VEGANIK: THE pH MIRACLE RETREAT

Vol. 2: It's a bird, it's a plane... No wait, it's "ALKALINE BOY"!by featured contributor Nik Tyler

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Tired of not getting enough sleep? Or feeling foggy? Sluggish in the morning? Crashing in the middle of the day? Dealing with problematic skin? Damaged, crazy hair? Poor digestion? Sore muscles? Aching back? Feeling stressed? Feeling stressed about feeling stressed? No, this isn't a late-night infomercial - this is literally how I felt for years. I finally found the true cause of these all-too-common health afflictions, and I want to share the truth with you. Get ready; the cause of illness as I have come to know it is (drum roll, please)... SUGAR & ACIDIC FOOD! Though simple may it seem, I learned this during a transformative health retreat where I had the fortune of spending 12 days cleansing at Dr. Robert Young's Rancho De Sol in Valley Center, near San Diego. Dr. Young, a world renowned scientist and lecturer, is the author of several books, including "The pH Miracle" and because of him, I am soaring! So here's my story:

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The basis of Dr. Young's scientific philosophy is that of adopting an "Alkalarian" lifestyle and diet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkalarian), a way of eating and thinking where essentially your meals consists of 80% alkaline foods and 20% acidic. Choosing to consume primarily alkaline foods and limiting the intake of meat, dairy, high sugar fruits & certain carbohydrates, we can maintain an internal alkaline level of 7.2 (striving for 8), which, strengthens the immune system. Who knew?

When I first met Dr. Young, he held a Microscopy session with me, consisting of viewing samples of one drop of my blood, dry and living, under a microscope and on a monitor. What he found under the microscope was shocking; my blood was totally riddled with yeast and I had cancer markers on some of my internal organs, which scared the hell out of me.  After talking to me about my past dietary history, Dr. Young explained to me that this was all a result of years of consuming sugar and other acidic foods - and not just an abundance of those decadent raw/vegan desserts, but from years of heaping bowls of pasta, dairy, rice, caffeine and fruit overload. As surprised as I was to hear this, it was no surprise at all to Dr. Young that I had been feeling lethargic with sore muscles and having difficulty for years maintaining clear skin and a clear state of mind - my body needed help, and pronto! So his plan for me was to completely drench my system in alkalizing foods and activities, and in doing so, rid my body of the yeast, restoring it's alkaline balance and obliterating all of my current health issues.

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Now I'll be completely honest here - I was scared shitless by my diagnosis, and entirely consumed with doubts. I knew the basics of Dr. Young's scientific beliefs and they made sense to me, but I also was uber-bummed at the concept of cutting out all the acidic food I was so used to consuming and loved... it sounded hardcore to a dude who loved his desserts and nutritional yeast 6-layer pasta-extravaganza's! But after much consideration of what the blood test had revealed, I weighed the pros and cons, and I decided to ditch the sugar and acidic foods (for at least the 12 days I was staying at the ranch), be brave and give "Alkalinity" a deserving try! After all, in 12 days I would know first-hand if this "pH Miracle" really lived up to its name.

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The first day at the ranch I was in mourning the death of  all the foods I wouldn't be eating, but then after the first two meals were prepared for me (a delicious avocado-spinach-tomato-cucumber-hemp oil smoothie, followed by a sumptuous leek-onion-garlic-ginger-almond milk-soup), I began to let go of my desire for a giant bowl of soy-alfredo fettuccini and chocolate chip cookies. I was just beginning to break the vicious cycle of my sugar addiction, and not only was the new alkaline food delicious, I was feeling really terrific after I ate it - gone was that constant feeling of being tired and grossly-full after a meal. Now I felt light and energized!

The following 11 days at Dr. Young's Ranch were entirely transformative. I followed a surprisingly delicious, gourmet alkaline diet of especially-green vegetables like kale, spinach, collard, zucchini, broccoli, tomato, cauliflower, peppers, cucumbers, leeks, onions, lots of healthy oils like olive, flax, sunflower, hemp, sesame, home made almond milk, and my favorite, lots of avocado and guacamole!  In addition to the foods I was putting into my body, I also adopted a daily exercise regimen consisting of yoga, stretching and hiking. This emphasis on physical activity and deep breathing was as essential as the food I was eating. The act of working out and sweating does wonders for detoxifying the body of any acidity, and by practicing yoga, a state of tranquility rids the body of stressful thoughts that are scientifically proven to produce acidity.

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I definitely went through a major sugar detox, but around Day 6 I started to pick up and feel clear and healthy. All the alkalining foods partnered with workouts gave me so much unexpected joy and clarity that by day 12 I was an entirely revamped version of myself. My final blood microscopy session with Dr. Young was miraculous. The majority of the acidic spots had disappeared and all the cancer markings were completely gone from my internal organs- the yeast had been abolished and my blood was healthy, strong & vibrant. This turn around in my health was truly remarkable to me, but equally as cool was the fact that I didn't crave the old acidic foods I once loved o.d.ing on . I learned a huge lesson in the ways our taste buds can change and shift if we just allow ourselves to explore the vast dietary options that are out there. In just 12 short days, I developed an entirely new, more health-conscience palette, and now I am craving alkaline foods!

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Being a constant work in progress, I am continuing this "Alkaline" journey back in LA. Being simple and strict for the rest of '09 is my current adventure - creating and experimenting with delectable variations on the alkaline menu, as well as joining yoga classes around town and making sure that I drink loads of "alkaline" water,  pH miracle green drinks, devouring kale and avocado by the fistful, using my shot glasses for chlorophyll and hemp oil, and staying active by rollerblading, lifting weights and playing with happy dogs!  All these physical, spiritual and nutritional endeavors will be the topics of future blog entries, so stay tuned for alkaline recipes, pictures and activities.

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And remember, not everyone needs to prescribe to my specific routine, cause not everybody or every body is the same - we all react differently and can handle acids in different ways... but if this story resonates with you and you've been experiencing some similar ailments, give the alkaline diet a try. When you wake up tomorrow morning, instead of reaching for that acidic bowl of corn flakes & sugary soy milk, try whipping up an "awesome-avocado-spinach shake", or a "cool-crunchy-cabbage-cucumber-guacamole wrap", or for an even easier quick-fix, an "avocado-salsa-scooper" (recipes + pictures to follow)!  Just like those hypnotizing late-night infomercials, I'm guaranteeing you that if you make the switch and allow your taste buds the time to transition (which they will, I promise - it only took me 4 days to stop craving those sickening, sneaky sugars) you will undoubtedly start feeling like a power-house alkaline version of 'Tony the Tiger', and start feeling GRRRRRREAT!

-Nik