Learning Center > pH and Acid-Alkaline Balance

What is pH?

PH is the measurement of the concentration of hydrogen ions in a solution. PH is measured on a scale from 0 to 14, with 7.0 being neutral. Anything above 7.0 is alkaline, anything below 7.0 is acidic.

To better understand pH, consider water. Water is neutral (7.0) on the pH scale. Water has two Hydrogen atoms and one Oxygen atom (H2O). These atoms are easily split up, and they regroup into new compounds that take on an electro-magnetic charge: an Oxygen-Hydrogen compound (OH-), and a single Hydrogen atom (H+). These new groups are called ions, because of their electrical charge.

Pure water has an balanced (i.e., neutral) concentration of positive and negative ions. Other solutions have different concentrations of these ionic pairs - some solutions have more positively charged ions (alkaline), and other solutions have more negatively charged ions (acid).

Body pH

There is no single correct pH for the entire body; rather, the body has many pH levels, specific to different organs and tissues. This is because each part of the body has a function that is enhanced by a specific pH range.

For example, the pH of blood, saliva and urine in a healthy body fall in the neutral to slightly alkaline range. Blood ranges from pH 7.3 - 7.4, and saliva around 6.5 - 7.4.

In saliva, the digestive enzyme amylase is present. It is responsible for breaking down starch, and requires a fairly neutral to alkaline environment to work.

The skin has a slightly acidic thin oily outer layer called the acid mantle, which is a first line of defense against many chemicals and bacteria.

Stomach acid, on the other hand, is highly acidic. This helps break down food, and also works as another immune system defense strategy - many pathogenic bacteria and parasites entering the body are destroyed in this highly acidic environment. The high acidity is also required to activate pepsinogen, an important digestive enzyme. When food passes from the stomach to the small intestine, the highly acidic stomach fluid is counter-balanced by the release of alkaline pancreatic juice, which also assists with digestion.

Many enzymes present in pancreatic juice require an alkaline environment at this stage of digestion in the small intestine.

The various beneficial intestinal flora we host can be damaged by an overly acidic digestive tract. This in turn can affect our digestive functions, and our immune system.

Acidosis & Disease

Acidosis is a deadly condition in which there is excessive acid in the body fluids, at which point the blood pH reaches below 7.3. Becoming deathly acidic is rare, though many of us are carrying excess acid in our bodies that may be detrimental to our health and may be implicated in the onset of deadly diseases including diabetes and obesity.

Symptoms of Excess Acidity

PH imbalance towards acidity may cause many physical ailments, including the following problems:

• Osteoporosis - weak, brittle bones, hip fractures and bone spurs
• Joint pain
• Arthritis
• Muscle pain
• Weight gain
• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Immune deficiency - frequent colds, flus, infections, slow recovery from illness and injury.
• Low energy, chronic fatigue
• Excess mucous production
• Cardiovascular damage, including the constriction of blood vessels from cholesterol

pH and Diet - Acid / Alkaline and Digestion

The standard western diet is highly acidic.

Refined sugars, meat, eggs, milk, soda, wine, beer, coffee, unhealthy fats - these are just a few of the many acid-producing foods that most of us ingest daily, many times in overly indulgent quantities.

Add to this much of our food, water and air are loaded with acid forming substances like chlorine and an increasing assortment of chemicals and pesticides.

Our bodies do a great job of maintaining balanced pH, but sometimes we force our bodies to do so at a great price.

For example, a diet high in acid-forming foods and low in alkaline-forming foods forces the body to off-set the acidity, sometimes by draining alkaline mineral reserves (like calcium) from bones.

Electrolytes (a.k.a., alkaline minerals, such as sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium) along with bicarbonate (a chemical secreted by the stomach during digestion) are alkaline-forming and keep the pH of blood from becoming too acid.

But, eating protein, particularly from red meat, requires large amounts of alkaline minerals for digestion. There are large amounts of minerals stored within our bones.

If those alkaline minerals are not present alongside the meat in the digestive system, the body will take the required minerals from the bones.

In this way, an acidic diet can contribute to osteoporosis. Another emergency pH regulating technique the body uses is to store acid waste in fat cells. Acids must be neutralized by alkaline mineral compounds before they can be eliminated via the liver and kidneys.

If they cannot be neutralized, the body wraps them safely in fat cells, and stores them.

Acid / Alkaline Forming Foods

The best way to understand the pH effects of food is to understand how food becomes either acid or alkaline in the body.

It is not whether the food itself is acidic but what residue it leaves in the body - acid-forming or alkaline-forming elements.

Food rich in acid-forming elements have an acid yield while those high in alkaline-forming elements have an alkaline yield.

Acid forming elements include Sulfur, Phosphorus, Chlorine, Iodine. Alkaline forming elements include Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, and Iron.

For example, lemons are acidic outside of the body, but after the body metabolizes them, the net remains are alkaline-forming, and have an alkaline effect on the body.

Reducing intake of acidic foods and including a variety of alkalizing foods in a daily diet (particularly mineral-rich greens) can help the body off-set over-acidity.

It is also important to note that a healthy diet judiciously includes some acid-producing foods. Usually nutritional experts recommend that 75% of the diet is alkaline, and 25% is acidic.

Testing your pH

Urinary or salivary pH can be tested over the course of a few days, several times a day, using litmus strips.

Ideally your pH level will be around 7.34 or 7.45. If you find your urinary and salivary pH are too acidic, it may be a sign you're your body is struggling to bring itself into balance, and may benefit from a cleanse and the introduction of more alkaline-forming foods.