Why I kept to the Alkaline Diet for the last 20 years.

Alkaline Balance 8 min read

Author: Ian Blair Hamilton, Founder, AlkaWay

I’ve always loved the story of Louis Pasteur and how he discovered that rats passed on the plague via fleas.. and the story of his invention of pasteurization that led us to the free flavoured mild at morning school break. (Come to think of it.. it was pretty sweet-awful and often warm!)

In retrospect ~ I wonder if he’d have released his milk saving secret if he knew he’d be sentencing most of the world to foggy brain, stiff joints, low circulation and all-round lack of energy?

Pasteur is regarded by many as the man who initiated germ warfare. No, not THAT germ warfare.. warfare against germs.

Kill ‘em before they kill you.

Most people learnt about Pasteur.. but very few would remember the ‘other guy’ with the conflicting theories: Antoine Bechamp. he and Pasteur did NOT get on. Probably because Bechamp rubbished Pasteur’s theories.

Bechamp (if you bother to investigate him) said it's not the germ, but our body inner environment that actually makes us sick. He was ‘out there’: in the face of Pasteur’s simple explanation, he went the other way. He said that the acid/alkaline balance of our body was the deciding factor in determining future health, that an unbalanced, excessively acidic body gives the perfect place for germs and diseases to grow.

He said that if your body is more alkaline than acid, you can repel any germ that tries to get at you.

These two oppositional approaches fanned a major uproar among scientists... a bit like Trumpists and Leftists today.

If you were a Pasteurian — you attacked the germ. If you were a Bechampian., you watched and supported your body.

Like the Supreme Court in the USA right now, the medical supremos believed they had to endorse one of these approaches.. but not two.

Yes, they supported Loius and left Antoine out in the cold. And perhaps they had minds of future profits even then because Pasteur's theory came with a huge payoff.

Simply put: germs cause diseases.
Create germ-killing medicines.
.. and patent them
Voila! Instant billionaires.


Just think about this today as one company vies with another for the biggest payoff in history with their Covid Vax.

Bechamp's approach — on the other hand — had no big payoff. anyone could keep the body in healthy acid-alkaline balance by eating the right healthy foods, remaining calm, walking the dog.. all for free. Using no drugs.


With no drugs to patent — Bechamp's breakthrough research and discovery was actually ridiculed!

Of course, he wasn’t completely forgotten. Some very significant advances in what became known as self-health came about through his inspiration.

  • Dr. Linus Pauling, who announced to the world — some 70 years later... a received a Nobel prize for his work. He said:
    "You can trace EVERY sickness ... and EVERY ailment to a mineral deficiency"
  • Dr William Howard Hay, whose groundbreaking book, A New Health Era, stated:
    "All disease is caused by auto-toxication (self-poisoning) due to acid accumulation in the body."
  • Dr. Theodore A. Baroody, author : Alkalize or Die, who shook the scientific community :
    ”The countless names of illnesses do not really matter. What does matter is that they all come from the same root cause: Too much acid in the body!"

    These doctors, scientists - and many others - confirmed the simple, fact that when your body is too acidic — you're setting yourself up for illness!

    And when you are in your natural alkaline state?
    You are able to repel and even overcome just about any health problem including:
  • Joint stiffness
  • Weak heart
  • Poor digestion
  • Sore muscles
  • Constipation
  • Blood sugar imbalances
  • Poor circulation
  • Sluggish immunity
  • Premature ageing
  • Skin outbreaks
  • Premature wrinkles
  • Abnormal cell growth

Excess acid basically ‘rusts’ in your whole metabolism.

Go to your doctor and he or she will give your condition a name.
But no matter what it's called, Bechanp said that it is all because of the precursor of excess acid.

Too much acid can promote...

Skeletal Degradation
Your bones are a prime target. Your overworked, acidic body is burning up and drastic measures are called for. It decides to take all available calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium that was headed for your bones!

You can feel it!

Bones that scrape. They lead inevitably to inflammation and bone loss!
Bone loss... joint pain... and even "widow’s hump"!

Traffic Jam Arteries
Acid eats away at arterial lining. Acid crystals in the blood scrape their way around the circulation system, your body shouts for help and creates more cholesterol to form plaque and patch the cuts and slashes! Suddenly we are talking about degraded arteries with your health practitioner.

Pulmonary problems!
The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine published a surprising warning sign of an impending asthma attack: High acid levels. Well, well, well.

Dr. Benjamin Gaston and his team say that prior to bronchial attack, acid levels in the lungs rose as much as 1,000-fold! This contributed to inflammation in the bronchial airways — which preceded the attack!

Too worn out, too thick-headed
According to the book, The Chemistry of Success — high acid levels limit oxygen uptake. Yes, oxygen. You have to breath more because you’re getting less. It appears that acid overload literally chokes the life out your cells — leaving you with mental fog.. fatigue.. weakened muscles.. low libido.. and od man’s skin - and that’s just the shortlist.

Compromised pancreas, lungs, liver and blood sugar.
In the Journal of Diabetes Care:
Norwegian scientist Dr. Lars Stene posited that people with high acidity from drinking tap water were FOUR TIMES more likely to develop glucose and insulin problems.

Now can you see why I’ve been alkalizing as a daily practice for 20 years? I’m 74 and PUMPING!

OK. So about now, most people will try to sell you their alkaline water system, or convince you to go vegan, eat lots of fruit and leafy greens.. yada yada yada.

If I sound sceptical, I am!
In fact I am, if truth be known, a little angry, because I’ve watched these two decades trot out the same old theories year after year, on website after website.

Why? Because it’s so very easy to get enough alkaline minerals, and although I drink alkaline water, I’m no longer drinking it for the alkalinity. I’m drinking it for its purity and for its molecular hydrogen.

I’m also having a Greens smoothie every day.. but it’s not like the run-of-the-mill greens powder because it’s designed specifically to be low in the ingredient none of these vendors ever mention. This hidden nasty has never been talked about before, and it has profound effects of our body’s inflammation by loading up our fascia with tiny oxalic acid crystals. They stay there until you decide to diet to remove them.. and as long as they stay, they create inflammation. No wonder inflammation is the most common ongoing health challenge virtually anyone has - even if they don’t know they have it!

So all those lovely spinach pies, spinach smoothies, sweet potato pies, - they're all loaded with oxalates! Acidifying oxalates. (and many, many other foods on those free acid/alkaline food charts you downloaded!)

BTW our own Alkaway Greens are formulated to be lower in oxalates than the usual Greens.

Why do I even Bother with Greens
Because Greens are wonderful immunity builders. And a greens powder ‘tops up’ my daily requirement to maintain adequate immunity.. especially in these times!

So how do I ensure I’m getting enough alkaline minerals?
I take a teaspoon of Alkaline Booster every day. In that teaspoon is all the alkalis I need: Sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium. All in a synergistic form of the correct ratios.

If I’m travelling I take either my AlkaSachets, or my drop-at-a-time AlkaBalance.

Too simple.

Alkaline water?
Unless you’ve been hiding 500 miles from everyone else, it’s likely a multilevel marketer has found you, made friends with you, and tried to sell you their $6000 alkaline water machine. They have all the quotes you’ve seen here, and will always tell you how drinking their water has changed their life.

(Of course it has! They get another $1000 in the bank every time they sell one!)

If you encounter one of these ‘independent distributors’ ask them whether their alkaline water is buffered or unbuffered.

’Buffered’ means the water derives its pH level on a pH meter from alkaline minerals dissolved in the water. Drink this water and you’ll immediately replenish your alkaline reserves, and the minerals will donate their alkalinity fully to neutralise excess acids.

Unbuffered’ means there is a variance between the actual ability to neutralise acids and the reading you get with a pH meter. This is because thewater has been artificially ‘boosted’ by passing electricity through it (thus elevating the pH reading but not the alkalizing ability).

Unbuffered water may appear alkaline on a pH meter - but will only ever contain the alkaline minerals that were already in your tap before it passed through your machine.
It will almost immediately lose any alkalizing ability when it encounters acid in the body.

Many distributors of these machines won’t be able to answer your question anyway. They are newcomers beating the bushes for prospects to pay off their own $6000 ‘investment’.

Can a natural water ionizer give buffered alkalinity?
It can because it holds its own supply of dissolvable minerals like magnesium and calcium, which are donated to the water as it is filtered.
(And the big news is that you’ll still have over $5000 in your pocket when you get your own natural water ionizer.)

I know I’ve probably talked too much, and I know I’d love to tell you about maintaining alkaline levels in the body, the true causes of acidity, and much more, so if you’re still here, and still want to know more, go here (bottom of the page) to receive my HealtheMail, or here to access the hundreds of articles we’ve created over the years about this very important health strategy.

If you have a particular question, this is our library resource page.

Or if you’re on fire and need immediate answers, call on us. We’re always happy to help.
AU NZ USA SG CA UK

greens water ionizer drugs pharmaceuticals alkaline diet