Balancing Your pH
According to the experts, like Dr. Robert O. Young and Shelley Redford Young, the most important thing to lose weight and prevent or reverse diseases like diabetes, you need to make sure you balance your pH level because “The entire metabolic process depends on an alkaline environment and chronic over-acidity corrodes body tissue.” All other things you hear, like cholesterol level, blood pressure, blood sugar, calories and fat grams, or hormone levels don’t mean much. To stay healthy you need to make sure you balance your pH of your blood and tissues. In other words, you need to make sure your body is not acidic.
What is pH?
Acidity and alkalinity in the body are measured by the pH (potential of hydrogen) scale. Water has a pH of 7.0 and is considered neutral, therefore it’s neither acid nor alkaline. An acid body is unhealthy and an alkaline body is healthy. Based on our research, here are some important things to note about the pH levels of your saliva.
- If your saliva pH is between 6.0 and 6.5, you are acidic and you’ve either already experienced, or have a potential of developing, one or more of 150 degenerative diseases.
- If our saliva pH is less than 7.0, you need to increase it to at least 7.0. However, most experts agree that a person is considered healthy if his/her saliva registers a pH level between 7.2 and 7.5.
- If your saliva pH is below 6.0, then you are extremely acidic. Your body is already deficient in minerals and you’ve definitely developed many diseases at this point.
- You don’t want your pH to be too high for extended periods of time, because that’s also not healthy. Your goal should be to keep your saliva pH level somewhere between 7.2 and 7.5 most of the time.
Some foods are considered acidic, while others are alkaline. In terms of acid/alkaline, it’s not the taste of the food that determines whether it’s acidic or alkaline, it’s the way our body digests it. For example, lemons and limes are citric, but very high on the list of foods that can help raise our pH level. Mangoes that are very sweet, are also highly alkaline. Apple Cider Vinegar tastes acidic, but when it’s processed by our body it’s excellent for raising our pH level to make our system more alkaline.
For over 15 years, we have worked on keeping our pH level balanced and the results have been simply amazing. By adding regular exercise to a balanced pH diet, we believe everyone can expect tremendous results and enjoy the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, such as avoiding sickness and disease, having more energy, avoiding stress, and living a life free of medications, regardless of age. Keep in mind, you can achieve this without any potions or lotions, simply by eating the right food that will keep your pH at the recommended level. Why do you think kids are healthier than adults? Among other things, they exercise more than adults and their pH level is perfect around 7.5. If they continue to keep their pH at that level, they are likely to avoid over 150 degenerative diseases in their adult life.
| A consistent pH of saliva over 7.2 can help prevent over 150 degenerative diseases. |
So how do we determine what’s best for us and what’s a balance diet? A balanced diet consists of 40% acidic foods and 60% alkaline foods. The following table will give you an idea of the pH values of some common items, including foods, blood, and other substances.
| Comments The recommended percentage of acid/alkaline seems to be all over the board. Some people recommend 35%-65% acid/alkaline ratio for a balanced pH; others insist on 20-80. However, it seems like an average person should be in good shape with a 40-60 acid/alkaline diet. Please consult with your healthcare expert for his/her professional recommendation. Medical doctors are less likely to bring this topic up for discussion. However, you will be hard pressed to find a naturopath doctor in the United States who doesn’t know the importance of a pH-balanced diet and will be happy to share information on this topic. |
Acid/Alkaline Food Chart
For a pH balanced diet, our naturopath provided this Food Chart that we have been using for more than a decade. We have looked at tons of information over the years and realize that there is no body that’s accepted as an authority on the pH levels of food items. One website will list a certain food at a pH of 5.3, while other may list it at 6.5. After analyzing all the data, we decided to stick to the Food Chart provided by our naturopath and, along with our friends and family members, post it on our refrigerator. Here’s a colored version of the same chart.
You will notice that some items are listed in italics in the above food chart. There items are not recommended, even in moderation.
- If you want to raise pH level of your saliva, you should eat more alkaline-forming foods and less acid-forming foods. About 80% alkaline-forming and 20% acid-forming is recommended.
- For maintenance you should use a 60/40 ratio. That’s 60% alkaline-forming and 40% acid-forming foods.
- Foods in italic should be avoided, even in moderation, because they are extremely acidic and harmful to our bodies.
You may find it interesting that table salt (Sodium Chloride) is in the Most Acidic column, while sea salt is in the Most Alkaline column. Obviously, if you must use salt, it’s best to use sea salt.
pH Meter
You can find out your blood pH in the lab results of your annual physical. However, testing the blood pH level requires a blood test so you can’t easily do this at home. That’s why we do a saliva test, which is much easier and you get the results right away. Most people use pH test paper to test their saliva, but we don’t find this method to be accurate at all. We use a digital pH meter.
Digital pH Meter from HACH
The pH meter looks similar to a thermometer. A few drops of saliva are placed on the tip of the meter and the pH is displayed in the digital readout up to 0.1 accuracy. pH meters come in many flavors, but for long-term use and low maintenance the best meters use pH probes with ISFET technology. This is basically an electronic solid state chip that can use as little as one drop of fluid for testing. Some meters use glass bulbs, but those wear out fast and they should always be stored wet to maintain good function. You can purchase the pH meter from any vendor, but in our experience if you purchase from HACH, the manufacturer, you get better service and warranty and we weren’t really able to find it cheaper than HACH at any other place.
How to Use the pH Meter
Based on our research, the best way to measure your saliva pH is to test it in the morning when you wake up (before you drink, eat or rinse your mouth). Spit in your hand and then pour the saliva on the tip of the pH meter sensor. The meter will display the reading. Rinse the meter gently under warm water, do not shake, and dry it with a soft cloth. We’ve found the manufacturer (HACH) to be really helpful when to comes to answering questions about this pH meter, troubleshooting any problems with calibration, cleaning the pH meter, or general maintenance.
Cost of Digital Meter
The cost of pH meter by HACH (IQ120 shown above) was $159 in 2004, $195 in 2009, and the new model H130 was $205 in 2013, and $212 in 2014. This gives you an idea of its cost. We are not sure if it’s still available from HACH. You would have to call them and find out.
pH Test Paper
In order to begin testing your pH you will need pH test paper, or a pH meter. The color of the paper that matches the test colors is the pH. The image below shows a universal pH test paper that you can purchase from Walmart and other stores.
The test paper is limited in terms of range and also accuracy so a pH meter is a far better choice. Frankly, if you have the budget for one, it is the only way to go.
| Comments The paper tests are pretty confusing for the most part. In our opinion, it’s almost impossible to match the colors exactly to the chart so we believe that for accurate readings investing in a digital pH meter is totally worth it. We have posted the information for test paper only for people who cannot afford a more expensive digital pH meter. |
How to Balance Your pH
Now that we talked about what’s pH and how to measure our pH, let’s talk about how we can increase our pH. Because most people are acidic, they need to increase their saliva pH to healthy levels over 7.2. There are several ways to increase your pH. Some of the methods that we have tested successfully for more than a decade are listed below. Because we have so much information to share on how to balance your pH level, we have created separated pages for the following.
- Cell Power Drops – So far we haven’t found anything that’s better, safer, easier, and faster to balance our pH than Cell Power drops. If you want to increase your pH quickly, Cell Power is the way to go.
- AlkaMax Capsules – It is the second best supplement we’ve used to boost our alkaline level, but if you want to get your pH level up quickly, Cell Power is what you want. AlkaMax takes several days to balance your pH and is less expensive than Cell Power. It used to be advertised for natural relief from acid indigestion & heartburn and also as an alkaline booster. Now it’s only advertised as an Alkaline Booster, but it still works great for acid indigestion & heartburn. In fact, it works better for acid indigestion than Tums or any other supplement that we have used.
- Eating High-Alkaline Forming Foods Based on This Chart – This is a food chart that you can post on your refrigerator and use it as a guideline. It really helps a lot in keeping you on an optimum diet so you eat less acid-forming foods and more alkaline-forming foods.