Top 10 Alkaline Foods to Eat Frequently for Great Health

By now, many people appreciate that an alkaline diet is healthy (1) – not to mention convenient and cost-effective.

Chances are, you already have many of the best alkaline foods in your fridge and pantry, plus a few tasty recipes for each.

To illustrate how easy and cheap it can be to eat alkaline (2), consider eating more of the below ingredients and get creative with their possible uses.

Asparagus is one of the most versatile ingredients in any kitchen. It can be roasted, steamed, cooked, stir-fried or even blended into soups and sauces.

Roasted asparagus is particularly tasty in pasta. Roast in the oven with sea salt and a herb of your choice. Add to cooked black-eyed peas, whole grain pasta, garlic and some fresh basil leaves. With the exception of the time it takes for the oven to preheat, this is a quick 20 minute dish.

It is also almost entirely made of alkaline ingredients, with the exception of the pasta which – depending on the grain used to make it – may make up the daily allowance of 30% either neutral or slightly acidic.

For that reason, try to find a gluten-free whole grain pasta, as that is likely to be the least acidic. Those made with brown rice flour or millet have a neutral pH score.

The tastes of asparagus and orange mix well, and since orange is highly alkaline, this mix is a super alkaline food.

Steam some asparagus for five minutes until they are tender. Combine some lemon juice, orange juice, orange zest, extra virgin olive oil and an onion or shallot as a dressing. You can eat this dish hot or chilled.

Like other leafy greens, broccoli is alkaline and healthy (3). It is also extremely versatile and works well in soups, stews, pies and salads.

Broccoli, brown rice, vegetable broth, onion, carrot, extra virgin olive oil, garlic and parsley are all alkaline and can be mixed into a tasty, crunchy soup for winter. Alternatively, you can make a creamy version by omitting the rice and adding mashed potatoes and a cup of unsweetened almond milk.

A broccoli and bean salad is also great. Mix broccoli with cooked beans, bell pepper, mango, fresh cilantro, fresh ginger, lemon juice and a relatively neutral-tasting virgin oil.

If you use anything other than broad, string or green beans, be aware that you are eating a mildly acidic ingredient.

This is not too worrying, however, since all the other ingredients are alkaline – and since an alkaline diet allows around 30% of mildly acidic foods.

These are two of the staples you should always have in your kitchen, as they are great alkalis that you can add to almost everything. There are few soups, dips, salads, stews, stir-fries, pastas and pizzas that are not improved by onion and garlic.

Instead of making sweet muffins and other pastries, keep onion, garlic, tomato and Himalayan salt on hand and opt for savoury pastries. They can even be the primary ingredients, such as in an onion and garlic muffin where you use dill, parsley, scallion, shallot, leek, whole grain flour, baking powder, almond milk, stevia and a neutral-tasting oil together with the garlic and onion.

When stuffing squash, sweet potato, pepper, mushrooms or any other vegetables, garlic and onion should almost always feature in the stuffing.

When roasting vegetables in the oven, either sprinkle them with shredded garlic and onion, or add them to the oil in which you roast. When making mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes, mix in some onion and garlic for taste. When you sauté vegetables for any dish, add some shredded garlic and onion to the oil. The options are infinite.

One of the most alkaline pulses, fresh green beans taste great both cold and hot. Green beans can be cooked almost alone with some onion and herbs for flavour.

For a good chilled alkaline salad, mix cooked beets and green beans with endive and some other salad leaves. Add a lemon juice-based dressing, and your salad is as alkaline as it can be.

Green bean bake is popular for a reason. Mix green beans with a small quantity of other vegetables, vegetable stock, soy milk and whole grain flour, bake it in the oven, and enjoy a tasty alkaline dish.

Like carrot, potato, parsnip, turnip and all other root vegetables, butternut squash have a high pH score. Many people want to avoid these vegetables because of their relatively high score on the glycaemic index (4). By so doing, they deprive themselves of a highly alkaline and extremely tasty vegetable.

Moreover, if you stick to an alkaline diet and refrain from eating the butternut late at night, its glycaemic score should not matter much.

Butternut squash can add rich creaminess to soup when puréed with other vegetables. Alternatively, you can make your own vegetable stock at home which you can freeze and add to soups and stews as needed. Mix butternut with other alkaline vegetables like carrot, onion, celery, parsnip, garlic, leek, parsley and bay leaves. Add some extra virgin olive oil.

Cook until all the vegetables are soft, strain the mixture, discard the solids and you have a great alkaline vegetable stock.

Butternut squash can be stuffed with almost anything, too. Scoop out most of its flesh, mix it with roasted almonds, quinoa, cinnamon or whatever you have to hand, and return it to the peal. This often needs to be roasted to blend the tastes together.

Butternut squash works well in pancake batter to hold it together and add some sweetness. Mix mashed butternut with 2 cups of brown rice flour, a tsp of baking powder, 2 tsp of almond butter, a pinch of fresh cilantro and Himalayan salt, a small onion chopped finely, and a dash of chilli powder if you like it hot.

In other words, replace acidic butter with alkaline almond butter, use alkaline brown rice flour instead of refined white flour, and use alkaline butternut as a binder instead of an acidic egg. It is both healthier and tastier than the classic pancake!

Since over 90% of a watermelon is water, it is a good base for smoothies, juices and even salad dressings.

Low in calories and high in pH, it is one of the best ways to sweeten a dish that would otherwise require unhealthy acidic sugar. It is much healthier than cow’s milk or ice-cream as a smoothie base, without sacrificing the sweetness of the ice-cream.

You can also pour a little over your whole grain breakfast cereals because, to be honest, cooked whole grains alone are quite bland.

Eaten raw, juiced, blended into a smoothie, sliced into a fruit salad, baked into a whole grain pie and juiced into a soup or sauce, apples are delicious, inexpensive and flexible.

Be adventurous and learn to use in soups and fruit sauces to pour over your vegetable dishes. Their taste is subtle enough so that no experiment will end in complete disaster.

As for apple cider vinegar, it is the only vinegar that is alkaline, so you should make it a kitchen staple. It is not only alkaline, it is highly alkaline!

Think salad dressing. You can mix it with natural sugars like maple syrup to make a sweeter dressing, or with fresh peppers, chillies, garlic and tomatoes for a spicier type. It works equally well in salad leave wraps or sandwiches.

Barbecue sauce just isn’t the same without apple cider vinegar. Mix it with lots of tomatoes, onion, a fresh red bell pepper, garlic, olive oil, molasses, cayenne and some soy sauce.

If you are vegan and want to use firm tofu to make a cottage cheese equivalent, you need to add apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, grape seed oil and sea salt to it to give it some taste.

Spinach is so packed with nutrition that it should be a staple for just about everyone. Baby spinach or fully-grown spinach, the choice is yours: just make sure it’s on your grocery list.

As with all super green foods, spinach is alkaline-forming and a plentiful source of chlorophyll, a powerful alkaliser and blood builder. You can read more about chlorophyll and its wide-ranging benefits here.

There are many flavourful ways to cook spinach, so there’s no excuse to skip on this leafy green.

Between root vegetables, leafy greens, fruit, some nuts and seeds, fresh herbs, some pulses, and some whole grains, an alkaline diet is easier, cheaper and tastier than any other healthy diet. There is no reason to hesitate in giving it a go.

For more ideas for great health, try Super Greens which have a diverse range of appreciable benefits. pH Balance Supplements, meanwhile, will aid your alkaline journey.

This information in this article is not a substitute for professional medical advice. We recommend consulting with your health care provider for personalised dietary advice.

Water for Health Ltd began trading in 2007 with the goal of positively affecting the lives of many. We still retain that mission because we believe that proper hydration and nutrition can make a massive difference to people’s health and quality of life. Click here to find out more.