Hello my angels! So yesterday I alluded to the awesome Alkamind “Get Off Your Acid” 7-Day DIY Cleanse that I did last week in conjunction with my warm, nourishing food regime per my Ayurvedic nutritionist’s help and suggestions.

I’m beyond stoked to tell you about the Alkamind lifestyle, otherwise known as the “Get Off Your Acid” cleanse. Again, just like with my soup cleanse post yesterday, I’ll remind you that I don’t like the word “cleanse.” I prefer using the words detox, lifestyle, commitment and experiment instead. So from here forward that’s what I will be saying. 🙂

After all, a “cleanse” of sorts is really just a commitment to your health and hopefully an overall permanent positive change to your lifestyle. That’s why we make healthy changes in our lives, yes?! So we can reap the benefits long after the “cleanse”/”detox” is over. Not to restrict ourselves only to binge out on the foods that we are restricting right when the detox ends.

Health is a journey, my loves. Wellness is a lifestyle. Once you learn to embrace those two truths, you’ll be amazed and how much beauty you can let in. 

My wellness journey in a nutshell:

I have come a long way over the past couple of years. Most of you probably know the story: I went from being a healthy plant-based vegan to a very restrictive plant-based vegan with an eating disorder, and then bounced back in an extreme sort of way to try to recover from my eating disorder and basically ate anything/everything to prove to myself that I was no longer sick.

Then I developed stomach ulcers, a parasite, more food allergies/anxieties, and a whole lot of “imbalance” in my life. During that time I wrote my book, and part of me was very fearful about putting my story out there knowing that I still had a long way to go until I reached full “recovery.”

Ya feel me? Big time fears! And on top of it I just didn’t feel good — I felt sluggish, bogged down, and desperate to figure out what was going to work for me and my very specific tummy issues.

Then came January 2016, and I was like woah. I need to make some changes. I want to feel better again. I am a wellness blogger with a serious passion for health, active lifestyle, and feeling my best — so why don’t I feel even remotely close to my best?!

Looking for a SOLUTION!

So with all of that, I went on a quest to prioritize MY health and get it figured out. This meant dealing with hormone issues, gut health problems, skin problems, anxiety, and overall mental health (yes, therapy, the best thing ever). I am doing a LOT to work on myself right now, and it’s pretty eye opening.

Challenging, but so worth it.

Get Off Your Acid!

One person I’ve discovered on this journey toward wellness is Dr. Daryl Gioffre – the go-to alkaline expert who has developed several programs to help people live a more balanced life, full of energy and OFF of their acid! He developed the “Get Off Your Acid” lifestyle, and his story in itself is so inspiring. He was a serious sugar addict — like, big time — and once he hit rock bottom with his own health he decided he needed to do something about it.

He discovered that by making changes in his diet and getting off of sugar by replacing it with alkalinity and nutrient-dense foods, he was able to mend his health problems and inevitably make hugely positive changes in his life.

Why is acid such a negative thing in our bods? Lots of reasons. It can cause us to feel bloated, sick, nauseous from food, inflamed, to hang onto weight, to be low energy, and so much more. We want our pH to be balanced and for our bodies to be slightly alkaline, which is much better for our immunities and overall for how great we can possibly feel.

Plus, the dangers of acid are far greater than feeling a little nauseous or bogged down… Acid can cause stomach ulcers (like the ones I developed!), and weaken our immune systems so that we develop serious illnesses easier than we would if our bods were in a state of health and balance.

EEK, right?

That’s why I love Dr. Daryl‘s approach.  His approach is one of moderation, not deprivation, and he aims to bring his patients to higher levels of health, fitness, and energy. #YES, yes and yes! His specialty is uncovering the root causes of chronic illness, which makes healthy changes more convenient and sustainable.

I am ALL ABOUT starting at the root cause and then moving forward from there, because all of our bodies are SO, so different, so Dr. Daryl’s approach is 110% in alignment with my own.

After I did my lengthy rounds of blood work and gut health testing with Dr. Lekkos in Santa Monica, I spoke to Dr. Daryl to make sure that even with all of my supplements and lifestyle changes the Alkamind detox would be okay for me to do.

The answer was yes, and I quickly found that eating alkaline foods and drinking Dr. Daryl’s Daily Greens & Daily Minerals drinks only helped speed up the healing of my gut and helped my digestion return to normalcy. I did it for one week, and I am so looking forward to seeing how my health progresses over time as I continue to incorporate his drinks and nutrient-rich alkaline foods into my daily life.

You guys already know that I ate a lot of alkaline, nutrient-rich soups for most of the week last week, all “Alkamind lifestyle” approved, and I can’t rave ENOUGH about how good I am feeling after 7 days straight of that routine.

I also used a lot of his recipes & advice — including some killer salads and smoothies that I will be making all the time in my kitchen from now on. 🙂 The chunky monkey smoothie (YES, it’s as good as it sounds) was my absolute fav. I will be including the recipe for that in this week’s Loving Lately post!

I most certainly understand that health is such a process, so I don’t want to say my entire life has changed in a week and that my tummy probs have disappeared, but man do I feel like I am on the right path. It is so relieving and mentally calming to know that I am doing something that seems to be working.

Annndddd to teach you a little more about Alkaline foods, incase you have no idea what I’m talking about (wouldn’t blame you in the least!) here is a handy chart from Dr. Daryl’s website about the importance of having a healthy pH balance in our bods:

ALSO COOL: Both the Daily Minerals and Daily Greens products are 100% Raw, USDA and QAI Certified Organic, Non-GMO, Gluten-Free, GMP, Kosher Certified, and Vegan. 🙂

ALSO, ALSOOOO COOL: They are created using low heat dehydration at 88 degrees Fahrenheit, naturally preserving all of the chlorophyll-rich nutrients and active enzymes of the living food, keeping them as potent as the day they were picked. This gives this product a 2 year shelf life with no need for any unhealthy preservatives.

^ The high chlorophyll percentage in the Daily Greens drink made me super duper gassy & bloated in the beginning, so if that happens to you don’t fear. It just means that you  have a lot of acid you need to get off of… So the lifestyle is probably exactly what you need!

Check out his site & lifestyle, you’ll be happy you did. 🙂

AND if you’re interested in seeing in alkaline foods list, here is a great comprehensive one! Dr. Daryl also has a fab pocket guide!

Any questions?! I know I have been giving a lot more info about my health journey lately, and that’s because after four months of exploration and gathering details, I am finally ready to start sharing some of my findings. Would love to hear your thoughts and whether you have tried anything cool in the wellness space lately!! XO