The most important balancing act you are doing right now is not what you think it is. Its balance is so important that it’s actually keeping you alive! Your body is currently balancing your pH levels to fight off disease and keep you alive. I have to admit, until recently, I thought pH balance had something to do with my hair. Let me explain what pH balance is, and why you should care so much about it.
Unscientifically speaking, pH is the acid/alkaline balance in your body. The “p” stands for potential and the “H” stands for Hydrogen. Your body won’t let you become too unbalanced or you would die. Instead, it uses precious minerals in your body to keep your pH balanced. Imagine a scale from 0 (Acidic) to 14 (Alkaline). A person’s ideal blood pH should be between 7.35 and 7.45. The next question you’re probably asking is, “Why should I care?”
As mentioned earlier, your body will do whatever is necessary to keep you from being too unbalanced. The problem arises when you force your body to work harder than it should. Disease, thyroid problems, poor bone health, and a slow metabolism are just a few problems that arise due to this inbalance. For brevity sake, I’d like to focus on the issue of disease and weight gain.
A friend of mine recently suggested that I do research on germs and how harmful or beneficial they are. This quasi-germ-a-phobic gal didn’t think that was such a good idea. I was really afraid of turning my “quirky” behavior into a full blown obsession. Sure I refuse to touch public bathroom doors and use napkins to pour my ketchup in restaurants, but that just makes good sense to me. Germs, in general, can be good for your body. But there is a reason why we wash our hands after we go the bathroom and require doctors to do the same before working on us. It’s all to prevent disease and sickness. What I found through my pH research however, is that I had the wrong battleground. It’s not about avoiding as many germs as possible, but rather creating a battlefield that uses germs for good instead of evil. This battleground is your pH balance.
To explain how this works, I came across an excellent analogy from The Wolfe Clinic. They explained that if you unplugged a sealed freezer for two weeks you’d come back to the food being covered in mold, bacteria, and microscopic bugs. Nothing got into the freezer of course, it was sealed. The point is that those things were already there in the first place. The only difference is that the environment changed. According to The Wolfe Clinic, “Maintaining proper alkalinity is essential for life, health, and vitality. Simply put - an imbalance of alkalinity creates a condition favorable to the growth of bacteria, yeast and other unwanted organisms." (1) They go on to say that pH balance is the first major line of defense against sickness and disease and a strong immune system acts as a clean-up service. The Wolfe Clinic also provides a more scientific explanation, “The more acidic we become, the harder it is for oxygen to be present, so our biological terrain also becomes more anaerobic. Without adequate oxygenation, unfriendly bacteria, viruses, molds, and fungus can live and prosper. Then our cells cannot carry on their life-giving functions in a very efficient manner because our biological chemical reactions need oxygen.” (2) This explanation seems to make the most sense to me. Work on having a good immune system but keep your pH balanced and you won’t have to worry so much about those germs turning into something more dangerous in your body.
In a previous article, I wrote on how aspartame in diet drinks can make you fat. What I didn’t realize was that those diet drinks can make you fat for a whole different reason. A friend of mine shared with me a video on YouTube entitled, “How Diet Soda Causes Weight Gain.” What it really explains is the importance of your pH balance and how its inbalance can make you fat. I recommend watching the video after reading this blog. You can find it by clicking on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpoAtwVyzZI
The Wolfe Clinic has an article that explains it in a more scientific way. I thought about summarizing the paragraph for you but it really was packed with interesting information. “The human body is very intelligent. As we become more and more acidic the body starts to set up defense mechanisms to keep the damaging acid from entering our vital organs. It is known that acid gets stored in fat cells. After all, if the acid does come into contact with an organ the acid has a chance to eat holes in the tissue. This may cause the cells to mutate. The oxygen level drops in this acidic environment and calcium begins to be depleted. So as a defense mechanism, your body may actually make fat to protect you from your overly-acidic self. Those fat cells and cellulite deposits may actually be packing up the acid and trying to keep it a safe distance from your organs. The fat may be saving your vital organs from damage. Many people have found that a return to a healthy inner biological terrain helps them to lose excess fat.” (3)
Now that you know an unbalanced pH can make you fat and bring disease upon you, let’s talk about what to do next. The first thing I plan on doing is testing my pH. Don’t worry, you don’t have to go to the doctor and get poked with anything. You would have lost me there. For $6 you can get your own pH test kit to monitor your pH balance. I plan on doing this every once in a while to see where I’m at and whether I need to make any changes in my diet. The next step is as easy as 1-2-3.
(1) Eat alkalizing foods. I’ve attached a website that has an excellent chart that lists food on a pH balance scale. This isn’t a list of foods to avoid, but will assist you in what foods you need to eat more of and some to limit. http://www.trans4mind.com/nutrition/pH.html
(2) Another tool is to purchase pH balancing products. I’m not sure I need to go down this path yet, but if my diet doesn’t assist me in balancing my pH I do plan on looking into some supplements. There are some out there that are just drops you can put into your drinks. For now I’m adding lemon to the water I drink and increasing the amount of water I consume.
(3) Less stress. Some scientists suggest that your stress levels can contribute to an unbalanced pH. Take time for yourself. I know this is easier said than done. I for one need to do better at this. Start out with 15 minutes a day and try to move up to 30. Try to think of at least three things that make you more relaxed and implement them in your daily life.
Sure this was another article telling you to eat your fruits and veggies and limit your fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy. But I hope it gave you more of an incentive than just saying, “Because it’s good for you.” For those of you who read the food chart and notice that coffee is on the alkaline side, do not fret! There are healthy foods that are on that side of the chart. It’s not about staying away from those foods, it’s about balancing them with foods on the acidic side.
You still won’t see me use my bare hands to open public bathroom doors, but maybe I’ll grab that ketchup bottle without a napkin next time. Well, not until I get my pH balanced.
The Wolfe Clinic. http://www.thewolfeclinic.com/phbalancearticle.html (1)(2)(3)
