What is an alkaline diet?

Your health depends on numerous factors, one of which is controlling the pH level in your body. Therefore, keeping a pH balance in your body is crucial to your overall health. An uncontrolled pH level affects your body's pH-dependent enzymes, exposing you to various health risks. So, what is an alkaline diet, and would you be able to add a collagen supplement to your nutrition plan? 

Low pH level

A drop in pH level can result in threatening health consequences like seizures, heart arrhythmia, or even coma.

A decrease in pH level is commonly caused by the following:

• Chronic alcohol use,
• Heart failure, cancer,
• Seizures,
• Liver failure, 
• Prolonged lack of oxygen, and
• Low blood sugar.

Additionally, prolonged exercise can sometimes lead to lactic acid build-up and cause muscle aches, burning, rapid breathing, nausea, and stomach pain. An alkaline diet might help you manage your body’s pH level better.

High pH level

An increase in alkalinity causes pH levels to rise. When acid levels in your blood are too high, it's called acidosis. When your blood is too alkaline, it is called alkalosis.

Metabolic Acidosis  

Metabolic acidosis develops when your body produces too much acid. It can also occur when the kidneys cannot remove enough acid from the body.

Causes include:

• Diabetic acidosis develops when acidic substances (ketone bodies) build up during uncontrolled diabetes (usually type 1 diabetes).
• Hyperchloremic acidosis is caused by the body losing too much sodium bicarbonate, which can happen with severe diarrhoea.
• Kidney disease.
• Lactic acidosis.
• Poisoning by aspirin, ethylene glycol, or methanol.
• Severe dehydration.

Alkalosis 

Occurs when your body has too many bases. It can be due to decreased blood levels of carbon dioxide, an acid. It can also occur due to increased blood levels of bicarbonate, a base.

There are different types of alkalosis:

1. A low carbon dioxide level in the blood causes respiratory alkalosis.
2. Metabolic alkalosis is caused by too much bicarbonate in the blood. It can also occur due to certain kidney diseases.
3. An extreme lack or loss of chloride, such as prolonged vomiting, causes Hypochloremic alkalosis.
4. Hypokalemic alkalosis is caused by the kidneys' response to an extreme lack or loss of potassium; this can occur from taking certain water pills.
5. Compensated alkalosis occurs when the body returns the acid-base balance to near normal in cases of alkalosis, but bicarbonate and carbon dioxide levels remain abnormal.

How can you better control your pH levels?

Fortunately, you can take control of your pH level and avoid the resulting health hazards.

Ideally, you must keep your pH level in the 7.35 to 7.45 range. The range goes from 0 - 14, with 7 being neutral, a pH level less than 7 indicates acidity, whereas a pH above 7 indicates a base and can harm your health.

You can control and maintain your pH level by alkalizing your body through an alkaline diet which is referred to as the acid-alkaline or alkaline ash diet.

What an alkaline diet requires:

1. Avoiding acid-forming foods, such as meat, dairy, fish, eggs, grains, and alcohol.
2. Consuming plenty of alkaline-forming foods, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes.
3. Limiting neutral foods like starches, sugars, and natural fats.

The following are the benefits of an alkaline diet:

• Deeper and more restful sleep
• Reduction of candida overgrowth
• Increased mental acuity or alertness
• Enhanced memory and cognition
• Easier weight loss
• Increased energy
• Reduced muscle wasting
• Proper cell functioning
• Mitigation of chronic diseases
• Improved cardiovascular health

Can you include collagen in your alkaline diet? 

In addition, an alkaline diet supports bone and skin health when paired with a high bioavailability collagen supplement. Thus, adding collagen supplements to your alkaline diet will help you maintain your diet goals and optimum health.

Collagen benefits people on any diet, not just an alkaline diet. Since Collagen is a protein, taking collagen supplements can increase the feeling of fullness, helping you reduce the number of calories you consume daily, therefore ensuring weight loss.

Furthermore, adding collagen to your food significantly benefits your body and overall health, whether you are on a diet or not. Collagen is the main structural protein found in the body's connective tissues. It is the most abundant protein in mammals, making up 25% to 35% of the whole-body protein content.

The health benefits of adding collagen to your diet:

1. Promotes healthier skin - Adding an all-natural collagen peptide powder supplement to your diet helps your skin cells repair and renew.
2. Helps reduce the appearance of cellulite - collagen Improves your skin’s elasticity, thus helping your body rebuild and repair the fibres that cause cellulite to appear.
3. Helps reduce arthritis pain - quality collagen peptide supplement increases your joint mobility and reduces arthritis pain.
4. Helps protect your cardiovascular system - having healthy amounts of collagen is one of the best ways to prevent the hardening of the arteries.
5. Detoxifies your liver - Glycine, found in collagen supplements, absorbs toxins that shouldn’t pass through our livers; this helps minimize liver damage.

Many people who want to support the health of their skin, joints, nails, and hair add collagen supplements to their diet. An alkaline diet is not an exception.

By adding collagen to your alkaline diet, you don’t only enhance the impacts of the diet on your body and health, but you gain from its additional benefits. Check out our collagen range or find out more about the benefits of adding collagen to your diet by visiting our blog:

1. Does collagen help treat inflammation? 
2. The benefits of collagen for a keto diet
3. Which collagen supplement should you use?

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