Today I wanted to talk to you about something we may tend to forget, The Alkaline Fruit Rule. So first off, let’s remember in our discussion today that we can not tell which foods are acid or alkaline by taste a alone.
For example, an organic lemon that is ripe tastes acidic, and will add a nice acidic base to salad dressings, but is actually alkaline-forming in the body, as its high concentration of alkaline minerals has an overall alkalizing effect.
Lemon juice promotes the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach (a great thing), and its acids are oxidized into carbon dioxide and water, which keep it from acidifying our systems.
Remember that we want to consume alkaline-forming foods in abundance and make our bodies more alkaline, which will help keep us vibrant and beautiful, full of youth-inducing oxygen, and mentally calm and peaceful. Acidity is associated with a hard, lined face, wrinkles, disease, toxicity, low energy, a bleak outlook on life, and depression. We simply have more life force when we are alkaline!
While most fruits have both alkaline and some acidic minerals, along with greens and other (non-root) vegetables we can say that fruits are the most alkaline of all foods.
However, let us remember this very important Alkaline Fruit Rule:
Fruits that are ripe are alkaline-forming. Organic fruits are the most alkaline, because they are grown in mineral-dense soil. Most fruits that are not ripe are acid-forming. Therefore, only eat fruit that is ripe!
For example, if you were to test the pH of 2 different bananas, you would find that the one that has the most black spots has a pH of around 6.5 (the higher the number the more alkaline), which the banana that has a top that is still slightly green with no black spots has a pH of only around 5.6. That is a big difference in the world of pH readings!
Ripe fruit will also be more juicy and grow sweeter, being more delicious anyways!
How to tell when a fruit is ripe?
(Besides the obvious spotted banana? 🙂 ) As a fruit ripens, it deepens in color, and will start to emit a sweet aroma. In general, when selecting fruit for ripeness you should look for an evenly colored and textured fruit with a delicious smell. The color should be bright and full, with no hints of green or white unless the fruit naturally has these colors. With fruits like melons, a discolored area indicates where the fruit rested on the ground, which also happens to be the sweetest and most delicious part of the fruit.
Avocados can be purchased green, and stored outside your refrigerator to ripen as needed. They will change from green to black as they ripen, and their flesh will slightly yield upon pressing. I like to press the the little “buttons” on the top and bottom, so I don’t bruise up my whole avocado. And when I think avocado, I think of my taco salad recipe, delicious!
So eat those bananas only when they have black spots. And the same is true for all your fruit! Don’t wait until it is a rancid and mushy mess, just until it is perfectly ripe and tasty…and ALKALINE FOR MORE BEAUTY! 🙂
Love,
Kimberly
Hi Kimberly!
I found your blog just a few weeks ago, and it’s been an inspiration to me ever since.
I’ve been working out and eating “healthy” for several years, but never gotten the results from my vigorous exercise and low carb -high protein diet. I’m in a good shape, and I’m not overweight, but I’ve always wanted to take my body to the next level, have less fat and more muscle.
Recently, I realized that I was harming my body with consuming so much animal protein and adopted a vegan, mostly raw food diet. So far, it’s been great. I don’t have any cravings as I did when I ate a low carb diet and I feel energized and happy.
I’ve also thinking of starting yoga, as I think I need to take care of my mind as well as my body.
I’ve seen your pictures on your blog, and I think you look great. My question to you is: do you stay in such good shape just by eating raw and doing yoga? Have you always been in such a great shape? Do you only eat raw food? Do you do any other kind of exercise besides yoga? Is yoga, in your opinion, a good way to get a lean body, or should I incorporate some classic muscle resistance training too?
I would be so happy, if you could answer these questions. The information out there about diet and exercise is so confusing, and I’d love to hear your opinion. I really believe you have a healthy diet and exercise philosophy.
Best wishes,
Pia
Hi Pia!
Thanks for your kind words.
Yes, I think diet is about 70% of how you look and I do practice yoga as my only exercise (besides walking here and there). I used to lift weights and run marathons, but I look so much better now, and it is so much easier now that I eat this way. Since you used to eat a lot of animal products, it is really important to have more greens and alkaline foods, so that you can cleanse out some of that old acid. Gravity colonics are great too. When your body is more alkaline, it is slimmer and more shapely!
It is important that you should hold poses when you practice yoga- for muscle resistance. Not too fast! I have a video coming out soon. 🙂
Don’t eat heavy breakfasts!! Very important.
Hope that helps!
Come visit again,
Kimberly
Hi Kimberly and thank you so much for the advice!
I’m still pretty new to raw food, and a little unsure about whether I’m getting enough nutrients, so I’d still like to ask you about following a raw food diet. What would a day of balanced day of raw food ideally look like? A non-heavy breakfast, but what for lunch, dinner and snacks? Are soy products (soy yoghurt for example) considered raw?
Thanks again!
Pia
I agree about eating more fruit that is alkalizing. But do you every worry about the sugar found in fruit, like bananas? I try to eat mostly fruits that low sugar, berries, granny smith apples, is this okay? I know variety is good but I also try to keep my sugar down. But do I need to worry about that when eating raw? Thanks Kimberly! Love the pictures!
Hey Michelle!
Fruit is the strongest cleansing food on the planet, and is considered the highest vibration. If someone is truly alkaline and cleansed of old waste, then fruit is the healthiest and purest food. Most people are not- so they have to moderate their fruit intake and have adverse reactions to the fruit sugar.
So it really depends on the rest of your diet! If you are raw you still have to undergo an ongoing cleansing process to get old chunk out from when we were not raw…
My diet has way more fruit in it now than it did 3 or 4 years ago. My body has shifted, and I eat more fruit and do amazingly well with it!
No matter what, never eat fruit after cooked food!!!
xx Kimberly
Not really pertaining to your recent post, but question nonetheless: If you’ve eaten poorly or too much, would the best thing the next day be to drink a green smoothie or your tumeric detox smoothie? Just wondering which would help digest/move along the food & restore the alkalinity in your body. Thanks kimberly!
Hi Amanda!
If you have eaten poorly, the next morning start drinking water, and push on water and herbal tea, or hot water with lemon for as long as you can. Allow the food to digest and don’t throw more food on there for as long as you can hold off. LIke 11 or 12 if you can. Then I would have a green smoothie, as you need the greens to kick up the toxins. The detox smoothie is fruit- based, so works best when you are eating pretty well in general and can put it in an empty stomach.
xx Kimberly 🙂
thanks kimberly! I’d gotten a little overexcited @ my farmer’s market and ate a little too many raw desserts 🙂
as always thanks for the quick response! have a great week!
Oh my goodness! I just discovered you through a friend of a friend’s post on Facebook. I’m loving all of this! So much I can’t absorb it all so I will be back. Could you please add me to your subscription list?
This was an amazing post Kim….i love it! I LOVEEE raw cacao….we always eat it in the country!! 🙂
thanks Charlene!
Lucky you for getting raw cacao in Jamaica!!!
Hi There Kimberly and all.
I have just recently started an alkaline diet. I am a bit confused about granny smith apples- are they alkaline forming? I was told that adding a granny smith apple to green juice will make the taste dramatically different if you can’t cope with the taste. You look fantastic by the way.
Thanks so much for the information.
Shaz
HI Shaz! All ripe fruits can generally be considered alkaline-forming. Yes, green apples will definitely add a sweeter taste to green juice.
xx Kimberly
I am happily into my fourth week of green smoothies and a more alkaline diet. I still feel tired and headachy some days and know that this is detox. How long might this last?? I have less body aches and am sleeping better. I am very excited and know how important this way of being is….. I love that I have come upon this eating green!
Hi Kim,
Thank you so much. My body is really starting to change and become more defined after just 2 months!
However, I find myself not eating nearly all day when I am busy because it just takes Sooo long to prepare meals, even salads. I am concerned that I may not be getting the nutrients and vitamins I need.
Can you do a blog post with quick lunch and dinner ideas? I’m still too new to really figure it out myself.
Also, I have noticed I have been bruising really easily lately. Any suggestions?
Dear Kimberly, Recently had surgery and started reading “Beauty Detox.” I have been making the Glowing Green Smoothie daily. Delicious & full of vitamins, etc love it. Unfortunately, I cant afford an expensive blender like the Vitamixer so it takes about one and an half hours to prepare the smoothie. Would you make suggestions on how I may reduce prep time? Last question the probiotics are costly. Is it possible to substitute with foods i.e. veggies or fruits instead. Which ones.
Thank you for your help
Diana
Hi Kimberly,
Can you please explain why green juices are highly recommended for cleansing and alkalizing the body if fruit is the most cleansing/alkalizing food? Is it simply because many people can’t tolerate the fruit sugar? I’m currently doing a cleanse and would prefer eating fruit to drinking green juice, but I want to get the most benefit I can from my cleansing experience.
Thank you!
Melissa
Hi there,
Can you help clear up any confusion? Why does the alkaline Dr (not sure I can mention his name here) say all fruits are highly acidic & yet others, such as yourself, say the opposite. I love fruit & the thought of giving it up saddens me but I’m quite ill with my digestion so I’m willing to try anything.
Thankyou in advance.. x