It appears that taking small steps to change your body’s pH will give you more energy, increase mental clarity, improve digestion and stabilise your weight naturally. In fact, many sources of literature suggests that most degenerative disease attributed to ageing, such as cancer, osteoporosis and heart disease, and ailments such as allergy, kidney stones and gallstones can be linked to mineral deficiencies that result in body fluids becoming more acidic.

What is pH?

All organic matter has a pH level, including humans. Maintaining the correct pH level is vital. A pH under 7 is considered acid, while a pH over 7 is alkaline. The pH of our blood must remain constant between 7.35 and 7.45. The condition of body fluids, including blood, should be alkaline. The pH level (the acid-alkaline measurement) of your internal fluids affects every cell in your body. Extended acid imbalances of any kind are not well tolerated by the body. In fact, the entire metabolic process depends on a balanced internal alkaline environment. Every cell burns fuel to create energy. Most of this cellular waste is acid and is released into the blood for elimination from the lungs in the form of carbon dioxide and from the kidneys via the urine. In this way, the body regulates the acid level so that it does not become dangerously concentrated.

The cells in your body function at peak efficiency and achieve peak longevity when bathed in slightly alkaline body fluids.

How acidic are you?

There are many factors that create an unhealthy pH level, including stress, certain medications, metabolic and muscular functions in the body, and the food we eat and the liquids we drink.

Herman Aihara, a leading educator in Western and Eastern health science, writes in his book Acid & Alkaline:“The condition and constitution of body fluid, especially blood, is the most important factor in our life: that is to say, for our health. In man, organs such as the kidneys, liver, and especially the large intestine throw out waste and toxins and maintain our internal environment in as ideal a condition as possible. However, there is limitation for this. If we eat too much poison producing foods, or not enough materials which are needed to clear out the poisons, then our internal environment becomes beyond control, and away from the correct condition in which our cells can live. The cells become sick and die. Many sicknesses are a function of the body’s attempt to clean up this internal environment. Cancer is a condition in which body cells become abnormal due to the abnormal condition of body fluids.”

Alkaline-forming foods

Most fruits and vegetables as well as sea vegetables such as dulse, kelp, arame, nori and wakame are considered alkaline-forming as they are high in buffering minerals (sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron).

Acid-forming foods

Bland-tasting foods such as flour, fish and grains are often, though not always, acid-forming.
Starches, grains, flours, fats and most animal protein foods also create acid when metabolised.
Sugar is a dangerous acid-forming food. It has a significant effect in the body as it passes quickly into the bloodstream, creating an acidic condition, leading to mineral depletion, calcium loss and bone weakening. It also weakens the villi of the small intestine, impairing digestion. Regulated by insulin from the pancreas, excess sugar creates a blood sugar imbalance that can lead to diabetes or hypoglycaemia. Stored in the form of fatty acids, sugar can contribute to obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, certain cancers (especially lung and colon), osteoporosis and hyperactivity in children.
Pasteurised milk and milk products, such as cheese, are seen to be acid-forming as pasteurisation reduces the available calcium in milk, thereby lowering alkalising qualities (raw milk products are more alkalising because of the calcium).

Where to from here?

At the clinic, we can perform a simple test to assess your pH balance. This is good for everyone to have tested to ensure they are not generating an unhealthy internal environment of acidity, with all the negative health concerns this can cause. We can then advise on diet and lifestyle adjustments to balance pH levels and prevent the development of ageing and degenerative diseases attributed to internal acidity.

“Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.” Jim Rohn