Many know that the body maintains an internal temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, and if that temperature varies by five or six degrees in either direction, the body will react with illness and possibly death. The body has the same internal mechanism for regulating the pH balance of the blood. Many chemical responses happen in the body throughout the day to maintain a slightly alkaline balance of 7.365. When the pH balance drops toward acidic, or under seven in the blood, illness, disease, and possibly death can occur.
When I first studied the body’s natural healing process, I saw in most of the readings that I should test my body’s pH balance with litmus paper. This was decades ago. There was no Internet, and my local pharmacy didn’t know what I was talking about. While I wasn’t able to test, I was always curious about my body’s pH level. Now you can easily get test strips at the health food store or online. Typically, the strips test the alkalinity of the saliva or the urine. The urine test is actually more accurate because it is testing post digestion. It is simple and painless. The test strips are simply dipped in the urine stream then checked for the alkalinity level by color, with a color chart provided with the product.
If the urine tests acidic, it is an indication that the diet is not supporting the intricate system in the body to supply oxygen, vitamins, and nutrients to the cells through digestion. If this goes on for a long period of time, the body will slowly break down, with warning signs along the way, to a point of dysfunction and illness or disease. I have learned that it’s best to consistently test first thing in the morning because the alkalinity of the urine changes throughout the day, depending on food intake, stress, sleep, and other factors. In the morning, the body is fresh from a long period of rest and fasting, giving a consistent status for reading. A consistent good reading assures that the diet is supporting the normal blood pH balance.
Alkalinity in the body happens as a result of the mineral content in our food. The primary minerals that have an alkalizing effect are calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, and potassium. In order to support the body to maintain the alkaline state, we need to eat foods rich in primary minerals. These minerals are all very important for pH balance, and all of them have different health benefits.
Green vegetables, like broccoli, brussels sprouts, spinach, kale, chard, asparagus, cucumber, and beans, are good sources of the primary alkaline minerals. These foods have a high alkalizing effect on the body and play a very important role in a balanced, healthy diet. There is really no perfect replacement for regularly eating the food sources that best support the primary minerals. However, some people dislike the foods that provide the essential minerals, and if this is the case, they can at least supplement with a good-quality, whole-food, multi-mineral supplement—along with healthy natural salts as these provide essential minerals as a replacement for table salt. The body needs minerals, including sodium, to break down and assimilate food.
Ordinary table salt, sodium chloride, is also a mineral. Salt is a necessary nutrient, but very little is needed, especially not ordinary table salt as it contains anticaking agents. More about healthy salts is covered in chapter 11, “Salts and Hydration.”
Too much commercial sodium in the diet can contribute to harmful effects on health, like high blood pressure, heart failure, stroke, osteoporosis, stomach cancer, kidney malfunction, and disease. The problem is that the Western diet, or American diet, contains huge amounts of commercial sodium.
The average American should cut his or her sodium intake by more than half (to less than 1,500 milligrams a day). If Americans made this one change, the health-care system in the United States would save billions of dollars a year. That’s why I strongly encourage you to eliminate processed and packaged foods; learn new ways to eat foods close to their natural state, using simple recipes and techniques; eat foods high in the primary minerals, especially potassium as it counters the effects of sodium; supplement with plant-based minerals; and use Himalayan sea salt, Celtic sea salt, Real Salt, or salt substitutes instead of ordinary table salt.
The good news is that it’s easy to make the change. People worry that being healthy means sprouts and tofu. The idea of making drastic changes in the diet makes it seem impossible, but there are so many great foods that are alkaline or neutral that will support health and wellness. Included at the end of this chapter is an alkaline-acid food chart. It is a list of foods that are alkaline, neutral, or acidic. Dramatic, positive changes in health can be experienced by merely eating 75 percent alkaline and 25 percent acidic foods as the makeup of any meal or snack. Envision the dinner plate with three quarters of the plate filled with alkaline-forming food choices and one quarter of the same plate with acid-forming food choices. In addition, seasoning with herbs, spices, and healthy sea salt provides a huge health benefit for digestion and the absorption of vitamins and nutrients; plus, it gives a boost to the immune system.
Poor food choices are just one factor that causes our blood to lose an alkaline balance. Stress, anxiety, depression, sleep deprivation, and pollution can also contribute to a highly acidic pH level. A consistent alkaline-acid balanced diet will slowly correct these disturbances. I have seen many quickly improve their health situation with this awareness and a few simple changes. I follow this balance pretty closely because I believe it keeps me healthy and helps compensate for the stress in my life as well as the pollutants in my environment.
