Acidic & Alkaline Attitudes

I went away two weekends in a row recently, both trips for fun, to North Carolina and came home with two totally different dispositions and attitudes. One was an impatient, irritated & tired Carla. The other was a peaceful, joyful and alert Carla.

Both trips were to the mountains and both involved a lot of driving and staying up late. However, what differed the most, and what I believe contributed to the divergence in attitude, was the food I ate.

Many Faces of Self

Food affects our attitudes and how we deal with emotions. I have seen how this is true in my own life, following a mostly low-fat raw vegan diet for almost a year and by noticing a change in my demeanor & my abilities to cope with the harder parts of life when I slack off.

At home I eat a very simple, clean and water dense diet. On the road I eat well, however, inevitably, my standards slip to a degree based on availability and choice. The more disciplined I am with myself on the road, the better my trip tends to be. It’s the opposite of this jail study:

“The UK prison trial at Aylesbury jail showed that when young men were fed multivitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids, the number of violent offenses they committed in the prison fell by 37%.

Although no one is suggesting that poor diet alone can account for complex social problems, the former chief inspector of prisons Lord Ramsbotham says that he is now “absolutely convinced that there is a direct link between diet and antisocial behavior, both that bad diet causes bad behavior and that good diet prevents it.”

My first of two weekends away to Asheville, NC, I became unfit for human interaction (ok, I exaggerate a wee bit). I ate bittersweet chocolate, beans, cooked veggies, tortillas, then fried eggplant and sweet potato fries, then shrimp and rice noodles.

No one food was “bad” per se, but collectively these cooked foods which I rarely eat stacked up against my preferred pleasant disposition. By the time we were ready to get on the road home, I was snapping at my daughter (sorry honey!), frustrated with the service personnel, stressed out and working myself into an anxiety-riddled tailspin.

Portobello Eggplant Stack

I didn’t like it at all! (Neither did anyone else, I’m sure.)

I’m convinced that my body was starving for oxygen because that’s how I felt: short of breath, unsatisfied on a cellular level, dehydrated & energetically congested. Drinking 4 bottles of water one night helped, but replacing water that was removed from food by cooking it is second rate to eating food that has its water still intact.

I am convinced that I live more “in the flow”  – that sweet spot state of being when you immerse in the present, guide each moment to the next through the effortless action of an aligned mind and body & soul – when I am well hydrated by water-dense foods.

The second of my my two weekends away to WildAcres Retreat in Little Switzerland, NC, I maintained. I ate some cooked veggies, but had a big fresh, raw salad without dressing with every lunch and dinner. No chocolate, nothing fried and I overpowered the cooked with the raw. I returned home feeling as well as I do when home.

Raise the Salad Bar!

Could attitude be as simple as diet? Perhaps.

Food affects brain chemistry, energy, pH & overall internal balance. Food would certainly play a strong role in all of these factors and collectively they can impact how we feel and how we manage how we feel whereby determining our attitude.

Negative emotions also generate additional metabolic acids, so a poor diet leading to difficult attitudes can cause more of the same in a vicious loop. Gratitude, contentment and joy can alkalize the body. Anger and resentment are acid-forming emotions.

Keep your diet as simple as you’d like your life to be. I prefer my life uncomplicated, fresh, clean, honest, clear, manageable & joyful and, therefore, I eat accordingly. I choose to stay away from fast food emotions which lead to dollar menu experiences. I’d much rather eat 8 oranges from the grocery store than visit any drive-through.

Don’t take my word for it, conduct an experiment for & on yourself. Keep a food diary for a month (or a week or two or three) and chart your food and your feelings. If you’ve been struggling with anger, jealousy, stress, worry, anxiety, fear or impatience, see if you can simplify your diet by scaling back on acid forming foods and increase alkalizing foods.

Perhaps you will notice your attitude begin to alkalize. Your diet can become your spiritual practice through which you learn to grow into a more wholesome expression of yourself.

I feel confident in promising you that you will notice a difference. If you want to become more peaceful, patient, grateful & joyful, shift your diet to one that energetically & nutritionally promotes wellbeing, positivity & peace. Get started with a free session of Fruit Til Five™! Your tomorrow body will thank you for it!