The Immune Boosting Diet

IMMUNE BOOSTING

IMMUNE BOOSTING

If you follow popular media, you’ve read about various diets that offer quick fixes for whatever ailments bother you. The problem with these—and most diets—is that they don’t take into account the specific causes of your health condition. As a result, they don’t address the real root of the problem. This often leaves people trying diet after diet and finding that none of them makes a difference.

Making dietary changes is never easy, but when you try it and start feeling better, you’ll realize it’s worth the effort. The alkaline diet is designed so that you eat the foods that optimize your alkalinity and avoid foods that make you more acidic.

If you are like most people, changing your diet can be perplexing at first. Go slowly if you need to. Here are some great tips for making the transition into an alkaline diet; remember, this is a process—the diet can take some time to fully incorporate into your daily life. But the sooner you can implement these changes, the sooner you will start to feel better.

HOWTO MAKE YOUR DIET WORK

Work

with a professional.

If you get overwhelmed, then I recommend finding a nutritionist who can help you with shopping, meal planning, and even food preparation. Sometimes a little hand-holding in the beginning can get you going on the right path to managing your diet

Don’t feel pressured to change everything at once.

You’ve spent years developing your dietary habits and they won’t necessarily change overnight

Start by changing just two to three foods in your diet every few days Soon you will find yourself eating a healthier, alkaline diet.

Don’t reinvent the wheel. Cook simply.

You may feel like you need to make complicated or extravagant recipes, but you can keep it simple in the kitchen by using just a few ingredients.

One of my favorite dishes is roasted beets, with celery and capers with a little apple cider vinegar Find easy‐to‐prepare dishes that you enjoy eating

It’s great to reach out to a local support group or online forum where people share their recipe ideas as well as what worked for them The Internet has become an invaluable resource for great recipes for nutritious, tasty meals.

Plan ahead.

When you are tired and feeling unwell, it’s an extra challenge to remember to buy the right foods. People who don’t cook much often find shopping daunting. To make shopping easier, sit down before you go to the store to make a detailed list of what you plan to purchase.

DIET BASICS

To begin, follow a regular meal pattern and eat at least three times per day. If you are prone to low blood sugar, eat between-meal snacks. Although you are not counting calories, keep in mind that most adults need between 1,800 and 2,500 calories per day. Children need between 1,200 and 2,000 calories per day. This amount can be adjusted for age, gender, and activity level.

A wearable health-tracking device can help you measure your activity level to see if you need to adjust your calorie intake. Men generally need more calories than women, and active people need more calories than sedentary people. If you want to lose weight, you can elect to reduce food intake to 1,500 calories per day. It also helps to combine the diet with a regular exercise regimen.

WHAT YOU CAN AND CANNOT EAT

There are three categories of foods:

Generously consumed foods: Very alkaline to low-alkaline foods should make up 80 percent of your diet. Pick foods in this category and eat until satiated.

Modestly consumed foods: These foods are low-acid-forming foods.

Limited or eliminated foods: Some foods are too acidic to be part of your recovery, so you will be omitting the foods on this list as much as possible.

THE BENEFITS OF pH BALANCING

WHAT IS pH AND HOW DOES THE pH IN FOODS AFFECT ME?

Potential of hydrogen, or pH, describes how acidic or alkaline something is. On a scale from 1 to 14, a pH of 1 is highly acidic and a pH of 14 is highly alkaline. A neutral pH is 7, neither acid nor alkaline. With the exception of water, every food is on the acid/alkaline spectrum. Foods are classified as alkaline if they are high in sodium, potassium, or calcium. Foods that have more sulfur, phosphate, or chloride are considered acidic.

Having a more-alkaline (basic) pH is an invaluable but underutilized way to reduce inflammation, rebuild the gut, and boost the immune system. Using this approach restores optimal gut health and reduces inflammation. Like most things in life, diet is all about balance.

The goal of the Immune-Boosting Diet is to restore and maintain a healthy body pH. When the body maintains a healthy pH, all of its cells function as nature intended.

To comprehend how this works, it helps to know that each tissue, organ, and fluid in the body has an optimal pH at which the cells and enzymes work best. If in any bodily location the pH starts to become too acidic or too alkaline, then normal function stops or slows down, leading to future disease. The complex interaction between our cells, nervous system, and hormones ensures that each tissue, organ, and fluid works at an optimal pH level.

Changes in one bodily area may lead to changes in another. Therefore, changing pH in the gut can lead to changes in pH in other organs and tissues. For example, alterations in gut pH can affect the gut flora’s production of short-chain fatty acids, which are crucial for energy metabolism. If the gut pH isn’t balanced correctly, the downstream result is less energy and more fatigue.

HOW TO ALKALINIZE YOUR DIET

When so many diverse external factors an insect bite, a medical treatment with side effects, an unhealthy food system, and ecological acidification—all challenge your immunity at once, it’s not surprising for health to suffer. But alkalinizing your diet can truly help.

Please eat as many organic foods as possible while on this diet and in fact all the time, if you can manage to. Research shows that nonorganic foods have lower nutrient content than their organic counterparts. Many of the pesticides and herbicides used in modern farming deplete these foods of their nutrients, especially important minerals like selenium, zinc, and magnesium. Many of these same chemicals also disrupt your endocrine system, causing problems with thyroid and reproductive hormones like estrogen and testosterone. Fortunately, the demand for organic food has grown so much that many large commercial retailers now carry organic foods at a reasonable price. Eating more organic foods will reduce the load of toxic chemicals in your body.

Eating patterns develop in childhood, so making changes to your diet can be difficult at first and may take time. Being consistent is the key. A few “cheat days” here and there may add up to stopping you from feeling your best. Most people notice improvements in their health within weeks of starting the Immune-Boosting Diet. And there is an added payoff: as you start to feel better, it becomes easier to stick to the rest of the program.

ALKALINE

The Diet

Category 1:

Eat All you Want

VEGETABLES:

Artichokes

Asparagus

Beetsandbeetgreens

Broccoli

Brusselssprouts

Cabbage

Carrots

Cauliflower

Celery

Chard

VEGETABLES (EAT NO MORE THAN 1 SERVING A DAY):

Cucumbers

Endives

Garlic

Greenbeans

Jerusalem

artichokes

Lettuces

Mustardgreens

Okra

Onions

Parsley

Parsnips

Sweetpotato

Squash

Whitepotato

Yams

GRAINS/LEGUMES:

Amaranth

Buckwheat

Chia

Kamut

Lentils

Lima beans

Millet

Mungbeans

Navybeans

Pintobeans

Redbeans

Quinoa

Spelt

Whitebeans

Category 2:

Peas

Radishes

Rutabaga

Seaweeds(Nori,Dulse,etc)

Scallions

Spinach

Sproutedgrains

Sprouts

Tomatoes(rawonly)

Turnips

Collardgreens

Zucchini

FRUITS:

Avocado

Grapefruit

Lemon Lime

Pomegranates

Watermelon

BEVERAGES:

Alkaline water

Herbal teas

Green drinks

Water

NUTS/SEEDS:

Almonds

Brazil nuts

Coconut

Flax seeds

Pumpkin seeds

Sesame seeds

Sunflower seeds

OILS:

Avocado oil

Coconut oil

Flax oil

Olive oil

Safflower oil

Foods that may be eaten in less than 20% of your weekly dietary intake

FRUITS:

Apples

Apricots

Berries

Cantaloupe

Cherries

Grapes

Honeydew melon

Mango

Nectarines

Oranges

Peaches

Papaya

Pineapple

Plums

OILS:

NUTS/SEEDS: Sunflower oil

Grapeseed oil

Pecans

Hazel nuts

*Note: These foods are neutral pH or slightly acid-forming.

GRAINS/LEGUMES:

Brown rice

White rice

Oats

Rye

Hemp

Soy (organic only)

MEAT, FISH AND EGGS:

Beef

Chicken

Eggs

Farmed-raised fish

Pork

Shellfish

Turkey

Category 3:

FISH (WILD ONLY):

Mackerel

Perch

Pike

Roughy

Salmon

Sardines

Sole

Tilapia

Foods to avoid while on the program

DAIRY PRODUCTS:

Cheese

Ice cream

Milk

Sour cream

Yogurt

FRUITS:

Dried fruits

NUTS/SEEDS:

Macadamia nuts

Peanuts

Pistachios

CONDIMENTS:

Honey

Jam

Jelly

Mustard

Soy sauce

Vinegar

REFINED, PROCESSED AND SIMPLE CARBOHYDRATE FOODS:

All additives

Artificial dyes, flavorings and sweeteners

Candy

Canned foods (they tend to contain lots of preservatives and chemicals)

Chocolate/Cocoa

Corn and all corn products (corn syrup, corn starch, etc.)

Chips

Cookies

Crackers

Doughnuts

Margarine

Preservatives (Sulfites, Nitrites, etc.)

Sugar

Yeast

OILS:

Corn oil

Cottonseed oil

Soybean oil

Vegetable oil

All hydrogenated oils and trans fats

BEVERAGES:

Alcohol

Coffee

Fruit juice

When people first come into my office, the majority are eating a standard American diet (SAD). High in simple carbs and filled with junk food and soda, the most common American diet contains highly processed foods and few vegetables. It offers little to no fiber and is low on fluid intake. Eating such a diet over many years alters the internal environment of your gut and not in a good way. Your gut cells don’t function optimally. Acids build up in your body, leading to fatigue, inflammation in the muscles and joints, allergies, poor brain and intestinal function, headaches, and sleep disturbances.

HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?

When gut bacteria break down your food, acid is one of the by‐products. If like many people, you eat a SAD diet and have developed gut flora imbalances, those acid by‐products of digestion may be excessive or abnormal. When this metabolic acidosis persists over time, it alters kidney and gut function. Almost any healthy diet is better than the SAD diet, which so radically undermines function. When a diet increases bodily alkalinity and decreases acidity, it supports immune system health. Let's take a look at some other diets.

The Diet

PALEO

Perhaps the most popular diet many people follow is the high-protein, lowcarbohydrate paleo diet. This diet supports weight loss and helps to prevent or relieve conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease. The low carb intake helps regulate blood sugar and many of the hormones involved with metabolism. The paleo diet also involves eating less refined and processed food. In fact, many of its health benefits can be attributed to better quality food.

RESTRICTIONS OF

PALEO DIET

Foods to avoid on the paleo diet include:

grains, including wheat, oats, and barley legumes, such as beans, lentils, peas, and peanuts

dairy trans fats (hydrogenated oils)

refined sugars

artificial sweeteners

low-fat or diet products

salt

Users of the paleo diet also need to be wary of the potential for deficiencies in calcium and vitamin D.

The Diet

ANTICANDIDA

Yeast overgrowth in the body is linked to fatigue, joint pain, brain fog, and other health conditions. The common theme of these diets is to restrict all sources of sugar, whether from natural sources or not, including alcohol, soda, fruit, grains, beans, and artificial food additives. The goal of restricting sugar, or simple carbohydrates, as nutritionists call them, is to selectively starve the yeasts that normally live in our bodies in order to keep them from overgrowing and causing adverse health problems.

Will this diet work for you?

Most people who begin the Anti-Candida diet because they suffer from recurring yeast infections or found that antibiotics or a poor diet may be impacting their overall gut health. However, the ImmuneBoosting diet helps restore function in more than one area, the most important of these being pH levels.

OTHER POPULAR DIETS

The Zone Diet, South Beach Diet, Atkins Diet, and Blood Type Diet are designed to help encourage weight loss and improve cardiovascular and overall health but are not specific to any one condition. The Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) is used to treat inflammatory bowel disease. All of these diets drastically reduce simple carbohydrate intake, because it is clear that there are many health benefits to eating less sugar and junk food.

So why choose the IMMUNE-BOOSTINGDIET?

Choosing an alkaline diet over other alternatives ultimately circles back to the importance of your pH levels. Creating pH balance in the gut is a domino effect, helping to maintain and restore pH in other organs and tissue. General diets help us stray from the SAD diet, but the Immune-Boosting Diet brings you a new way of staying balanced.

TIPS FOR MAKING THE IMMUNE-BOOSTING ALKALINE DIET WORK FOR YOU

Many diets advertise quick results in a short time, but that is not the purpose of the Immune-Boosting Diet. Rather, it was developed to help give you long-term results.

Think of this as a marathon, not a sprint.

Changing your diet can be challenging at first, but once you get the hang of it, you will find that your health improves and you start to feel more like your old self again. The key to success on this diet is to be persistent.

Try not to get frustrated during the process. There may be times where you eat food that is not on the program. It’s okay.

A little slip‐up here and there will not undo all of the hard work you’ve already put in. But the more diligent you are with the diet, the faster you will start to feel better.

Start

each morning with a slice of fresh lemon or lime squeezed into 8 ounces of water.

Drink it warm or cold. This morning beverage will help alkalinize your body first thing in the morning, giving you a good start. The lemon water also helps fill your stomach, so that you’re not as hungry in the morning. You can also use it to replace your morning routine of coffee or tea. Drinking those common drinks may dispose you to being more acidic.

Cut down on and eventually eliminate coffee.

If you are a regular coffee drinker, cutting it out of your diet can be difficult. Caffeine withdrawal may give you a headache. For the first two weeks on the program, I recommend transitioning to half-caffeinated coffee (half regular and half decaf ). After two weeks, switch to decaf coffee only for another two weeks. Once you have passed through the phase of caffeine withdrawal, eliminate coffee completely. Substitute water with lemon or lime, or herbal teas, such as chamomile, lemon balm, hibiscus, or other flavorful teas to help start your day.

Avoid processed foods for the first week of the plan.

Pull out any items that came in a box, can, or plastic container that are either microwavable or ready‐to‐eat, which is how most processed foods are packaged.

When you go grocery shopping, remember to buy foods from the perimeter of the store, since this is where most supermarkets keep their fresh foods such as meats, vegetables, fruits, eggs, and fish. If at first you are not accustomed to the taste of fresh foods, give yourself a few weeks. Most people are surprised to find that they come to prefer them, and eventually come to feel turned off by foods they were formerly addicted to.

Ask your favorite restaurants to modify their menu.

Changing your diet is more difficult if you eat out a lot, since many restaurants do not list their food ingredients on the menu and the waitstaff do not know what’s in the food. However, many non-fast-food restaurants will cater to your dietary needs when asked. If there is a restaurant you frequent, ask if they can prepare dishes that work with this diet, so that you can enjoy the pleasure of good food while eating the right way to health.

Prepare a number of meals at one time.

When you’re not feeling well, the last thing you want to do is prepare elaborate meals. Even when you’re feeling great, if you are like most people, finding the time every day to shop, prepare, and cook meals can be difficult.

I suggest picking one day of the week to prepare and cook most of your meals, portion them into glass containers, and reheat them as needed. Spending a few hours on the weekend doing the cooking for most of your meals is a huge time-saver. You can prepare smaller side dishes and salads quickly and easily on the days you wish to eat them, with little time and effort involved.

Try one new food a week from the food list.

Changing your diet is a process, not something you must accomplish on day one. You are in for the long term, so go easy on yourself.

For example, if you are not used to eating darkgreen leafy vegetables, I recommend starting with just one of these vegetables at a time. They are easy to prepare and can be steamed, sautéed, or boiled in a matter of a few minutes.

Other great foods to introduce into your diet, if you are not used to eating them, are Brussels sprouts, asparagus, artichokes, lentils, and quinoa. Research has shown that a more alkaline diet can help reverse this ongoing acidification and produce many positive health impacts.