THE pH FACTOR - Acid Alkaline Balance
pH Balance informationby Lynn Hinderliter CN, LDN |
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The human body contains up to 60% water overall:
the brain is 70% water; the blood, 82% and the lungs almost 90%. We
are an inland sea, and a
blight can descend on our bodies if the acid /alkaline balance
of this "water of life" is not maintained, just as the
acid in rain is blighting some of the forests of the world..
All of the cells of our
body are washed by the liquid medium of that sea, which allows
nutrients to be transported from place to place, and laves away the
toxins our cells discharge.
When pH is imbalanced, the system breaks down - if
the body's
pH deviates too far to the acidic or too far to the alkaline
side, cells can become poisoned by their own toxic waste and die.
Like the Buddhist concepts of Yin
and Yang, our bodies are designed to operate in an alkaline state,
yet we need certain acids to function.
An acid alkaline imbalance can be a factor in:
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cardiovascular
problems related to cellular energy
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lowered immune system function
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excess mucous
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dysbiosis
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aches and pains, inflammation
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premature ageing because of cellular inefficiency
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irritability,
anxiety and depression
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formation of any
kind of stones, kidney, bladder or gallbladder
Many chronic disease
states are accompanied by an acid body condition :
cardiovascular problems such as high blood pressure, high
cholesterol, arteriosclerosis and stroke; many cancers; diabetes;
many autoimmune diseases; osteoporosis, indigestion, bowel
imbalances and dysbiosis; much inflammation, such as of the
joints and the bladder..
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I feel that if the correct acid
alkaline balance
were always maintained,
disease would never get a
foothold; I also feel that until the imbalance is corrected, health
will not fully return.
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I consider pH acid alkaline balance the first signpost on the
road to determine whether the body is in a state of health or not,
and with knowledge and determination, one which it is within our
power to correct.
Water is considered neutral at a ph of 7. Anything
under that is increasingly acid, anything over - increasingly
alkaline. The human body operates optimally at a pH that varies from
6.8 to 7.5, depending on the time of day: pH tends to peak at 6
o'clock in the evening, and at noon, with the lowest point coming at
6 o'clock in the morning. These readings represent homeostasis, or
balance. When the pH is operating within these normal parameters,
cells can take up nutrients as and when needed, depending only on
availability, and can discharge wastes efficiently.
Calcium in
particular is dependent on the correct pH for absorption. In
fact, when the body is acidic, it will withdraw calcium from the
bones in an attempt to provide the alkalinizing minerals necessary
to correct balance. Counter-intuitively, when stomach acid is
lowered, the body pH becomes more acidic. It is frightening to
consider
how anti-acids may be affecting the health of masses of unaware
victims.
Here is an excellent
definition from
Health Freedom Resources :
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The cells of the body in health are
alkaline, but in disease states the cell pH is below 7.0. The more acid the
cells become, the sicker we are and feel. The cells won't die until
their pH gets to about 3.5. Our bodies produce acid as a by-product
of normal metabolism. This is the result of our bodies burning or
using alkaline to remain alive. Since our bodies do not manufacture
alkaline, we must supply the alkaline from an outside source to keep
us from becoming acid and dying.
Food is the means of
replenishing the alkaline to the body. The main determining factor
of alkaline is the organic minerals. One can equate organic minerals
with alkaline for better understanding. Foods are of two types, acid
or alkaline. This refers to the ash value of a food. (Meaning the
type of residue that remains after the food is digested and
processed). Is it acid, or is it alkaline? If there is an acid
residue (inorganic acids), the body must neutralize this acid to
keep the blood from getting acid. The acid is neutralized with
alkaline.
Ideally there is adequate
alkaline in the diet to do this. However, if there is not, the body
must extract alkaline from its cells to neutralize the acid. This,
of course, causes the cells to become acid, and thus diseased.
Because our bodies are an alkaline entity, in order to maintain
health, the majority of our diet must consist of alkaline ash foods.
We can remain in health by
consuming a diet that is 70-80% alkaline and 20-30% acid. The more
alkaline the better. If we become too alkaline by eating a majority
of alkaline foods, we will lose our appetite and automatically want
to fast, during which time the normal acid metabolic by-products
will return the body's pH back to normal. It is interesting to note
that some foods which qualify as a real food have an acid ash
reaction. This is probably nature's way of keeping a balance so that
the real food consumer does not become too alkaline. Also note that
the acid content of these acid ash real foods is very low and they
still contain valuable nutrients which can be utilized by the body.
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You can buy
strips to
measure pH at some health food stores. You can also order them
directly from us. You can measure either urinary or saliva pH.
Urinary pH should fall around 6.5, lower is acidic; salivary pH
should be measured at least 2 hours away from a meal, and is healthy
at 7.4, acidic below that.
Monitoring your pH with urine: hold the
strip in the stream of your first morning urination. The first
reading will give you an idea of how the acids in your body are
accumulating overnight. Some experts suggest the second
urination of the morning is more accurate, but I feel it is
important to know whether you are maintaining neutral pH for what
is, after all, half your day. Repeating the reading before
your noon meal
will complete the picture.
You can also determine your pH levels by testing saliva:
do not do this first thing in the morning: the oral bacteria
present at that time can skew your reading to acidic. Wait
until after you have brushed your teeth and rinsed your mouth well
with water. Then, hold the strip against your tongue
well-moistened with saliva.
Diet determines whether we tend towards the acid or the alkaline
and the
average U.S. diet might almost be designed to cause us to err!
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Proteins (pork, beef, chicken, ham, turkey etc.)
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grains
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coffee
and tea
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eggs
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beer, wine and pops
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most breads, spaghettis and
pastas
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refined rice
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chocolate
all promote an acid state in our
body fluids. Dairy foods, potatoes and onions are mostly neutral,
and fruits, vegetables, beans and soy are on the alkaline side.
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Occasionally I am contacted
by confused clients who have found conflicting information
from different experts concerning the pH of a food: I
received this EXCELLENT clarification from another of my
contacts, who like me is a long-time student of this health element:
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"There is a lot of double
talk by so-called experts. In some cases, the references are
just the opposite of what they should be - I found that the
reason apparently is that some experts are referring to the
acid/alkalinity of food BEFORE these foods are eaten. There
is a chemical change in the body which converts the (e.g.)
acidity to alkalinity AFTER ingestion of the food. This
should take out a lot of confusion about the chemical
formation of the different foods.
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There are some "superfoods" that
are natural buffers that I use and recommend frequently. A natural
buffer is a substance that counteracts the acid state of the body,
and chief among them are concentrated green foods like
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barley grass
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spirulina
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Chlorella
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and some wonderful combinations of dried
vegetables, sea vegetables
and cereal grasses.
As a side note, I
often have people tell me that their arthritis has been helped by
taking a green food, and this is part of the reason why: people with
arthritis are almost without exception highly acidic, which is a
pro-inflammatory state. All concentrated green foods are
helpful in alkalinizing pH.
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Chronic acidosis also
affects the function of the liver, causing congestion:
when
the liver is not functioning properly, inflammation can result:
correcting this condition will also be of benefit in
arthritis.
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The other buffers I use and
recommend most frequently because they are healthful in many other
ways also, are
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Stress almost immediately
causes acidic conditions in the body. For more about the
effect of stress on our health, read my article on
Stress and the Adrenal Glands.
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In
my article on digestion, you will find
information about Hydrochloric acid and digestive health. Since
stomach acid is a significant factor in maintaining pH balance,
and is affected by stress, you will find that interesting too.
I find it vexing that some Doctors are still recommending Tums as
a source of Calcium for their patients: it is a truly ironic
recommendation, since Tums is designed to suppress stomach acid, and
calcium is very poorly absorbed unless sufficient stomach acid is
present. Sufficient HCL in the stomach, and a proper acid environment there,
are
also essential for keeping the body in proper pH balance.
Lack
of acid in the stomach is not only the first obstacle in the
absorption of calcium and other important nutrients, but often leads
to an acidic condition in the
body, which in turn leads to the withdrawal of minerals from the
bones; making alkalinizing minerals available is the defensive
reaction of the body to correct and neutralize the problem.
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Incorrect breathing can
contribute to an acid pH |
Shallow, slow breathing means a higher
concentration of carbon monoxide in your blood, which can be a
factor in your body's overall pH. Make a point each day of
taking a few minutes to practice a regimen of long, deep breaths,
involving your entire chest and testing your lung capacity to its
extremes.
When many people give breathing some
thought, they realize that most of their lives, they have been
either holding their breath, or breathing very shallowly. Breathing
deeply helps to calm, which of course is why we say to someone who
is distressed - "Now, take a DEEP breath". Obviously, there is
also a breath/stress connection!
Correct Breathing
At the moment there are no studies
that support the importance of acid alkaline pH balance to health, and
there are even some respected nutritional authorities that do not
agree - Dr. Andrew Weil among them, who
comments negatively here. However, in another place he
emphasizes the importance of keeping the urine alkaline for urinary
tract infections, and I wonder whether perhaps there is some
confusion between blood pH ( which is regulated by the body) and
urinary and salivary pH, which are at the mercy of the diet. If the
pH of the mouth affects caries, and the pH of the bladder affects
infections - then I submit that all places in between are also
affected by an imbalance.
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Interestingly, scientists are
now determining that the pH of our actual oceans is changing,
with a concomitant effect on the health of the denizens of the
sea.
More in RESOURCES
at right.
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about pH acid alkaline, human body ph |
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