What’s pH got to do with it?

What’s pH got to do with it?

Well what does pH have to do with being healthy? You thought this was a juicing and health blog right? Well some of you might already know but many out there have no idea. That’s okay, up until a year ago the last time I read about pH was in my high school chemistry class. Don’t worry after reading all of this you won’t have to Google till your eyes forcing shut.

So what is pH? pH is defined as the measure of acidity or alkalinity. Going back to high school chemistry. Do you remember taking the litmus paper and using the chart to see where your mystery item landed on the scale? Well this time you are the mystery item! Yes, we should all be testing our pH level. How do you do this you may ask? The answer is as easy as a trip to your local drug store. Once you arrive you will have to look for pH strips. There are strips for saliva or urine. I prefer urine because something as simple as your toothpaste can alter the reading. Once you purchase the strips you should test yourself about 3x in one day to get an average reading. You want to avoid testing the very first morning urine. Doing so will typically give you a high acid reading since the kidneys have not flushed out properly (no pun intended.)

Now you have this magic number. What does it mean? Well as you can see in the chart below, the pH scale goes from 0-14. (Zero being the most acid, 7 neutral (base) and 14 the most alkalizing.) According to Kris Carr (Wellness Warrior and creator of Crazy, Sexy, Cancer) optimal urine pH level should be between 7.365 and 7.45. Anything lower than 7 is acidic and higher than 7.5 is alkaline.

Great so now you have this information as to where you fall on the scale. What does it all mean? Who cares? Right? Well that reading is a huge indicator of what is going on inside of your body and could potentially lead to chronic and acute disease.

A high reading of acid in your urine could be an indicator of a weakened immune system, inflammation, arthritis, diabetes, cancer and many more diseases. A high reading of alkaline in your system though hard and rare can be linked to a urinary or pyloric (area where the small intestine and stomach meet) tract obstruction and renal failure.

Poor pH levels are affected by diet, lack of exercise, stress, drugs & cigarettes. Now how do we fix this? Of course adding moderate exercise to your life, no recreational drugs or cigarettes and a high alkaline diet will help not only reduce the high levels of acid in your system but reduce risks of disease.
This can all be small changes that make a significant difference. It’s as easy as changing your bottled water to a high alkaline water and eating more leafy greens. You would be surprise to know that there is variety of foods that we can all consume regularly. I’ve attached a list of foods and where they fall as far as acidity and alkalinity. I call it my grocery list. In the beginning I didn’t know many of these items and made a point to venture out and try different things.

Change is good. Feeling and looking good is awesome! The best advice I can give is to take small steps towards a healthier lifestyle. Don’t wait until something earth shattering happens for you to change. I’m not asking for you to throw away everything but instead ADD to your life natural fuel and energy.


http://www.balance-ph-diet.com/acid_alkaline_food_chart.html


References
• Crazy, Sexy Diet – Kris Carr
• The pH Miracle – Dr. Robert O. Young
• www.Balance-pH-Ciet.com
• www.TheAlkalineFoods.com