Healthy Alkaline Programme book that has been co-written by Natasha Corrett and Vicki Edgson. After reading it and trying the recipes in the book, the famous Posh has even tweeted that she loved the writing, as it presented healthy recipes and therefore taught people how to eat in a more balanced way. Of all the foods that the diet allows consuming, 70% are alkaline, because these are the ones able to keep the pH of the human body at a maximum level of 7.45.

As you can see, the alkaline diet does not look very hard to follow, although it is basically vegetarian. Therefore, in case you wish to have the chance of experimenting something that stars are crazy about, you can try it, too. Nonetheless, you should not expect to look like Victoria Beckham after a week of dieting, as her svelte figure is also maintained through other secrets. The alkaline diet looks to be only one of them, so make sure not to expect too much after the diet, except a healthier body and a more balanced lifestyle.

Photos: Getty Images

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