Let's Talk pH: The Importance of Acid vs. Alkaline

Do you know someone who is sick? Maybe has cancer...maybe its you or someone you know. Well, either way or none at all, you will find this information very enlightening and very empowering! It is essential to healthy living and being disease free. I understand that some diseases are genetic but this info will still be useful to help eliminate and counteract any damage already done.
Today I bought my first pH strips from my local health conscious grocery store, Sprouts, and found that I'm slightly acidic. When I first did the test I used my saliva and it showed acidic at 6.0. The saliva test tends to be a bit more acidic than the blood but it is a fairly accurate gauge. The blood transports all the goodies through your body and you want that to be at a neutral level. I then did another way and used urine which came out neutral at around 7.5 which is ideal. I eat very well and clean for the most part, and drink lots of lemon water. I do have my coffee in the morn and my little urges for hot tamales candies every now and then. My daughter, who by the way eats too much junk in my opinion, is also on target using the saliva test....lucky for her, I'm happy she's right on it. :)

In the next few months I'm going to focus on alkalizing meals that I will be eating to raise my PH higher. I am feeling the need to do a cleanse of sorts at the moment. It is not wise to live completely on an alkaline diet as you can get sick as well, but for a short duration I believe it's healthy and ok, especially for someone who is dealing with cancer or other harsh diseases. The alkaline list is great...I love everything on it and will be mainly eating from that list at a 90% ratio and some days 100% alkaline. I will be giving up my coffee but that's ok...I'm excited to begin and see what happens.

Now that you see my game plan lets talk more about pH and the effects it has on the body. Here is some very good information that I found:

"Human blood pH should be slightly alkaline ( 7.35 - 7.45 ).  Below or above this range means symptoms and disease.  A pH of 7.0 is neutral.  A pH below 7.0 is acidic.  A pH above 7.0 is alkaline.

An acidic pH can occur from, an acid forming diet, emotional stress, toxic overload, and/or immune reactions or any process that deprives the cells of oxygen and other nutrients.  The body will try to compensate for acidic pH by using alkaline minerals.  If the diet does not contain enough minerals to compensate, a build up of acids in the cells will occur.

An acidic balance will:  decrease the body's ability to absorb minerals and other nutrients, decrease the energy production in the cells, decrease it's ability to repair damaged cells, decrease it's ability to detoxify heavy metals, make tumor cells thrive, and make it more susceptible to fatigue and illness.  A blood pH of 6.9, which is only slightly acidic, can induce coma and death.

The reason acidosis is more common in our society is mostly due to the typical American diet, which is far too high in acid producing animal products like meat, eggs and dairy, and far too low in alkaline producing foods like fresh vegetables.  Additionally, we eat acid producing processed foods like white flour and sugar and drink acid producing beverages like coffee and soft drinks.  We use too many drugs, which are acid forming; and we use artificial chemical sweetners like NutraSweet, Spoonful, Sweet 'N Low, Equal, or Aspartame, which are poison and extremely acid forming.  One of the best things we can do to correct an overly acid body is to clean up the diet and lifestyle.

To maintain health, the diet should consist of 60% alkaline forming foods and 40% acid forming foods.  To restore health, the diet should consist of 80% alkaline forming foods and 20% acid forming foods.

Generally, alkaline forming foods include: most fruits, green vegetables, peas, beans, lentils, spices, herbs and seasonings, and seeds and nuts.

Generally, acid forming foods include: meat, fish, poultry, eggs, grains, and legumes.

Shifting Your pH Toward Alkaline...
This chart is for those trying to "adjust" their body pH.  The pH scale is from 0 to 14, with numbers below 7 acidic ( low on oxygen ) and numbers above 7 alkaline.  An acidic body is a sickness magnet.  What you eat and drink will impact where your body's pH level falls.  Balance is Key !!!"

Following is source of the above information as well as a great detailed list of Acid & Alkaline forming foods that I will be using to put meals together over the next few months. Take a look for yourself and be empowered: Detailed List of Acid & Acidic Forming Foods

For further reading, I found this full of information: Saliva pH Test

Here is just a quick glance chart of foods and their Acid vs. Alkaline habits...

This is just a guideline. You should do your own research into Acid vs. Alkaline foods.

I do post information about this on my facebook page as well, but I thought it was important to put this information in as many areas as I can. Here it can be laid out more effectively. You may have seen some of this information already floating around on the social networks. The more we learn, the better we are. We have much power over ourselves and can overcome so much with a little knowledge.

Can it really be as simple as this...its becoming clearer and clearer that it can be. I always believe that clean food and a clean environment are keys to curing cancer and diseases. I wonder why we don't funnel the millions of dollars that go into cancer funding into that way of thinking instead of going into this vicious cycle that we seem to be in. This should be mainstream, but I suppose everything has it's time. This is very simple and sensible information. Dr. Otto Warburg, and I quote, "wrote about oxygen's relationship to the pH of cancer cells' internal environments. Since fermentation was a major metabolic pathway of cancer cells, Warburg reported cancer cells maintain a lower pH, as low as 6.0, due to lactic acid production and elevated CO₂. He firmly believed there was a direct relationship between pH and oxygen. Higher pH means higher concentration of oxygen molecules, while lower pH means lower concentrations of oxygen." Taken from Wikipedia.

Here is an informational 5 min video to empower you even more on the subject...

If you haven't seen the Gerson Miracle (1 1/2 hour), then please check the following video. It is a great documentary with the same concept of juicing and alkalizing the body to rid it of disease....

The body can heal itself if given the right environment and foods to help nourish it along. I know first hand at this. I have a recurring medical issue that has since gone away after changing my eating habits. At the moment I'm beginning to experience Rheumatoid Arthritis in my left hand (thumb and index finger) and my right foot on the top joints. My mom has it in both her hands, it may be a genetic thing but I want to eliminate as much as possible the effects it has. I also try to stay away from stressful situations in life, that also has an impact on your health...I have felt the power of what stress can do you. I prefer to stay away from supporting Big Pharma and rather my local farmer instead.

Hope this has been interesting to you and will stay with you in the future. I will be focusing on alkalizing meals and a few green juices the next few months while sharing my progress along the way...

Feel free to ask me anything or share your thoughts and experiences...I love to hear from all of you!

Cheers to what's ahead ! :)