pH is Critical to Our Health

By Bob McCauley, CNC

Our diet has changed radically over the last seventy years. We have abandoned our time-honored balanced diet of raw fruits and vegetables. The advent of processed foods, and the mania over fast foods and junk foods has changed all that. We no longer eat foods that contain natural enzymes; they have either been cooked, pasteurized or otherwise processed out of our food and therefore out of our diet. Without enzymes, our bodies cannot take in vital nutrients. For instance, there are the familiar stories of old ladies who seemingly fall down and break their hips. Come to find out all those old ladies did not fall down at all. Rather, their hip bone snapped and they fell over. Because of the lack of proper nutrition and the necessary enzymes, their bodies lost the ability to take in calcium, a condition known as osteoporosis . Once our bodies become depleted of enzymes, it becomes increasingl y difficult to take in nutrients. If our organs must devote a large portion of their enzyme manufacturing potential to making digestive enzymes, it weakens the whole body.

However, what make this situation worse is that processed foods, fast foods and junk foods create an acidic condition in our bodies that over time becomes an ideal environment for diseases to start. For instance, cancer does not live well in an alkaline environment but flourishes in an acidic environment. What we consume either raises or lowers our body pH (pH relates to acidic and alkaline), which should be between 7.2-7.4 pH. For example a soft drink such as a cola has a pH of 2.7-3.0, which is extremely acidic! A soft drink with a pH of 3.0 is going to have a much higher pH after it has passed through the body; it is going to have close to the same pH as your body, about 7.0. It reached that pH level by stealing precious minerals and fluids from your body! Putting soft drinks and other high acid foods in your body lowers your body’s pH making it more acidic, thus more suseptible to disease. It does not gi ve you disease; rather it helps to create the ideal environment for any disease that may come along to get a foothold, may it be environmental, genetic, diet related or by other means. The vast majority of cancer patients possess a very low body pH, ranging from 6.0-5.0 or lower. Our bodies simply can not fight disease if the our body pH is not properly balanced.

In short, our diet is killing us. One in three people in the United States will get cancer in their lifetime. These are staggering statistics, yet if you look at the rise of processed, over cooked, fast and junks in this country, you will notice the rates of cancer and other diseases rising at the same rate.

The question remains: what to do about this situation. There is something we can do about it.

Measuring Body pH

pH is a measurement of the relative concentration of positive and negative ions.  When they are present in equal quantities we have reached a state of equilibrium within the body and our pH will be 7.0.  There are two ways to measure body pH, which should not be confused with blood pH.  The blood always maintains pH between 7.25 – 7.45.  If it falls out of that range the body will quickly go into shock and death will follow soon after.  Anything that does get into the bloodstream outside of that pH is immediately pushed out into the body’s tissue.

Body pH
The pH of saliva and urine is a much more accurate measure of overall body pH.  I believe that the pH of the body should be approximately 7.0, which is neutral.  There are many opinions of what the pH of the body should actually be.  I have read as low as 6.3 and as high as 7.2.  If you are sick your body pH will be low.  The sicker you are the lower your pH will be.  For instance, if you have advanced cancer your body pH will most likely be near 5.0.

Tools for measuring pH

Body pH can be measured using pH paper, pH indicator liquid (phenol red) or a digital pH meter.

Measuring with Saliva
The mouth tends to be slightly alkaline, which is why it is a poor barometer of the overall pH of the body.  The saliva is a more accurate measure of the body from the waist up, which includes the upper digestive tract.  Therefore, it is not a good measure of overall body pH.  pH test strips are the only way to test saliva pH.

Measuring with Urine

Many things can affect body pH throughout each day, such as diet and stress level.  In order to get an accurate determination of body pH, the urine should be measured first thing in the morning each day for at least week, although a month would better.  As you continue to measure your pH each morning, a profile, or “moving average,” will emerge that will be far more accurate than taking a single reading.  Urine pH can be measured using pH paper, pH indicator liquid (phenol red) or a digital pH meter.

The Signs of Disease: Acidity and Toxicity