***What the pH?

There’s a lot of talk about pH, and some of it sounds so confusing, even contradictory, that it’s hard to know what’s true and what to do for what reasons. I’m going to try to shed a little light on the subject.

First, what is pH? “pH” literally stands for “potential hydrogen”. The pH scale is used to measure whether a substance is acid or alkaline. The pH scale ranges from 1 to 14, with 1 being most acidic, 7 being neutral and 14 being most alkaline. You probably learned about this in 7th grade science class where you did all those experiments with acid and alkaline substances. If you remember this, you probably also remember that when you combine an acid with an alkaline, they neutralize each other.

OK, so what does that have to do with you and your body? Well, here’s where confusion comes in. You hear references to acidity with regard to several areas of your body, and each area of your body operates under different pH needs, but the terminology is all the same so it’s hard to know which is which. When all of these references are jumbled together, you get what sounds like a bunch of contradictions.

For example, you may think of oranges, lemons and tomatoes as acidic foods. But aren’t these foods supposed to be good for you? Yes, they are. While these foods can be acidic to the stomach, they actually have an alkalizing effect on the blood. When you hear about acidic pH levels in the body mysteriously wreaking havoc, this is referring to the pH of the blood.

Your blood MUST stay within a very narrow margin of it’s pH range or your cells will die and so will you. I heard someone say once, of course my pH is in range, otherwise I’d be dead. This is true, but why all the concern? Here’s why – your amazing body is designed to survive at all costs. This is inherent in your body’s nature. Your blood needs to stay at a pH of 7.365. If you are loading your body with substances that are acidic to the blood, your body will do its best to neutralize the acidity to maintain this slightly alkaline state.

To understand this, we need to look at minerals. Certain minerals are alkalizing to the blood – for example calcium, potassium, magnesium. Others are acidic – for example sulphur, phosphorus, chlorine. If your body is taking in an excess of acidic minerals, your blood will seek out the alkaline minerals to neutralize the acidic minerals. In this case, it will take calcium, potassium or magnesium from your bones, soft tissues and body fluids. It’s robbing Peter to pay Paul, so to speak. Good for Paul, but not so good for Peter.

So, you will continue to live, but you might eventually see signs of osteoporosis, high blood pressure, arthritis, cancer and other ailments. Additionally, bacteria, viruses, yeast and parasites all thrive in an acidic environment. Not good for Peter, and eventually not good for Paul either.

The pH of your blood is influenced by a number of factors in your environment, including the foods you eat, the beverages you drink, the air your breathe, the drugs you take, the products you put on your skin and scalp, environmental toxins, sunshine, etc, and all of these substances have their own pH value. Additionally physical exercise and stress influence your pH and how well your body is able to respond to imbalances.

We focus on acidity because processed foods, dead foods, chemical additives, preservatives and pesticides, toxins in our water, skin products and cleaning products are common in our diets and environments, and they all produce acidity in the blood. You don’t want to become too alkaline either, but it’s highly unlikely that that would be the case, unless you ingest a poison such as lye.

The good news is that you don’t have to get a degree in science or nutrition to know how to provide the proper environment to support a balanced pH level in your blood. 

Here are a few simple guidelines:

1. Maintain a diet of 80% fresh fruits and vegetables.
2. Drink at least 8 8-oz glasses of fresh clean water every day.
3. Use all natural organic skin products, including makeup.
4. Use all natural organic cleaning products in your home.
5. Exercise regularly.
6. Learn to manage your stress levels through lifestyle and some form of meditation.

Sound familiar? I’m sure you’ve heard all of this before. This is just another stream that reinforces the reasons to make those lifestyle changes that support better health.

Your body is incredibly wise. It wants to maintain homeostasis in order to keep you healthy, and it knows how to do it. All you have to do is provide it the proper support. Give it love and good care, and it will do the same for you.