pH Balancing Regimen

Summary: The best way to ensure a good balance for most people is to just eat two servings or more of fruit or vegetables for every serving of protein or grain and use a multimineral.

Some think cancer and some other degenerative diseases are affected by a too-acid mantle, so raising pH to normal levels is desirable. Oxygen is absorbed more efficiently by the cells when the body is tending alkaline. Alkylosis can be a problem just like acidosis, although it is less common. One problem with tending toward acidosis is that the body will maintain blood pH in a narrow range at all costs.

Base minerals (calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium) balance out acid minerals (sulfur, phosphorous, chlorine). Balance is best - don't try to overcompensate by eating only base fruits and vegetables since phosphorous and sulfur are important to the body, too.

When the body tends acid, calcium and other minerals are removed from the bones or organs to bring the pH up, and this can cause mineral deficiencies which can affect cellular respiration and nutrition, immune function, and contribute to mineral deposit formation. When it is too base, the kidneys merely excrete the extra minerals, which is no problem (unless there is renal insufficiency.) This is one reason acidosis is much more common than alkylosis. The other reason is most people do not eat enough fruit and vegetables to compensate for all the grains and meats they consume.

The way to tell toward what one tends is to use nitrazine paper for a few mornings and see what the average pH is. It is usually used for urine, but will work with saliva, too. The ideal pH is around 6.0-6.5 for morning urine. Nitrazine is pH paper that gives an indication of the actual pH rather than litmus paper, which only tells greater or less than 7.0. It is expensive, and available at some pharmacies - call around.

If the urine is too acid, the easiest solution is to use a mineral supplement, especially at night. A product like Ecological Formula's Tri Salts, which is reagent quality calcium, magnesium, and potassium carbonates and bicarbonates, works faster than almost every type of supplement. However, it is not the ideal method. These types of mineral supplements are not well absorbed by the body and most of the minerals are immediately delivered to the bowel or kidneys for disposal, which does make an immediate difference in the pH of the urine, but since it was not absorbed into the bloodstream, it did not really do the body much good. These types of minerals may even be deleterious to the urinary tract since acid urine fights bacteria, yeast, and other pathogens not to mention the extra duty on the kidneys processing the minerals. It is better to use well-absorbed forms. Good products include Solaray Cal-Mag Citrate, a 1:1 ratio calcium magnesium type, Enzymatic Therapy Kreb's Cycle Chelates, Now Bone Strength, or Jarrow Mineral Balance, but most other chelated products are fine for this purpose. See the multimineral section for more information and detail on these types of products.

As far as adjusting the body pH up through dietary means, the best solution is to eat more fruits and vegetables and less grains and meats. The pH tendency of foods is not much based on their acid content or taste, but on the mineral content. For example, lemons make the body alkyline and most bread makes it acid. Tomatoes are problems for some people not as much for the acid or mineral content as the lectins. SeeEat Right 4 Your Type

Phosphorous is contained in proteins and most grains. Proteins almost always also contain sulfur but little magnesium or calcium, so they are acid-forming foods. Some fish is less acid forming since it contains a decent amount of potassium (and maybe some calcium and magnesium) to balance out the acid minerals but most fish are quite acid forming. Most whole grains are not too bad since they have a little calcium and a decent amount of magnesium (in the hull) but refined flour, with the hull removed, is acid forming since most of the magnesium has been removed and there is nothing to balance all the phosphorous in the germ. (Even whole wheat products are best avoided in most cases, anyway, see Eat Right 4 Your Type, The Zone Diet, and Toxin Avoidance/Food.)

Some nuts have a decent ratio of calcium / magnesium to phosphorous / sulfur, but they are almost all acid-forming except for almonds, with their high calcium and good magnesium content. Dairy products have calcium and potassium to balance the phosphorous and sulfur, so are not that bad in the acid forming respect (but take magnesium with the calcium). Rice and soy milk don't have calcium or magnesium or quite enough potassium to balance all the phosphorous unless they are calcium enriched. Fruits and vegetables usually lack the acid minerals, and can have a good amount of potassium and sodium and a few are good sources of calcium, so are generally base-forming. High sulfur content vegetables like cabbage, onions, and garlic are less base-forming.

The best way to ensure a balance is to just eat two servings or more of fruit or vegetables for every serving of protein or grain, take a cal-mag supplement, and use a mineral-rich salt for insurance if needed.

pH balance is sometimes a concern for those fighting cancer with complementary therapies. Some practitioners recommend acidifying and some alkalizing the body to better fight the disease. As stated earlier, cells better respire when they are tending alkaline, and better oxygenation inhibits cancer. Then again, if there is an infection of the urinary tract providing bacteria and toxins which stimulate cancer, it may be better to use a acid therapy to keep this at bay.

More information on pH balancing is available in Herman Aihara's book called Acid and Alkaline, one of the enduring works on this topic. It is available in some health food stores and online.

Following are two charts which show alkalizing and acidifying foods and differ a bit. The second chart also lists neutral foods.There is a basic rule of thumb. Fresh fruits and vegetables are alkalizing, grains and meat are acidifying with a few exceptions.

ALKALIZING FOODS
VEGETABLES Garlic Asparagus Fermented Veggies Watercress Beets Broccoli Brussel sprouts Cabbage Carrot Cauliflower Celery Chard Chlorella Collard Greens Cucumber Eggplant Kale Kohlrabi Lettuce Mushrooms Mustard Greens Dulce Dandelions Edible Flowers Onions Parsnips (high glycemic) Peas Peppers Pumpkin Rutabaga Sea Veggies Spirulina Sprouts Squashes Alfalfa Barley Grass Wheat Grass Wild Greens Nightshade Veggies	FRUITS Apple Apricot Avocado Banana (high glycemic) Cantaloupe Cherries Currants Dates/Figs Grapes Grapefruit Lime Honeydew Melon Nectarine Orange Lemon Peach Pear Pineapple All Berries Tangerine Tomato Tropical Fruits Watermelon PROTEIN Eggs Whey Protein Powder Cottage Cheese Chicken Breast Yogurt Almonds Chestnuts Tofu (fermented) Flax Seeds Pumpkin Seeds Tempeh (fermented) Squash Seeds Sunflower Seeds Millet Sprouted Seeds Nuts	OTHER Apple Cider Vinegar Bee Pollen Lecithin Granules Probiotic Cultures Green Juices Veggies Juices Fresh Fruit Juice Organic Milk (unpasteurized) Mineral Water Alkaline Antioxidant Water Green Tea Herbal Tea Dandelion Tea Ginseng Tea Banchi Tea Kombucha SWEETENERS Stevia SPICES/SEASONINGS Cinnamon Curry Ginger Mustard Chili Pepper Sea Salt Miso Tamari All Herbs ORIENTAL VEGETABLES Maitake Daikon Dandelion Root Shitake Kombu Reishi Nori Umeboshi Wakame Sea Veggies

ACIDIFYING FOODS
FATS & OILS Avocado Oil Canola Oil Corn Oil Hemp Seed Oil Flax Oil Lard Olive Oil Safflower Oil Sesame Oil Sunflower Oil FRUITS Cranberries GRAINS Rice Cakes Wheat Cakes Amaranth Barley Buckwheat Corn Oats (rolled) Quinoi Rice (all) Rye Spelt Kamut Wheat Hemp Seed Flour DAIRY Cheese, Cow Cheese, Goat Cheese, Processed Cheese, Sheep Milk Butter	NUTS & BUTTERS Cashews Brazil Nuts Peanuts Peanut Butter Pecans Tahini Walnuts ANIMAL PROTEIN Beef Carp Clams Fish Lamb Lobster Mussels Oyster Pork Rabbit Salmon Shrimp Scallops Tuna Turkey Venison PASTA (WHITE) Noodles Macaroni Spaghetti OTHER Distilled Vinegar Wheat Germ Potatoes	DRUGS & CHEMICALS Chemicals Drugs, Medicinal Drugs, Psychedelic Pesticides Herbicides ALCOHOL Beer Spirits Hard Liquor Wine BEANS & LEGUMES Black Beans Chick Peas Green Peas Kidney Beans Lentils Lima Beans Pinto Beans Red Beans Soy Beans Soy Milk White Beans Rice Milk Almond Milk

The following chart is from naturopath Doc Shillington:

		Doc Shillington's Food pH Chart
Alkaline Ash Producing Foods		Neutral Ash Foods	Acid Ash Producing Foods
Almonds	Apricots	Olive Oil	Bacon	Barley
Apples	Avocados	Safflower Oil	Blueberries	Beef
Beans (dried)	Bananas	Bee Pollen	Wheat Bran	Oat Bran
Beet Greens	Beets	Most Herbal Teas	Wholewheat Bread	White Bread
Broccoli	Blackberries	UDO's Oil	Butter	Carob & Chocolate
Brussel Sprouts	Cabbage	Most Cold Pressed Oils	Chicken	Cheese
Cauliflower	Carrots		Codfish	Corn
Celery	Chard Leaves		Soda Crackers	Corned Beef
Cucumbers	Cherries (sour)		Cranberries	Currants
Dates (dried)	Figs (dried)		White Flour	Eggs
Grapes	Grapefruit		Wholewheat Flour	Haddock
Green Beans	Green Peas		White Sugar	Honey
Lettuce	Lemons		Lamb	Lentils (dried)
Lima Beans (dried)	Lima Beans (green)		Cow's Milk	Lobster
Goat's Milk	Limes		Macaroni	Oatmeal
Millet	Molasses		Peanut Butter	Oysters
Muskmellons	Mushrooms		Peanuts	Peas (dried)
Onions	Oranges		Plums	Pike
Peaches	Parsnips		Pork	Prunes
Pears	Pineapple		White Rice	Brown Rice
Potatoes (white)	Potatoes (sweet)		Salmon	Sardines
Radishes	Raisins		Scallops	Sausage
Raspberries	Rhubarb		Shrimp	Spaghetti
Sauerkraut	Rutabagas		Sunflower Seeds	Winter Squash
Soybeans (green)	Spinach (raw)		Turkey	Veal
Total Nutrition	Strawberries		Wheat Germ	Walnuts
Tomatoes	Watermelons		Yogurt	Duck
Sprouted Grains	Sprouted Legumes		Unsprouted Grains *	Unsprouted Nuts *
Sprouted Seeds	Sprouted Nuts		All Candy	All Carbonated Beverages
Sea Vegetables (kelp etc.)	Sprouted Grasses		Drugs / Alcohol / Tobacco	Coffee
*Note Well: With the exception of Millet, all grains are Acid Ash producing. When Grains, Seeds, Nuts and Legumes are sprouted, they turn from Acid Ash to Alkaline Ash.
ORGANIC SOLUTIONS: 411 Cleveland St. # - 188, Clearwater, FL 33755 - Phone: 727-447-5282 - Copyright © 2004 by Ian Shillington N.D. All rights reserved.

Testing the pH of Saliva

Here's a post to the rife listserver by Duncan Crow which is a paraphrased reprint from The Body Electric:. It gives instructions on how to test saliva pH using a test kit made for aquariums. Nitrazine paper is more convenient, but more expensive.
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The more concentrated hydrogen becomes in your body, the more acidic you become. The less concentrated the hydrogen is in your body, the more alkaline you become. The measure of hydrogen concentration called pH. On a standard pH chart, 7.0 is neutral. Anything below this is acidic to the human body and anything above it is alkaline to the human body. If yas need to read, check out Herman Iahara "Acid and Alkaline" and Dr. Robert Barefoot "The Calcium Factor".

Parasites (fungii, virii, bacteria, viruses, protozoas, amoebas and microscopic worms), especially candidas, as well as cancer cells can not live with a intracellular pH range between 7.2 and 7.4. Laboratory studies have already proved this simple truth especially those done in Germany. Most doctors check the blood pH, which should always be an alkaline 7.4, but doctors seldom if ever, check the extracellular pH through a saliva test you can do at home. Urine blood pH are not a reliable indicator of the intracellular pH, but a saliva pH reading will help one determine with a good degree of accuracy if a body is too acidic or too alkaline. When the pH drops into the acid range, the body will support many types of parasite as well as cancer. When it becomes too alkaline, over 7.5, it plays host to other parasites, especially certain types of bacteria. Too acidic and you are in a state of acidosis. Too alkaline and you are in a state of alkalosis. Alkalosis is rare, but acidosis is a major problem and the main underlying condition to all disease. The immune system greatly slows down in this environment, which is always seen in live cell blood exams, since your red blood and white blood cells are aerobic (oxygen feeders).

As we age, diet, water (quality and pH) as well as anything else we drink, either keeps our bodies alkaline or slowly makes them more acidic. Processed sugars and starches are the main offenders. Stripped of their natural enzymes and minerals during processing, these turn into pure acid when digested, unlike fruits and tropical fruits which start out acidic when eaten, but after polypeptide digestion, produce alkaline salts (electrolytes). Remember two-time Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling's "Every disease and every ailment is linked to a mineral deficiency"?

The main reason that we need a slightly alkaline system boils down to one of oxygen levels. Acidity is the immediate effect of reduced oxygen levels at the cellular level, and is caused by an alkalizing mineral shortage, toxins, including known carcinogens, and poor diet. In fact, another two-time Nobel Laureate, Otto Warburg, who was the only person to be awarded twice for medicine, stated that ANY substance that lowers cellular oxygen to dangerous levels is a carcinogen. Clearing toxins will raise oxygen levels, and raising oxygen levels will allow the system to clear more pollutants. And alkalinity allows your system to carry more oxygen and accomplish this mission.

Go to a pet store and get one of their freshwater pH test kits. The pH range will usually be from 6.0 to about 7.6. The kit comes with a glass vial and plastic cap, a dropper of bromothomial blue, enough to do 250 tests, and a pH color chart ranging from 6.0 to 7.6. First thing in the morning, before you even rinse your mouth and before you eat anything, pull out the glass vial and spit into it until you have filled the vial with enough saliva to reach the mark on the vial. If you are having trouble making enough saliva, you are dehydrated. This will also be your first clue that your body is very acidic. Add the three drops of bromothomial blue as instructed on most packages, into the saliva. Put the cap onto the glass vial and shake it up good. This usually only takes a few shakes. Compare the color of your saliva sample to the color chart. The ideal reading is 7.4. If you are in the blue, your extracellular and intracellular pH is alkaline. You are no doubt quite healthy unless you are too alkaline. If it is in the blue/green or yellow, you are below 7.0 (neutral) and are acidic (acidosis); 6.6 is courting cancer.

In order to regain (or maintain) your health you'll need to kill your parasites and neutralize their acidic by-products, work on your bowel cleanse, and remove most of the other accumulated toxins from your body. In addition to using a herbal blend against parasites you will adopt a more alkaline diet, use 5 grams of calcium, almost as much magnesium and up to 5,000 IU of vitamin D as well as zinc, copper, potassium and all the other alkalizing minerals. The alkalizing minerals will help enormously. Don't skip them. Coral calcium is an organic calcium that will give you pathogen die off symptoms like you've never experienced before if you are 6.6 or below. Organic calcium from milk is another excellent bioavailable product; Dr. Barefoot says it's the best calcium supplement on the market. Also, Microhydrin, developed by Dr. Patrick Flanagan, is a very powerful alkalizer.