The Importance of Alkalizing – Your pH Balance

Each of us is at war and we don't even know it! The private war we each wage is a daily assault on our body by bacteria, virus, fungus, yeasts, and molds. We have entered what might be referred to as critical mass when it comes to this bacterial warfare onslaught being waged against us by stronger and stronger killer bugs and bad bacteria. Our immune systems are becoming weaker and over-taxed in this war. Even the medical profession's first line of defense (the antibiotic) is becoming less and less effective against resistant new strains being created daily as the bacteria mutate. Since Louis Pasteur discovered the germ theory of disease that states germs are the cause of disease, time has proven him correct. But note Dr. Pasteur's dying words: "The germ is nothing, the inner terrain is everything."

The inner terrain referred to in Dr. Pasteur's statement is now being called our biological terrain and comprises our body's digestive tract, lymph system, blood, urinary tract, interstitial and interstitial fluids. Our bodies are alkaline by design and acid by function. 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. All leading biochemists and medical physiologists have recognized pH (or the acid-alkaline balance) as the most important aspect of a balanced and healthy body. They have long known that the maintenance of an alkaline pH in our tissues and cells is critical to cellular health. In contrast, our digestive tract (except for our normally alkaline mouth) has varying degrees of acid by design, and our urinary tract should be slightly acidic for healthy function.

We live and die at the cellular level. All the cells (billions of them) that make up the human body are slightly alkaline, and must maintain alkalinity in order to function and remain healthy and alive. However their cellular activity creates acid and this acid is what gives the cell energy and function. As each alkaline cell performs its task of respiration, it secretes metabolic wastes, and these end products of cellular metabolism are acid in nature. Although these wastes are used for energy and function, they must not be allowed to build up. One example of this is the often painful lactic acid which is created through exercise. The body will go to great lengths to neutralize and detoxify these acids before they act as poisons in and around the cell, ultimately changing the environment of the cell. Most people and clinical practitioners believe the immune system is the body's first line of defense, but in actuality it is not. It is very important, but more like a very sophisticated clean-up service. We must instead look at the importance of pH balance as the first and major line of defense against sickness and disease and for health and vitality.

If we were to ask "What is killing us?", the answer might be "ACIDOSIS"! It has been demonstrated that an acidic, anaerobic (lacking oxygen) body environment encourages the breeding of fungus, mold, bacteria, and viruses. Let's look at an example. If we were to seal the door to our freezer and then unplug it, come back and open the door in two weeks, what would we find? Mold, bacteria, microscopic bugs. Things will be growing and multiplying. Where did they all come from? They did not sneak in - remember the door was sealed. The answer is . . . "they were always there". It is simply that the environment changed to a more inviting and healthy one for the "critters" to live in. This can be likened to a shift in our biological terrain from a healthy oxygenated, alkaline environment to an unhealthy anaeorbic acidic environment. You see what is healthy for us is unhealthy for the body attackers and what is healthy for them is what is unhealthy for our body.

A state of acidosis is simply the lack of oxygen and available calcium which the body uses to maintain its alkaline balance. Calcium makes up 1.6% of our body weight. It is literally the human glue that holds the body together. Calcium is so biochemically active that it has been likened to an octopus. A calcium ion can hold onto seven other molecules while it grabs onto one molecule of water. No other ion can do this. And it is the right size to easily get in and out of the human cell. As it does this, it takes a chain of nutrients into the cell and then leaves to get more nutrients.

The biggest problem scientists have found is that over time the human body becomes depleted of calcium. A compound called mono-ortho-calcium phosphate is the chemical buffer for the blood. This buffer maintains the alkaline level (or the lack of acidity) in your blood. Without it you would die. If the acidity level of your blood changes even slightly you die immediately. But in order to supply enough calcium for buffering we must have enough calcium being absorbed from our diet or our body will simply rob the needed calcium from our bones and teeth. 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.

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.

Osteoporosis is very confusing for many people. Most people think they can eliminate it by increasing their consumption of milk and dairy products. But in the countries where the consumption of dairy products is very low the instances of osteoporosis is very rare. Osteoporosis is an acidosis problem. As the body becomes more acidic, to protect against the event of heart attack, stroke, illness, or even cancer, the body attempts to remain healthy. So, it steals calcium from the bones, teeth, and tissue. As bone mass becomes depleted, this is what we call osteoporosis. As we saturate the body with calcium this brings the alkaline pH up and drops the acid levels down.

One of the first warning signs of an acidic biological terrain is calcium deposits. A little known fact is that there has never been a scientifically proven association between calcium deposits in the body and nutritional calcium. In fact quite the opposite is found in the results of testing calcium deposits of the body. Calcium deposits come not from dietary calcium but from the structural calcium of our bones and teeth!

So if calcium deposits are forming, we know our inner biological terrain is too acidic. Our dietary intake of calcium is not keeping up with the calcium buffering needed and we are actively pulling calcium from our bones and teeth. It all works like a little train, from the bones to the fluids and cells, to the blood. As our biological terrain becomes acidic, our pH level drops. When this happens we start losing calcium out of the blood, the bones, and the tissues. This is a safety mechanism. Now your biological terrain's oxygen level drops leaving you tired and fatigued, allowing fungus, mold, parasites, bad bacteria, and viral infections to flourish and gain a hold throughout the body. It is interesting to note that you often won't have just some of these invaders. If you have Candida you will likely have bad bacteria, fungus, and parasites because they all flourish in the same terrain.

HOW DO WE ALKALIZE?

1. We must cleanse and detoxify the body to allow for efficient, effective pH balancing.

2. We must to support the body nutritionally to build new, healthy cells. We are in an era of malnutrition because the minerals aren't in the soil and they can't possibly get into our food chain. What we have is lots of food but very little nutrient value in it.

• Eating organic, alkalizing foods specifically raw or very lightly sautéed greens and super foods

• The quality of the supplements you do decide to take will make all the difference in the world because not all supplements are created equal.

• Calcium is the one mineral that can really alkalize your body (makes your biological terrain more alkaline). There are many ways to keep your body's biological terrain at a healthy alkaline environment. These include: trace minerals, lemon water, juicing greens, high alkaline water

• Limiting our intake of phosphates which bind to calcium and prevent its absorption. Dietary phosphates are commonly found in all carbonated drinks, and in all animal protein.

It is not easy to reverse acidity once we become too acidic. The extreme importance of cellular environment has been mostly ignored by traditional healthcare, but is surely connected to the underlying cause of all health conditions.

Pollution, stress and our consumption of highly processed foods tend to create acidic body fluids, a characteristic compatible with certain diseases. All cellular waste and most internally generated toxins are acidic.

You'll have to ask yourself, "is pH balance a luxury or a necessity?" When we get the body alkaline it can function correctly and utilize all nutrients better. Once you alkalize, the parasites, fungus, mold, yeast, and bad bacteria should begin departing because they cannot exist in a healthy alkaline environment. Our private war against the daily assaults of stronger and deadlier organisms and our fight to stay alkaline will not end with a magic cure. Good health requires getting the proper nutrition on a daily basis.

CHECKING YOUR ALKALINITY

The first step in establishing a health-promoting alkaline diet is to assess your current first morning urine pH. This is a good measure of your average body pH and is easily obtained with pH testing strips. pH test strips measures acid-alkaline states ranging at least from 5.5 to 8.0.

First thing in the morning, upon first urination, wet the tape either by urinating directly on the tape or by collecting the urine in a cup and dipping the tape into the urine. Match the color of your test strip with the color chart on the back of the test tape packet. Any number below 7 indicates that your urine is on the acidic side. The lower the number, the more acidic you are. 7.0 indicates the neutral state and 7.4 would be an ideal first morning urine pH.