pH,
an acronym for potential of hydrogen
(power of hydrogen; percentage of hydrogen) is a value that indicates the
acidity or alkalinity of a liquid. The measurement of the hydrogen ion
concentration in a liquid determines the pH value. Every liquid has a pH
value, which falls on a scale between 0 and 14, with 7 being neutral. A pH
value less than 7 is acidic; values greater than 7 indicate alkalinity.
Examples: Battery acid and vinegar - two very acidic
liquids - have pH values on the lower end of the scale, while baking soda and
ammonia, both of which are very alkaline, are on the higher end of the pH
scale. Pure water, meanwhile, has a pH value of 7 - it's neither acidic nor
alkaline.
Keeping
Your Body’s pH in Balance
Your body also has a pH value. In fact, all your body
fluids each have a pH value, but blood most accurately reflects the acidity
or alkalinity of your body. Ideally, your blood's pH should be between 7.3
and 7.5.
Your body works hard to maintain a balanced pH because that
allows its systems to operate more efficiently and effectively. Imbalance, on
the other hand, leads to obesity, fatigue, premature aging and other health
problems. To maintain a balanced pH, your body pulls certain minerals, such
as sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium, from its tissues to neutralize
acids in the blood. If it can’t do that successfully, it will dump the acids
into various organs, which causes health problems.
You can help your body neutralize acids in the blood and
maintain a balanced pH by taking some simple steps, like eating the right
foods and exercising.
Finding
Your Body’s pH
There are a variety of ways to determine your body's pH,
the most accurate of which is to find the pH value of your blood using a pH
meter. However, that can be impractical since it would require drawing blood
and purchasing a special meter.
A more practical and inexpensive method is to find the pH
level of your urine using litmus paper. But, since your urine pH varies with
what you eat, you should measure your pH after fasting for at least 12 hours,
or when you get up in the morning before you exercise, eat or drink anything.
How
to use litmus paper to test your urine
1. Use 2-4 inches of litmus paper and avoid touching the
end you're using far testing.
2. Quickly dip
one end of the litmus paper into your urine sample. Dipping the litmus paper
in a liquid, even for a few seconds, can wash the indicator off the paper and
give an inaccurate reading.
3. Immediately shake off any excess.
4. Immediately compare the color of the paper to the chart
that comes with the litmus paper.
For urine, the pH value should be between 6.8-7.0, which is
in the medium green area of the litmus paper.
Keep in mind that when it comes to determining your body's
pH, you should look at averages and trends over time, especially if you're
using litmus paper. This paper tests for pH levels between 5.5 and 8.0 in
either 0.2 or 0.3 increments.
One of the best ways to get a fairly accurate reading of
one's tissue pH is to pass a litmus paper through a urine stream first thing
in the morning. The 1st urine in the morning is a pretty good indicator
because the body has had all night to process the entire day’s nutrient
ingestion and balance itself out - hence a good indicator of real body tissue
pH.
Do not be surprised if you test acidic. Most folks initially will test very
acidic in the yellow zone (pH 4 - 5). Time to make changes to move this into
the green zone (pH 6.5 - 7). Urinary pH is always more acidic than the
saliva. A normal urinary pH reading in the morning should be somewhere
between 6.0-6.4 while in the evening hour a healthy range is considered to be
somewhere between 6.4 - 6.8. The pH of the saliva should be slightly more
alkaline than that of the urine. A healthy pH for saliva fluctuates somewhere
between 6.6 - 7.0.
A cola drink is 3.0 pH. It takes 32 glasses of neutral (7.0
pH) water to neutralize the acidic effect of one can of cola poison. Apple
cider vinegar is high in potassium which balances pH.
pH 7.0 is neutral
pH 6.0 is ten times as acid
pH 5.0 is 100 times as acid
pH 4.0 is 1,000 times as acid
pH 3.0 is 10,000 times as acid as 7.0 pH
If you have taken your saliva and urine pH first thing in
the morning and it is averaging 5.0 pH, you do need to take effective action.
Drink only water that is 7.2 to 7.4 pH (Fiji™ = 7.5 pH, Essentia™ = 9.5 pH).
You can use organic (food-grade only) baking soda to increase the pH of your
water. Organic soda should not contain aluminum. You can take baths that
contain 2 cups of Epsom salts. Eat oranges and watermelon!
If you indeed have a pH of 5.0, you are not assimilating
the food and supplements you are taking orally that is why it is very
important for you to get minerals through your skin with the baths.
Trying to eat a totally acid-food free diet is probably
close to impossible for most of us. Also, probably not a good thing to try to
do all at once - too severe a shock to one's system. It is possible to cut
back on some of the biggest offenders, however - those soft drinks, coffee,
grain products, large portions of meat, etc. It's a matter of retraining your
eating/drinking habits, and taste bud too probably.
Drinking 2 large glasses of vegetable juice or even tomato
juice will raise my pH to 7 from 6 or lower in less than an hour (tested on
urine). Keeping a pH of 7 helps reduce pain from a gout attack considerably!
However, this affects your saliva and urine, but is not
indicative of a change in your intercellular fluid. The original reading may
be indicative of the pH of your intercellular fluid if you take it first
thing in the morning. You have 1 gallon of water in your body for each 10
pounds of body weight. That means that a 100 lb person has 10 gallons of
water. It takes more than the minerals in two glasses of juice to change from
pH 6 to pH 7. pH 6.0 has 10 times as much acid as pH 7.0.
(Get rid of toxic overload, and get the pH of your intercellular
fluids to 7.0 or better, and you can
eliminate gout attacks. If you have a gout attack, try a foot soak in cold water with 1 cup Epsom salts and 6-8
drops of therapeutic grade Ginger essential oil if you or someone you know
has a gout attack, and add ice cubes every 20 minutes until pain subsides).
 | pH
is a measure of acidity and alkalinity. The pH scale goes from 0 to 14.
At pH 7, the half way point, there is a balance between acidity and
alkalinity. Such a solution is neutral.
The principles of pH begin with a definition of the term pH. The p comes from
the word power. The H, of course is the symbol for the element of hydrogen.
Together, the term pH means the hydrion ion exponent.
The pH of a substance is a measure of its acidity just as a degree is a
measure of temperature. A specific pH value tells the exact acidity. Rather than
stating the general ideas such as orange juice is acid or the water is hot, a
specific pH value gives the same relative point of reference, thus providing
more exact communication. The orange juice has a pH of 4.0 or the water is at
80°C provides an exact common language. |
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