Integrative Health Blog

How's Your pH level?

PH is the balance of acidity and alkalinity in our blood, and it has an effect on almost everything in our body! It is a scale ranging from 1-14 with 1 being very acidic, 7 neutral and 14 very alkaline. Healthy humans want to be in the range of 7.3 - 7.45, slightly alkaline. Your body fights hard to counterbalance acids and keep the proper pH in your organs, tissues and body fluids. But it can only do that for so long before a condition known as acidosis occurs. You have to give the body what it needs, so that it can properly maintain the acid/base balance.

The average American diet is full of chemicals and nutritionally unbalanced meals which affect the body’s acid-alkaline balance.  Now throw in lack of exercise and you have yourself a very biased pH level.

Another Reason to Eat Vegetables

You can see on the chart that most mineral-rich and nutrient dense foods are alkaline forming. That includes most vegetables and fruits, and good fats.  When we consume things that are acidic such as; meat, dairy, processed foods, prescription drugs and artificial sweeteners, the body needs to balance itself back out. Eating alkaline foods helps that balancing process. However, if we don’t create an alkaline environment through our foods, our bodies try to compensate by drawing on calcium from our bones! By adding alkaline foods into your diet you reduce inflammation and maintain your bone health.

Some good books to read on this subject are "The pH Miracle” by Dr. Robert Young and "Alkalize or Die" by Dr. T. Baroody Jr.  

Photo Credit: the perfect ph water