Hiya Gorgeous,
You may have heard about pH or the acid-alkaline balance in your wellness travels. I was oblivious to this concept when I began my health and wellness journey. But my overall well-being changed when I started to connect the dots between pH balance, inflammation, and what I was eating and drinking.
What the Heck is pH?
Remember high school science class? Well, if you don’t, here’s a little refresher course: The body maintains a delicate acid-alkaline balance. Everything from healthy cells to cancer cells to soil quality and ocean life is affected by pH.
The term pH stands for “potential hydrogen” which is the measure of hydrogen ions in a particular solution (don’t worry if you’re not science-savvy, I’ll make this easy to understand!). In our case, that “solution” refers to our body’s fluids and tissues.
The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14 and is meant to measure how acidic or alkaline a substance is. Seven is neutral. Below 7 becomes increasingly acidic, above 7 increasingly alkaline.
What Do Balanced pH Levels Look Like?
As with most health-related barometers, a healthy pH balance is everything. Proper pH balance varies throughout your body for many reasons. For example, your bowels, skin and vagina should be slightly acidic–this helps keep unfriendly bacteria away. Saliva is more alkaline, while your urine is normally more acidic, especially in the morning.
In addition, your body regularly deals with naturally occurring acids that are the by-products of respiration, metabolism, cellular breakdown and exercise. So clearly the goal is not to think of acid as “bad” and alkaline as “good.” Again, the body’s pH levels are a delicate balance.
By far the most important measurement is your blood. For optimal cellular health, your blood pH level must be slightly alkaline with a pH between 7.365 and 7.45. Our bodies are programmed to maintain this range no matter what, since even the slightest dip or rise in pH can have seriously dangerous consequences.
Can the Human Body Restore pH Balance on its Own?
Now here’s the possible problem: The Standard American Diet (SAD) is rife with acidic substances and foods—meat, dairy, highly processed food products and refined sugar. Environmental toxins can be acidic, too, and sadly, those are pretty dang hard to avoid.
Some research claims our bodies can self-correct in the presence of such acidic materials with no negative health impact—but other peer-reviewed studies suggest our bods have to work harder to neutralize the acidic load, resulting in a gradual decline in health.
The jury’s still out and further research is needed, but we do know that high acid diets are associated with gout, kidney stones, and other health conditions, so it seems likely there’s something to the whole pH and food connection. To that I say, why not tip the scales in the alkaline direction?
How to Measure pH Balance
You may be tempted to start testing your pH like a mad woman to make sure you’re on track, but it’s really not necessary. I tested my tinkle a lot when I first learned about pH, but these days I’m comfortable skipping the strips, knowing that I’m doing what I can to contribute to my pH balance with the three diet and lifestyle practices below.
But if you’re still curious, you can test your urine at home with litmus paper strips (available online for about $10). Keep in mind that the pH of urine always varies, depending on what you eat and when, and that you should test your second urine of the day for the best snapshot of what’s going on inside.
Testing your urine can show you how well your body is excreting acids and assimilating minerals. For optimum sparkle, the normal pH level in your urine should fall in the 6.8 to 7.5 pH range.
What Causes a pH Imbalance?
Think about the acidic standard American diet (SAD). Most folks are shovelin’ in the acid multiple times per day with tons of sugar, processed foods, factory-farmed animal products, etc. One of the biggest pitfalls of the SAD is the toll it takes on the body, especially the digestive system, liver, and kidneys. What else can wreak havoc on pH levels?
Stress
Constant stress leads to the secretion of stress hormones, which can lead to chronic inflammation and an acidic environment.
Shallow Breathing
When you’re stressed, do you breathe quickly? Rapid and shallow breathing—taking in oxygen too quickly—can lead to acidity.
Toxins
Exposure to environmental toxins (heavy metals, pollutants, hormones, chemicals in food and plastics, beauty products, unclean tap water, etc.) can wreak havoc on your pH balance.
Infections
Infections also lead to an acidic environment which impacts your immune system, increasing the likelihood of continued illness. Secondly, over-the-counter medications can alter your microbiome and allow bad bacteria to thrive, which can negatively impact pH levels.
Medical conditions
If you have a medical condition (like diabetes) it may lead to a higher pH level. If you have a diagnosed medical condition, check with your doctor to help determine your next steps.
Symptoms of a pH Imbalance
These are just a few of the symptoms you might exhibit as acid levels (or alkaline levels) increase.
- Inflammation
- Allergies
- Arthritis
- Skin problems
- Constipation
- Bowel issues
- Stress
- ketoacidosis
- Vaginal infections
Vaginal pH Balance
Good bacteria work to keep your vaginal pH balanced. For example, Lactobacilli bacteria live in the vagina and secrete lactic acid (which is what makes your vagina acidic). When vaginal pH levels are out of whack, it can lead to numerous infections:
- Bacterial vaginosis (BV)
- Yeast infections
- Atrophic vaginitis
- Urinary tract infections
Unbalanced vaginal pH levels can allow harmful bacteria to kill good bacteria, leading to these common infections. Vaginal health is important to your overall health, and restoring ph balance should positively impact your lady parts, too!
Think you have a vaginal imbalance?
- Vaginal discharge that is a cottage cheese consistency could be a yeast infection
- A foul-smelling vaginal discharge that isn’t clear or off-white might indicate bacterial vaginosis
- If you’re experiencing burning or see blood in your pee, you might have a UTI.
Women’s health is important to me (obviously!) and a healthy vagina is important to overall wellness. See your doc if you’re experiencing any uncomfortable symptoms and they may prescribe something to help balance your ph levels.
Hi,
Whist the benefits of eating greens are recognised, I believe this blood pH acid alkali fad to be rubbish and misleading.
I used to work as an MD.
The body regulates blood pH VERY carefully around 7.4. If pH falls below 7.2 or so …. only very mildly acid…. you enter metabolic acidosis. This can lead to convulsions etc and a “trip” to intensive care.
I have never seen any evidence about blood pH with diet….sounds another new age thing that sounds great but no one has any evidence. Like “blood toxins” and UFOs….
I also don’t agree with vegetarianism. Its good to cut down from excess but there are essential amino acids in meat found nowhere else. Our ancestors didn’t eat meat because they were bored!!! It was for good reason. Studies show vegetarians on average have a life span lower than most meat eaters.
Use your brain with this stuff and don’t get carried away.
Alex
I am eating extremely alkaline and cannot reach appropriate ph numbers. When I eat something acidic I seem to shoot right into the numbers I seek. So what’s happening? Am I just pulling from bones in old patterns of being highly acidic?
can I have lemon tea sometimes I drink lemon & water when I have lemon in the house any way I can add something to the faucets whenever I run out of lemons
Hi Kris! I hope you are having a great New Year thus far! Can you tell me if adding some orange juice to your water will have the same effects as adding lemon juice to your water? Ie: The cleansing of the digestive system, igniting metabolism & neutralizing excess acids? I hope so.
Thanking you in advance.
Kathleen
Hi …..I find your website very interesting and useful . There is a problem i hope you might be able to help me with . Only 2 years ago i was diagnosed with mild to moderate rosacea. I am 50 years old and i really want to look after the health and ageing part of my skin but because of my condition my skin is fairly sensitive so this makes it hard for me , so in my case does this mean i have too much or not enough stomach acid as this is just confusing and what kind of supplements do you recommend . ??? Looking forward to hearing from you soon. !! Thank you
Thanks…really like graphics and wording
can you use apple cider vinegar with mother
What about using grapefruit or orange juice – can they do the same thing as lemon or lime juice?
This is all so new to me and confusing. I love that your posts are not only fun to read, but contain real solid information. I am so glad I found your site. Thanks! Connie
Need more info for it.
If we had that much control of the pH systems in our body, we all would be dead. Great health is not that hard. Watch what you put in your month and Watch what comes out of your month. Both can be equally toxic.
HI..I HAVE PROSTATE CANCER..MY PSA IS 11.67 HEALTH IS VERY GOOD….IAM 74 YEARS OLD IN GOOD SHAPE..IAM AN ACTIVE PEARSON..MY WEIGHT IS 76 KILO ..THE ONLY PROBLEM AT THE MOMENT IS THAT MY BLOOD PRESSURE IS HIGH AND THAT MY PH IS AT 5 WHAT CAN I DO FIX THE PH AS FOR WHERE I LIVE ITS IN THAILAND..AND I DI LIKE THAI FOOD ..HELP ME IF YOU CAN..THANK YOU..PLEASE GET BACK TO ME..
Gary
DoTerra essential oils lowered my blood pressure by 15 points. One capsule a day of basil, marjoram and lavender and fractionated coconut oil (3 drops of each) until blood pressure is at your goal. Please be careful with the choice of oils. DoTerra is ingestible. Most essentials are not because the contain chemicals.
Good luck.
Cherilyn
Thanks for the post, one of the best I read about PH, You made it simple to understand!!
Loved your explanation, I am 68, healthy weight and just need to Babanco my ph a bit more, thank you
Interesting and Lovely to learn more about a/a pH balance.
The article further clarified Acid alkaline balance to me.
I’ve read in various blogs and sites that acid water, for example 5.0 to 2.5 is good for the skin used topically. I don’t understand how that makes sense. I’ve also read that acid water applied to skin that has cancerous moles is good to kill the cancer. How is applying acidic water topically good for the skin regardless of skin cancer or not?
If drinking alkaline water is good to fight virus, decease and making the environment in your body less inclined to the reproduction of cancerous cells; then how does putting acidic water on your skin good?
Great article on the importance and benefits of keeping your body alkalized! Personally, I rely on the Greens from It Works for me and my family. It has helped tremendously and we no longer deal with seasonal allergies or colds/flu. Just a daily serving and it detoxes and alkalizes. It’s great!
Wonderful information
Kris,
Thank you for the easy read. Ph can be overwhelming.
I use DoTerra essential oils, exercise, yoga but do have a tendency to hang on to stress. I don’t feel it but my body does. I am currently having an outbreak of psoriasis and found your article. This makes sense. I eat really well, fruits veggies and fish, I also drink lemon water. With your information I realize there are two vices which must go
Chips and wine. Thanks for the kick in the pants. I can’t wait to read the book
Cherilyn
Very informative article. I am starting this practice and I am looking forward to seeing the results.