Health and Nutrition (1)

Today we covered awesome topics about food; and what's even better - how to combat bad eating habits if you do happen to slip up on your meals. The following is based on the vegan perspective (which I am not).

Let's talk about the stomach. I learned that most of the foods we eat, according to the "standard American diet", have such high acid levels. What does this mean? This will lead to toxic acidity which will lead to calcium deficiency if the acid levels are not neutralized. Calcium deficiency can lead to brittle bones a.k.a. osteoporosis! A simple way to combat these levels is by introducing calcium to the body to reach homeostasis.

Some of the best resources of calcium are leafy greens. Click the arrow if you want to see a small list!

- spinach

- arugula

- collard/ mustard greens

- kale

- barley

- cabbage

Here is a list of foods high in acid that most of the American diet consists of:

- animal products (which are extremely acidic that provides no water and fiber)

- white-refined sugar and flour

- fried foods (cell structure is mutated through extreme heat)

- salt [controversial topic] (damages tissue)

- caffeine

If you do happen to consume most of these things, especially in high amounts, the easiest possible way I've learned so far is to introduce calcium to your diet; and stay away from milk if you're thinking about it.

Milk? Yes, I actually love milk; but it is extremely high in acid even WITH the little calcium it has.

Read more below if interested, if not I am just going to list a short experience I had 3 days after this class below.

I started eating a lot more salads and stopped combining starches with meat. Digestion was very easy and absolutely no bloat immediately. I did a combination of meat and veggies with a moderate amount of salad dressing (store-bought Olive Garden Italian dressing). I started a cold brew coffee experiment and had it sit on the counter for around 28hr.

The next morning I started off with white bread and some bell pepper/ onion I sautéed the night before and actually tasted great. I didn't think that I could actually have a meal cutting out a lot of meat. The next meal after that was another salad with veggies. (rinse and repeat later that day for a total of 4 meals)

(9/3) I noticed my stool was green the next morning and didn't really have a stench to it - learned in class that this is a healthy sign. Tried the cold brew for the first time and I could tell a huge difference in the taste and how my body positively responded to it. Rinse and repeat the meals from Sep. 2.

(9/4) Stool was healthy brown color and a few of them were actually floating in the water. Great sign. Had more coffee this day and still felt better than heated coffee. Rinse and repeat meals. I could honestly cut off the coffee, but I drink it mostly for taste/ whenever I want to just place something in my stomach to stop hunger cravings.

(9/5-6) Rinse and repeat the coffee and meals on Sep 4.

(9/7) Stool was pencil thin but still a healthy color. I probably didn't drink enough water the day before either because the urine was also dark.