The statistics are alarming. According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, 7 out of 10 Americans, approximately 1.7 million people die each year of chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes. The leading causes of disability are arthritis and rheumatism, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and respiratory problems. You’d think that with all the health information and medical research we have access to, Americans would be the healthiest people in the world. Instead, we have among the worst health statistics of all developed nations, and we are among the fattest.

            There are new drugs developed every day, hundreds of diets promising everything from weight loss to the fountain of youth. While there is no magic potion that promises perfect health, our bodies were created to work precisely, to heal themselves and maintain balance of all systems.

            You may never have heard of balancing your body’s pH levels. Doctors, herbalists and nutritionists are finding that unless your body is at the correct acid/alkaline ratio, you are setting the stage for illness. While this may sound like just another health fad, in 1933 William Howard Hay, M.D., wrote “A New Health Era” in which he explained his belief that all disease is caused by self-poisoning from acid accumulation in the body. More recently, Theodore A. Baroody, ND, DC, PhD, says in his book, Alkalize or Die:  “The countless names of illnesses do not really matter. What does matter is that they all come from the same root cause…too much tissue acid waste in the body.”

            According to chiropractor Lynne Kavulich, Certified Clinical Nutritionist and best-selling author who practices in Hopewell Junction, “Illness is always preceded by waste acids that are not eliminated when they should be. They’re reabsorbed from the colon into the liver and put back into general circulation. They then deposit in the tissues. It is these tissue residues that determine sickness or health.”

            pH stands for potential of hydrogen and measures the acidity or alkalinity of a solution, which in the case of your body, is water. Your body composition is 70 percent water and your blood is 90 percent water. A higher pH indicates an alkaline, oxygen-rich inner environment. A lower pH indicates an acidic, oxygen deprived body. Excess acidity (acidosis) creates an internal environment that is conducive to disease, including cancer.

            The pH range is zero to 14. 7.0 is neutral; anything more than 7.0 is alkaline and lower than 7.0 is acid. Your body is constantly working to keep your blood at precisely 7.365, which is just slightly alkaline.

            In fact, a major purpose of all your regulatory systems, including breathing, circulation, digestion and hormone production actually is the balancing of your body’s pH. For example, simply by breathing, you are balancing your pH. Inhaling takes in alkalizing oxygen and exhaling removes acidic carbon dioxide.

            Farmers know that if their soil doesn’t contain the proper ratio of minerals, it can kill their crops. People drive themselves crazy to make sure the pH of their pool is correctly balanced. When your body is acidic it puts great stress on its regulatory systems to balance the pH levels. Dr. Kavulich suggests that an acidic pH creates a hostile internal environment in which the body struggles to get the nutrients it needs. “The more acidic you become, the worse you will most likely feel,” she says. 

            Research shows that if your body is overly acidic:

§         It cannot heal itself;

§         You can’t effectively absorb vitamins and minerals;

§         Your body can’t repair damaged cells efficiently; and

§         You become more susceptible to illness and fatigue.

According to Vicki Koenig, MS, RD, CDN, who has a private practice counseling patients and consulting with businesses in New Paltz and also serves as Stonyfield Farm’s consulting nutritionist, “While there is no diagnosis known as ‘excess acidity,’ most people will feel better when they emphasize more alkaline foods.”

            If the body’s pH becomes acidic, says Dr. Kavulich, it becomes harder and harder for the body to uptake other nutrients, such as minerals, vitamins or herbs.

            Angela Starks, a health writer, yoga teacher and nutritionist in New Paltz says, “I recommend that most of my clients eat a more alkaline diet, since most people tend to be too acidic. There is such a thing as being too alkaline, but that is rare with today’s acidic processed food diet, toxins in the environment and even stress, which can be ‘acidic’ as well. The benefits of a more alkaline diet include more resilience to disease, greater flexibility in the joints and muscles, healthier bones because of better calcium retention and even improved mental equilibrium.” What causes this imbalance?

            If your diet doesn’t provide enough minerals to act as a buffer, acid builds up in the cells causing various health problems. Your body then compensates by borrowing alkaline minerals (calcium, magnesium and potassium) from your bones, teeth, joints, tissues and vital organs to neutralize the acid and maintain the blood’s correct pH. Calcium is actually pulled from your bones. Is it any wonder we shrink as we age?

            Statistics reveal approximately 98 percent of Americans are mineral deficient to varying degrees. We are unable to get sufficient minerals from our diet alone. Our food is mineral deficient because it is grown in mineral depleted soils. 

            When you are overly acidic your body stores the excess acid in your fat cells in order to buffer it. Dr. Robert O. Young, coauthor of The pH Miracle for Weight Loss explains, “The body responds by shuttling acid into fat cells and slowing metabolic rate so more fat can be stored. This is the body’s way of getting excess acids out of circulation, but it makes weight loss virtually impossible.”

            You may sleep eight hours and still wake up exhausted because your blood is unable to circulate adequate oxygen to all your cells. If your body is not getting enough oxygen at the cellular level, you not only feel tired, but you set yourself up for serious illness since cancers and other diseases cannot exist in an oxygen rich environment. German researcher, Otto Warburg, won the Nobel Prize in 1932 for proving that cancer is anaerobic and needs an oxygen free environment to thrive. An acidic pH creates that environment.

            How do you even know what your pH is? It’s very simple to test your levels. You can purchase pH test strips from most health food stores and test both your saliva and urine to get the most accurate picture. The best time to test is one hour before or two hours after a meal.

            Your saliva mirrors the condition of your blood. Before eating the optimal range for saliva is 6.4-6.8; after eating it should rise to 7.5 or higher. If your saliva remains between 6.5 and 7.5 all day, you’re in a healthy range.

            Your urine is an accurate reflection of the body’s tissue pH, says Dr. Kavulich. The optimal pH for urine is 6.0-7.0; it should be between 6.0 and 6.5 first thing in the morning and between 6.5 and 7.0 before dinner in the evening.

            Now you know how to test your pH levels, but what can you do to maintain healthy pH levels? “Acid-alkaline balance is not as easy to understand as we once thought. We are finding that some foods that make one person acidic will not have the same effect on another person, because we are all biochemically unique,” explains Starks.

            Besides adjusting your diet (see sidebar), it’s also advisable to avoid or at least limit sugary, processed junk foods, soft drinks, artificial sweeteners, alcohol, coffee, tea, tobacco and practice stress reduction techniques.

            “Everyone can benefit from including more vegetables and fruits in their choices,” says Vicki Koenig. “All vegetables and fruits are alkalizing and can help support and balance the benefits of a higher protein diet.”

            Angela Starks agrees, “Adding more fresh veggies and fruit is perhaps the most important step, because this will help to crowd out less desirable foods.”

            There is good news for those of us over 40. Dr. Kavulich says, “The alkaline acid balance is more reflective of a person’s diet and stress control than their age. A teenager can have more acid in their body than an older person who is health conscious. Aging can be a factor, however, if excessive pharmaceuticals are taken regularly.”

            There are a number of very simple things you can do to alkalize your body according to Angela Starks:

            “Simply increase the amount of fresh, preferably raw vegetables and fruits; reduce the amount of meat, dairy and eggs in the diet and preferably eliminate them altogether; avoid sugar and products that contain sugar and reduce the amount of grains and grain-based products, especially refined wheat.”

            The foundations of good health are nutrient-dense, unrefined, properly prepared whole foods, pure water, the correct whole food supplements, regular exercise, adequate rest and effective stress control. It is not necessary to eliminate acid-forming foods such as meat and whole grains in order to maintain proper balance. Proteins such as fish and eggs and whole grains like oatmeal and brown rice are an important part of a healthy diet. The bottom line in creating and maintaining vibrant good health is living a balanced life, and that includes our diet.

*This article appeared in the October, 2007 issue of Hudson Valley Life.