The Essentials of pH

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acidic diet, acidity, alkaline diet, alkalinity, autoimmune disease, chronic disease, Dr. Tijana DC, healthy diet, healthy.BEing family wellness, inflammation, nutrition, pH balance, physiology, stress, stress response

The pH is a measure of the hydrogen ion concentration in solution, but more importantly, pH is responsible for maintaining a delicate balance in the body.

The pH scale is calculated on a scale from 0 to 14. Neutral pH is 7.0. The higher (greater than 7) pH indicates a more alkaline state, while a lower pH (up to 7) indicates an acidic environment. However, the pH levels range throughout the body. For example:

Saliva: 6.8-7.4
Urine: 6.5-7.5; more acidic in the morning as a result of metabolism preparing for elimination
Blood: 7.35-7.45

The human body is alkaline by design, and acidic by function.

The most important biochemical balance is the blood pH with its very narrow range, and it is vital to understand and learn how to maintain this delicate range for good health over a lifetime. It is important to realize that poor lifestyle choices, toxic environment, and negative thinking all influence the body in a more acidic direction, which requires the body to work much harder to decrease these burdens and create an optimal homeostasis.

Ideally, the body needs to be slightly alkaline with the pH being between 7.365 and 7.45. It sounds easier than it is in actuality. The pH scale functions in multiples of 10 on the logarithmic scale, which means that it takes 10 times more alkalinity to neutralize an acid.

OK, so it’s going to take some work to increase the alkalinity in the body, where do we start?! NUTRITION is the biggest culprit in creating the acidity in the body, but also the best vehicle to use to improve the internal and external environment of the body.

Acidic sources in the diet:

Sugar
Dairy
Caffeine, alcohol, tobacco
Gluten
Processed carbohydrates
Factory-farmed/stressed-out meat
Chemically processed & treated foods

Acidic effect in the body results in dysfunction:

Inflammation in the gut and brain => whole body
Digestive disorders, constipation, diarrhea
Allergies
Arthritis
Skin disorders
Mood disorders & depression
Chronic disease
Autoimmune disease
Stress – physical, mental & emotional

Now if poor dietary choices, as mentioned above, are combined with dysfunctional metabolic processes in the body, an acidic environment is created that can only lead to DIS-EASE, which only encourages even more acid in the body.

So here are some suggestions on what types of foods need to be introduced to promote a more alkaline environment:

Leafy greens
Wheatgrass
Colorful vegetables
Sprouts
Avocados
Juicing
Green smoothies
Chlorophyll, enzymes, vitamins, minerals
Salads
Live foods

An alkaline diet is a guaranteed way to eat healthy and promote healthy metabolism as the body is working at the optimal level, allowing oxygenation of the cells and tissues throughout the body, that will decrease the amount of physical, mental, and emotional stress overall.