By Laurie Melrose-Doering, Osteopath & Applied Kinesiologist
The modern diet, laden with processed foods, sugars, and additives, has been linked to numerous health issues, including type 2 diabetes (T2D). Shifting to an alkaline diet can not only help prevent but also reverse T2D and significantly enhance overall health.
This approach focuses on maintaining the body’s pH balance by promoting the consumption of alkaline-forming foods while limiting acid-forming foods. Understanding the connection between diet, pH balance, and health can provide a pathway to improved well-being and disease prevention.
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) affects millions worldwide, with over 38 million people diagnosed in the US alone, and an estimated additional 97 million people with prediabetes. Unmanaged T2D can lead to severe complications such as kidney failure, vision loss, amputations, nerve damage, and even death. It is considered one of the foundational diseases that increase the risk of other serious conditions, including atherosclerosis and cancer.
Studies have shown that following a T2D diagnosis, the risk of all-cause mortality increases by up to 3.4 times, and conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, kidney disease, nerve damage, eye damage, and mental health issues can all worsen.
Despite its serious implications, T2D is completely reversible through diet and lifestyle changes. An alkaline diet, which focuses on reducing acid-forming foods and increasing alkaline-forming foods, can help reverse T2D, eliminate the need for insulin, and offer a range of other health benefits. By making these dietary adjustments, individuals can manage blood glucose levels more effectively and reduce the risk of associated complications.
Diet-induced acidosis (DIA) is a condition where the body becomes acidic due to consuming certain foods and beverages. Acid-forming foods include processed foods, junk food, sweets, sugars, gluten, and additives.
T2D occurs when the body produces insufficient insulin or fails to use it effectively, resulting in abnormally high glucose levels in the bloodstream. This can cause serious damage to blood vessels, nerves, and the immune system.
There are several ways in which DIA contributes to the increased risk of T2D:
Sugar and gluten are highly acid-forming and can disrupt blood sugar levels, causing the body to produce more insulin to manage it. The carbohydrate amylopectin A, found in modern gluten-containing grains, significantly raises blood sugar levels.
DIA can increase the risk of diabetes in less obvious ways:
Research consistently shows that chronic, low-grade metabolic acidosis (DIA) exacerbates insulin resistance and increases T2D risk. A 2020 study in the Nutrition Journal, which followed 5,406 subjects for 7.4 years, found a significant link between acid-forming diets and insulin resistance. Similarly, a 2014 study in Diabetologia, analysing 66,000 women, concluded that those in the highest quartile of acidic diet eaters had a significantly increased risk of T2D. Research dating back to 1952 also highlights the connection between DIA and insulin resistance.
The solution to managing and reversing T2D is simple: adopt an alkaline diet. To live an alkaline life, focus 80% or more of your diet on alkaline-forming foods and limit acid-forming foods to below 20%. Alkaline-forming foods include leafy greens, avocados, spinach, kale, broccoli, celery, blueberries, carrots, beets, gluten-free oats, quinoa, nuts, seeds, olive oil, coconut oil, oily fish, herbs, and spices. Proper hydration is also essential; use a water filter to avoid acid-forming tap water. Acid-forming foods to limit include sugar, gluten, processed foods, fast foods, trans fats, refined foods, and packaged foods.
The goal is not to make the body more alkaline but to support its ability to maintain balanced pH levels. The most critical pH level is the slightly alkaline pH of the blood, close to 7.3. The modern diet overwhelms the body’s small acid-buffering capacity, which was not designed for the high acidity of contemporary eating habits. By providing the body with an alkaline diet and lifestyle, we can avoid overloading it with acidity and nourish it with necessary nutrients.
Maintaining the correct pH throughout the body is crucial for overall health. The modern diet, rich in fast food, convenience food, processed food, sugar, gluten, chemicals, and preservatives, drives pH down, stressing the body. Diet-induced acidosis increases the risk of cancer, atherosclerotic disease, neurodegenerative disease, T2D, and other foundational diseases. Giving the body the nutrients, it needs to maintain pH balance can lead to effortless health, vitality, and a lower risk of disease.
Include spinach, kale, broccoli, tomatoes, bell pepper, carrots, and beets to support blood sugar and insulin balance while healing and soothing the pancreas.
Enhances the benefits of oats for fibre and beta-glucans, and lowers fasting blood sugar levels.
Engages large muscle groups, helping muscles take up glucose from the blood for energy and improving post-meal blood sugar levels.
These recipes and tips can help incorporate more alkaline-forming foods into your diet, supporting overall health and potentially reversing T2D.
At Aston Clinic London, our herbalists and practitioners are dedicated to helping you manage and reverse lifestyle diseases through personalised health and diet plans. By focussing on diet and nutrition, we support your body’s natural ability to maintain balance, improve well-being, and prevent disease. Our tailored programmes aim to enhance your overall health and vitality, ensuring you achieve and maintain optimal health.
To book a session with our practitioners, click here. Alternatively, you can contact us at 020 8942 3148 to learn how our treatments can benefit you.
Aston Clinic London is a third-generation complementary health clinic located in New Malden, serving Kingston, Norbiton, Wimbledon, Raynes Park, Surbiton, Chessington, Worcester Park, Sutton, Richmond, and other areas of southwest London and Surrey.
By Laurie Melrose-Doering, Osteopath & Applied Kinesiologist
