Our Alkaline Diet Makes a Heart-Healthy Diet Even Better

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States

Heart disease is now the leading cause of death in the United States; however, it is a relatively new disease in the grand scheme of things. Rarely seen in earlier days, the incidence of cardiovascular disease has risen dramatically since 1900 and is clearly linked to our modern lifestyle. Today, heart disease is responsible for the death of 1 in 5 women in the United States, and killed almost 300,000 women in 2017 (CDC data). Heart health is so important for everyone in our society, both men and women. 

The DASH Diet Promotes Heart Health and Reduces Inflammation

In 1995, the U.S. government funded research to find a heart-healthy diet pattern that would lower blood pressure. NIH (National Institutes of Health) developed a specific heart-healthy diet known as “The DASH Diet.” Over the decades, this diet has been shown to reduce hypertension, promote cardiac health, and reduce inflammation. It was also found to be as effective at lowering blood pressure as drug therapy.

The Alkaline for Life Diet is an Enhanced Version of the DASH Diet

The DASH diet recommends increasing fruit and vegetable intake, limiting sodium, saturated fats, and sodas/sugar-sweetened beverages. Specifically, it recommends consuming 2 to 2.5 cups of fruit and 2 to 2.5 cups of vegetables per day. It is also recognized to be high in potassium, magnesium, and calcium (dietary minerals).

These recommendations are like ours here at Alkaline for Life. Our alkaline diet also emphasizes eating plenty of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, while limiting intake of acid-forming foods like sweets, sodas, and processed foods. But we recommend 12 half-cup servings of fruits and vegetables per day, which is a step up from the DASH diet. Eating more fruits and vegetables is never a bad idea.

We also recommend consuming plenty of minerals like potassium and magnesium, as they help us alkalize.

What's different?

The Alkaline Diet emphasizes replacing some grains with root crops to increase the daily servings of vegetables, which are needed in abundance for the body pH to shift toward alkaline.

The DASH diet was a great start for its time, and now we see a vast improvement on it with the Alkaline for Life Diet®, which includes many of the same principles, and some very important refinements.

Most importantly, the Alkaline for Life Diet® is informed by the new science showing that optimal pH balance is associated with higher biochemical efficiency, greater energy, greater bone strength, reduced bone loss, and reduced loss of calcium in the urine.

So, if you’ve heard great things about the heavily researched DASH diet, know that you are only doing yourself a favor by making a few modifications and adopting our Alkaline for Life Diet®.

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