Alkaline foods for conception

I recently read about natural food therapy to improve fertility.  In such therapy, women eats alkaline rather than acid foods.

In summary, the chemical processes during digestion have an ideal pH at which they are most efficient and the human body functions at a slightly alkaline pH between 7.0 and 8.0. The pH of blood is slightly alkaline and the body has many stores of alkalizing minerals to keep it that way.

Where do we get these minerals? Our food supplies our minerals (not including vitamin and mineral supplements). The total balance of minerals in a particular food is either acid or alkaline. A food is not classed as acid or alkaline by how it tastes. It has everything to do with the residue that remains once the food has been metabolized.

When food is metabolized to produce energy, a residue remains that is either acid, alkaline or neutral. It is important to note that although a food may taste acidic, it may leave an alkaline residue.

Alkaline-forming foods include vegetables, fruits, soybeans, almonds, most legumes, potatoes with skin, bananas, millet and buckwheat. Acid-forming foods include meat, fish, eggs, cheese, most grains and nuts, and peanuts. Neutral foods include fats and oils.

Many diseases and allergic reactions are associated with an over-acid condition of the body fluids. Symptoms such as pain and weakness may indicate that the alkaline reserves of the body are exhausted.

In addition, taking large amounts of Vitamin C especially as synthetic ascorbic acid increases the body’s acidity.

Attaining a healthy PH balance is essential for reproductive health. If cervical mucous becomes too acidic, it can become hostile to sperm and prevent implantation (sperm favor an alkaline existence). For an ideal PH balance, 70-80% of your diet should be from alkaline foods, while 20-30% can come from acidic foods. Saliva is alkaline, so remember to chew your foods well to create an internal environment conducive to fertility.


Highest Alkaline Forming Foods:
String beans, banana, dandelion greens, dates, figs, prunes, raisins and Swiss Chard.

High Alkaline Forming Foods:
Almonds, asparagus, avocado, fresh beans, beets, black-berries, carrot, cranberries, chives, endive, sour grapes, kale, dried peach, persimmon, plum, pomegranate, raspberries, rooibos tea and spinach.

Alkaline Forming Foods:
Agar, alfalfa, apple, fresh apricot, globe artichokes, bamboo shoots, snap beans, sprouted beans, most berries, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, cantaloupe, cauliflower, celery, cherries, chestnuts, chicory, coconut milk, collards, corn (when fresh), cucumbers, daikon, eggplant, escarole, garlic, ginger root, gooseberry, grapefruit, guava, horseradish (fresh and raw), kelp, kohlrabi, leek, lemon, lettuce, line, loganberry, mango, melons, raw, milk, m millet, acidophilus yogurt and whey.

Neutral Oils:
Almond, avocado, coconut, cottonseed, linseed (flaxseed), olive, safflower, sesame, sunflower, and walnut.

Highest Acid Forming Foods:
Alcohol, artichoke root, barley, bread, buckwheat, caffeine, coffee, corn (when processed and not fresh), custards, drugs, most flours, ginger preserves, honey, lentils, pate, oatmeal, peanuts rice, rye grain, soy bred, soy noodles, sorghum, spaghetti, and other pastas, sugar cane, raw beets tobacco, walnut, wheat.

Acid Forming Foods:
Dried beans, cashews, coconut, cranberry juice and concentrate, egg yolk, filberts, fruit jellies, (canned jams, sulfured, sugared, dried), grapes, pasteurized milk products, dry peas, pecans, Damson plums, tofu, fries and water chestnuts.

Acid Forming Fats:
Butter, cream, margarine and lard.