One of the absolutely best things that you can do for yourself is to get some pH paper and use it! That is, if you’re looking to improve your health, for you see, your body is a living chemistry set that will function on its own, but it will thrive if you treat it like the temple that it is. With just a few simple observations using the proper tools, you can set yourself on a path that will have long lasting and far reaching results.
Before we step down this path too far, it’s important to understand why. To do that, let’s look at what the Wikipedia has to say about pH:
In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of a solution. It approximates but is not equal to p[H], the negative logarithm (base 10) of the molar concentration of dissolved hydronium ions (H3O+); a low pH indicates a high concentration of hydronium ions, while a high pH indicates a low concentration.
Generally speaking, a solution that contains more hydrogen atoms is more acid then one that does not. Neutral pH is water. And, as most people know, water is a combination of 1 oxygen plus 2 hydrogen atoms; H2O. If you think about a solution as having extra hydrogen atoms, that solution will have an extra supply of protons, which are very reactive. They like to combine with anything they can which causes havoc in the body.
Everyone knows that acids break things down. Your stomach uses hydrochloric acid to “help hydrolyze proteins and polysaccharides.” The Wikipedia uses big words for the process of digesting proteins and carbohydrates (starches are a combinations of sugar’s that form what’s called polysaccharides). If you follow their link to Gastric acids, you’ll find:
Gastric acid is a secretion produced in the stomach. It is one of the main solutions secreted, together with several enzymes and intrinsic factors. Chemically it is an acid solution with a pH of 1 to 2 in the stomach lumen, consisting mainly of hydrochloric acid (HCl) (around 0.5%, or 5000 parts per million), and large quantities of potassium chloride (KCl) and sodium chloride (NaCl).
The gastric acid description is a pretty good list of acids that are common and well understood by most people. Well, at least Hydrochloric acid is. That’s the one that every Jr. High chemistry teacher used to scare students into submissive obedience. We don’t want to burn a whole through your skin, now, do we?
If you look at acids in general, they like to break things down. Things that can’t protect themselves are more susceptible to the acid than things that can protect themselves.
What about Uric Acid, Lactic acid and Carbonic acid ? From Wikipedia: “In humans and higher primates, uric acid is the final oxidation (breakdown) product of purine metabolism and is excreted in urine.” Likewise, when we look up Lactic acid, we find that it reads “During power exercises such as sprinting, when the rate of demand for energy is high, lactate is produced faster than the ability of the tissues to remove it, so lactate concentration begins to rise.” Finally, looking up Carbonic Acid we find: “Carbonic acid is the inorganic compound with the formula H2CO3 (equivalently OC(OH)2). It is also a name sometimes given to solutions of carbon dioxide in water, which contain small amounts of H2CO3. The salts of carbonic acids are called bicarbonates (or hydrogen carbonates) and carbonates. It is a weak acid.”
It’s the function of the kidney’s to remove excess uric acid from your body. Yet the kidney’s are ‘fed’ directly from the bloodstream. But, because the waste fluids don’t flow into the bloodstream all at once, it takes a while for the kidneys to get around to processing all that acid. Thus, given time, the kidneys do a good job cleaning the uric acid out. The only complication comes if more uric acid is generated than what the body can expel – for a given time period.
The same holds true for Carbonic acid. This is what the lungs remove from the system. Your body is a little more sensitive to the removing of carbon dioxide than it is uric acid, yet that acid may still remain in high levels for extended periods of time within the body.
With simply these two examples, you’ll notice that your body is designed specifically to efficiently remove waste compounds. They are corrosive and the longer they stay in the body, the higher the probability that they will combine with something important to, well, break it down (just like the gastric acids do – but in a less volatile way).
One of the biggest complications though is that the blood isn’t the only means for transporting fluids around in the body. The fluids there are a byproduct of transporting oxygen and carbon dioxide. And, that fluid is not allowed to vary much off a normal pH reading of 7.4. So, if acids find their way into the blood, they are quickly removed or neutralized (oxidized) so as to keep the blood at its proper functioning pH.
But if the cells generate waste in the form of acids and they are not picked up directly by the blood stream, where do they go?
That is a key function of the lymphatic system. Fluids around cells slowly move through the lymphatic system until they get to a point where they can ‘drain.’ The problem here is that there can be a lot of waste which lowers the pH of the slow moving fluids in the body. This is the fluid that is we want to measure with pH paper. Because this fluid takes hours to get through the system, measuring it should give a fairly steady reading of how your body is processing wastes.
What happens if the body generates a lot of one (or all) of these acids all at one time? What if you work out so hard that you ‘feel the burn’ – does that acid all get filtered out right away? What if you’re chronically dehydrated and the lymphatic system has come to a crawl?
Well, the body likes to combine molecules that are dangerous into ones that are less harmful – neutral. This is where mineral salts come in to play.
It should also be noted that “Bones are especially affected by blood pH as they tend to be used as a mineral source for pH buffering.“ It’s not just calcium either, minerals that come to mind include[1]:
Nutritionally important alkaline minerals include calcium (Ca+), potassium (K+), magnesium (Mg+), and sodium (Na+).
Where do these particular alkalizing minerals come from? If you’ve done your homework (previous article – Is food another form of light?), you’ll know that the center of the chlorophyll molecule has magnesium which can be readably available if you consume chlorophyll rich greens. Potassium and sodium are also high in green plant sources.
Ultimatley, this is where your diet and lifestyle comes into play. To empower your body to find balance, you need to consciously provide it with the mineral sets that naturally balance the waste (acids). This is where green smoothies come in – for they are an easy way to consume alkalizing greens. This is also where yoga and meditation comes into play. Oxygen is alkalizing. When you consciously breathe – deep breaths – your body will absorb more oxygen which nearly immediately finds its way to the cells of the body. Building up a store of oxygen helps minimize running out too soon. Relaxation also helps open up the flow of liquids, so being relaxed is a useful way to keep the waste draining.
Measuring pH
This is where pH Paper becomes your friend. When you use it to measure the pH of your saliva, you’re measuring that slow moving fluid. If you find that the readings are low (on the acid side) you immediately know that your body is overwhelmed with waste. The fastest way to counter that is to consume alkaline foods and consciously breathe.
As it turns out, measuring the pH of the saliva is pretty easy to do. I’ve got a roll of Hydrion Papers Strips like this.
A quick search on Amazon will give you some details. I would expect that any natural foods store would carry similar products. The package should also come with some simple directions on how to use it. When it comes down to it, you’ll tear off a strip of paper, wet it with saliva and then compare the color of the paper to the color chart on the dispenser. You’ll get a general idea what your pH is.
Here’s a good article to reference: Saliva PH test
Summary
Once your lifestyle changes enough so that the saliva readings start to come in ‘balanced’, you’ll know you’re making the right lifestyle choices. Over time, if you consume highly mineralized foods, you’re body will build up a store of alkalizing minerals (rebuild the bones) so that during ‘lean times’ your body won’t be stressed as much as if it didn’t have a store of minerals.
pH paper is too cheap not to try! What is your reading?
