This is an awesome read.
I really like this, almost as much as One Smart Cookies Articles!
Part 1. of 3.
pH - YOUR, POTENTIAL FOR HEALTH
by Dr. Ted Morter, Jr.B.S. M.A. D.C.
Personal responsibility for personal health. That's the 21st century way. Proactive for health rather than reactive to disease. Disease is painful, activity limiting, and costly. That's why checking personal pH - the acidity or alkalinity of some easy-to-get-to body fluids - will become as routine as checking your weight, credit card balance, or smoke alarm. Why? Because it can help you be an active participant in your personal health process. Keeping tabs on your personal pH can help you keep tabs on your personal health.
This pH guide explains how to check the pH of readily accessible body fluids and interpret the results. It also gives a brief overview of what we might call "The Scope and Limitations" of pH monitoring. Knowing what you can't expect is as important as knowing what you can. And, perhaps most important, you will see how monitoring pH can help you be a more effective, active participant in your personal pursuit of health.
This guide is about evaluating your potential for health. It's not about diagnosing or curing disease. It's about monitoring signs of your body's ability to handle your diet and lifestyle. Diagnosing and curing are reactive. Monitoring is proactive. We are accustomed to focusing on disease care. Our usual perspective on health is to wait for disease to "strike," then try to combat it. Here we're presenting a different perspective - making disease unnecessary. Rather than identifying a disease to fight, the objective is to find out if your diet and lifestyle are giving your body a fighting chance to be healthy.
This perspective on health is new to a lot of people. It's not the perspective of most of the medical community. Most health care is designed to help people control symptoms in order to "get better" or "feel better." Our objective here is to help you understand how you can "be better." The concepts and procedures presented here have developed over my thirty-plus years of clinical practice. They are not universally accepted by those whose job it is to diagnose, evaluate, and treat disease. However, the concepts presented here are a cornerstone for monitoring your health. Your health is your responsibility.
For too many years, we, as a nation, have had a tendency to leave the responsibility of our health to others. The general attitude has been, "I'll just do what I want and let the doctor fix it if something goes wrong." Our health care has been remedial. We wait until a problem crops up, then try to remedy it. We have proved that this system doesn't work. It's too painful for our bodies, too disruptive to our lifestyles, and too hard on our personal and national wallets. So, with the dawning of a new century, we also have the dawning of greater personal responsibility for our own health. Part of that responsibility is fulfilled by following the current trend of reducing fat intake and increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables we eat.
You have probably already taken steps to improve your diet. You probably eat fewer foods that are lower in fat, cholesterol, and sodium than you used to. The next step is to adopt a habit of regular self-administered pH checks to see if your health improves along with your diet. Keeping track of how your body is withstanding your diet and lifestyle can be a major part of your newfound freedom that comes with taking personal responsibility for your personal health.
Notice that we are talking about keeping track of your health. We're not talking about diagnosing or treating. The concepts presented here are not intended to be used as a substitute for competent professional health care. They are to help you recognize clues that your body is being overstressed by your diet and lifestyle. Part of your responsibility for your health is to seek good professional care when you need it.
So, we'll begin with the basics of the what's and why's of pH, then move into the how-to and what-does-it-all-mean.
WHAT IS pH?
In the scientific world, pH stands for "potential of Hydrogen." Or, you could be really scientific about it and say that pH represents the negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration. Instead, we'll just say that, in your body, pH stands for your potential for Health.
pH is the value given to indicate the acidity or alkalinity of a substance. It's a value - an intangible, not a thing. You can't pick it up, use it to buy a Jet Ski, or dip it in your soup. pH values are to acid and alkaline what temperature degrees are to heat and cold.
The pH scale of values runs from 0 to 14. At the low end, 0 indicates really strong, complete acidity. At the high end, 14 indicates really strong, complete alkalinity. In the middle, pH 7.0 indicates that the substance is neither acid nor alkaline - it's neutral. Very few substances are completely neutral. Most substances test out on either side of neutral. The pH of most substances falls somewhere from very strong to very weak acid, or from very weak to very strong alkali. For example, at pH 2.5, vinegar is a strong acid, and at pH 8.0+, baking soda is mildly (that's more than "slightly") alkaline. But we're not concerned with vinegar or baking soda here. We're talking body fluids. We're concerned with the pH of your "internal environment" - the potential for health of the fluids in and around your cells. When we talk about the pH of your body, we mean the pH of the fluids inside and outside your cells.
INFORMATION FOR THE READER
The information presented in this article is a compilation of concepts and principles I have developed over the past thirty years. These concepts and principles relate to maintaining and promoting health, not to treating disease or other physical complaints. The information in this article is not intended as suggestions for self-diagnosis or self-treatment of mental, emotional, or physical symptoms or complaints. The reader is cautioned against applying the concepts in this article for therapeutic purpose in lieu of seeking professional health care. The reader is urged to consult licensed health care professionals for diagnosis and treatment of health problems mentioned in this article and for all other physical, mental, or emotional complaints. This article deals with the concepts that the body functions as a unit, that various elements of lifestyle can influence physiology, and that physiological processes respond in a predetermined manner to specific stimuli. The concepts and ideas presented are intended to offer the reader suggestions for examining facets of his or her lifestyle that can impact physiology.
No guarantee or assurance is given for obtaining specific results from the use of any of the suggestions given. The reader is reminded that regular professional health care examinations are important to early detection and treatment of all diseases. THIS ARTICLE DEALS PRIMARILY WITH THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE RATHER THAN WITH THE TREATMENT OF DISEASE.
Certain persons considered experts may disagree with one or more statements in this publication. However, the author is of the opinion that such statements are based upon reliable, sound report and authority. Nothing stated in this publication shall be construed as an offer of any product for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, or treatment of any disease.
Dr. M. T Morter, Jr.
GUIDE TO MONITORING pH FOR YOUR POTENTIAL HEALTH
BODY CHECK
To find out how the pH of your internal fluids is faring, specially treated test paper is used to check some of the fluids your body generates. pH test paper is designed specifically to indicate pH values. The paper you'll use registers pH values, essentially in two-tenths increments, from moderately strong acid of pH 5.5 to mildly alkaline pH 8.0. The thin strip of pH paper changes color when it comes in contact with moist or wet acid or alkaline substances. A color guide comes with the pH paper dispenser. This guide shows the colors the paper can register. Each color represents a particular pH value. The numerical value is shown above each color sample.
So that's the test equipment you'll use - pH paper. And what do you use it on?
Even though your blood is the most important fluid in your body, you don't "open a vein" to check your internal pH. Tears and perspiration take effort to generate, so they're out. Other more readily available fluids are urine and saliva. The details of the checking procedure are given later. For now, you need to understand what you are trying to accomplish by checking the pH of either urine or saliva.
The purpose of checking urine pH is to find out if your body has a healthy store of the minerals that keep its internal environment slightly alkaline. Alkalizing minerals neutralize, or counteract, strong acid. Another term for the neutralizing process that means essentially the same thing is "buffering." In other words, alkalizing minerals make strong acid weaker or not acid at all. This store of alkalizing minerals is your alkaline reserve - the workhorse of a very important buffer system. The minerals that contribute to your alkaline reserve are sodium, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and iron. Your alkaline reserve isn't a single cubbyhole within your body where these important minerals loll around waiting to be summoned. Your alkaline reserve is scattered throughout your body in various organs.
Urine pH values are your clue to whether or not your alkaline ****nal has been, or is being, used up or overwhelmed. The pH values indicate whether or not your body is overburdened with too much acid from too much high protein food - toxic. Saliva pH values, on the other hand, are your guide to whether or not your body is overburdened with emotional stress.
Urine pH and saliva pH results are valid only if checked under controlled conditions. That is, you set the scene first. Random or willy-nilly checks of the pH of either of these fluids may be interesting, but they're meaningless. With a little planning before you whip out your pH paper, you get something to hang your health on.
As a preview of coming instructions, you set the scene for checking your urine pH by eating particular types of foods for two days immediately before the big check. To prepare for your saliva pH test, don't eat, drink, chew gum, suck on a cough drop, or put anything else in your mouth except water for at least two hours.
pH AND HEALTH
Monitoring your pH gives you an indication of how well or how hard your body is working to survive your lifestyle. Notice that I said, "it gives you an indication. . . ." The results of your pH tests are indicators of how your body is responding to the foods you eat and to other stresses. The actual acid or alkaline level of your internal environment affects how your body functions. The pH values you get when you test your urine or saliva are indications of how your body is functioning.
When your body is at its pH best, it hums along smoothly and easily. And when your body hums along smoothly and easily, your life has a good chance of doing the same. When your body is at less than its pH best, its hum may turn into an exhausted moan as it works overtime to survive. And when your body is exhausted, you are exhausted.
The pH of your internal environment is a good indicator of how hard your body is working just to survive. The ideal pH for most of the fluids of your internal environment is just above pH 7.0. That's slightly alkaline. Your body functions best when the pH of most of its fluids hover in the pH 7.0 neighborhood. Your blood must be a slightly alkaline pH 7.35 to pH 71.45 all the time. That's a "must," not an "it-would-be-nice." If the pH of your blood falls much below 7.35 or rises much above 7.45 for more than a few hours, you can't survive. When your pH values are too far below or too high above pH 7.0, your potential for health plummets.
Although your blood is slightly alkaline, the fluids in your stomach are usually quite acid. Digestive fluids may be as low as pH 1.0. That's strong acid. This strong acid helps to "break down" the foods you eat as they begin their journey through your body. When we talk about the pH of the body, we're not talking about stomach pH. We're talking about the fluid in and around your cells.
CHECKING pH IS NOT A DIAGNOSTIC TEST
As a rule, we go to a doctor when we have a specific pain, problem, or symptom. Rarely does a doctor hear the complaint; "I'm feeling great. Fix it." Our health focus is usually on identifying symptoms and trying to get rid of them. When a doctor orders lab tests for you, these tests are to find out if a problem exists in a particular organ or system. We concentrate on identifying parts of the body that are the source of our misery. Not so with a pH check.
Monitoring your pH helps you evaluate how your whole body is doing. It's a health index evaluation process, not a disease identifying process. Your pH doesn't tell you whether or not you have a life-impairing or life-threatening disease. You can't look at your pH results and correctly conclude, "Mercy me, I have galloping graphospasm!" pH tests don't diagnose!
Your pH checks are not diagnostic tests. They are evidence to use in evaluating your overall health. Your internal pH concerns your whole body. Not parts. Knowing the pH of your body won't tell you if your liver is functioning perfectly. It won't tell you if your pancreas is struggling to produce insulin. It won't tell you if your blood pressure is running amuck. It won't tell you if you are anemic or overweight or nearsighted. Checking your pH is not a diagnostic test. This cannot be emphasized too strongly.
If you find that your internal pH is higher or lower than "ideal," you won't know any more than you did before about which, if any, disease you may have. However, you will have a strong indication that your body's systems and organs are working under extreme stress of toxicity - its internal fluids are being "poisoned" by too much acid. But that doesn't mean you have a particular disease. It means that unless you change your ways (probably starting with the types of food you eat), you could develop a disease. Remember that pH is an indicator of the condition of your internal environment. And your internal environment affects your overall health.
Perhaps a disease label has already been attached to your symptoms. If so, the chances that your organs and systems are living in an ideal pH neighborhood are about as good as your chances of being the first person to hit a golf ball on Jupiter. And knowing the pH value of your internal environment won't cure your disease any more than knowing your blood pressure will cure hypertension. However, it can give you a clue that your body is "fighting stress" rather than "fighting disease." The disease is an effect of the stress your body copes with in a "tough neighborhood."
THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Some types of foods you eat can mess up your internal neighborhood. They leave an acid "mess" that the body must neutralize and eliminate. These messy foods are essentially high-protein foods - meats, poultry, fish, and grains. They are acid ash-producing foods. Most of us eat a lot of acid ash foods. That's our custom, tradition, and a large part of our economy. But acid ash foods leave the internal equivalent of blowing trash, beer cans, drug paraphernalia, derelict cars, and graffiti. In other words, junk! Messy junk that pollutes the internal area and environment.
The "junk" from acid ash foods is in the form of an acid residue that's left after high protein food has been digested. We might say it's the physiological equivalent of toxic waste. During digestion, the usable parts of food are absorbed to help nourish the body. But a residue that can't be used is left. This residue is acid. The body doesn't need it. The acid of this residue can be quite strong. The residue itself will eventually make its way through the kidneys or bowel and out of the body. However, before it is eliminated, it must be neutralized - weakened, buffered. If it isn't neutralized, it can fry delicate kidney tissue. That's not good.
However, our bodies are smarter than we will ever be. Your own smart body has all sorts of ways to protect itself. The primary protection against strong acid is alkalizing minerals. These vital minerals can neutralize, or tone down, the acid from "quite strong" to "slightly strong." Pretty clever. Unfortunately, in the process of neutralizing the acid, the minerals are eliminated right along with the residue. The vital neutralizing minerals tag along with the acid all the way out of your body. Gone forever. That's the bad news.
The good news is that these lost minerals are easily replaced. Replacements come from the fruits and vegetables you eat. No problem - acid in the body is neutralized by minerals, replacement minerals come along in fruits and vegetables to take their place.
But suppose you don't eat fruits and vegetables - well, not much, anyway.
Your intelligent body isn't going to let a little thing like your negligence keep it from doing what needs to be done. Your body is a survivor. It was designed to survive. It wasn't designed to be healthy or sick. If minerals that were lost aren't replaced, other minerals jump in to do the job - survival. But these substitute minerals weren't just sitting on the bench waiting to be called into the game. They have important full-time jobs, too. When they are called on to handle the emergency, they are taken from their primary jobs. For example, calcium is a "substitute" neutralizing mineral. Where do we keep our biggest calcium supply? Our bones. If you don't replace neutralizing minerals by eating fruits and vegetables, calcium is taken from the bones. You know what happens when you lose a lot of calcium from your bones. The disease label is "osteoporosis." The practical effect is weak bones. And it's hard to hold your head up when your spine is gradually collapsing.
Your diet can be so top-heavy with acid ash foods that your neutralizing, or buffering, systems are overwhelmed. There is just too much acid for them to handle - acid saturation. When acid-laden materials arrive at the kidneys, the kidneys must act to neutralize the acid fast. It's another backup system. Ammonia. The kidneys generate ammonia, which has a pH of about 9.25. A little ammonia mixed with strong acid raises the pH value. A lot of ammonia in a strong acid raises the pH value a lot.
So when your body is too acid for too long, it plays the game of life with a lineup of backup systems. These backups are either substitute minerals, or ammonia. When your body is too acid - when your internal pH is too low - the systems and organs of your body work overtime just to stay even. But systems and organs aren't designed to function flat-out in red-alert mode all the time. They need rest just as you do. If the red-alert goes on for months or years, systems and organs become exhausted. An exhausted body can't compete with disease. Eventually, disease wins the game.
What does all of this have to do with checking pH?
Monitoring your pH periodically gives you a status report on the quality of the environment of your internal neighborhood. Remember that pH monitoring doesn't report on how the systems, organs, and processes are doing. It is your personal "neighborhood watch."
Of course, that's not a scientific explanation of how your physiological processes work. However, it may give you an idea of how the pH of your body affects your potential health and how the environment of a perfectly good internal neighborhood is ruined. And it gives you a picture of some of the things that go on in your body that allow pain and disease to take up residence. The process boils down to ...
1. Acid ash from many of the foods you regularly eat must be neutralized (buffered) before the acid is eliminated through the kidneys.
2. Vital minerals are used to neutralize the acid, and in the process these minerals are lost through the kidneys and bowel.
3. If the neutralizing minerals aren't replaced, other minerals will be taken from other functions to neutralize the acid.
4. If the neutralizing (buffer) systems aren't up to the task, or if the body is saturated with acid, the kidneys generate ammonia as a last-ditch effort.
5. The body is over-acid, buffer systems are overwhelmed, and systems, organs, and processes are overstressed.
6. The body's systems and organs aren't able to perform at their best because they have become exhausted.
7. Exhaustion opens the door to disease.
That's principally what you learn from checking your urine pH - whether or not the foods you eat regularly leave the door open to disease.
MORE ACID
Your body works constantly to get rid of acid no matter where it comes from. Acid ash-producing food isn't the only source of acid in your body. Two other prominent sources contribute to your internal acid level: (1) cellular activity, and (2) naturally acid foods. First, self-generated acid from cellular