What Is Your Body’s pH and What Can That Tell You?

Do you remember testing for acids and bases in chemistry class?  Did you know that the pH of your body is an indicator of health?  And you can do a simple test at home to find out your personal pH!

Disease is associated with an overly acidic body.  Problems such as inflammation and narrowing of the arteries and corrosion of body tissue all correlate with acidic pH. Long-term it may lead to cancer, heart disease, or diabetes. In addition, the body will do anything it can to raise the pH level, putting unneeded stress on internal organs and processes.  A body that is slightly more alkaline is healthier, but balance is the key.  Water, you may remember from that chemistry class, has a neutral pH of 7.0.  Anything lower is acidic, anything above is alkaline.

From any drugstore, you can purchase a pH test kit.  To test your pH, all you need to do is apply saliva and/or urine to the paper.  You should check before a meal and again at least 1 hour after eating. 

The ideal pH for our blood and body tissues is about 7.2. Saliva and urine test strips however, will show a much lower pH level due to the protein in the solution. The ideal range from saliva and urine tests from a healthy body should be between 6.6 to 6.8.

If your find your pH is either on the fringes of or outside of that range, you may wish to experiment with your diet and retest to try and get your pH to an optimal level.  Here is a list of foods that you can add/eliminate to affect your body’s pH.

Highly Acidic Fruits

Cherries

Cranberries

Dates

Dried fruits

Grapefruit

Lemons

Limes

Oranges

Persimmons

Pineapples

Pomegranates

Raisins

Sour apples

Sour grapes

Sour peaches

Sour plumbs

Tangerines

Tomatoes

Mildly Acidic Fruits

All berries

Apricots

Bananas

Figs

Grapes

Kiwi

Mangoes

Nectarines

Papayas

Peaches

Pears

Strawberries

Sweet apples

Sweet grapes

Sweet plums

Acid Forming Foods

Beef

Chicken

Dairy products

Eggs

Fish

Grains

Lamb

Pork (all forms)

Most nuts and seeds

Turkey

Veal

All store bought processed foods

Alkaline forming Foods

All melons

Almonds

Apricots

Coconut

Figs

Grapes

Honey

Lemons

Maple syrup

Molasses

Raisins

Umeboshi plums

Vegetables

Yogurt and other soured foods

Lemons have the ability to counteract acidity in the body. The citric acid found in lemons is neutralized during digestion, giving off carbonates and bicarbonates of potassium and calcium, which helps maintain the alkalinity of the system.  Add them to your water to help keep your body in balance. 

Here's to your health!