Your body needs to be slightly alkaline to be at its healthiest. Your cells, the chemical reactions inside them, your beneficial bacteria in your gut and your immune system all work better in a slightly alkaline environment. An acid body means your systems do not work as efficiently as they should.
It is a scientifically proven fact that when your body pH levels become too acidic (a condition known as acidosis), you are much more susceptible to many diseases:
- Obesity, slow metabolism and inability to lose weight
- Chronic inflammation
- High blood pressure
- Weight gain, obesity and diabetes
- Bladder and kidney conditions, including kidney stones
- Weakened immunity
- Premature aging
- Osteoporosis, weak or brittle bones, fractures and bone spurs.
- Joint pain, aching muscles and lactic-acid buildup
- Low energy and chronic fatigue
- Mood swings
- Slow digestion and elimination
- Yeast/fungal overgrowth
“Drugs, medications and toxic chemicals have the effect of lowering the pH of the body, that is the reason why there are side effects to drugs and none of them effect a cure. When body pH drops below 6.4, enzymes are deactivated, digestion does not work properly, vitamins, minerals and food supplements cannot effectively assimilate. Acid decreases energy production in the cells, the ability to repair damaged cells, the ability to detoxify heavy metals, and makes the body more susceptible to fatigue and illness. Your body pH affects everything. Research has proven that disease cannot survive in an alkaline state, and that, viruses, bacteria, yeast, mold, fungus, candida and cancer cells thrive in an acidic, low oxygen, low pH environment. An acidic pH can result from an acid forming diet, emotional stress, toxic overload, and immune reactions or any process that deprives the cells of oxygen and other nutrients. The body will try to compensate for acid by utilizing alkaline mineral reserves, like sodium from the stomach, and calcium from the bones. This is a primary cause of osteoporosis and a number of other diseases. If there are not enough minerals in the diet to compensate, acid build-up in the cells will occur, resulting in symptoms like pain, arthritis, fibromyalgia, MS, and lupus. Cancer is not compatible in a healthy pH environment full of oxygen. For example, cancer of the heart doesn’t exist. This is because blood flowing from the lungs into the heart are at the highest pH and oxygen levels within the entire body. As the blood travels through the lungs, acidic toxins are thrown out of the system leaving it rich with oxygen and a high blood pH. In the absence of oxygen, glucose undergoes fermentation to lactic acid. This causes the pH of the cell to drop even lower. Urine and saliva pH of terminal cancer patients almost always runs between 4.0 and 5.5. When the cancer goes into metastases the pH drops even lower.
“In 1964, only 1 person in 214 contracted cancer. Today it is 1 in 3 females and 1 in 2 males. The determining factor between health and disease is pH. It is not uncommon for the average American to test between 4 pH and 5 pH.” – Keiichi Morishita, Hidden Truth of Cancer
How To Check Your pH Balance
The good news is that you can easily test your pH levels at home. Just pick up a pack of pH test strips here.
You can test your pH levels often throughout the day, but try to do so at the same time each morning, as your body will be more acidic the earlier you measure. The goal is to get your morning urine pH between 6.5 and 7.5.
For saliva, your pH should be similar to your urine. Wait at least two hours after eating to measure your saliva pH. Fill your mouth with saliva and then swallow it. Repeat this step again to ensure your spit is clean, and then place some saliva on the pH strip.
If you’re not ready to completely overhaul your diet, that’s OK. Aim for about a 70-30 ratio of alkaline to acid foods. In addition to the foods you eat, know that stress can also affect your pH levels. Practice deep breathing, eat your veggies and drink plenty of water to lighten your acidic load.
Source: Living Traditionally
