{"id":1057,"date":"2014-08-17T02:20:15","date_gmt":"2014-08-16T16:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fireshapercom.makemywebsite.au\/north-haledon\/blog\/power-alkalinity\/"},"modified":"2014-08-17T02:22:12","modified_gmt":"2014-08-16T16:22:12","slug":"power-alkalinity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fireshapercom.makemywebsite.au\/north-haledon\/blog\/power-alkalinity\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Alkalinity"},"content":{"rendered":"

The abbreviation\u00a0pH<\/strong>\u00a0stands for\u00a0power of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>hydrogen<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 It is a measure of the hydrogen ion concentration in a solution.\u00a0 An acid is a chemical that releases hydrogen into a solution.\u00a0 An alkali is a chemical that removes hydrogen from a solution.\u00a0 The acidity or alkalinity is critical to body function because many of your essential chemical reactions work properly only within a narrow range.<\/p>\n

As shown below, a solution with a pH of 7.0 is neutral.\u00a0 Above 7.0 is alkaline; below 7.0 is acid.\u00a0 Your blood is slightly alkaline at 7.35 – 7.45, a balance your body tries to maintain at all times.\u00a0 If blood becomes too acid, as is the usual case when eating modern food, it will draw calcium and other acid-buffering minerals from your bones in order to raise the pH back to normal.1<\/span>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Various parts of the body have different acid\/alkaline balances depending on what you eat and what you do.\u00a0 Skeletal muscle pH varies from 6.0 – 7.2, depending on the exercise you do. Exercise makes muscle more acid.\u00a0 At rest, skeletal muscle is neutral at 7.0. The healthy heart, brain and liver are all slightly alkaline between pH 7.0 – 7.2.<\/p>\n

Your saliva varies between 6.0 – 7.4, depending on the ambient level of acidity of the body overall, and on what you put in your mouth.\u00a0 Urine can get very acidic, ranging in pH from 4.5 – 8.0.\u00a0 Your urinary tract will not be comfortable at a pH of 4.5 – 6.0.\u00a0 And, if your saliva gets down to an acidity level of 4.5 pH, it will gradually burn the enamel off your teeth.<\/p>\n

Almost all foods release either acid or alkaline ash (bicarbonate base) into your gut and bloodstream.\u00a0 Because of the large amount of plant \u00a0material in their diets,, the gut, blood and organs of our ancient ancestors were almost always alkaline, probably between pH 7.0 – 7.5, except when they gorged on meat after a successful hunt.\u00a0 In contrast, the average American and Canadian diet is acidic, releasing about 50 milli-equivalents of acid each day.2\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s not very acidic but it is very damaging.\u00a0 The average citizen is constantly in a state of acidosis of about pH 6.5.\u00a0 That is why antacids in America make $7 billion every year, and rising.\u00a0 If we simply made our diets more alkaline, almost all that self-induced discomfort, and the gastrointestinal disease it turns into, would disappear.<\/p>\n

Acidity\u00a0Causes<\/em>\u00a0Osteoporosis<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In my book\u00a0Nutrition For Champions<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0(2007) I examine how excess salt and low levels of potassium in the average diet cause chronic acidosis.\u00a0 Salt (sodium chloride) is acidic because of the chloride ion.\u00a0 The major problem with acidosis in the blood is bone loss. Even low-grade acidosis causes the body to pull calcium from your bones, and is a major risk factor for osteoporosis.\u00a0 Osteoporosis is a major epidemic in the US and accelerating out of sight, and it is\u00a0never<\/strong>\u00a0prevented simply by taking extra calcium.3<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Bone is extremely sensitive to acidity.\u00a0 In their research on bone health, experts Russell Jaffe and Susan Brown provide excellent, simple explanations of how we destroy our skeleton.\u00a0 All cola drinks, for example, vary between pH 2.4 – 3.2.\u00a0 That\u2019s acid!\u00a0 To buffer it, and return the pH of the system to normal after drinking a can of cola, your body needs to use about 4000 mg of calcium and a lot of water.3\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0Daily calcium intake can\u2019t cut it, so the balance,\u00a0 well, a lot of it, because potassium and other nutrients also buffer acid, has to come from your bones. Over a decade, daily cola drinks will eat up a lot of bone.<\/p>\n

Alkalinity Builds Bone<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Bringing your body back to the slightly alkaline state it was designed for, prevents calcium loss from bone.\u00a0 In a representative study, Anthony Sebastian and colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco, examined the effect of potassium supplementation.\u00a0 They selected a group of post-menopausal women who showed the typical American condition of low-level chronic acidosis in their blood, and supplemented them with 60-120mmol per day of potassium bicarbonate (pH, 8.2) an alkaline chemical. The supplement neutralized the excess acid in the subjects\u2019 blood almost overnight.\u00a0 During the next two weeks of supplementation, their urinary loss of calcium declined dramatically, and measures of bone loss reversed to show bone formation.\u00a0 Their acid excretion declined by 80%.4\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Seems too easy doesn\u2019t it, with osteoporosis rampant in America. It\u00a0is<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0that easy, if you respect your miraculous genetic design and eat accordingly.\u00a0 I have to admit though, that potassium bicarbonate, (KHC03), takes particular advantage of the way we function, advantage that puts it ahead of a plate of green veggies.\u00a0 As potassium bicarbonate circulates in the bloodstream the lungs do the job they are designed for and remove the carbon dioxide (CO2).\u00a0 The potassium bicarbonate then becomes dilute potassium hydroxide, (KOH), one of the most caustic alkaline substances around, with a pH of 13.0.\u00a0 In chemistry, its common name is potash lye, a very corrosive alkali used in making bleach and alkaline batteries.\u00a0 So don\u2019t play with this supplement on your own. Even in the stomach it can upset you badly.\u00a0 Your physician knows the safe medical forms and the way to take them.<\/p>\n

Test Your pH<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

You can get a reasonable estimate of your own acid\/alkaline balance, and quickly ascertain if a change in diet is needed, or if a change you make is working.\u00a0 Obtain pHydrion strips from your local pharmacy.\u00a0 Measure your first urine in the morning.\u00a0 It should range between 6.2 – 7.0 pH.\u00a0 If it is consistently below 6.2, you are probably too acidic.\u00a0 Your buffering and elimination system cannot cope with the acid in your food.<\/p>\n

Measure your fasting saliva in the morning also.\u00a0 It should range between 6.5 – 7.5 pH.\u00a0 If it is consistently below 6.5, your body is probably producing too much acid, or cannot eliminate the acid efficiently.\u00a0 Either way, you need to change your food.<\/p>\n

Go Alkaline<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Our ancient diet was alkaline, producing a net input of bicarbonate of about 85 milli-equivalents per day.\u00a0 We lost this healthy state because of development of multiple high-acid foods.\u00a0 Cereal grains are big villains: wheat, rice, corn, rye, spelt, millet, and barley are all acid-producing.\u00a0 The only cereals that are nearly neutral are old-fashioned, uncut oatmeal and wild rice.5<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Made from grains, sugar and fat, almost all baked goods, jams, jellies, and puddings are acid-producing.\u00a0 So are dairy products, especially cows\u2019 milk, cottage cheese, processed cheese and ice cream.\u00a0 All fish, shellfish and meats are acid-producing, too, but we need some of those for other reasons.\u00a0 Some nuts and seeds are acid; others are alkaline.\u00a0 Alkaline-producing nuts are almonds and chestnuts.5<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

As you might guess from our evolution, all leafy green vegetables are highly alkaline.\u00a0 Most other vegetables are, too.\u00a0 So are citrus fruits.\u00a0 Even though a lemon or lime may taste acidic, it produces a net input of bicarbonate inside you.\u00a0 Only the odd fruit is acidic, such as pomegranates and some tomatoes. The ideal diet is about 75% alkaline \u2013producing, 25% acid \u2013producing. Most legumes, however, are acidic.\u00a0 Some scientists contend that legumes were only minor items in the pre-agricultural diet.5<\/em><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Having tried a number of varieties of wild beans I tend to agree; they taste worse than the senna tea my mother used to make us drink for constipation.<\/p>\n

In all of us, eating an alkaline diet not only saves our bones.\u00a0 It also reduces the acid excretion load on our kidneys, so that they function better and last a lot longer.\u00a0 And it saves us from a whole spectrum of related illnesses, not the least of which is muscle loss, which occurs when the ambient pH level of the blood is acid. Muscle loss occurs both in acidic young athletes, as they add to the background acidity with a whole lot of acid produced by training. It also occurs slowly but inexorably in all acidic adults as they age.6<\/em><\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Lose your muscle and you lose the source of your glutamine that supports the immune system.\u00a0 Then you become subject to every wandering microbe seeking an easy lunch.<\/p>\n

You can get a list of acid\/alakaline foods off the internet.\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Buschinsky DA.\u00a0 Metabolic alkalosis decreases bone calcium efflux by suppressing osteoclasts and stimulating osteoblasts.\u00a0\u00a0Am J Physiol<\/em>, 1996; 271:F216-F222.<\/span><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sebastian A, et al. Estimations of the net acid load of the diet of ancestral pre-agricultural Homo sapiens and their hominid ancestors.\u00a0\u00a0Am Soci Clin Nitr<\/em>, 2002; 76:1308-1316.<\/span><\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Brown SE, and Jaffe R.\u00a0 Acid-alkaline balance and its effect on bone health.\u00a0\u00a0J Integ Med<\/em>, 2000; 2:1-8.<\/span><\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sebastian A, et al. Improved mineral balances and skeletal metabolism in post menopausal women treated with potassium bicarbonate.\u00a0\u00a0New Engl J Med<\/em>, 1994; 330:1776-1781.<\/span><\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I am indebted to Dr. Russell Jaffe, Senior Fellow of the Health Studies Collegium for information on acid-producing and alkaline-producing foods.\u00a0 It is the best I have read.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Alpern RJ, and Sakhaee S.\u00a0 The clinical spectrum of metabolic acidosis: homeostatic mechanisms produce significant morbidity.\u00a0\u00a0Am J Kidney Dis<\/em>, 1997; 29:291-302.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The abbreviation\u00a0pH\u00a0stands for\u00a0power of\u00a0hydrogen.\u00a0 It is a measure of the hydrogen ion concentration in a solution.\u00a0 An acid is a chemical that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,11],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Power of Alkalinity - Fireshaper North Haledon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Power of Alkalinity - Fireshaper North Haledon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The abbreviation\u00a0pH\u00a0stands for\u00a0power of\u00a0hydrogen.\u00a0 It is a measure of the hydrogen ion concentration in a solution.\u00a0 An acid is a chemical that […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fireshapercom.makemywebsite.au\/north-haledon\/blog\/power-alkalinity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fireshaper North Haledon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"www.facebook.com\/fireshaperusa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-08-16T16:20:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-08-16T16:22:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fire Shaper\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fire Shaper\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fireshapercom.makemywebsite.au\/north-haledon\/blog\/power-alkalinity\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fireshapercom.makemywebsite.au\/north-haledon\/blog\/power-alkalinity\/\",\"name\":\"The Power of Alkalinity - 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