Many books on the market discuss the importance of alkalizing the body. Their central premise is that the body’s healthy state is an alkaline one; that disease stems from an acid (acidosis) state; and that nutrition is a key factor in whether you are acid or alkaline. We agree with this premise. The diet of the average American is very poor and includes few, if any, alkalizing foods. One of the most popular drinks in the world, soda, is also one of the most acidic—2.5 pH for colas.
What exactly is pH? It stands for “potential hydrogen.” Hydrogen ions are beneficial to the body. A low pH means your body has a low ability to attract hydrogen ions, while a high pH means the opposite. When those ions are in balance, your body is in a state of optimum health. (Note: There are technical differences between pH and alkalinity, but they are important primarily for agricultural and industrial use and do not have any practical application for the human body, so we won’t get into them here.)
If you want to explore this issue and how it affects your health, you first need to find out if you are acidic. The most reliable way to determine your body’s pH is through specialized blood testing. (Blood pH, according to experts, should be 7.35-7.45, with the ideal being 7.365.) However, this method is too expensive for most people, and not many health practitioners are familiar with the techniques. Therefore, measuring saliva or urine is the next best method. There are two ways to do this: using a pH meter or using pH paper.
pH paper can be used for either saliva or urine. For saliva, simply tear a small amount off the roll and place it on your tongue; it will change color. (Some people prefer to spit into a spoon or small glass and then dip the paper; this is to avoid touching the tongue to the paper, which is made with chemicals.) Then look at the color chart that is included with the paper; each color is associated with a number that tells you the pH.
For urine, urinate into a glass (you need only a small amount for measuring purposes) and then dip the paper into the urine. You can also measure water or any liquid by dipping the paper. Make sure to remove the paper from the liquid quickly; if it remains in the liquid for too long, the colors will begin to run together.
The best time to measure your pH is in the morning, before you have eaten.
The typical pH paper sold for consumer use measures in increments of .5 or 1. The paper that measures in whole increments (e.g., 5, 6) is less expensive but not as accurate as paper that measures in half increments (e.g., 5.5, 6.0).
pH meters provide the most accuracy. They can be used for urine and other liquids but not for saliva, because not enough saliva can be generated to cover the tip of the meter’s electrode. Urinate into a glass (you’ll need about an ounce), turn on the meter and place it into the glass. The meter gives a digital reading in very small increments such as .01 (e.g., 7.11, 7.12); specifics depend on the model.
What is the ideal pH? The pH scale goes from 0 to 14. According to some books on the subject, 7 is considered neutral on the pH scale when measuring saliva or urine. Any measurement lower than 7 is acidic, while any measurement higher than 7 is alkaline. Other books say that a reading as low as 6.5 is acceptable, particularly for urine, which is acidic by nature. The pH should not exceed 7.5, which is considered too alkaline.
If you test acidic, what can you do? Nutrition experts have addressed this issue by developing diets that teach people how to alkalize the body with food. Green vegetables, for instance, are very alkaline and many of the recipes revolve around them. There are also some foods that are acidic on their own—lemons, for instance—but when ingested, they actually have an alkalizing effect on the body. These protocols are discussed in the books that have been written on this topic.
Another popular method is to drink alkaline water. Special machines called water alkalizers (also water ionizers or microwater systems) make alkaline water that has a very high pH, starting at about 9 and going as high as 11 depending on the source water. These machines are effective but expensive. A less costly way is to use pH drops in your drinking water. These drops produce a chemical reaction inside your body that helps create an alkaline environment.
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More completely…
Yes, many of us who have meat and grains in our diets tend to be acidic…and some argue that cancer tends to thrive in an acid environment–so your doctor is correct.
Sodium bicarbonate supplies bicarbonate ions…and the body’s main system for pH maintenance is the bicarbonate one, so it sounds like we’re on the right track. On the other hand, it also supplies Sodium ions, and many of us are also wanting to increase Potassium and lower the Sodium level (having to do with cardiovascular health), so we may be working at cross-purposes here, by resorting to Sodium Bicarb (baking soda). Kinda too bad, as this substance is so darn cheap!! I have seen it as inexpensive as two boxes for a dollar!!
You can add some Potassium Bitartrate (an excellent source of potassium) to the Sodium Bicarb to help balance this out, but then THIS substance is pretty acidic, so we’re fighting ourselves again. The best solution is to eat a LOT of vegetables, or do juicing. And, one may use Potassium Bicarbonate, but this substance is much harder to find, than the Sodium Bicarbonate. And, you may have to do some searching. Hope this helps. ; )
Rather than “pH drops”, what about adding baking soda to water, same effect. Is that ok?
Yes, baking soda does have an alkalizing effect on the body. I should add that to the article; thanks for pointing it out. Also check out phmiracle.com, Robert Young’s site, for advice on other alkalizing foods.
Another way would to find a water system that produces high alkaline water. there are many ph levels ranging from 9.5 to 2.5 ph that are produced by these machines.
Change your water and change your life!
This is good, but also adds sodium, and most of us want to lower sodium levels and raise potassium levels, so this may not be an ideal solution.