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The Importance Of Healthy pH Balance
By Layne Lowery on 03/27/2011
Layne Lowery is the President of Health Resources™, a manufacturer of high-quality nutritional supplements. In the health business since 1995, Layne’s passion is providing affordable natural health solutions and educational tools based on the best scientific research available to empower his customers to make wise decisions on matters of personal health.
Just as acid can ruin your car battery, increased acidity in your cells and tissues can eat away at the linings of your arteries and increase your chances of both brain and cardiovascular problems… erode cartilage and cause inflamed joints… and damage skin cells which can contribute to premature wrinkling and other aging issues.
The critical balance between acidity and alkalinity is measured on a scale of 0 to 14 known as the pH—or “potential of hydrogen.” On this scale, 0 to 7 is acid, 7 is neutral and 7 to 14 is alkaline. If you were a healthy person with perfectly balanced pH, you would have a reading of about 7.4 in your blood and about 7.25 in your tissues. However, most people fall in the acidic range of 6.2 to 6.4.
If you suffer from pH imbalance, it can:
- Thicken your blood and increase your risk of heart problems.
- Block vitamin absorption and starve your body of essential nutrients.
- Create toxic buildup in clogged cells.
- Slow down organ function and make you feel sluggish and weak.
- Prevent proper digestion and create excess gas and bloating.
- Cause unhealthy weight gain.
- Speed the aging process and make you look and feel older.
To help prevent acidity, you should avoid acid-forming foods like too many high-fat meats, processed foods, fried foods, refined sugars, pasteurized dairy products and white flour products.
Why not try to add more nutritious alkaline foods like fruits, veggies, whole grains, beans and other foods high in fiber. If you follow the 80/20 rule, where you consume 80 percent alkaline foods and only 20 percent acid-forming foods, you should see a difference in your pH balance.
Printer-friendly versionAbout the author
Layne Lowery is the President of Health Resources™, a manufacturer of high-quality nutritional supplements. In the health business since 1995, Layne’s passion is providing affordable natural health solutions and educational tools based on the best scientific research available to empower his customers to make wise decisions on matters of personal health.
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Comments
Peter Hartman
What is the best way to test pH balance?
Bertold
Get yourself some Litmus paper in the drugstore, follow instructions and test both your saliva and your urine. Do this test 4 times a day, first thing in the morning, around 11 a.m. after lunch and at night before going to bed. You should be able to have a reading of 7 or higher into the alkaline in the evening hours. Try not to eat after dinner, like snacking. Drink water and try a 1/4 teaspoon full of baking soda as a buffer to help achieve alkalinity. Other than that google acid vs alkalinity and there is a lot of good info. Be discernible.
Peter Hartman
thanks!
Lori
Most beans are acidic and most grains are considered "low level" acid foods. It's all about balance.
Anonymous
I use lemon juice to combat kidney stones and apple cider vinegar to help with my blood sugar and digestion. Does doing these two things place me at greater risk for being acidic?
Shirley Gekler
Mr. Lowery:
Thank you for reminding us of how really easy it is to improve our eating habits. We may have formed these habits as young people but it is time to get with it and take responsibility for our own health.
When we are constantly advised of the consequences of being too acidic, it should be a no brainer that we would just get with the program to be come more alkaline (about 7.25 we are told - don't go overboard, as that can also create problems)
Some suggested diet changes would be to avoid acid forming foods (or drastically cut back on) as follows:
1) high fat meats
2) processed foods
3) fried foods
4) refined sugars
5) pasteurized dairy products
6) white flour products
7) alkaline water (you can add lemon or there are supplements which can make the water alkaline)
Just a little bit of research indicates that an alkaline body can avoid many of the health problems that particularily plague North America today.
We really need to get back to the basics of our ancesters, when everything wasn't instant or nearly so. They also found some fibre in their diets from the fresh fruits and vegetables.
Now some of us may need to hone our cooking skills, try some new menus, new spices - it can be a new experience, try some foods that Mom didn't cook, be creative. Regaining your health is worth the effort.
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