The Importance of Acid/Alkaline Balance

​Having a balanced pH is good for your health.  Disease thrives in an overly acidic or overly alkaline body. The ideal state of the body fluids is slightly alkaline. Unfortunately, most Americans have slightly acidic environment in their body.  

​This is from an excess of carbon dioxide and carbonic acid, which accumulates in the blood due to:

• Eating an acid-forming diet
• Stress
• Toxins
• Other immune system reactions & metabolic regulations that create acid by-products

The blood needs to maintain a pH range of between 7.35 and 7.45 at all times.  If not, it would be a dire medical emergency.  A difference of 1/10 of a point outside the normal range can reduce enzyme activity 10-fold! 

The body works hard to maintain this acid-alkaline balance, and it is regulated by using mineral stores from the bloodstream and lymphatic fluids.  The minerals buffer the acids. The urine pH is ideally a neutral 7.0, which means there are enough minerals present to buffer (alkalize) the acids. However, if the mineral stores from the bloodstream and fluids are all used up, the body must pull them from your tissues, organs and glands, and then the bones.  A pH lower than 7.0 indicates an acidic environment.
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What happens in acidic body?

• Your cells react to an acidic environment by becoming sluggish; wastes build up, toxins aren't excreted, and nutrients aren't utilized. 
• Unhealthy, acidic, toxic, weak cells lead to a sick body and organs.  Acidity has been linked to arthritis, mental problems, asthma, allergies, constipation, diarrhea, kidney and liver problems, fatigue, and many chronic diseases.
• If the minerals "borrowed" from bones aren't replenished, long-term effects could be osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.
• Bacteria, fungi, and parasites flourish in an acidic environment, yet cannot thrive in a neutral environment.

"Metabolic acidosis underlies chronic disease and makes people more likely to be resistant to treatment and to feel helpless and hopeless."   -- Russel Jaffe, MD

​Alakalize the Body to Balance pH

​All foods have a pH factor, which measures the energy potential of the hydrogen ions in the food. Acidic foods contain more hydrogen ions.  To determine whether foods are acidic, neutral, or alkaline, they are analyzed according to the effect it has on the cellular and metabolic processes of your body, not according to the food's qualities. For example, a lemon may seem acidic, but it is actually alkalizing to the body once ingested.
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​1. Eat alkalizing foods! 

To determine whether foods are acidic, neutral, or alkaline, they are analyzed according to the effect it has on the cellular and metabolic processes of your body, not according to the food's qualities. For example, a lemon may seem acidic, but it is actually alkalizing to the body.

Alkaline-forming foods: are (most) fruits, vegetables, herbs, sprouts, fresh juices, and green powders. Plus, mineral water, sea salt, and apple cider vinegar. (Find the top-of-the line Amazing Grass Raw Reserve Green Superfood Powder here.)

Acid-forming foods: are meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, nuts, seeds, beans, and legumes. All junk foods are acid forming: Sugar and all refined foods are acid forming.  Fried foods, refined flours, foods with pesticides, GMO's, trans-fats, artificial sweeteners, alcohol, and colas, are all acid forming.

Neutral foods: are whole grains, starchy vegetables, and sea vegetables.

PRINT the acid/alkaline chart

​2. Eat mineral rich foods and mineral water!

Alkaline-forming foods: are rich in the minerals magnesium, calcium, potassium, and sodium.  These neutralize the excess dietary or metabolic acids.  Real, whole foods, including fruits and vegetables, are nice sources of minerals.

Acid-forming foods: contain chloride, phosphorous, and sulfur.  The body can handle and does need these in moderate amounts, but they must be naturalized before the body can dispose of them.

​Concentrace Trace Mineral Drops 
The average person probably needs more mineral reserves (especially if eating a Standard American Diet). Even though I eat healthy myself, to be certain I get in my minerals, I take mineral drops almost every day.  I just add a dash to a glass of water or to my vegetable smoothies (which are also alkalizing). 

​3. Reevaluate any unhealthy lifestyle factors!

• Stress is very acidic to the body.  Habits of anger, frustration, controlling, judging, etc. are all detrimental to health.  In contrast, loving, energetic, peaceful emotions are alkalizing!
• Get more sleep and get some exercise, they too are alkalizing.
• Try deep breathing or meditation.  Read my post: Chronic Stress, Your Health, and Simple Ways to Lower Stress.

Give yourself the gift of Inner Balance.  It's a cool electronic gadget that works by allowing you to train yourself into coherence, meaning you are in a state of internal synchronization between the heart, breath, and the mind. 

It's basically a modern, high-tech form of meditation with all its benefits. Guys, especially, think it's super cool (girls do, too)! 

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​4. Do more research!

• Read my next post about acid/alkaline balance: ​What's pH got to do with it?  The Connection to Disease & Cancer.

• ​​Read the Book! ​​The Ultimate pH Solution: Balance Your Body Chemistry to Prevent Disease and Lose Weight, By Michelle Schoffro Cook

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In summary, try changing your diet by adding in more alkaline foods and decreasing your acidic foods and habits.  See if your health changes! 
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Many nutrition consultants have great results with their clients by just balancing their pH.  Eating more fresh fruits and veggies, getting more sleep, and lowering your stress is good for everyone!!!

While changing the body’s pH to an alkaline state is not a guarantee against disease, it does give the body a chance to function optimally, eliminate toxins, and heal itself.

BALANCE IS ALWAYS THE GOAL!

pH Testing at Home

If you're curious about your pH, you can easily test in first thing every morning. My friend Christa's awesome website, The Whole Journey, has provided the instructions below for pH Testing at home, via either saliva, urine, or both.  You can find pH strips and many health stores, pharmacies, or HERE on Amazon.

It is recommended that you log your pH for a week.  Write down your #'s every day and look for trends.

For Saliva:
Upon waking, test your saliva with the pH paper. Wet the end of a pH test strip with your saliva before brushing your teeth, drinking, or eating. Note the color change, and write down the corresponding pH number on your paper. The pH should fall between 6.8 and 7.2. The lower the number (yellow), the more acidic you are. The higher the number (green), the more alkaline you are.

1st daily Urine:
After testing your saliva, test your first urine of the morning between 5-8 a.m., even if you go back to bed. This is urine that has been stored in your bladder during the night and is ready to be eliminated when you get up. Urinate on a clean strip of the pH paper, note the color change, and write down the corresponding pH number. If your body has efficiently eliminated excess acid during the first four hours of sleep, this reading should be more acidic than your second reading. This number, compared with the second urine reading, will let you know if your body is doing efficient, clean-up work during sleep to remove acid from the joints.

2nd daily Urine:
Next, test your second morning urine (before eating if at all possible). This number should be the pH of your second urine after you have eliminated the acid load from the day before (first urine). The acids should be gone the second time you go to the bathroom, so your urine pH should ideally read from around 6.8 to 7.2. This second reading is very important because it indicates what your body chemistry is like during the day.

​SOURCES:

• Acid/alkaline Info source: book by Elizabeth Lipski, PhD: Digestive Wellness: Strengthen the Immune System and Prevent Disease Through Healthy Digestion
• Additional source: Hawthorn University lecture
• Acidifying/Alkalizing food & mood chart: http://www.drhenele.com/energetic-health/
• pH testing method: The Whole Journey

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