Nutritional Consulting

Some studies have shown cancer and some other degenerative diseases are affected by a too-acid mantle, so raising pH to normal levels is desirable. Oxygen is absorbed more efficiently by the cells when the body is tending alkaline, however, alkalosis can be a problem just like acidosis although it is less common. One problem with tending toward acidosis is that the body will maintain blood pH in a narrow range at all costs. When it tends acid, calcium and other minerals are removed from the bones or organs to bring the pH up, and this can cause mineral deficiencies which can affect cellular respiration and nutrition, immune function, and contribute to mineral deposit formation. When it is too base, the kidneys merely excrete the extra minerals, which is no problem (unless there are renal problems.) This is one reason acidosis is much more common than alkalosis. The other reason is most people do not eat enough fruit and vegetables to compensate for all the grains and meats they consume.

There is a simple way to test the body’s pH by using nitrazine paper strips for a few mornings and see what the average pH is. It is usually used for urine, but will work with saliva, too. The ideal pH is around 6.0-6.5 for morning urine. Nitrazine is pH paper that gives an indication of the actual pH rather than litmus paper, which only tells greater or less than 7.0. www.pHion.com is a great place to order pH strips.

If the urine is too acid, the easiest solution is to use a mineral supplement, especially at night. We carry pH drops to help alkalize the body.

Base form minerals like carbonates are not well absorbed by the body so even though the urine is basic, the body in general may not be. When taken with adequate magnesium, calcium carbonate or bicarbonates tend not to form stones or deposits as may be the case of supplementing just calcium carbonate, but it is not the best form to take regardless. Making the urine too base also makes it more likely to suffer a urinary tract infection. The Tri-Salts should really only be used when an immediate reaction is needed, or there is acid indigestion. The best calcium/magnesiums are chelated or combined with citrate to make the pH more neutral to the digestive tract, and since they are better absorbed, work better outside the digestive tract.

As far as adjusting the body pH up through dietary means, the best solution is to eat more fruits and vegetables and less grains, dairy, sugar, and meats. The pH tendency of foods is not based on their acid content or taste, but on the mineral content. For example, lemons make the body alkaline and most bread makes it acidic.

Base minerals (cal, mag, potassium, sodium) balance out acid minerals (sulfur, phosphorous, chlorine). Balance is best – don’t try to overcompensate by eating only base fruits and vegetables since phosphorous, sulfur, and chlorine are also important to the body.

Phosphorous is contained in proteins and most grains. Proteins almost always also contain sulfur and little magnesium or calcium, so they are acid-forming foods. Some fish is less acid forming since they contain a decent amount of potassium (and maybe some calcium and magnesium) to balance out the acid minerals but most are quite acid forming. Most whole grains are not too bad (for this aspect) since they have a little calcium and some magnesium (in the hull) but refined flour, with the hull removed, is acid forming since most of the magnesium has been removed and there is nothing to balance all the phosphorous in the germ. Some nuts have a decent ratio of calcium/magnesium to phosphorous/sulfur, but they are almost all acid-forming except for almonds, with their high calcium and good magnesium content. Dairy products have calcium and potassium to balance the phosphorous and sulfur, so are not that bad in the acid forming respect (but take magnesium with the calcium). Rice and soy milk don’t have calcium or magnesium or quite enough potassium to balance all the phosphorous unless they are calcium enriched, like Edensoy Extra. Fruits and vegetables usually lack the acid components, and can have a good amount of potassium and sodium and a few are good sources of calcium, so are generally base-forming. High content sulfur vegetables like cabbage, onions, and garlic are less base-forming.

The following is an article posted by Richard Loyd that stresses the importance of balance.

The pH Problem

It is thought by many that everyone has a never ending problem with acidity in their systems and that this is the main cause of disease. We must continually combat this problem by eating an “alkaline ash” diet, we are told. It is also thought by many that the urine pH is an accurate indicator of the pH of body fluids.

Alas, the situation is a bit more complicated than that. Those of us who do metabolic balancing are aware that many of our sickest people have body fluids that are very alkaline, and that respiratory rate and breath holding ability are key indicators of the pH of body fluids. A person with an acid imbalance will generally have a resting respiratory rate of 19 or more and if they take a deep breath will only be able to hold it for 40 seconds or less. Why? Because carbon dioxide is used by the body to regulate pH. If the body is acid, the brain tells the body to breathe faster to get rid of the acidic carbon dioxide. The same principle applies to breath hold. The brain says “breathe!” The urine pH may be acid. But if the acidosis is caused by excess potassium in the system, the kidneys will dump potassium and retain hydrogen. (Ain’t evolution clever. If you believe that…) So the urine is alkaline while the body fluids are acid.

Alkalosis is the opposite. A person with alkalosis will generally have a respiratory rate of 13 or slower and a breath hold of 65 seconds or more. Urine pH is generally alkaline, except in potassium depletion alkalosis. In that case, the body retains potassium, and dumps hydrogen (acid), often making the urine acid while body fluids are alkaline!

Causes? Well, there is a metabolic acidosis and alkalosis, a respiratory acidosis and alkalosis, and pH problems caused by potassium imbalances as mentioned above.

There is also an acidosis caused by a glucogenic or fast oxidizer imbalance. Fast oxidation produces excess carbon dioxide and thus alkalosis. Slow oxidizers are the opposite.

Then there are the anabolic/anaerobic and catabolic/disaerobic imbalances. The anaerobic person generally has alkaline urine, high urine surface tension and acid saliva among other signs. Body fluids are alkaline and painful or diseased areas are acid. The body tends to use insufficient oxygen in metabolism so that instead of making carbon dioxide and water from glucose, the cells make lactic acid. Dr. Otto Warburg won the Nobel Prize for proving that cancer is an anaerobic tissue.

The disaerobic person generally has acid urine, low urine surface tension, and alkaline saliva. Body fluids are acid, and painful or diseased areas are alkaline. Huge amounts of free radicals are generated by their metabolic processes.

For more information like this visit these websites:

• http://www.royalrife.com
• Alkalize for Health

Books:

• Alkalize or Die by Theodore A. Baroody
• The Acid-Alkaline Diet by Chritopher Vasey
• The Acid Alkaline Balance Diet by Felicia Kliment
• The pH Miracle by Robert and Shelly Young
• Acid and Alkaline by Herman Aihara