Reasons to Try Alkaline Salads & Recipes to Start You Off

Alkaline diets have been called one of those fad diets which will one day lose their steam. On the other hand, salads have been raved about for as long as anyone can remember. But what about bringing the two together? Let’s dig into just what makes Alkaline salads so scrumptious and healthy and how you can make your own at home.

What is the Alkaline Diet?

To start, you will need to know what an alkaline diet even is. The foods included in Alkaline meals have a higher pH or in other words more alkaline. These are claimed to lower the risk of diseases like cancer. Some call it the alkaline ash diet or alkaline acid diet with celebrities like Kate Hudson and Jennifer Anniston rumored to have tried it. The one who made the diet big was probably Victoria Beckham who tweeted about her fave alkaline cookbook Honestly Healthy: Eat With Your Body in Mind, the Alkaline Way, written by Natasha Corrett and Vicki Edgson.

[Also read What are Ovolactovegetarians: Benefits, Risks, and Tips]

Benefits of the Alkaline Diet (and Alkaline salads too!)

There are many advantages to an alkaline diet that attracts you to its low acidity lifestyle. Here are the main reasons people swear by it:

• It can help with weight loss. The simplest way to lose weight is to take in fewer calories than you burn. While this does not factor in genetics and other factors that go into shedding off the pounds, that equation fits into an alkaline diet because this often includes low-calorie meals.
• It can possibly promote kidney health. The rise of their urine pH can possibly improve kidney health. A person with kidney disease can have a harder time removing acid from their blood because that’s exactly what the kidneys do. Since alkaline diets are composed of foods that are low in acidity this can help balance out their pH levels. However, consulting your doctor is still the first step in any treatment.
• It may prevent cancer. While further research needs to be conducted on this claim, the proponents of the alkaline diet claim it can possibly prevent cancer. This is probably due to the acidic environment that many cancer cells reside in. A study also proposes that cancer cells create that kind of environment themselves.

One of the healthy and simple ways to begin your alkaline journey is to try easy-make salads like the ones below:

Simple Alkaline Salad

What You Need

• 1 bag of Romaine Lettuce blend (iceberg lettuce might not be a healthy substitute if you were planning to go that route)
• 1 Cucumber
• 1 and ½ cup of Walnuts or Chestnuts
• Fruits (best when freshly picked or bought):
  • 3 Tomatoes
  • 1 cup Blueberries
  • ½ Cantaloupe
  • 1 Cup of Raspberries
• Dressing: 
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • ¼ cup goji berries
  • 4 dates

What To Do

1. Wash your lettuce and pat it dry with a paper towel. Place it to the side.
2. Dice your tomatoes, cucumber, and cantaloupe. Put these and the fruits into your salad bowl.
3. For the dressing, blend your goji berries and dates until the consistency is smooth or to your liking. Place it in a separate bowl.
4. Mix in your vegetables, fruits, and lettuce together. Serve and enjoy!

[Also read 5 Foods That Lacto-Ovo Vegetarians Surprisingly Would Not Eat]

Alkaline Quinoa Salad with Avocado

What You Need

• 1 Cucumber
• Handful of Strawberries
• 1 Avocado
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 Cup of almonds
• 1 1/2 cups quinoa
• 1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Cup of Squeezed Orange Juice
• 1 Handful fresh parsley
• Himalayan Crystal Salt or Celtic Sea Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper

What To Do

1. Prepare all of your ingredients by chopping or dicing them. Dice your cucumber. Take the seed out of the avocado and slice it into thin pieces. Chop your red onion into fine pieces. Lastly, chop the parsley. Set all to the side.
2. Boil 2 liters of salted water. Place the quinoa in the pot and cover it. Simmer the mix for 15 minutes until the quinoa is tender and the “tails” bloom.
3. Drain the quinoa and rinse it under cool running water. Drain again. Add the quinoa to the almonds and stir in the onion, strawberries, cucumber, avocado, and parsley.
4. Drizzle your salad with olive oil and squeezed orange juice.
5. Season with salt to taste. Enjoy!

Alkalizing Fruit Salad

What You Need

• 3-5 Peaches
• 2-3 Bananas
• 1 Orange
• Handful Raspberries
• A pinch of mint leaves
• Yogurt dressing

What To Do

1. Wash the fruits to clean them. Take the skin off the peaches, oranges, and kiwi.
2. Chop the peaches, oranges, and bananas. Mix all the fruits.
3. Add the yogurt dressing or you can serve it separately for longer shelf life.
4. Garnish your bowl with mint leaves.
5. Chill your salad if you would like. Serve and take in the fruity goodness!

Final Thoughts

Whether you are a fruity tooth or a greens kind of alkaline eater one of these alkaline salads can be your next experiment in the kitchen and new favorite recipe!