Your body is constantly working to maintain balance. One it works to keep is your pH. Your pH should ideally be 7.2, but poor diet, disease and environmental toxins can lead your body to be more acidic, according to Dr. Denice Moffat writing for "Natural Health Techniques." The foods you eat are alkaline or acidic, and eating more alkaline foods can decrease you body's pH, Moffat says.
Step 1
Eat alkaline foods. According to Moffat, green foods such as kale, endive, broccoli, kohlrabi, chard, avocado and chives will alkalize your body. Other alkaline foods include sweet potatoes, grapefruit, beets, eggplant, lemon, coconut, dried apricots and figs.
Step 2
Reduce the amount of acidic foods in your diet. These include pasta, rice, meat and dairy products, gluten, sugar, cereals, bread and seafood. You don't need to eliminate them completely, but replacing many of them with alkaline foods will create a more alkaline body.
Step 3
Eat neutral foods in moderation. Neutral foods include nuts, grains, asparagus, olives, blueberries, water chestnuts and artichokes. These foods have no effect on your alkalinity.
Step 4
Balance your mineral intake. The acidic body is one that consumes "too much calcium and sodium and insufficient magnesium and potassium," according to the website alkalizeforhealth.net. The body's minerals work together to create an alkaline environment, and excess or deficiency in one of them can cause problems. Your doctor can order blood tests that will determine if your levels are withing healthy, normal ranges.
Step 5
Try alkalized water. This falls under the "might not help but can't hurt" category, according to the International Wellness Directory. Home water alkalizes are expensive, and the water reverts back to its original pH in a matter of minutes, but if drunk quickly, the International Wellness Directory claims it has an alkalizing effect on your body. Commercial alkalized waters are available in health stores in single servings.
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