Have you gotten excited about a positive health suggestion, only to learn that it was “fake news?” As your spirits sank, did you stop to consider the fact that even some of our most trusted news sources are sharing shockingly false information, sometimes in their very disputes of fake news?
I read on the New York Times website that human beings do not possess the ability to alter PH levels nutritionally. I had to check to see if the article was written 100 years ago, before the advent of antacids. That industry has made its billions on the fact that we very much can, and do, change our PH levels, with each and every food and beverage choice we make.
If the New York Times is posting news that blatantly inaccurate, how can we ascertain what is true and what isn’t? I saved a link to the article so I could quote it directly, but they have since taken it down! https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/04/03/us/ap-not-real-news.html
The Deal With PH
I don’t know if this virus can thrive in high-alkaline systems. I’ve heard from some very trusted medical sources that it can’t. What I do know, is that that our alkaline-acidic balance has an effect on our immune system and health in general.
It will matter less whether or not Covid-19 can survive in your high-alkaline system if having one improves your immunity. With a robust immune system, chances are you won’t get it in the first place!
Maybe you know people who live on fast, fried and processed food, sugar, soda, beer, liquor, dairy, artificial sweeteners, coffee, etc. who have strong immune systems and are in perfect health. I don’t.
That doesn’t mean you have to get obsessive and not eat or drink anything acidic. It’s all about balance. I’m not a nutritionist but I have heard each meal should be 75% alkaline to 25% acidic. Throughout the day, the more alkaline your habits are in general, the better your body will tolerate the (small amounts of) crap you give it.
Some foods can fool you. Lemons and limes, for instance are acidic, but are reported to have alkalizing effects on your body.
There are ways to test your PH levels (you can order a kit or learn other methods online), but if you listen to your body, it will let you know when you need to make changes.
Why Listen To Your Body?
It’s a lot smarter than your mind is, probably because it doesn’t take in and obsessively spin out about fake news all day. It will let you know if you’ve eaten too much, haven’t chewed your food well enough or have taken in too many acidic foods and beverages. But if your habitual response to its protest is to pop a few Tums, you’re basically giving your digestive system the middle finger.
Antacids shouldn’t be taken regularly, if at all. Too many people assume that over-the-counter medications are safe, because they are sold OTC and they grew up taking them. Our parents’ generation didn’t know better. We do. All antacids do is turn down the volume on your body’s desperate pleas to change your dietary habits, while confusing the hell out of your system.
If your body is producing more acid in attempt to digest something it isn’t designed to, and then you take a medication that tells it to stop producing that acid, what’s it going to do? Probably try harder. So you might want to stop messing with your body’s mind.
Digestive medications might help you feel better for the moment, but in the long-run, you are going to think you need more and more medication and sometimes several different types, each helping with with different side effects of the others. What you really need is to start listening to your body.
Occasional digestive challenges can be remedied naturally with apple cider vinegar, natural enzymes, ginger, mint and other natural supplements. But what can help most of all is prevention. If you experience digestive issues on a regular basis, your body is either asking for nutritional changes or your attention to emotions that are not being acknowledged and digested.
Another Myth Busting Buster
In other “fake” news, drinking more water may or may not help with Covid-19 directly, but it is a health-positive habit. How can media outlets tell people it won’t help? So many people are dehydrated on a regular basis. If you get thirsty, chances are you’re one of them.
A few friends have shared how much more water they are drinking now that they are working from home. File “using a restroom whenever my body wants to” on my ever-growing list of things it never before occurred to me to be grateful for!
Another thing the media could bear in mind before shutting down fake news that encourages people to do things that will support their immune system and overall health is this: the placebo effect is real. If you believe garlic is going to ward off illness, and someone gives you a substance that tastes like garlic but isn’t, the belief alone can support your health.
I’ll save the body-mind connection diatribe for another day.
The media is profiting greatly from corona-fear. Even media companies that essentially have nothing to do with it are finding ways to cash in. Unless the fake news about Covid-19 not surviving in heat turns out to be real news, I’m not sure what a covid column is doing next to my hourly and ten-day forecast on weather.com. Don’t they have enough in the way of natural disaster reporting to keep their business thriving?
Chronic fear depletes your immune system and over enough time, stress and anxiety can lead to a very long list of major health issues. So please don’t just focus on staying healthy now. Take this opportunity to get in better habits that can keep you that way years and decades after we can drop terms like social distancing and sheltering at home from our vocabularies.
Our bodies are amazing, resilient expressions of life. They deserve a lot better than they’ve gotten from most of us. Now is our chance to make amends and give them what they’ve been begging for.
Nothing fake about that.
Clear Your Traffic:
Making positive changes do your nutritional habits will not only improve your immunity and health, but also help you feel more energized and emotionally grounded and present. Some find it helpful to jot down the dietary changes in a journal, including any changes in how they feel physically, emotionally and energetically. It sometimes takes a bit of time so don’t give up if one or two days of better habits doesn’t produce immediate results.