Get Back to Basics

By Kelley Herring

Do you remember using litmus paper in science class to test the pH of a liquid? You'd dip the strip into a solution of lemon juice or baking soda and see if it was acidic or basic.

But a better use for that litmus paper may be to test your pH.

Without the proper acid/alkaline balance, enzymes don't work, oxygen delivery to cells suffers, and the body struggles to complete vital biochemical processes.

The culprit? Our modern diet.

Our meals are packed with acid-forming foods - especially sugars and refined grains, along with too much meat. And we eat too few alkaline-forming fresh foods - greens, vegetables, and fruits.

Get back to basics by aiming for at least 60 percent of your meals to be fresh and unprocessed, packed with these foods:

• Greens
• Sprouts
• Cruciferous veggies
• Citrus fruits (especially lemons)
• Fermented veggies (like sauerkraut)

It's Fun to Know: The Bus-Sized Snake

Scientists working in Colombia have discovered the fossilized remains of a snake that was 43 feet long and weighed nearly a ton. If you were standing next to it, it would come up to your hip.

The fossil, known as Titanboa, dates back 60 million years. Researchers speculate that the snake lived in a tropical rainforest. It was discovered in an open-pit coalmine, one of the largest in the world.

(Source: Agence France-Presse)

Word to the Wise: Blandishment

"Blandishment" (BLAN-dish-munt) - from the Latin for "to flatter" - is speech or action that flatters and tends to coax, entice, or persuade. The word is often used in the plural.

Example (as used by Anne Rice in Vittorio the Vampire): "And that my English-speaking victims find my blandishments so pretty, accented as they are, and yield to my soft lustrous Italian pronunciations, is a constant source of bliss for me."

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These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2608, 03-05-09], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.