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EDUCATION
In the world of wellness, health and balance are like two best friends; a fabulous and inseparable duo. At a biochemical level in the human body, maintaining the balance of alkalinity and acidity in our fluids and tissues is vitally important for overall health. The good news is that nutrition and lifestyle choices are the key factors that impact upon how alkaline or acidic your body is at any given time, meaning you have the power to tip the scale in the favourable direction. Hint: your body loves to be alkaline!
So what exactly is the acid-alkaline principle? Let’s get scientific. To measure the balance between alkalinity and acidity the pH level is used. The pH refers to the ‘potential of hydrogen,’ and measures the amount of hydrogen ions in a particular solution. The higher the ion concentration, the greater the acidity, the lower the ion concentration, the more alkaline it is. pH is measured on the scale of 0 – 14, with 7 being neutral, 14 being extremely alkaline, and 0 being most acidic. When alkalinity increases, so too does oxygen. Since oxygen is vital to human life and healthy cells thrive in an aerobic environment, it makes sense that we ideally want to maintain a slightly alkaline pH level in our bodies. For optimum health, the blood pH should fall on or very close to the magic number of 7.365 on the scale.
Now that we’ve got the basic chemistry under our belt, let’s take a look at the bad guys. It’s time to know your enemies and stop them robbing your precious body of a happy alkaline existence. Unfortunately the contemporary lifestyle is host to a plethora of stressors that leave one living in a less than ideal acidic state. At the forefront are poor nutritional choices. The over consumption of “food like substances,” to borrow the term from Michael Pollan, which are highly processed, sugar filled, artificially laden, and flooded with saturated and trans fats, greatly increase the acidity in the human body. Stress, overworking, poor sleep, a lack of exercise and technological radiation are other common factors contributing to an acidic pH.
If you’re not feeling your best and suspect you may be too acidic, it’s time to join the alkaline tribe and reap the benefits that leading an alkaline life can bring both your body and mind. A huge burden will be taken off your liver, allowing toxins to be processed and eliminated effectively so that your organs and cells can function at peak performance. This means better digestive processes, increased energy, slower aging, beautiful skin and a peaceful mood, among other benefits. Being alkaline also greatly reduces your chances of illness, as many diseases, such as cancer, are anaerobic (read: flourish in an oxygen depleted environment). So let’s flood our bodies with oxygen and alkalise, baby, alkalise!
The first place you want to start is with your diet by adopting a way of eating that follows the balance of the acid-alkaline principle. Most of the foods that are highly acidic are the ones we know we should limit or avoid, such as processed foods, refined sugar, sodas, artificial sweeteners, red meat and dairy products. On the flip side, alkaline forming foods are the healthy ones, with greens, sprouts, non-starchy vegetables and ripe fruits topping the list. A good ratio to aim for is to 70-80% of your diet coming from alkaline foods, with the remaining 20-30% made up of acid forming foods. However, it’s favourable that the acidic portion of your diet be consumed in the form of healthy acid foods, some of which are brown rice, salmon, and certain nuts. You can find many resources on the internet that provide acid-alkaline food charts to help you better understand how the food choices you make will affect your pH, and then chow down accordingly.
Other lifestyle factors you can bring on board for your alkaline journey are practising relaxation techniques (such as meditation, yoga and deep breathing), daily exercise, drinking lots of good quality water, getting enough sunlight, and enjoying plenty of time spent with the people we love.
This recipe is an excellent source of vitamin C, lycopene and bioflavonoids, which means your skin will love it. In summer, we’re naturally going to be exposed to more sunshine, so this is a great one to be drinking then, when your skin will really benefit from that extra protection and support.
Serves 2
300 g (2 cups) watermelon, chopped and frozen (keep the white rind on, as it’s full of bioflavonoids)
1 punnet (250g) strawberries, frozen
Handful of mint leaves
Put all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Divide between two glasses and enjoy!
Recipe from Lola Berry's Summer Food by Lola Berry, published by Plum, RRP $24.99
We recently chatted to Natalia, founder and CEO of No Nasties, the Australian company playing a fun part in the natural cosmetic movement, creating beautiful and colourful, non-toxic items for kids.
No Nasties Makeup is an Australian owned company creating all natural kids play makeup, face paint and hair chalk.
There are also 9 “peeps” in our range, all starting with the letter “n” for No Nasties, with cute little faces and stories to read on our website www.nonastiesmakeup.com.au
All of our products are made by our team of mums in Sydney, Australia from 100% natural ingredients. We deliver beautiful, recycled brown paper packages of fun from our family to yours.
I actually have 43 allergies and made the shift to all things natural approximately 4 years ago now in a last ditch effort to get well. When I began to investigate what I was using on my skin, making the switch to all natural cosmetics, perfumes and toiletries was a no brainer!
I am a proud mum of two beautiful girls and I started switching to all natural products for them and my home too (including Wotnot!)
My eldest daughter was gifted a play makeup set and I was shocked to read the ingredients list which included toxic chemicals and metal! There was no way I was going to allow her to put it on her skin so it was swiftly thrown away and I had to bribe her with my natural makeup (which isn’t cheap!).
After that little incident I decided to make her some play makeup myself and it really just snow balled from there!
I think it is really important to educate ourselves on the type of nasty ingredients that can be found in the most seemingly mundane products. For example, some face paint sets that can be purchased for a few dollars over Halloween include umpteen chemicals, which when ingested, can cause nausea, vomiting, hyperactivity, migraines, digestive issues or blurred vision… Our skin is our largest organ and what we put onto our skin is absorbed into our blood stream.
Children’s skin is especially sensitive, even if they are lucky enough not to have some skin sensitivity such as eczema, dermatitis or psoriasis. We often hear that children who have broken out in rashes using standard toxic play makeup or face paint have no reaction to our all natural products which means that they are able to play and have fun without worrying side effects!
I love our play makeup sets, mainly because I have two princesses myself. The eyeshadows are so shimmery and smooth and the balms smell, taste and feel great!
I actually use our blush for myself… It is a really nice neutral colour and is all natural.
Overall I love that our colours are age appropriate, light shimmery pastel shades and the balms are really natural and light… think more Cinderella and less three ugly sisters!
Education is the key. I have learnt that some products labeled as “organic” or “natural” can actually be the opposite, so knowing the difference is important.
As a parent, we are always trying to do the best we can for our kids, so my main tip is to learn as much as you can so that you can easily make the best decision for your family.
I really try to live every day to the fullest. Life can whiz by so fast (normally earmarked by the baby who is suddenly 7) and counting blessings every day is important to me.
I don’t often wait for tomorrow to do something…
Nutritionist and author of The Healthy Life, Jessica Sepel shared her go-to salad during a seasonal cleanse with us. Hint: it's nourishing, detoxifying and totally delicious!
1/3 red cabbage, shredded
1/8 white cabbage, shredded
1 carrot, grated
1 cup broccoli florets, steamed
1/2 cup baby spinach or rocket
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup chopped spring onions
1/2 avocado, sliced
1/2 cup fennel, sliced
1/4 cup parsley, roughly chopped
2 tbsp mixed raw seeds
1/2 pear, cored and sliced (optional)
1 tsp ground turmeric
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp tahini
1 tsp raw honey or stevia
Himalayan salt and ground pepper
1. Combine all the salad ingredients in a large salad bowl and mix well.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients together and season to taste. Drizzle the salad with the dressing and serve.
3. This salad also works well if topped with a portion of your favourite protein.
