What is Alkalizing? Why is it Essential to Health?
Why Should You Be Aware of Your Bodies Current Acid/Alkaline Balance?
You may remember from high school science class the pH scale, acid, and base substances. The pH scale measures the potential for hydrogen and ranges from 0 – most acidic to 14 – most alkaline with 7 being Neutral.
That same pH scale measures the effect of foods on our bodies. Each food you eat creates either an acid state or an alkaline state within.
The human body requires our blood to maintain a pH between 7.365 and 7.45 – a slightly alkaline state. If our blood falls out of this range our body moves quickly into a dis-ease state. If it falls too far out of this range it can lead to complete system failure and death. So this pH balance is exceptionally important to good health and life itself.
This acid-alkaline balance is constantly being maintained by the body’s processes. This is called maintaining homeostasis.
As we eat something acid-forming, the body draws from our stores of Minerals to neutralize the acid and keep the body in a state of Alkalinity. When we eat foods that are Alkalizing, the body replenishes our mineral stores to use at a later time.
Many of our body processes are also acid-forming, as well as toxins in our environment, personal care products, air, and water.
When we eat too many acid-forming foods without balancing those foods with an abundance of alkalizing foods, the body must draw from its reserves of alkalizing minerals.
Over time a diet high in acid-forming foods causes our supplies to become depleted. Then the body must draw alkalizing minerals out of our bones, muscles, and teeth.
Unfortunately, the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) is primarily acidogenic – meaning it consists primarily of foods that are acid-causing.
This leads to an overabundance of acid in our body which leads to chronic disease and is also the leading cause of obesity and childhood obesity in our country.
This is also why we are seeing such a high rate of osteoporosis and low bone mass. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, 54 million Americans have either Osteoporosis or its precursor, low bone mass. (An interesting side note – the population of the U.S. over age 65 is only around 44 million, so at minimum 10 million Americans under the age of 65 of suffering from Osteoporosis.)
As our stores of alkalizing minerals get used up, the body becomes more and more acidic which opens the body up to dis-ease.
The first and most common sign of this acidic state is fatigue. Even a slight acid imbalance disrupts our body’s ability to produce ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) which is how energy is delivered to our cells.
This slight imbalance also leads to the cells in our body being less efficient with their energy usage. A slight imbalance to an acidic state causes both a decrease in energy production and increased energy consumption by our organs and body processes.
So, we are tired all the time because all of the energy we are consuming is being used inefficiently by our bodies causing a deficit of energy.
The primary organs which work to eliminate this acid build-up, the kidneys, the lungs, and to a lesser extent the skin are continuously taxed and overburdened by the heavy acid load. Over time, this overburden leads to cellular dysfunction which leads to dis-ease.
Our kidneys are the primary regulator of acids, eliminating the majority of acids through urination. When acid levels become excessive, the kidneys call upon reserves of Alkalizing Minerals.
When our diets fail to include enough of these minerals, our body is forced to pull these minerals from our bones and in more extreme cases, from our Muscles, causing muscle wasting.
But I Drink Milk or eat Cheese to get my Calcium.
Even though we are diligently drinking our Milk and eating cheese by the pound our rates of bone loss are increasing at a rapid rate. Why is this?
Although there is a large amount of calcium in Milk and Milk products, this calcium is largely indigestible by the body. Milk and Dairy products are also Acid forming foods. Cow’s Milk is a 6.5 Ph, Yogurt is a 6.0 Ph, Cottage Cheese is 5.0 Ph, Cream Cheese is a 4.0 and Processed Cheeses are a 3.0.
Now, if you are not an expert on Ph this may not seem too bad, but consider that Ph is measured to the power of 10. So if water is a 7 on the Ph scale and neutral, 6 is 10 times more acidic, 5 is 100 times more acidic, 4 is 1000 times more acidic and 3 is 10000 times more acidic. This means that processed Cheeses are 10,000 times more acidic then water, which requires an equally large alkaline force to neutralize.
Now the kidneys can only handle acids down to a Ph of 4.5, so any foods ingested that are lower then this Ph must be buffered with alkalizing minerals before they can even be sent to the kidneys for processing.
Our bodies next line of defense is the lungs. Our lungs release acid by binding it with carbon and exhaling Carbonic Acid. As we exhale we can reduce our acid load, but the lungs are far less efficient then the kidneys. So if our kidneys are not functioning at their peak, our body will be less efficient at reducing the acid load. This leads to an excess of acid in the body and a chronic low grade acidosis.
Until we support our body by eating an abundance of alkalizing foods, the acid load continues to grow. Eventually leading to cellular dysfunction and dis-ease.
To a lesser extent our skin can eliminate some of these acids through sweating, however this process is the least efficient. Body odor is a strong sign that the body is in an acid state.
Unfortunately, most of us cover up this tell tale sign with deodorants and antiperspirants which both block the bodies ability to detoxify and disconnect us from our bodies early warning system.
You may have noticed that when you are under stress, your body odor worsens. This is because stress creates an acid state in the body as well. When we cover up these early warning signs, we lose an important signal from our bodies that our body is in distress.
Another danger is sleep deprivation, which causes a severe acid state (3.0 Ph). In today’s busy lifestyle we are suffering from lack of adequate and restful sleep which adds significantly to our chronic acidosis.
Add to that Alcohol, Coffee and Technology which disrupts sleep patterns and causes additional mental and emotional stress on the body and we are starting out in a highly acidic state.
This chronic state of Acidosis caused by our diets, stress and lack of adequate sleep leads to a depletion of essential Alkalizing Minerals, which we must replenish if we are to keep our bodies out of a dis-ease state.
The primary alkalizing minerals are Calcium, Magnesium and Potassium. When we use up our alkaline reserve here are just a few of the results:
- Loss of calcium in the urine, which leads to dissolving of bones, osteoporosis, reduced bone formation and brittle bones.
- Loss of Potassium and Magnesium which lead to hypertension (high blood pressure) and inflammation (Arthritis, Aching Joints)
- Protein Catabolism (the breakdown of protein) – also known as muscle wasting and loss of muscle mass.
- Depressed protein metabolism, which results in the inability of the body to repair cells, tissues and organs.
- Irritation of the urinary tract and bladder, leading to painful urination.
- Accelerated Aging, from accumulated acid waste products.
- Increased production of free radicals, faster oxidation of free radicals and a decreased ability for antioxidants to protect the cells from free radical damage. (Damage caused by free radicals is a leading cause of Cancer)
- Kidney Stones
- Fluid Retention
- Increased Acidity of the Mouth, leading to cavities, dental decay and periodontal (gum) disease.
And many other serious complications which further weaken the body, inhibit cellular repair and lead to Chronic Disease, Cancer, premature aging and eventually death.
We have convinced ourselves that these are just normal signs of aging. When our joints ache, our skin sags, we get wrinkles and our complexion is poor, we have been convinced these are all just signs we are “getting old”. This is not the case.
All of these are signs that our bodies are in severe distress. But all of these signs can be reversed. No matter your age, you can have abundant energy, you can look younger and feel better, if you start today. To learn how to begin, check out the articles below.
If you would like to measure your bodies current Ph you can get an inexpensive kit by clicking here: HealthyWiser Ph Test Strips, 100ct Per Pack
If you would like to learn more about the Acid Alkaline Balance I highly recommend the following books:
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