If you receive our weekly newsletter (If you don’t, you can sign up here), last week you received a free gift from us in the form of a printable Food & Drink Journal you can use to keep track of what you eat and drink to promote optimal health in the new year. We wanted to take a little time to go through this booklet in detail to ensure you get the most benefit possible from this new tool.
12 Nature’s pHarmacy principles and practices are provided in a quick numbered list. We have discussed these principles in previous blog posts; you can review Part 1 and Part 2 for a refresher on the specific details of each principle.
Meat, Fish, & Poultry Guide. The next page of the Journal reviews some tips on what to look for when choosing and consuming animal proteins. For example, “Choose wild and line-caught fish, never frozen. Look for clear eyes.” More detail on these tips can also be found in Part 2 of the “Twelve Nature’s pHarmacy® Principles to Eat By” blog post.
Pie Chart of Diet Composition. The Journal provides a pie chart showcasing the percentages of Whole Foods (60-70%), Healthy Fats (15-20%), and Proteins (15-20%) you should strive for to keep a healthy, balanced diet. There are additional tips provided on percentage of alkaline-forming foods to consume, as well as the optimal amount of sugars, water, oils, and probiotic foods recommended. Tips on exercise and dietary supplements round out the page.
Sample Food & Drink Consumption Log. This page provides a sample completed log page for your review, so you can see the optimal way to complete the daily log. There is space at the top to record your morning urine pH and your goals for the day. The next section has areas for each of the three main meals of your day as well as any snacks, including the time you ate, what you consumed, how much liquid you drank, and any notes you would like to add. At the bottom of the page, there is space to reflect on the day’s diet, how full you felt, and your mood. Keeping this type of detailed journal on a daily basis will help you to see patterns over time with respect to what and how much you ate and drank, and how that correlates to your mood and overall feeling of wellbeing.
Weekly Grocery Guide: This page provides a weekly shopping list where you can fill in items you need to purchase. Making a plan in advance will help you to avoid unhealthy impulse purchases and will help avoid food waste. Remember to use the Nature’s pHarmacy principles to help guide your list.
The Weekly Menu page that follows gives you space to plan out your meals for the coming week. Used in conjunction with the Grocery Guide and results from your previous week’s log, you can choose recipes and items that help you to feel and function at your best. Each week, you’ll want to print a new copy. Eliminate those foods that cause issues and try new foods to eventually create a healthy mix of ingredients and recipes that work for you.
Food & Drink Log. There are 7 pages of blank logs for you to complete; one for each day of the week. You’ll want to keep these pages in a binder or notebook to help pinpoint any foods or ingredients that cause issues, as well as track your morning urine pH. Making small changes over time should allow you to feel and function better. It’s always helpful to be able to look back on old notes to see how far you have come!
Food Waste Log. On this page, you can list the items you had to discard due to spoilage or other reasons, as well as their cost. Food waste ends up in landfills and becomes a serious environmental concern due to the methane gas emitted, so minimizing your contribution is important. Also, calling attention to the amount of money you are literally throwing away will help you to minimize food waste in the future.
Acid/Alkaline Chart. The next two pages showcase the updated chart of where food items fall on the spectrum of “acid-causing” or “alkaline-causing” in the body. The goal is to choose at least 60% alkaline-forming foods if you are well and healthy, and to increase that to 80% or more if you want to promote repair and regain health. You can also download a copy of the chart separately. Fun fact, a few foods that seem “acidic” are actually alkalinizing to the body. One great example of this is limes, which produce a strong alkalinizing effect. Check out the chart to learn where your favorite foods fall.
You can measure your 1st Morning Urine pH to ensure you are keeping it in the healthy 6.5-7.5 range.
Notes: The last two pages are for you to make your own. They provide blank notes pages where you can journal anything helpful about a specific food, ingredient, or recipe, or any other notes that will help you in your journey to optimal wellness.
If you missed the free gift last week, click this link to download your weekly Food & Drink Journal. You’ll need to provide your name and edress to receive your gift. We truly hope that you will use this journal to help you make better food and drink choices in 2023. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to get a new oil-free, gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, healthy recipe to try each week.
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