 My dear friend Allison Hopkins who has spent her career in the biotech industry, shared with us last week information on the gut microbiome and the benefits associated with the morning mojo drink. For me, it was eye opening. Who knew that our gut microbiome could be in control of our cravings of all things. I always knew that when I ate good foods, I craved good foods and vice versa. Those sneaky little critters! If you missed last week’s blog post, you can catch up real quick here. This week is going to be focused on alkalization. She makes it fun, promise! Here’s Allison:: Part 2 - Alkalization: In my last post I focused on how ACV and lemon juice benefit our gut biome, and this week I am going to focus on alkalization. Alkalization is related to the pH of the body. The pH scale is logarithmic, and ranges from 1-14, with each point representing a ten-fold change. The lower the pH the more acidic, and the higher the pH the more basic or alkaline. Research shows that a balanced, slightly alkaline pH, equates with greater health. Our blood pH is always maintained at 7.4 no matter what. This is critical for life, so as a result our bodies do an incredible job at making adjustments to ensure that our blood pH stays right where it should be. Two main processes are used by our bodies to ensure this perfect blood pH - Maintenance of an alkaline reserve and acid storage. Our body maintains an alkaline reserve, mostly in the form of calcium, which our bodies can draw from when our pH becomes too acidic. But it’s important that we replenish these reserves through the food that we eat in order to prevent the reserve from being depleted. The calcium reserve is stored in our bones, and if our bodies need to pull from this reserve too frequently and without replenishment through our diet it can lead to calcium deficiency, which is responsible for a number of health problems including arthritis, heart disease, gout, high cholesterol, cancer, acid reflux, and high blood pressure. Another side effect of a body that is too acidic is weight gain. You have probably seen all kinds of articles claiming that drinking apple cider vinegar or lemon juice can promote weight loss. Can that really be true? Well, a lot of these claims are tied to the pH of your body! The 2nd way that your body will compensate and prevent too much acid from harming your vital organs is to store that acid, and wouldn’t you know it, our bodies store acid in fat and muscle cells!  The use of fat cells for storage leads to weight gain as well as difficulty losing weight when the body is too acidic. Storage in muscle cells results in low energy, muscle cramps, and in extreme cases, chronic fatigue. Some more common ailments associated with too acidic of a pH include acne, joint pain, sleep problems, premature aging, and slow digestion. So, how does all of this relate to Morning Mojo? You might be asking, both apple cider vinegar and lemon juice are very acidic. How can this possibly help maintain an alkaline environment? Well, while both lemon juice and apple cider vinegar are acidic outside of the body, the end product of digestion are very alkaline. Therefore, morning mojo actually helps your body maintain an alkaline environment. In addition to your morning mojo the majority of the foods you eat should be alkaline forming. Most fruits and vegetables are alkalizing, whereas meats, grains (unless sprouted), most fats, dairy, and all junk foods are acid forming. As always, moderation and balance is key. Don’t be tempted to only eat alkalizing foods as being too alkaline has health risks as well. Another way to help maintain a balanced pH is to drink plenty of still water, which has a pH of 9. If you’re struggling to replace your soda at lunch with a refreshing glass of water, this next point might give you some motivation. Colas, including diet colas, have a pH of about 2.5, almost all the way to the end of the acidic scale, and when you drink colas your body pH is dramatically impacted. In order to compensate your body will start pulling from the alkaline reserve, depleting calcium from your bones. In order to offset one cola you would need to drink 32 glasses of water!! I think that’s amazing!  You need 21 times the amount of water to neutralize the effects of one can of soda. This would prevent your body from drawing the calcium reserve in your body. But 256 ounces - WOW… I drink a lot of water but I am not sure that is possible. Since this is impossible, this is why it is so important you are eating enough alkaline forming foods to help you maintain an alkaline state.
This is a great segue into our focus for next week, which will focus on hydration. Remember, the recommendation for water intake is ½ of your body weight in ounces. So if you weigh 150lbs you should be drinking about 75oz of water each day. Not only will this keep you hydrated, but it will also help you maintain a healthy pH! From Paige: GOOD STUFF, Allison! Thank you! Hard to believe that soda requires 256 ounces of water to neutralize the pH of one 12 ounce can of soda. I also love the supported evidence that the MoJo has the ability to bring us to a more favorable akalized state. We hope this has inspired you to give our Mojo a try. It certainly is an acquired taste - I think it is absolutely delicious - like a fancy lemonade but a lot of our clients absolutely hate it at first. (They do grow to love it!) If you are interested in giving it a try, you can download our recipe here: https://wilcoxwellnessfitness.lpages.co/mojo/ Let us know what you think! Can’t wait to share next week’s post with you on the benefit of hydration in the body. Enjoy! Paige & Allison Inspired to give the Morning Mojo a try - download our recipe here : https://wilcoxwellnessfitness.lpages.co/mojo/ Want more support? Join our free Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/WilcoxHealthyLiving/ Join our free private FaceBook Group - Healthy Living with Wilcox Wellness & Fitness to connect with us live. Daily we post all things healthy living - pro tips for healthy living, recipes, and weekly workouts for you to do at home. We will answer any question you post and we encourage you get involved in the discussion. Don't miss another post. Join our mailing list here: http://www.wilcoxwellnessfitness.com/keep-in-touch.html
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