Unfortunately, the modern diet and lifestyle can cause your body to become too acidic, which increases your risk of inflammation, cancer, and disease.
Why pH is Important
pH is the acronym for “power of hydrogen”; it measures the amount of activity of hydrogen in a solution (1). One hydrogen atom is positively charged; when combined with one oxygen atom, they become a hydroxyl molecule that is negatively charged (2). Rated on a scale of 14, pH is measured at 0 as the most acidic (higher hydrogen concentration) and 14 is the most alkaline (higher hydroxyl concentration).
Water (H2O) has a neutral pH of 7 (the extra positive atom of hydrogen offsets the negative hydroxyl). It’s important in the context of body chemistry because living organisms depend on hydrogen and oxygen. Any condition other than the proper balance between acids and bases will adversely affect every bodily process.
Acids break up other chemical bonds. That’s why your stomach secretes acids: to break down food. If the environment in your body is chronically acidic, molecules will break up and change shape. Abnormal cells can then accumulate and contribute towards cancer.
What is Acidosis?
Your body’s optimal average pH is slightly alkaline at 7.4-7.5. However, each system has different pH values. For example, healthy blood has a value between 7.35 and 7.45, stomach acid has a value of 1.5 to 3.5, and the intestines fluctuate from 5.7 to 7.4 (3,4,5).
Checks and balances to regulate pH occur every second of every day. Acidosis is a condition in which the pH balance in your body is chronically acidic (below 7 pH). This can translate to blood, respiratory, and/or metabolic acidosis.
According to Web MD “Metabolic acidosis happens when the chemical balance of acids and bases in your blood gets thrown off.”(6)
Causes include:
Build-up of acid from the metabolism of fat as a result of not enough insulin (diabetic ketoacidosis)
Drugs and acidic substances, such as alcohol and aspirin
Build-up of lactic acid as a result of overexercising, shock, infection, and drops in blood pressure
Loss of chemical bases (e.g., bicarbonate) through the digestive tract due to diarrhea or an ileostomy
Severe kidney disease
Kidney malfunction (7)
Respiratory acidosis can occur when the lungs don’t expel enough carbon dioxide when you exhale (8).
Causes include:
Lung disorders, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis), severe asthma, pneumonia, or pulmonary edema
Sleep-disordered breathing (e.g., sleep apnea)
Disorders of the nerves or muscles of the chest that impair breathing, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
Overdose of drugs such as alcohol, opioids, and strong sedatives (these slow breathing and reduce oxygen intake)
Severe obesity
Scoliosis
Symptoms of Acidosis
Acidosis won’t necessarily cause pain, which is an obvious indicator of illness, so it’s helpful to know how acidosis may show itself.
Symptoms include:
Nausea and vomiting
Headache
Drowsiness
anxiety
blurred vision
confusion
sleepiness or fatigue
lethargy
delirium or confusion
shortness of breath
coma
Obesity, slow metabolism, and inability to lose weight
Chronic inflammation
Hypertension
Diabetes
Bladder and kidney conditions, including kidney stones
Weakened immunity
Weakened bones: osteoporosis, fractures, and bone spurs
Joint and muscle pain
Low energy and chronic fatigue
Mood swings
Slow digestion and elimination
Acidosis and Cancer
Acidosis is associated with the eventual development of cancer. Keiichi Morishita, MD published a book in 1976 entitled Hidden Truth of Cancer. In it, Dr. Morishita explains the link between an acidic pH environment and cancer:
“Medical science believes that cancer is incurable (another name for death). A diagnosis of cancer means a death sentence. This is nothing but a proof of the incompetence of modern medicine. However, cancer is not such an incurable, deadly disease.
“Modern scientists tend to consider only the factors existing outside of and neglect the factors existing within our body. The most important determinant of such factors within is our food. Modern industrialized and commercialized foods contain many poisons or carcinogens…Even drugs sometimes cause cancer. For example, nitrogen mustard has been used as an anti-cancer drug but it has also had the effect of causing cancer.
“Generally speaking, the cause of cancer rests in the culmination of living conditions which have produced ill effects to the body cells. From the point of view of the cell, the cause of cancer is the malfunction of the respiratory system within the cells which results in the cell metabolism depending upon its fermenting oxidation. All living conditions which produce such a cell metabolism should be considered as the cause of cancer. Synthetic chemicals, radiations and acidification of the blood weaken the constitution of the body, and are a few of the factors which make up such living conditions. Therefore, the cure of cancer is the elimination or correction of such living conditions.” (9)
How to Test Your pH
You don’t have to go to a doctor or clinic to test your pH.
Simple litmus strips or sticks can be purchased at your local drugstore, online, or you can make your own.
You can test saliva and/or urine; pH will differ between the two but both will give you a fairly clear picture of what’s going on inside your body.
Urine reflects acid levels after foods have passed through the liver and kidneys, so is an indication as to how well your digestive system is working and the acid level of your blood.
Consistent average pH will let you know if you’re internally acidic or alkaline and you can adjust your diet accordingly.
Urine pH Test
Urinate into a clean glass jar for your first and second urinations of the day. Test each by dipping a pH test strip into the urine and noting the color (a color chart that indicates the pH level will be included in the box of test strips).
Test your urine before going to bed. You may also test once during the day.
Normal urine pH is between 6.0 and 6.5 in the morning and 6.5-7.0 at night.
Saliva pH Test
Do your first test first thing in the morning. Don’t brush your teeth for at least 30 minutes prior to the test. Swallow a few times to clear the mouth and stimulate new saliva.
Either drop some saliva into a spoon and wet the test strip from the spoon or spit directly onto the strip (don’t touch the pH paper with your tongue).
Compare the color of the wet pH paper with the color chart provided with the test.
Test again in the afternoon and before bed; make sure you don’t eat within 2 hours before performing the pH test.
Saliva is more acidic than blood. If your saliva stays between 6.8 and 7.2 pH all day, your body is functioning within a healthy range. The optimal pH for saliva is above 7.
Perform a pH test once or twice a week and keep a log of your pH at different times of day over the course of several weeks to get a clear picture of your pH profile.
After eating, saliva pH should rise to 7.8 or higher. If not, the body may have alkaline mineral deficiencies (primarily calcium and magnesium).
It is possible to have a body environment that is too alkaline, called alkalosis. This is much less common than acidosis and is rarely a chronic condition. Alkalosis poses much less of a health threat than its opposite. Alkalosis can be caused by anxiety, fever, aspirin overdose, pain, and low oxygen levels in the blood (often caused by hyperventilation). (3)
Source: http://womandailytips.com
