Indulging in our guilty pleasures is a hard habit to kick. We’ve all had that craving for a bacon double cheeseburger with chili fries, or spent an evening de-stressing on the couch with a tub of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.

With the start of each new year comes the promise of bettering our lives, and for many that means trimming off some excess weight. However, we so often forget that food is our ally, not our enemy.

“Fad diets come and go - food is necessary for life. It’s our fuel,” says Sam Graci, creator of Greens Plus and a nutritional researcher based in Victoria, B.C. “Never leave home hungry ... you’ll (be driven to) eat processed foods - that’s when we end up in trouble.”

The key is to have a healthy pH balanced diet. Our diet should consist of about 75% alkalizing foods by weight and 25% acid forming foods by weight. Foods that make us alkaline are fruits and vegetables, seeds, salads, nuts, sea vegetables, fermented vegetables or herbal garnishes. Those that make us acidic include fat, sugars, sugar substitutes, wheat and different flours.

“When we are too acidic we lose our patience, we become depressed, (we have less) energy,” says Graci. “It’s not so much a diet per say - but going back to nature and eating most of its own natural foods.”

When our pH is unbalanced we want to eat the wrong foods, which brings on unwanted pounds. How can you avoid this?

* Carry snacks with you that are alkalizing - apples and pears, celery sticks, carrots sticks, red pepper rounds, raw unseasoned nuts.
* Drink 8-12 glasses of water every day.
* Eat often and don’t skip breakfast. Plan to have three meals and three snacks daily.

Remember to balance your meal. You can have protein; meat is not a culprit. Forgo the baked potato with sour cream and bacon. Instead have salad and some crunchy steamed vegetables. If you’re having a chicken sandwich, add some lettuce or tomato and some dill pickles.

“We need to be good hunters and gatherers even in a modern environment of processed foods. We still need to eat smart to survive well,” he says.

Knowing your Alkaline and Acidic foods

Most Alkaline: broccoli, cucumber, cilantro, garlic, onions, kale, spinach, cantaloupe, raisins, raspberries, watermelon, fresh black cherries, electron-rich alkaline water, plasma activated water

Medium Alkaline: bell pepper, sweet potato, celery, carrots, asparagus, apples, avocado, pink grapefruit, lemons, limes, pears, mangoes, teas (green, matcha green, chamomile), water

Low Alkaline: brussel sprouts, beets, tomatoes, all mushrooms, squash, pineapple, grapes, blueberries, strawberries, papaya, dry red wine, distilled water, draft beer or dark stout, organic black coffee

Low Acid: corn, lentils, beans, peas, tofu, peanuts with skin, dry fruits, natural figs, dates, prunes, banana, natural fruit juice, unsweetened soy milk, black tea, black coffee, decaf coffee

Medium Acid: salted peanut butter, sweetened canned fruit, sweetened jams, coffee (with milk and sugar)

Most Acid: processed soybeans, salted and sweetened peanut butter, cranberries, alcoholic drinks, soft drinks

by Sandy Caetano