What is pH?
I know what you’re thinking…. Please don’t give me a lesson on chemistry. Don’t worry, I hated chemistry and would confuse you if I tried to explain pH in detail. Here is my version of pH and why we need to pay attention to it.
pH is a way we can tell how alkaline or acidic the body is. Optimal pH is around 7.0 – 7.2 that is a neutral pH, not too alkaline or too acidic. Anything below 7.0 is acidic and anything above 7.0 is alkaline. The lower the number is away from 7.0 the more acidic it is and the higher the number is away from 7 the more alkaline it is. It is easier to explain with the chart above take a look at it… ok got it?
Ok so let’s make the whole thing more complicated. Each number up or down is ten fold higher or lower than 7. Here is an easy example of what this means: Soda is 10,000 times more acidic than water! YUM! That’s why my grandpa used to pour it over the corroded battery posts in his truck to eat away that white stuff!
So, you want to keep your body at a neutral pH because when you get too acidic your body is more prone to becoming ill or diseased, and if your body becomes too alkaline you will not have proper hydrochloric acid to breakdown the proteins you eat, this is one of the reasons people are experiencing heart burn and often digestion related issues. Here’s a thought… if you are drinking a lot of soda which is pretty close to the same acidity as stomach acid, your body may stop making as much stomach acid. When I was an avid soda drinker, I felt like I NEEDED to have that soda with dinner to digest my food, otherwise I felt like the food just sat in my stomach.
Keeping our pH at its optimal level of 7.0 to 7.2 is a balancing act with how much water we’re putting in the system, what types of foods we’re digesting, and the quality and variety of essential fatty acids we put into the system.
To measure your pH, purchase pH test strips, (there are two types, one measures the levels in saliva and the other measures the level in urine. I prefer the urine test for accuracy) Insert the test strip into the stream of your first morning urination to see where their acidity levels are. If your urine indicates you are acidic take a look at your diet, and adjust what you’re eating to be more alkaline to aim for that magic 7.0-7.2 range of optimal health.
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Alkaline Forming Foods |
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| VEGETABLES Garlic Asparagus Fermented Veggies Watercress Beets Broccoli Brussel sprouts Cabbage Carrot Cauliflower Celery Chard Chlorella Collard Greens Cucumber Eggplant Kale Kohlrabi Lettuce Mushrooms Mustard Greens Dulce Dandelions Edible Flowers Onions Parsnips (high glycemic) Peas Peppers Pumpkin Rutabaga Sea Veggies Spirulina Sprouts Squashes Alfalfa Barley Grass Wheat Grass Wild Greens Nightshade Veggies |
FRUITS Apple Apricot Avocado Banana (high glycemic) Cantaloupe Cherries Currants Dates/Figs Grapes Grapefruit Lime Honeydew Melon Nectarine Orange Lemon Peach Pear Pineapple All Berries Tangerine Tomato Tropical Fruits WatermelonPROTEIN Eggs (poached) Whey Protein Powder Cottage Cheese Chicken Breast Yogurt Almonds Chestnuts Tofu (fermented) Flax Seeds Pumpkin Seeds Tempeh (fermented) Squash Seeds Sunflower Seeds Millet Sprouted Seeds Nuts |
OTHER Apple Cider Vinegar Bee Pollen Lecithin Granules Probiotic Cultures Green Juices Veggies Juices Fresh Fruit Juice Organic Milk (unpasteurized) Mineral Water Alkaline Antioxidant Water Green Tea Herbal Tea Dandelion Tea Ginseng Tea Banchi Tea KombuchaSWEETENERS Stevia Ki SweetSPICES/SEASONINGS Cinnamon Curry Ginger Mustard Chili Pepper Sea Salt Miso Tamari All HerbsORIENTAL VEGETABLES Maitake Daikon Dandelion Root Shitake Kombu Reishi Nori Umeboshi Wakame Sea Veggies |
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Acid Forming Foods |
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| FATS & OILS Avocado Oil Canola Oil Corn Oil Hemp Seed Oil Flax Oil Lard Olive Oil Safflower Oil Sesame Oil Sunflower OilFRUITS CranberriesGRAINS Rice Cakes Wheat Cakes Amaranth Barley Buckwheat Corn Oats (rolled) Quinoa Rice (all) Rye Spelt Kamut Wheat Hemp Seed FlourDAIRY Cheese, Cow Cheese, Goat Cheese, Processed Cheese, Sheep Milk Butter |
NUTS & BUTTERS Cashews Brazil Nuts Peanuts Peanut Butter Pecans Tahini WalnutsANIMAL PROTEIN Beef Carp Clams Fish Lamb Lobster Mussels Oyster Pork Rabbit Salmon Shrimp Scallops Tuna Turkey VenisonPASTA (WHITE) Noodles Macaroni SpaghettiOTHER Distilled Vinegar Wheat Germ Potatoes |
DRUGS & CHEMICALS Aspartame Chemicals Drugs, Medicinal Drugs, Psychedelic Pesticides HerbicidesALCOHOL Beer Spirits Hard Liquor WineBEANS & LEGUMES Black Beans Chick Peas Green Peas Kidney Beans Lentils Lima Beans Pinto Beans Red Beans Soy Beans Soy Milk White Beans Rice Milk Almond Milk |
These wonderful food charts were found at http://www.rense.com/1.mpicons/acidalka.htm
