There are many diets out there and all of them proclaim to be the one that will work the best for your weight and health issues.
Whenever a celebrity gets involved and starts to promote them, you always have to take them with a pinch of salt.
Gwyneth Paltrow has teamed up with ‘Flow’ Alkaline water and will be making it part of her ‘Goop’ beauty brand throughout 2019.
“The first of its kind campaign for the rapidly growing brand features Paltrow highlighting Flow’s naturally occurring essential minerals, electrolytes and an alkaline pH of +/- 8.1.”
So, what is Alkaline water, and should we be drinking it for our health, and can it make any difference to it?
The idea with these kinds of things come originally from the alkaline diet.
While the Alkaline diet isn’t overly bad compared to some of the extreme diets that are on the market, what it claims to be able to do for your health is what the main issue is.
The idea behind it is that many foods are the culprit of excessive acidity within our body.
This is claimed to be the cause of weight gain, bone disorders like osteoporosis, energy loss, inflammation, ageing and even cancer*. (1)
They claim that eating alkaline-forming foods can offset these issues and can even cure cancer.
Food to include in the diet are: (2)
- Vegetables, green vegetables and fermented vegetables
- Fruits like apples, berries, lemon.
- Fat such as, avocado, almonds, seeds
- Grains like quinoa
- Other foods to include are; herbal tea, apple-cider vinegar and coconut water.
Foods to exclude:
- Eggs, caffeinated drinks, milk, pasta and processed grains, alcohol
So, are our bodies in an ‘Acidic’ state and do they need regulation to ‘fix’ the other issues?
When we look at the science on our bodies PH levels you will find that it is a very tightly regulated system.
So tight, that even a small shift in blood PH can cause severe illness and even death. (3)
Food alone cannot change the blood PH levels or have any effect on them, and this one point more or less debunks the main claims that the diet has.
The levels of PH are measured in the diet through urine tests on litmus paper, and while foods can change the PH of urine they cannot change the PH of the blood. (Urine is separated from the blood by the bladder.) (4)
It cannot help with osteoporosis.
It absolutely cannot cure cancer and the creator of the diet has been jailed in the USA after people he was ‘treating’ died from their cancers.
Why then do people make claims about the diet and claim that it ‘cured’ them from ailments and helped with their weight and health issues?
That is simple.
The diet consists of whole foods with huge amounts of fruit, vegetables and healthy meat sources.
It is high in fibre, vitamins and minerals and apart from needlessly excluding foods, isn’t a bad way to set up your diet.
The benefits you are getting from the Alkaline diet are just the benefits you are getting from ANY diet that reduces or eliminates highly processed foods and alcohol and increases whole foods, fruits and veg and water intake.
There is nothing special about it and it doesn’t have any special miracle cures.
It is simply another diet that has exaggerated claims that don’t stack up.
Flow is set to be promoted throughout Europe over the next few months. With a high-profile celebrity like Paltrow behind them, I’m sure that we will begin to see another rise of the Alkaline diet along with it.
Just know that you will be spending your money on something that will not and cannot have any effect on your health.
So, save your money and just hydrate with normal water and eat more whole foods.
That will stand to you better in the long run.
#leanin2019
Our next set of Lean in 2019 classes starts this Monday, September 16th.
Now the kids are back to school, you can get back into routine and have time for yourself.
Let us help you to achieve your goals.
Click the link below to see our extensive range of times and membership options.
https://www.rushefitness.ie/class/lean-in-2019-gym-plan/
Spaces are filling up fast so don’t delay, get booking NOW and get the rest of 2019 off to a great start!
References:
1.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3195546/
2. http://thenutritionpress.com/debunking-the-alkaline-diet/
3.https://www.rudymawer.com/blog/scientific-review-alkaline-diet-fact-fiction/
4. https://sciencebasedpharmacy.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/your-urine-is-not-a-window-to-your-body-ph-balancing-a-failed-hypothesis/
