If you’re one of the tens-of-millions of Americans whose pH balance is too acidic, your body is working hard to neutralize acid and bring you into balance. To do that, it needs certain key minerals that are known to neutralize acid. Sadly, most of us get far too few of these essential minerals — and so your body has no choice but to “borrow” them from organs and tissues where they’re needed.

Essential minerals are stolen away from your heart… your brain… your bones and joints… your muscles and skin… and your lungs, liver and every other organ in your body. And as they begin starving for the minerals they need to function properly, they begin to weaken, function less effectively, and fail.

As newborn babies, we are full of alkaline reserves and our metabolism moves smoothly and cleanly. When we die, we rapidly turn to acid waste. Alkalinity is health, longevity and quality of life. Acidity, in simple terms, means sickness and death.

When I see a patient with chronic symptoms of arthritis, diabetes, emphysema, arteriosclerosis or cancer, I know their tissues and metabolism are running acidic.

Tissue acidity has a long list of harmful effects upon the body if not neutralized or eliminated. For example, the body’s ability to absorb minerals and other nutrients decreases significantly in acid conditions. Additionally, in acidic conditions, the enzymatic processes that control the repair mechanisms for damaged DNA and other critical structures become weakened, the liver cannot detoxify heavy metals from the body, and cancer cells proliferate wildly. And acid tissue pH causes fatigue that leads to depression and stress.

What is pH?

The pH or “potential of hydrogen” is a measure of the relative acidity or alkalinity of a solution. Simply put, the term pH is a symbol for the amount of acidity or alkalinity of a solution. A pH of 7.0 is a perfectly neutral pH; from 0 to 7 indicates acidity; and from 7 to 14 indicates alkalinity.

Another way to think of it is that fluids become more acidic the farther below 7 they become (like stomach acid at the approximate pH of 2.0) and more alkaline the farther above 7 they become. And just for clarity, here are some pH values for various items before they enter the body:

• Orange juice is at 3.0
• Tomato juice is at 4.0
• Milk is at 6.8
• Neutral is 7.0
• Baking soda is at 9.0
• Milk of magnesia is at 10.7
• Household bleach is at 12.5

How Do You Know if You’re Acidic?

You can get a useful trend of your acid-alkaline balance using pH strips or litmus paper which you can purchase at most pharmacies. In clinical practice, patients use litmus paper to periodically test their own saliva and their first morning urine. Over time, their pH values tend to be more alkaline (toward optimum) as they overcome disease and institute alkaline lifestyle habits.

If you’re like most people who regularly eat animal protein, fried foods, processed foods, refined sugars, pasteurized dairy products or other acid producing foods, then most likely you’re acidic.

Testing Your pH

If you choose to test saliva, wait two hours after eating. Spit into a spoon and dip a pH strip in your saliva. Read the results immediately by matching the color of the pH strip to the color chart for the correct indication of your pH level. An optimal reading is 6.8 to 7.2 which reflects that you have effectively alkalinized your tissues.

When testing urine, use the first void in the morning. Fill a small cup with urine and dip the pH strip in the urine. Read the results immediately by matching the color of the pH strip to the color chart for the correct indication of your pH level. A reading of 6.4 to 6.8 is a favorable reading; more acidic (in the 5.5 to 6.4 range) usually means you are dumping excessive acids but that your kidneys are working hard to do so.

Above 7.0 for urine could either mean that you are well alkalinized or that you have stirred some ammonia to help fight an infection of some sort. Urine pH fluctuates more with your diet and daily activities.

If your test results are acidic, then consider increasing your intake of alkaline foods while reducing the acid foods you eat. You may also wish to supplement with alkalinized buffering minerals to increase the alkalinity of your drinking water which carries throughout the body.

Your Diet: The Difference Between Health and Disease

You really are not the same person that you were last year. The body replaces the lining of the stomach about every five days, the skin in about a month, the skeleton about every three months, the liver about every six weeks and the red blood cells circulate for about 120 days before being replaced by new cells.

The new body that you are building today is predominantly affected by the food you eat. And if you eat predominantly acidic-forming foods, the long-term acidic environment at the cellular level that is created will have a real and damaging effect.

If cells cannot function properly, your body cannot function properly. On the other hand, a healthy alkaline diet creates an environment that is conducive to cellular health.

Leading scientists agree — high acidity is the ONE cause behind all your worst health nightmares… so be sure to check your pH levels, get your body in balance with nutritious whole foods, and be prepared for a wonderful flood of healing that can protect your health well into your 70s… 80s… and 90s!

[Ed. Note: Michael Cutler, M.D. is a Board-Certified family physician with more than 17 years of clinical experience. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Tulane Medical School. Dr. Cutler’s practice focuses on integrative solutions to health problems, and behavioral and nutritional medicine. For more information click here.]