The Acid/Alkaline Balance and Health

pH a Marker for Wellness

Apr 5, 2009 Tammie Burak

Testing your pH is an effective way to monitor your body's ability to neutralize acidity caused by diet, stress, medications and other factors that influence your health.

The letters pH are an abbreviation for potenz or power and hydrogen. The term is a measure of hydrogen ion activity in a litre of water. Water has a neutral pH of 7, which marks the middle of the pH scale. Water is neither acid nor alkaline.

Alkaline solutions have a pH of between 7.1 and 14. Acid solutions have a pH of between 6.9 and 0.

Your Alkaline Body

Overall, the healthy body’s pH is alkaline. James and Phyllis Balch in Prescription for Nutritional Healing (Avery, 1990), note that a number of diseases and conditions are associated with an acidic internal environment. These include: insomnia, water retention, rheumatoid arthritis, migraine headaches, difficulty swallowing, and diabetes. Cancer is also associated with very low pH.

Measuring Your Body’s pH

pH strips can be bought at drugstores or online. Simply wet the pH strip with urine or saliva. This should be done first thing in the morning before eating or drinking. Readings taken upon rising are more likely to be an accurate reflection of your body’s ability to neutralize acids produced in the previous day.

Optimal pH

Sam Graci, in his book The Power of Superfoods: 30 Days that Will Change Your Life (Prentice Hall; 1997) explains that good blood has a pH of around 7.35 or 7.4; saliva may range between 6.0 and 7.0, while urine from a healthy person is normally in the range of pH 4.5 -8. 0 (with 6.8 being an ideal first morning reading).

Maintaining Alkalinity

Carolee Bateson-Koch, in Allergies: Disease in Disguise (Alive Books; 2002) says, “Survival depends on the blood remaining at the slightly alkaline pH of 7.4.” In fact, the body goes to great lengths to maintain the ideal pH. For example, calcium may be pulled from the bones in an attempt to neutralize acids in the body. This is why diets high in protein are associated with bone loss. Excess protein is acidifying and calcium is used by the body to buffer the resulting acidity.

Keeping the blood alkaline is extremely important. Simply put, a healthy body is alkaline. A sick body is acidic.

What Causes Low or Acidic pH?

A number of factors cause the body to become acidic. Here are some of the most common causes of low pH:

• Stress
• Dehydration
• Obesity
• Aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
• Standard American Diet (SAD)

What can you do to maintain an alkaline pH?

Steps You Can Take

There are several things that you must do to stay healthy and maintain an alkaline body pH. Here are a few steps you can take:

1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat lots of raw foods. Raw foods are alkalizing. Ideally, the diet should consist of 75% or more raw foods. Green drinks can be used, as well.
3. Take a mineral supplement. Minerals are important in maintaining alkalinity because they are used to neutralize acids. Many people are deficient in one or more minerals. Magnesium is especially important in maintaining pH in the optimal range.
4. Add freshly squeezed lemon juice to your water. Surprisingly, citrus fruits are alkalizing in the body.
5. Limit protein intake.
6. Limit the use of pharmaceutical drugs.

Disclaimer: This article is for your information only. It is not intended to take the place of professional medical advice or care. Please consult a qualified physician with your health concerns.

The copyright of the article The Acid/Alkaline Balance and Health in Natural Medicine is owned by Tammie Burak. Permission to republish The Acid/Alkaline Balance and Health in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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May 2, 2009 10:25 PM

Guest :

So true! Below is an excerpt from my book "Your Health = Your pH: How To Reverse Illness & Gain Vitality":
The measurement of pH is logarithmic, such that each step is ten times the previous. In other words, a pH of 4.5 is 10 times more acidic than 5.5, 100 times more acid than 6.5 and 1,000 times more acid than 7.5. Inversely, a pH of 7.0 means there is 10 times more oxygen available to your cells than at a pH of 6.0. Hence, what may be a slight shift on the litmus paper is actually a significant step for your body.
In a healthy person the blood is 7.4, the spinal fluid is 7.4, the lymph is 7.4, and the pH of the saliva upon rising is 6.8 - 7.5. Stomach fluids must remain acidic to digest food and urine is acidic because it contains wastes being removed from the body.
The most critical liquid of the body is the blood which must have a pH of 7.4 so that it can retain its oxygen. The body will do whatever it takes to keep the blood at a constant pH of 7.4 (even a slight variation can result in instant death). The body will take acid-buffering minerals from other areas within it and pull these bases into the bloodstream. The areas where minerals were removed from will eventually experience disease, unless enough minerals are brought in to offset the borrowing. Parallel to this the body will shunt acids out of the blood in order to keep the blood’s pH from being lowered. The location it shunts the acids to will be affected in that these cells will become more acidic and lower in oxygen. This process is to the detriment of the receiving cells, but is not as immediately life-threatening as would be the case if these acids remained in the blood. As this continues, these receiving areas increase in acidity and some cells die. These dead cells turn into acids.
Some cells, however, may adapt by becoming malignant. These malignant cells can grow indefinitely and without order, possibly resulting in cancer. The acids stored in our body can become solid wastes such as fat, cholesterol, kidney stones, and gallstones. Solid wastes build up within our bodies unless we take in the nutrients needed to process these acids out. When tissues containing these stored acid wastes become weak from them, they are less able to fight viral and microbial infections, and a downward spiral can ensue. This is why it’s so crucial to monitor your pH. The ebook this is an excerpt from is available for download at http:www.livelifewellinfo.com

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