pH — Your Potential Health

If you remember back to your high school chemistry, you know that “pH” stands for “potential of hydrogen”. The scale of pH ranges from 0.00 which is completely acid to 14.00 which is completely alkaline. Distilled water which is neutral, has a pH of 7.0. If you add alkalizing minerals such as sodium, calcium or potassium to an acid solution, those minerals buffer the acid. Or, you can make an alkaline solution more acid by adding acid-producing substances.

With the exception of stomach fluids which should be very acid (around 2.0), all of your body fluids need to be either slightly alkaline or slightly acid, either slightly above or slightly below 7.00. For example, the blood needs to stay at a pH of 7.35 to 7.45, and a slight deviation either way means death. In practical terms, this means that if you are not taking in enough available calcium, the body will rob calcium from the bones to buffer the blood and keep it from becoming too acid. Obviously, the body places a higher priority on keeping your heart beating than on keeping your bones strong. So by eating a highly acid diet (meats, grains, dairy, coffee, pop, etc.) you are setting yourself up for arthritis and osteoporosis.

Alkalizing minerals come from fresh fruits and vegetables, and from chelated (bioavailable) minerals in supplements. Cucumbers, celery and zucchini are great sources of organic sodium, and broccoli contains lots of calcium. Even the “acid” fruits like oranges and lemons leave an alkaline ash residue in the body, and contribute to the alkaline reserve of the body.

You should eat vegetables every day, and if you are currently following the “standard” American diet of burgers, fries, pasta, chicken etc., you should start getting healthier by adding one piece of fruit and one serving of vegetables a day. Aim for the ideal of 75% fruits and veggies in your daily diet. Don’t try for “instant health” by switching abruptly to salads and veggies — I guarantee you won’t like the results.

Interestingly, even the stomach needs to be bathed in an alkaline medium to operate properly. If you ever have heartburn or indigestion, it means you have too little stomach acid, not too much. Take a teaspoon of diluted organic apple cider vinegar and you will feel better quickly.

Symptoms of improper digestion of food caused by insufficient stomach acid include diarrhea, constipation, food allergies, depression, etc.

You can determine the pH of your body by testing your morning saliva or urine. If you are truly healthy, both saliva and urine should test about 7.0 first thing in the morning after at least five hours of sleep. Even if you currently feel good, if your morning urine is as low as 5.0, or as high as 8.0, you need to seriously address your diet because your body has gone into emergency mode with adaptations that eventually lead to serious disease like osteoporosis, emphysema or even cancer. The pH paper needs to be in the range 5.5 to 8.0 with indications in 0.2 increments. learn all about it from Dr. Morter’s book “Your Health Your Choice.” 

Your health really is your choice, and pH testing is a valuable tool to guide you to wellness.

Referenced Items (Click images for more information)
Organic Apple Cider Vinegar	Wachters’ Elemental Greens	pH Test Paper 5.5-8.0	Your Health Your Choice