Sunday, August 27, 2017

Tip#1056: Coping Tools & Methods for Mental Health, Part 2 – Alkaline Foods – The Martian


Once again I had a refreshing, rejuvenating time at my friend’s cottage up north this summer! The bright sunshine and clear, fresh water lake was so deliciously energizing for my mental health and wellness. The big difference was being conscious of what I ate and drank based on my recent discoveries of acid and alkaline foods. See previous tip#1055 

I ate more raw vegetables like broccoli and cherry tomatoes and drank less alcohol. I hydrated myself constantly with my trusty water bottle by my side. And when I ate baked potatoes I ate the skins which contained the most nutrients. I’ve learned that our bodies need to have more alkaline forming foods like raw vegetables and less of acid forming foods like meat products, dairy and refined carbohydrates (white bread, white rice, cookies, snack foods). This means reducing so much of the foods I love and yet I already know my body and mind has been benefiting from my new diet and lifestyle changes over recent years. See related tips at bottom of this post.

This was the first food chart that helped me get started learning about acid & alkaline foods (click to enlarge)

Certain foods cause inflammation in the body and this is the working theory I’m following for a primary trigger for my depression symptoms. What has been helping me is studying Acid & Alkaline Food charts online. There are so many and not all consistent. So I’ll be following the definitive food chart from the book The Acid Alkaline Food Guide by Dr. Susan E. Brown and Larry Trivieri, Jr. It’s a small, compact book and you can see a sample of the foods at this link: Alkaline Food List

“No disease, including cancer,
can exist in an alkaline environment.” 

Dr. Otto Warburg,
1931 Nobel Prize winner for cancer discovery

I often think about this quote I shared in the previous post tip#1055 and have realized that an alkaline diet is where I’m headed. I also wrote about how Dr. John McDougall (see video interview) enthusiastically talked about The Martian movie where Matt Damon’s character survived on a diet of rations, supplements, water and potatoes. This was a good excuse to rewatch one of my favourite films on perseverance, resourcefulness and indestructible optimism!



The Martian (2015)

The science fiction film, The Martian, is about astronaut, Mark Watney (Matt Damon) left for dead on Mars by his crew and must use his wits and training to survive. This highly engaging and entertaining movie also inspires for demonstrating the inner strength of one man and the vast support from the people of Earth. Great performance by Damon along with a diverse cast including Jessica Chastain, Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Benedict Wong, Kristen Wiig and Donald Glover. See: movie trailer 

In the film Watney is able to survive by creating water and growing potatoes which has been praised by the scientific community for its accuracy in reality. Potatoes offer a surprising amount of nutrition. They are high in vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, iodine and some B vitamins. However sweet potatoes would have been a better choice with its added nutrients and alkaline levels as suggested in this article: Can You Survive Just On Potatoes… Like In ‘The Martian’?

The Martian is on my list of Top 20 Inspiring Movies for Indestructible Optimism and now it is a favourite film for inspiring me to learn and understand more about the benefits of nutritional alkaline foods. This hopefully will continue to help me reduce clinical depression symptoms and increase my health & wellness. The even greater picture is claims that diseases like cancer, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis cannot survive in an alkaline environment. This is exciting stuff and will continue to share my experiences and research on this blog.

Whatever challenges you face with your mental health and wellness remember that there is an abundance of coping tools and strategies waiting for you to discover. Find something you resonate with and then feed your mind with articles, books and success stories on the subject. And for inspiration and motivation find exciting movie heroes to empower your passion, perseverance and indestructible optimism to keep moving forward!

Related Tips:
Tip#880: How Movies Help You Visualize Success, Part 2 - Health & Wellness - Fantastic Voyage
Tip#945: Believe in Miracles, Part 2 - Health & Wellness - Miracles from Heaven 
Tip#1055: Believe in Miracles, Part 3 - Health & Wellness - What the Health 
Tip#1052: Coping Tools & Methods for Mental Health, Part 1 – Baby Driver
Tip#1056: Coping Tools & Methods for Mental Health, Part 2 – Alkaline Foods – The Martian



MOVIES & MENTAL HEALTH INTERVIEW:
Listen to Emmanuel’s interview on the podcast show THIS MOVIE’S ABOUT YOU with Thom Ernst (former host of TVO’s Saturday Night at the Movies) and Louis Marrone. Emmanuel discusses his ideal double bill of GROUNDHOG DAY and PLEASANTVILLE and how they helped him cope with clinical depression. Click here

DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE THAT NEEDS CHEERING UP?
SEND THEM THIS: Uplifting Movie Montage produced by Emmanuel Lopez!

LISTEN TO EMMANUEL’S CBC RADIO INTERVIEW on
MOVIE MESSAGES OF HOPE: The Fresh Air Show

Remember How Movies Can Help You:
A) Entertain & Escape
B) Re-energize & Release
C) Inspiration & Motivation

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Emmanuel Lopez-Motivatorman
Motivational Speaker on Health & Wellness
Discover How Movies Inspire Resilience & Indestructible Optimism
See website: www.motivatorman.com
 
© Emmanuel Lopez 2017

2 comments:

Scully Love Promo said...

Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful Alkaline Foods List, Emmanuel. I have downloaded it and am going to concentrate on eating his way as well! Excellent and informative blog post, as usual!

With gratitude,
Christine

Emmanuel Lopez - Motivatorman said...

My pleasure Christine! I am so happy this special post on alkaline foods was helpful to you. I've known about acid/alkaline foods for years but didn't realize or accept the damage my favourite foods were doing to me. However I am so open right now for vastly reducing meat products, dairy and refined carbs. Lots of other delicious plant-based alternatives I am discovering! Hope you discover these joys too!