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Seeds for Change Wellness
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What pH is and Why It Is Important by Andy Long
WHAT pH IS AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO ALL YOUR BODY FUNCTIONS
pH is a scale that measures how acidic or alkaline a substance is. The scale ranges from 1 to 14 with 1 being
very acid, 7 neutral and 14 very alkaline.
So what does pH have to do with you and your blood? Well, the pH of your blood is extremely important. The
ideal pH level for your blood is right around 7.35 and your body goes to enormous lengths to maintain this
level.
Why? Because if your blood pH were to vary 1 or 2 points in either direction, it would change the electrical
chemistry in your body, there would be no electrical power and in short order you would drop dead. As you
can see, maintaining the right pH level in your blood is pretty important!!
With this in mind a good way to avoid upsetting this delicate bio chemical balance would be to take a look at
those things that can compromise the maintenance of the ideal pH level in your body. And what is the main
culprit in this case? The answer is the creation of acid in your body.
Before we look at what causes acid, here's a graphic example to give you an idea of what can happen in the
blood when your pH drops to less than ideal. Red blood cells are how oxygen is transported to all the cells in
your body.
As red blood cells move into the tiny, little, capillaries, the space they have to move through gets pretty small.
In fact, the diameter of the capillaries gets so small that the red blood cells sometimes have to pass through
these capillaries one red blood cell at a time!
Because of this, and because it's important for the red blood cells to be able to flow easily and quickly
through your body, they have a mechanism that allows them to remain separate from each other. This
mechanism comes in the form of the outside of healthy red blood cells having a negative charge. This
causes them to stay apart from each other, sort of like when you try to push the negative ends of two
magnets together. They resist each other and stay apart.
Unfortunately, acid interferes with this very important mechanism in a pretty frightening way. Acid actually
strips away the negative charge from red blood cells. The result is that your red blood cells then tend to
clump together and not flow as easily. This makes it much more difficult for them to flow easily through the
bloodstream.
But it also makes it harder for them to move freely through those small capillaries. This means less oxygen
gets to your cells. Acid also weakens the red blood cells and they begin to die. And guess what they release
into your system when they die? More acid.
I could describe a whole list of processes that occur when your system becomes and remains acid but I think
you get the idea. The point is that aside from the acid that is secreted into your stomach to aid digestion,
acid in your body is bad. Really bad.
In regard to producing energy in the body, here's an easy question for you. What do you think happens to a
person's energy level if over time their system becomes more and more acid, their biochemical balance is
disrupted and their red blood cells can't deliver oxygen and nutrients as efficiently to all their cells? The
answer is simple. Their energy level drops. Dramatically.
Are you beginning to get the picture here as to the importance of pH in your body? Good. Now let's take a
quick look at what causes acidity in your body and then look at steps you can take to get your body pH back
to an ideal level.
WHAT CAUSES ACID IN THE BODY
The primary cause of an acidic condition in your body is from what you put in your mouth. In other words,
what you eat and what you drink. And it isn't how "acid" something may seem when you eat or drink it. It has
to do with what is left over when you digest it.
Specifically, does eating or drinking something leave behind an acid or alkaline "ash". For example, I don't
know about you but I love seafood. Scallops are one of my favorites. However, when your body digests
scallops, it leaves an extremely acid ash. In fact, scallops are one of the most acid foods you can eat.
Unfortunately, a lot of the things most people put in their mouths create an acid ash. These include alcohol,
coffee and a lot of flesh protein in your diet. Interestingly enough, stress also tends to create an acid
condition in the body.
STEPS YOU CAN IMMEDIATELY TAKE TO IMPROVE YOUR pH
Fortunately, it is pretty easy to immediately change your pH for the better and make it more alkaline. The first
step is to understand which of the foods you are eating and the drinks you are drinking are acid and which
are alkaline. Then it's simply a matter of eliminating some of the more acid foods you are eating and adding
in more alkaline foods.
However, before you start, it's important to get a baseline of what the pH is in your body so that you can see
how you are improving or if you need to continue to eliminate more acid foods and add in more alkaline ones.
You can do this by testing the pH of your saliva on a regular basis. This is really simple to do. More details on
how to do this are provided on some web pages I have created for you to help you out. A link to these pages
is provided below.
In addition to decreasing the amount of acid foods you eat and increasing the amount of alkaline foods you
eat, one of the best ways to immediately begin changing your pH is to drink "green drinks". You can make
these by simply adding a powder that is made up of a whole host of vegetables that are highly alkaline to a
glass of water. Information on suggested green drink powders to use is included on pages that I have a link
to below.
RESOURCES WHERE YOU CAN LEARN MORE
Clicking on the following link will take you to some pages I created that have more information on alkaline and
acid foods, how to test your own pH and what to look for in green drinks.
http://www.ajpip.com/resources/site_map.htm
Start taking the steps described above and you may very well find your energy levels increasing over time.
Mine certainly have.
- Andy Long
After years of extreme fatigue, severe digestion problems and frequent sickness, Andy Long now enjoys
energy levels that allow him to windsurf in 30 mph winds for 3-4 hours at a time.
He now shares with others what he did to completely regain his health through his health related web sites
and newsletter.
To see a list of the topics covered in Andy's newsletter, click on the following link:
http://www.ajpip.com/rbopi/ancrb.htm
pH is a scale that measures how acidic or alkaline a substance is. The scale ranges from 1 to 14 with 1 being
very acid, 7 neutral and 14 very alkaline.
So what does pH have to do with you and your blood? Well, the pH of your blood is extremely important. The
ideal pH level for your blood is right around 7.35 and your body goes to enormous lengths to maintain this
level.
Why? Because if your blood pH were to vary 1 or 2 points in either direction, it would change the electrical
chemistry in your body, there would be no electrical power and in short order you would drop dead. As you
can see, maintaining the right pH level in your blood is pretty important!!
With this in mind a good way to avoid upsetting this delicate bio chemical balance would be to take a look at
those things that can compromise the maintenance of the ideal pH level in your body. And what is the main
culprit in this case? The answer is the creation of acid in your body.
Before we look at what causes acid, here's a graphic example to give you an idea of what can happen in the
blood when your pH drops to less than ideal. Red blood cells are how oxygen is transported to all the cells in
your body.
As red blood cells move into the tiny, little, capillaries, the space they have to move through gets pretty small.
In fact, the diameter of the capillaries gets so small that the red blood cells sometimes have to pass through
these capillaries one red blood cell at a time!
Because of this, and because it's important for the red blood cells to be able to flow easily and quickly
through your body, they have a mechanism that allows them to remain separate from each other. This
mechanism comes in the form of the outside of healthy red blood cells having a negative charge. This
causes them to stay apart from each other, sort of like when you try to push the negative ends of two
magnets together. They resist each other and stay apart.
Unfortunately, acid interferes with this very important mechanism in a pretty frightening way. Acid actually
strips away the negative charge from red blood cells. The result is that your red blood cells then tend to
clump together and not flow as easily. This makes it much more difficult for them to flow easily through the
bloodstream.
But it also makes it harder for them to move freely through those small capillaries. This means less oxygen
gets to your cells. Acid also weakens the red blood cells and they begin to die. And guess what they release
into your system when they die? More acid.
I could describe a whole list of processes that occur when your system becomes and remains acid but I think
you get the idea. The point is that aside from the acid that is secreted into your stomach to aid digestion,
acid in your body is bad. Really bad.
In regard to producing energy in the body, here's an easy question for you. What do you think happens to a
person's energy level if over time their system becomes more and more acid, their biochemical balance is
disrupted and their red blood cells can't deliver oxygen and nutrients as efficiently to all their cells? The
answer is simple. Their energy level drops. Dramatically.
Are you beginning to get the picture here as to the importance of pH in your body? Good. Now let's take a
quick look at what causes acidity in your body and then look at steps you can take to get your body pH back
to an ideal level.
WHAT CAUSES ACID IN THE BODY
The primary cause of an acidic condition in your body is from what you put in your mouth. In other words,
what you eat and what you drink. And it isn't how "acid" something may seem when you eat or drink it. It has
to do with what is left over when you digest it.
Specifically, does eating or drinking something leave behind an acid or alkaline "ash". For example, I don't
know about you but I love seafood. Scallops are one of my favorites. However, when your body digests
scallops, it leaves an extremely acid ash. In fact, scallops are one of the most acid foods you can eat.
Unfortunately, a lot of the things most people put in their mouths create an acid ash. These include alcohol,
coffee and a lot of flesh protein in your diet. Interestingly enough, stress also tends to create an acid
condition in the body.
STEPS YOU CAN IMMEDIATELY TAKE TO IMPROVE YOUR pH
Fortunately, it is pretty easy to immediately change your pH for the better and make it more alkaline. The first
step is to understand which of the foods you are eating and the drinks you are drinking are acid and which
are alkaline. Then it's simply a matter of eliminating some of the more acid foods you are eating and adding
in more alkaline foods.
However, before you start, it's important to get a baseline of what the pH is in your body so that you can see
how you are improving or if you need to continue to eliminate more acid foods and add in more alkaline ones.
You can do this by testing the pH of your saliva on a regular basis. This is really simple to do. More details on
how to do this are provided on some web pages I have created for you to help you out. A link to these pages
is provided below.
In addition to decreasing the amount of acid foods you eat and increasing the amount of alkaline foods you
eat, one of the best ways to immediately begin changing your pH is to drink "green drinks". You can make
these by simply adding a powder that is made up of a whole host of vegetables that are highly alkaline to a
glass of water. Information on suggested green drink powders to use is included on pages that I have a link
to below.
RESOURCES WHERE YOU CAN LEARN MORE
Clicking on the following link will take you to some pages I created that have more information on alkaline and
acid foods, how to test your own pH and what to look for in green drinks.
http://www.ajpip.com/resources/site_map.htm
Start taking the steps described above and you may very well find your energy levels increasing over time.
Mine certainly have.
- Andy Long
After years of extreme fatigue, severe digestion problems and frequent sickness, Andy Long now enjoys
energy levels that allow him to windsurf in 30 mph winds for 3-4 hours at a time.
He now shares with others what he did to completely regain his health through his health related web sites
and newsletter.
To see a list of the topics covered in Andy's newsletter, click on the following link:
http://www.ajpip.com/rbopi/ancrb.htm