ALKALINE FORMING FOODS

The general "rule of thumb" is to eat 20% acid foods and 80% alkaline foods. Avoid the "strongly acid" foods.

VEGETABLES
Asparagus, Fermented Veggies (like sourkraut), Watercress, Beets, Broccoli, Brussel sprouts, Cabbage, Carrot, Cauliflower, Celery, Chard, Collard Greens, Cucumber, Eggplant, Kale, Lettuce, Mushrooms, Mustard Greens, Dulce (seaweed), Dandelion greens, Onions, Parsnips (high glycemic), Peas, Peppers, Pumpkin, Sprouts, Squashes, Wild Greens

FRUITS
Apple, Apricot, Avocado, Banana (high glycemic), Cantaloupe, Cherries, Currants, Dates/Figs, Grapes, Grapefruit, Lime, Honeydew Melon, Nectarine,
Orange, Lemon, Peach, Pear, Pineapple, All Berries, Tangerine, Tomato, Tropical Fruits, Watermelon

PROTEIN
Eggs (poached), Cottage Cheese, Chicken Breast, Yogurt, Almonds, Chestnuts, Fermented soy products (like Miso and Tempeh), Flax Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, Squash Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Millet, Sprouted Seeds, Nuts

OTHER
Apple Cider Vinegar, Bee Pollen, Probiotic Cultures, Green Juices, Veggie Juices, Fresh Fruit Juice (no corn syrup or sugar added!), Organic Milk, Mineral Water, Alkaline Antioxidant Water, Green Tea, Herbal Tea, Dandelion Tea, Ginseng Tea, Wheat Grass Juice

SWEETENERS
Stevia, Ki Sweet

SPICES/SEASONINGS
Cinnamon, Curry, Ginger, Mustard, Chili Pepper, Sea Salt (celtic is best), Miso, Tamari, All Herbs

Nutrition and Physical Performance

Dr. Doug Graham: Nutrition and Physical Performance p1

Extremely Alkaline Forming Foods - pH 8.5 to 9.0:

Note: Match the numbers (in parenthesis) following each food with the list at the end of the article

9.0 Lemons (1), Watermelon (2),

8.5 Agar Agar (3), Cantaloupe, Cayenne (4), Dried dates & figs, Kelp, Karengo, Kudzu root, Limes, Mango, Melons, Papaya, Parsley (5), Seedless grapes (sweet), Watercress, Seaweeds

Dr. Doug Graham: Nutrition and Physical Performance p2

Moderate Alkaline - pH 7.5 to 8.0

8.0 Apples (sweet), Apricots, Alfalfa sprouts (9), Arrowroot, flour (10), Avocados, Bananas (ripe), Berries, Carrots, Celery, Currants, Dates & figs (fresh), Garlic (11), Grapes (less sweet), Grapefruit, Guavas, Herbs (leafy green), Lettuce (leafy green), Nectarine, Peaches (sweet), Pears (less sweet), Peas (fresh sweet and frozen), Persimmon, Pumpkin (sweet), Sea salt (12), Spinach

7.5 Apples (sour), Bamboo shoots, Beans (fresh green), Beets, Bell Pepper, Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Daikon radish, Ginger (fresh), Grapes (sour), Kale, Lettuce (pale green like iceberg), Oranges, Parsnip, Peaches (less sweet), Peas (less sweet), Potatoes & skin, Pumpkin (less sweet), Raspberry, Strawberry, Squash (14), Sweet corn (fresh), Turnip, Apple Cider Vinegar (16)

Dr. Doug Graham: Nutrition and Physical Performance p3

Slightly Alkaline to Neutral pH 7.0

7.0 Almonds (17), Globe and Jerusalem Artichokes, Barley-Malt (sweetener-Bronner), Brown Rice Syrup, Brussel Sprouts, Cherries, Coconut (fresh), Cucumbers, Eggplant, Honey (raw), Leeks, Miso, Mushrooms, Okra, Olives ripe (18), Onions, Pickles (19), (home made), Radish, Sea salt (20), Spices (21), Taro, Tomatoes (sweet), Water Chestnut, Chestnuts (dry roasted), Egg yolks (soft cooked), Goat's milk and whey (raw) (23), Horseradish, Mayonnaise (home made), Millet, Olive oil, Quinoa, Rhubarb, Sesame seeds (whole) (24), Sprouted grains (25), Tempeh, Tomatoes (less sweet), Yeast (nutritional flakes)

Dr. Doug Graham: Nutrition and Physical Performance p4

ACID FORMING FOODS

FATS & OILS
Avocado Oil, Canola Oil, Corn Oil, Hemp Seed Oil, Flax Oil, Lard, Olive Oil,
Safflower Oil, Sesame Oil, Sunflower Oil

FRUITS
Cranberries

GRAINS
Rice Cakes, Barley, Buckwheat, Corn, Oats (rolled), Quinoa, Rice (all), Rye, Spelt, Kamut, Wheat, Hemp Seed Flour

DAIRY
Cheese (Cow), Cheese (Goat), Cheese (Processed), Cheese (Sheep), Milk, Butter

NUTS & BUTTERS
Cashews, Brazil Nuts, Peanuts, Peanut Butter, Pecans, Tahini, Walnuts

ANIMAL PROTEIN
Beef, Carp, Clams, Fish, Lamb, Lobster, Mussels, Oyster, Pork, Rabbit, Salmon, Shrimp, Scallops, Tuna, Turkey, Venison

ALL WHEAT PASTAS

OTHER
Distilled Vinegar, Wheat Germ, Potatoes

BEANS & LEGUMES
Black Beans, Garbanzos, Kidney Beans, Lentils, Lima Beans, Pinto Beans, Red Beans, Soy Beans, Soy Milk, White Beans, Rice Milk, Almond Milk

DRUGS & CHEMICALS
Aspartame, Chemicals, Drugs (Medicinal), Drugs (Psychedelic), Pesticides,
Herbicides

ALCOHOL
Beer, Spirits, Hard Liquor, Wine

Dr. Doug Graham: Nutrition and Physical Performance p5

Dr. Doug Graham: Nutrition and Physical Performance p6

Extremely Acid Forming Foods - pH 5.0 to 5.5

5.0 Artificial sweeteners

5.5 Beef, Carbonated soft drinks & fizzy drinks (38), Cigarettes, Drugs, Flour (white wheat)(39), Goat, Lamb, Pastries & cakes from white flour, Pork, White and Brown Sugar (40 and 35), Beer (34), Chicken, Deer, Chocolate, Coffee (36), Jams and Jellies, Liquor (37), Pasta, Rabbit, Table salt refined & iodized, Black Tea, Turkey, White bread, White rice, White vinegar (processed).

Moderate Acid - pH 6.0 to 6.5

6.0 Cigarette tobacco (roll your own), Cream of Wheat, Fish, Fruit juices with sugar or corn syrup, Maple syrup, Molasses (sulphured), Pickles (commercial), Breads made of corn, oats, rice & rye, Cereals, Shellfish, Wheatgerm, Whole Wheat foods (32), Wine (33), Yogurt (sweetened)

6.5 Bananas (green), Buckwheat, Cheeses (sharp), Egg whole (cooked hard), Ketchup, Mayonnaise, Oats, Pasta (whole grain), Pastry (wholegrain & honey), Peanuts, Potatoes (with no skins), Popcorn (with salt & butter), Rice (basmati), Rice (brown), Soy sauce (commercial), Tapioca, Wheat bread (sprouted organic)

Rozalind Gruben - "Social and Emotional Aspects of Eating" p1

Slightly Acid to Neutral pH 7.0

7.0 Barley malt syrup, Barley, Bran, Cashews, Cereals (unrefined with honey-fruit-maple syrup), Cornmeal, Cranberries (30), Fructose, Honey (pasteurized), Lentils, Macadamias, Maple syrup (unprocessed), Milk (homogenized) and most processed dairy products, Molasses (unsulphered organic) (31), Nutmeg, Mustard, Pistachios, Popcorn & butter (no salt), Rice or wheat crackers (unrefined), Rye (grain), Rye bread (organic sprouted), Seeds (pumpkin & sunflower), Walnuts, Blueberries, Brazil nuts, Butter (salted), Cheeses (mild & crumbly) (28), Crackers (unrefined rye like wasa), Dried beans (mung, adzuki, pinto, kidney, garbanzo) (29), Dry coconut, Goats milk (homogenized), Olives, Pecans, Plums (30), Prunes (30), Butter (fresh unsalted), Cream (fresh & raw), Milk (raw cow's) (27), Oils (except olive), Whey (cow's), Yogurt (plain)

2

What the Numbers mean:

1. Excellent for EMERGENCY SUPPORT for colds, coughs, sore throats, heartburn, & gastro upsets.
2. Good for a yearly fast. For several days eat whole melon, chew pips well & eat also. Super alkalizing food.
3. Substitute for gelatin, more nourishing.
4. Stimulating, non-irritating body healer. Good for endocrine system.
5. Purifies kidneys.
6. Powerful acid reducer detoxing to produce acid urine temporarily... causing alkalinity for the long term.
7. Natural sugars give alkalinity. Added sugar causes juice to become acid-forming.
8. Depends on vegi's content and sweetness.
9. Enzyme rich, superior digestibility.
10. High calcium content. Cornflour substitute.
11. Elevates acid food 5.0 in alkaline direction.
12. Vegetable content raises alkalinity.
14. Winter squash rates 7.5. Butternut & sweeter squash rates 8.0.
15. Genuine fermented for 1 1/2 years otherwise 6.0.
16. Raw unpasteurized is a digestive aid to increase HCL in the stomach. 1 tablespoon in water before meals.
17. Soak 12 hours, peel skin to eat.
18. Sundried, tree ripened, otherwise 6.0.
19. Using sea-salt and apple cider vinegar.
20. Contains sea minerals. Dried at low temperatures.
21. Range from 7.0 to 8.0.
22. Sprouted grains are more alkaline. Grains chewed well become more alkaline.
23. High sodium to aid digestion.
24. High levels of utilizable calcium. Grind before eating.
25. Alkalinity and digestibility higher.
26. Heating causes fats to harden and become indigestible.
27. High mucous production.
28. Mucous forming and hard to digest.
29. When sprouted dry beans rate 7.0.
30. Contain acid-forming benzoic and quinic acids.
31. Full of iron.
32. Unrefined wheat is more alkaline.
33. High quality red wine, no more than 4 oz. daily to aid blood.
34. Good quality, well brewed - up to 5.5. Fast brewed beers drop to 5.0.
35. Most are white sugars with golden syrup added.
36. Organic, fresh ground-up to 5.5.
37. Cheaper brands drop to 5.0, as does over-indulgence.
38. Leaches minerals.
39. Bleached- has no goodness.
40. Poison! Avoid it.

3

WHY YOU SHOULD NOT TAKE ZANTAC
The so-called "proton pump inhibitors" such as "Prilosec" and "Prevacid", and the H2 blocker agents such as "Zantac", "Pepcid" and "Tagament", are some of the worst drugs you could possible take.

Here's why: these drugs dramatically reduce the amount of hydrochloric acid you have in your stomach, thereby diminishing your ability to digest your food. This reduction in the amount of stomach acid also reduces your defense mechanism against food-borne infections and increases your likelihood of food poisoning. Not digesting your food properly also increases your risks for nearly every other chronic degenerative disease.

4

REMEDIES FOR ACID REFLUX AND POOR DIGESTION
Probiotics: Are Good Bacteria that inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria in digestive tract, Improve digestion of food and absorption of vitamins, Stimulates the immune system, and helps make vitamins. Found in Yogurt, Miso or a Probiotic supplement. (bananas, garlic and onions can also help repopulate levels of good bacteria in the intestine)

Garlic: Optimizes bowel flora and kills pathogenic organisms such as H. pylori. (the only bacterial organism in the stomach that cannot be killed by hydrochloric acid). You must to crush the fresh the garlic (with a spoon) before digesting it: mix it in raw honey, swallow it, and chase it with a glass of water.

Digestive enzymes: There are three classes of digestive enzymes: proteolytic enzymes needed to digest protein, lipases needed to digest fat, and amylases needed to digest carbohydrates. Only small amounts of the animal-based proteolytic enzymes, trypsin and chymotrypsin, are found in the diet; however, the pancreas can synthesize these enzymes. The proteolytic enzyme bromelain comes from pineapples and Papain comes from papayas. All of these enzymes are available as supplements. Trader Joe's has inexpensive chewable enzymes.

Apple cider vinegar: PH Balancer. Mix one tablespoon in a glass of water and drink as much as you want (best as first drink in the morning and before meals). Best quality Apple Cider vinegar is organic and "with the mother" like Braggs brand.

Peppermint tea, Licorice tea and Deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL): Soothing, anti-inflammatory effects make it useful for a wide range of gastrointestinal problems. For DGL, horoughly chew two to four tablets, each containing 380 mg DGL, after meals or anytime heartburn strikes.

5

An Introduction to Social and Emotional Learning

The general "rule of thumb" is to eat 20% acid foods and 80% alkaline foods. Avoid the "strongly acid" foods.

Everything About Nothing

How did raw fooders get mired in minutiae?

Dr. Douglas N. Graham

Interested in nutrition? Sure, that's a huge part of why we made dietary changes. Concerned about nutrition? Yes, that's why we are committed to improving our regimen. Would the words, "worried about nutrition" (in a healthy way, of course) describe us? Definitely, we are worried about nutrition, or so I am told, and that is where we become vulnerable.

In reality, it is our neighbors, eating their devitalized, nutrient-free foods that need to be concerned, and yes, even worried, about their nutrition and health. Their unsustainable processed, refined cooked-food diet is greatly responsible, both directly and indirectly, for not only their damaged health but for the destruction of the entire ecosystem.

Raw fooders, on the other hand, should, theoretically be able to relax in the land of simple, healthful eating. But alas, simplicity doesn't sell. For the most part, those most publicly spreading the raw message have led us into a nutritional maze where ever-increasing doses of ever-smaller micronutrients are necessary to shore up our diets. Isn't it time to step back from the minutiae and take in the big picture once again?

Into the Raw Rabbit Hole

Most of us have gone through worlds of dietary transitions. From junk food and java to vegetarian (with maybe a sojourn into the macrobiotic world), vegan, and a wide variety of raw diets'we have tried them all. In its time, the current diet was "it"—the be-all, end-all "best" diet. Each time, we learned a little something. Each time, we grew a little wiser. Each time, we accommodated to the new program, calling it a transition, and each time, we found that there was more—a better way.

We learned that vegetarianism wasn't as animal friendly as we had originally thought, not really much more so than the Suicide American Diet. We learned that the common vegan diet was as nutritionally devitalized as practically any other cooked-food approach. We learned more and more about nutrition, focusing on ever-smaller aspects of the dietary picture. As we did so, the gap between food and nutrition grew wider. We started eating bananas for their potassium, vegetables for their chlorophyll, and spices for their minerals. We started consuming oils for their component parts. Food was no longer food, but a list of nutrients.

No longer was the caloronutrient (protein-fat-carb) ratio enough to evaluate our diet. No longer did the macronutrient index provide an accurate picture of our nutrition. Not even micronutrients were all that important anymore. We left this all behind for a more intriguing world, a world we do not even understand: the world of micromolecular nutrition. In this world, chemistry supposedly happens that we do not comprehend. Nutritional miracles occur that are beyond science's ability to explain. Biologic transmutation—the alchemy of biochemistry—is given credit for magical and mystical nutritional goings-on.

Logic has apparently lost all meaning in the raw food world. Basic minerals, we are told, are formed out of thin air. If the body doesn't have what it needs, it will create it, we are informed. This, by the very people who would sell us supplements of every description. Why take supplements if the body will simply create what it needs? Why, in fact, follow any dietary program at all?

Med School Minutiae

In medical school, the progression of study is extremely organized, and it gets very deep. From basic sciences, students progress into an increasingly microscopic world. They start with gross anatomy of the body (structures that can be seen with the naked eye): its systems, organs, tissues and finally, its cells. They then learn about organelles (the tiny structures that keep the cells functioning) and the organic chemistry that keeps the organelles functioning before finally journeying off into biochemistry. At this level, the student's perspective is on the atomic and eventually the subatomic level.

In school, we studied subatomic particles wondering how this would actually relate to treating a real, live patient. The expression in school went "We're learning more and more about less and less until we'll finally know everything about nothing." Although our actual course of study was pyramidal, it felt more like the inverse.

The sad but funny truth of the matter is that this expression "knowing everything about nothing," almost exactly describes what happens to most med students during their five or more years of medical brainwashing. They begin med school with the finest of intentions, planning to help people when they graduate. But after years of studying things much too small to see without a microscope (and even smaller), with names much too long to pronounce without resorting to Latin, they find they have lost their ability to communicate with normal human beings on any useful level. Many students lose sight of their original reasons for going to med school, having become excellent chemists but poor doctors. Their language, medicalese, is not only indecipherable, but it includes continual references to substances and techniques unknown to the common man.

Still, it gives doctors power. Some wield their power well, others abuse it. They earn money by dispensing controlled substances. Over time, the Hippocratic Oath, "First, do no harm." has been replaced by the Hypocrite's Oath "Above all, make a buck." and the medical mantra, "The benefits outweigh the risks." People either love their doctors or hate them for who they have become.

Raw Fooders Follow Suit

In today's raw food movement, we are seeing a similar phenomenon. Untrained laypeople, dedicated to helping others by sharing their miraculous health recovery stories, take to the stages. They are so enthusiastic, they write books. The number of questions they are asked encourages them to start parroting scientific-sounding information to back their stories.

In an effort to make a living, they begin creating terminology to set them apart (high raw, green diet, superfood, and detox, for example) and selling a line of product. Vitamins begot supplements, which begot superfoods, which begot whatever new moniker could be devised for the next hot product.

Cleanses, flushes, enzymes, refined oils, angstrom minerals, sea "vegetables," algae, and rare exotic herbs, fruits and vegetables—everything salable is being sold. Elixirs, potions, pills, powders, frozen and dehydrated substances, and a wide array of bottled caplets abound in the movement now. This, from a group supposedly educated about the benefits of eating fresh raw foods, demonstrates the degree to which the salesmen have taken over. Misinformation has become the rule rather than the exception.

Raw Food Show and Tell

Just as medical science and practice keeps progressing, leaving older methods in the dust of antiquity, in its small way so does the raw food movement. Very few leaders/speakers/teachers in the raw movement have actually been following a raw diet for more than a decade. None, to my knowledge, still follow the program they were on a decade ago. Most do not follow the program they were on even one year ago. Their lectures are no longer teaching, not science, but simply show and tell. It has become nothing more than a sharing of experience, the semisighted leading the semisighted. It seems that congruity in teaching has become all but unnecessary.

It is common for self-proclaimed leaders to proudly state, "You don't need to understand me," while they implore their disciples to "try everything and find out what works for yourself."

"What kind of leadership is this," I wonder. Could it be that the power of the podium has gone to their heads? Where is the guidance in telling folks to experiment with everything and find out for themselves what works best? How does it help the initiate to encourage him or her to make all of the same mistakes we made? Sure, it works well for the salesmen, who get to sell at least one of everything on their shelves, but does it work for the initiate? Apparently not, because although more people are entering the raw arena than ever before, at the same time more are leaving than ever before.

Almost everyone in the raw movement has made some effort to get other people to join them. It is so easy to tell others to eat more fruits and vegetables, to see the raw light. Why do we find it so difficult, personally, to achieve and maintain an all-raw state? Could it be that perhaps we are not actually applying the diet in a healthful manner, and hence we find it very challenging to sustain?

Where Did We Take the Detour?

Have we lost sight of the reason we went raw? Cooked didn't work, and raw was the healthier, more nutritious choice. If our "healthy" raw diet was working for us, would we have been tempted to allow it to deteriorate until it included almost every supplement under the sun?

Was our perspective altered by some deep letdown? Did we not lose excess weight, gain newfound energy, and experience positive health results in just about every conceivable aspect of our lifestyles, just as we had hoped? Sure, everyone wants "more," and the way to achieve it is to refine and redefine the parameters of healthy diet and lifestyle, not to revert to the lifestyle that never worked in the first place. Is our memory so poor that we have forgotten how many times cooked foods and supplements have failed us in the past? If you are not sure of the answer, it was, "every time."

We pride ourselves on seeing and doing things differently as raw fooders. We call ourselves vegan, and we are proud to be health enthusiasts. We talk about eliminating the contradictions between what we say and how we live our lives. We say we are raw fooders and that cooked food might as well be a drug. Yet we continue to consume pharmaceutical-quality drugs (enzymes, MSM, and many other refined mineral supplements). We embrace many nonvegan products (seaweeds and algae are classed as animals, and no bee products get the vegan seal of approval). We even turn a blind eye to the many nonraw products we consume (Bragg aminos, Nama Shoyu, miso, vinegar, maple syrup, agave, cacao, most "raw" cashews, many dehydrated herbs and spices etc.)All the while, we eat a larger percentage of our total calories as fat than those on any other diet, including even Atkin's abomination. Then we wonder why (are disappointed when?) our health does not meet our expectations.

The minutiae somehow seem more important to us than the big picture. We wonder about getting enough B-12 but not about getting enough sleep. We make sure we have friendly bacteria in our diet, but we don't pay enough attention to our friends. We worry about world war when our food combinations result in an ongoing internal war. There can be no peace of mind when the body is at war.

Is it the glamour and excitement of potions that gives them such an appeal? Could it really be the packaging? Is it that we get to "play doctor" with ourselves? Would we still use them if we simply called them "drugs," a reform that the medical profession is calling for? Is all the fuss about supplements simply another aspect of the "everything about nothing" mindset?

Getting Back on Track

Health is a linear, cumulative experience. If you pay the price of health—correct living—health is the reward. If you do not, you'll experience symptoms. It is up to you whether you wish to supplement your diet or correct it'but only the latter produces true health.

Making the raw diet work for you as nature intended is so simple that it just won't sell—at least not anything other than cases of produce. It's so simple, in fact, that people just don't believe those of us for whom Natural Hygiene has worked like a charm for decades. Although lectures and workshops and books can be devoted to the subject, I'll lay it out here in nine short words:

"Fruits and vegetables are food. The rest are condiments."

When we live according to this mantra, all the complication falls away—and no pill, powder, or supplement of any kind is necessary.

===================================

SPECIAL ATTENTION: QUINOA

Quinoa

The Incas, who held the crop to be sacred, referred to quinoa as chisaya mama or 'mother of all grains', and it was the Inca emperor who would traditionally sow the first seeds of the season using 'golden implements

Quinoa was of great nutritional importance in pre-Columbian Andean civilizations, being secondary only to the potato, and was followed in importance by maize. In contemporary times, this crop has become highly appreciated for its nutritional value, as its protein content is very high (12%–18%).

Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), and like oats, quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source among plant foods.

It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron.

Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest.

Because of all these characteristics, quinoa is being considered a possible crop in NASA's Controlled Ecological Life Support System for long-duration manned spaceflights.

Quinoa flour can be used in wheat-based and gluten-free baking.

Quinoa may be germinated in its raw form to boost its nutritional value. Germination activates its natural enzymes and multiplies its vitamin content.

In fact, quinoa has a notably short germination period: Only 2–4 hours resting in a glass of clean water is enough to make it sprout and release gases, as opposed to, e.g., 12 hours with wheat. This process, besides its nutritional enhancements, softens the grains, making them suitable to be added to salads and other cold foods.

The general "rule of thumb" is to eat 20% acid foods and 80% alkaline foods. Avoid the "strongly acid" foods.

HEALTH & HEALING