109 of 110 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Invaluable for people with sensitive systems !, February 15, 2007
I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue some years ago, and I have been suffering from bad digestive problems, insomnia and various other ailments for a long time.
This book has made a huge difference to my life. I came to it thinking I knew quite a lot about diet and nutrition, but it has opened my eyes. Most importantly, it has made me understand why some "healthy" foods that many nutritionists insist are "really good for you" make me feel unwell.
Of course asparagus, onions and garlic are "really good" for many people, but sadly they're not good for me. I feel unwell when I eat them, and Vasey is the first person who has given me an explanation that feels right: they are sulfurous vegetables, and sulfur being an acid, they can be hard to handle for a system that's become as weak and sensitized to acids as mine.
There were many other revelations. You come across so much conflicting advice, sometimes it's hard to know what to believe. Some people tell you to eat lots of fruit "because they're alkalizing". Others, like Young, tell you not to eat them "because of the sugar". Who do you believe ? Well, neither advice made sense to me because my own experience was different. How could fruit be alkalizing when I felt so unwell after eating most of them ? Yet how could it be because of the sugar since I was doing well on "sugary" bananas ?
Again, it is Vasey who has given me the answers: for some people fruit are alkalizing, for others they are acidifying. It depends on the person. Some people's systems aren't able to metabolize fruit acids, and therefore eating fruit can acidify them even more, but since the banana's acid content is too weak to cause acidification it is usually well tolerated by them. I believe Vasey is right because of personal experience. Tomatoes, too, make me feel unwell, and he confirms that they're very acidic. The list goes on.
In fact, this book has been one long confirmation of my "gut feeling". What a relief to finally find someone who's spelling out what my body has been telling me for years ! I just wish I'd listened to it sooner. Vasey is a godsend, and I believe he really knows what he's talking about.
So I'm puzzled by some of the other reviews here. One reader even claims that Vasey says soy is alkaline. Did we read the same book ? Vasey in fact says soy is a potent acidifier, it only becomes alkalizing if it is sprouted. It is Young who champions soy, not Vasey.
The supplement section in this book is indeed useless. The author is Swiss, and there is a tradition of taking alkalizing powders in continental Europe, where you can find them quite easily in the shops. It's not so easy here. I did try the mail order addresses mentioned, but the products didn't work for me. I even wonder how much Vasey actually had to do with the mail order addresses for the American edition of his book, as he would never have approved of some of the products on offer there. He would never have approved of a product that includes lots of phosphorus, for example, as it's simply too acidic for a sensitive system to cope with. So yes, this section is a weak point. It's not that big a deal, though. We have excellent calcium/magnesium citrate supplements in the shops here, and they do the trick for me.
It's also true that this book doesn't give you detailed eating plans and recipes the way some books do. What it does give you is a lot of invaluable information. Vasey understands that there will never be a "one size fits all" diet that works for everyone. Every'body' is different, and ultimately you have to find out for yourself what works for you. Nobody can do that for you.
Of course not everything in this book will be right for you, I don't eat dairy, for example. But Vasey has given me the information and confidence I needed to work out the right diet for ME.
The most important thing of all: listen to your body !
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206 of 218 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good book on eliminating acids by alkalizing, February 23, 2005
This book is a great resource when it comes to eliminating acids (and their related adverse health effects) from your body.
Mr. Vasey starts the book with a quick review of the chemistry of acids and alkalines, what the pH does, and how the body reacts to over-acidifcation. His review is not as scientific or as thorough as that of San Whang in his book "Reverse Aging"... but it's sufficient to help you understand the rest of the book.
He then goes through a list of symptoms associated with over-acification so that you can identify if you are suffering from this problem. He does this better than many other authors... I specially like the table he gives about the pH measurements of urine and what they mean. He gives instruction for 6 "acid tests" you can perform at home to help you figure out whether you are suffering from over-acidifcation.
The rest of the book is dedicated to eliminating acidification through diet, supplementation, and non-pharmaceutical remedies.
In the diet section, he doest a good job of suggesting alkaline foods and _meals_ you can take instead of acidic ones. Like most other books, he also gives a nice list of foods and whether they are alkalizing, slightly acidifying, or highly acidifying.
The section on alkaline supplements is not really useful. It's not detailed enough, and he doesn't seem to make any clear recommendations for what kinds or which ones to use.
Finally, the section on drainin acids gives some good tips and techniques for removing acids through the lungs and skin.
What's sorely missing from this book is some practical, step-by-step instructions on what to do tomorrow to become more alkaline. Although he gives some very limited menu suggestions, he doesn't give you any recipes or instructions for recording your progress.
Out of all of the books I've read on this topic, I've only found one home study course that does that... [...]
Overall, if you already have a book with alkaline menus and day-to-day instructions, I would pick up this book or "Reverse Aging". Otherwise, I would pick up the home study course at AcidAlkalineDiet.com and "Reverse Aging" by Sang Whang.
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80 of 83 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
No Agenda, June 20, 2005
Finally, an author who simply does what he says he will do. Vasey does a great job presenting how to balance the pH of your blood - gives very practical instructions and then how to analyze the results of all testing. He doesn't seem to have an ulterior motive, like Young, to create vegetarians or raw food groupies. Vasey sticks to one single diet rather than adding an additional 5 - 10 diet plans as Kliment does in her book.
If you want to learn how to manage your blood's pH, then use this book.
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