With the COVID-19 virus wreaking havoc across the world, infecting millions and leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands, what if keeping the body alkaline could be a way to ward off not just the deadly coronavirus but all illnesses, even cancer? According to Dr Eapen Koshy, who advocates living with nature and believes in a drugless world, “The answers to the current pandemic and to future pandemics lie in alkalinizing our body to boost our immune system and maintain this with an immune friendly lifestyle.”

In his book Survive Covid: By Staying Alkaline, brought out by Konark Publishers, New Delhi, Koshy says, “Acidic food intake, electromagnetic radiation pools and an immune-lowering lifestyle has led to the weakening of our immune systems. We have unwittingly become the prisoners of our own war; a war that is lowering our immune systems to such an extent that a mass extinction may be a possibility.”

Koshy, a renowned plastic surgeon who now lives in Lagos, Nigeria, where he is working with the Vedic Group of Hospitals (affiliated with Manipal Hospitals, Bengaluru), says “An alkaline body is disease-free, with no lifestyle diseases. No cancerous changes can occur in an alkaline body.”

“Alkalinity enables the body to follow the circadian rhythm of life. It also nurtures an alkaline mind which is a calm, all-inclusive mind, capable of listening to Mother Earth, and appreciates her magnificence,” writes Koshy in the book, a sequel to his popular book, Beyond Modern Medicine.

The pH balance of our body “determines our health status more than any other parameter”, says the author. In a body with an acidic pH balance, the “white blood cells, which are on the frontline of our immune system and protect us from illnesses, become lethargic and weakened”. An alkaline pH of 7.4 is the perfect balance that a human body should maintain to be free of all illnesses.

“A well-oxygenated alkaline balanced body has adequate immunity to successfully fight diseases. Diseases occur in a body that has low-oxygenated, acidic cells as its immunity becomes weak. This happens because of nutrient-deficient toxic diet, toxic emotions and a toxic lifestyle,” he writes.

Modern lifestyles with their burden of stress, constantly being exposed to electromagnetic radiation of the mobile phone and laptop, keeping late hours and waking up much after sunrise, also contribute to an “acidic overload” in our bodies.

According to the author, “refined white sugar is the most acidifying food that people consume almost daily. Regular sugar intake is akin to slow suicide.”

“A bottle of Coke has a pH value of 2.5, with around 10 teaspoons or more equivalent of refined sugar,” says Koshy. “No one with an alkaline body balance would succumb to the COVID-19 virus as in an alkaline body there is no inflammatory hyper response, and innate and adaptive immunity would be working smoothly,” he adds.

All vegetables and fruits and all soil produce are alkaline, says the author. “They result in alkalization of the body. In addition, these earth products provide antioxidant effect, adaptogen effect, positivity, and pure energy. They are nature’s alkaline pharmacy.”

An acidic body, besides inviting diseases, will also “harbour an acidic mind, which is a mind in pre-anger, filled with suspicions, selfishness, feelings of superiority, forgetting earth synchronicity, and nurturing a false ego and pride. An acidic mind is incapable of listening to what Mother Earth is telling us,” Koshy writes.

Dr. Koshy, according to his profile, has worked in some of the most prestigious institutions around the world, with renowned doctors, in a wide array of fields and with some of the most cutting-edge technology available in medicare.

The book, written in easy style, is available as an e-book on Amazon.