More and more healthcare professionals are talking about alkalizing the body to achieve pH balance. This might have you wondering, what exactly is pH and how does this impact my health? This topic makes its way into many of my conversations in clinic on a daily basis because it is paramount in returning the body to a healing state. So here is the skinny.
pH 101
pH is the abbreviation for potential hydrogen. The pH of any solution is the measure of its hydrogen-ion concentration. The higher the pH reading, the more alkaline and oxygen rich the fluid is. The lower the pH reading, the more acidic and oxygen deprived the fluid is. The pH range is from 0 to 14, with 7.0 being neutral. Anything above 7.0 is alkaline, anything below 7.0 is considered acidic.
Human blood stays in a very narrow pH range but generally is slightly alkaline (7.365). When blood pH falls below or above this number symptoms of disease follow. Therefore, the pH in the rest of the body fluctuates in order to keep the blood pH at an optimal level. Measuring our urinary pH helps us to understand the acid burden on our body.
Why is this important?
So many people are trying to uncover the root cause of their FATIGUE and pH is often the culprit. Like most living things on earth, the body does not function correctly if it does not have a balanced pH. An acidic overload will decrease the body’s ability to absorb minerals and other nutrients, decrease energy production in the cells, decrease its ability to repair damaged cells, decrease its ability to detoxify heavy metals, allow tumor cells to thrive, and above all make us more susceptible illness.
What is an optimal pH?
Your pH should fluctuate throughout the day and therefore it is most helpful to test your urine pH 2-3 times in one day. When our urine has a pH that averages below 6.8, it means that fluids elsewhere in the body are too acidic and are being dumped in an effort for the body to become more alkaline. It also means that we have a shortage of alkaline minerals to neutralize the acids that our bodies produce.
How Can You Improve your pH?
For a state, what you eat and drink can have a big impact on your pH levels based on their mineral content. Foods that have an abundance of the alkaline minerals will raise pH levels, while those that do not will lower it. Coffee, alcohol, sugar, drugs, refined foods, and meat all promote acidity. Fruits and vegetables contain organic acids, which become carbon dioxide and water when oxidized in the body. Their alkaline minerals remain in the blood to neutralize acids.
Live Blood Cell Analysis (aka Nutritional Microscopy) is one tool that I use to help understand the effects my patient’s pH on their cellular health. With some guidance on eating an alkaline diet along with weekly pH testing it is amazing to see how many patients overall health can drastically improve.
Andrea Hauser, Homeopath and Nutritional Microscopist
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