Note:  The below feature is a sister feature to our http://www.blueeyedcurse.com/alkalize.htm feature.  Both features have relative facts.  The alkalize.htm feature is more current but both features are worth reading.

Back To Main Menu

pH

This is probably the most important topic we have ever written on regarding health.  It certainly was one of the most important cultural factors in our agricultural career.  We often joked how concerned our  fellow farmers were with the pH levels of their fields, livestock feed and orchards, but yet dismissed the pH level of their own  blood/salvia/cells/body.  Now in searching for our pH numbers and concern, it isn’t a joke anymore, especially when you read there are those who have such an acid condition in their mouths, that it is dissolving and releasing Mercury out of their fillings, let alone what it is doing to deplete their bone mass and we all know what that leads too.   We are talking the all-important electrical balance in the body, for those who have forgot this part of their chemistry classes.    

First of all,  lets get the intimidation out of the way regarding pH.  You don't have to be a chemistry major to appreciate electrochemistry and the pH factor.  You can relate it to your car battery with its positive and negative terminals and even the little batteries you put in your flashlights and TV controls.  The world is kept together with a balance of positive and negative charges and if you need to know anything more than that scientifically,  good luck to you.  Its a tough subject to understand if you really need to get into the niddy griddy of it.   Just the fundamentals should suffice though.

Now,  there are situations where Mother nature was so designed for mysterious reasons,  where the balance is not "neutral"  (neutral based being 7.0 on the pH scale.)  For instance,  blood must be kept constant at slightly alkaline 7.37 pH  (Lymphatic fluids as well 7.37 pH)  Body fluids, saliva and urine are usually acid,  6.4 to 6.8 are optimum as we are told that this level is the perfect for ionization, what ever that means.   If your urine is in the optimum range,  (about 6.4, but don't ask us to explain the theory of ionization as it relates to your kidneys/urine)  your body is not having difficulty maintaining the critical fluid, blood and lymph at the 7.37 mark.

If you want to get an in depth explanation of this ionization complexity below is a link to the best source, Dr. Carey Reams and his theories on ionization as it relates to agriculture and human health.  It is complicated and intriguing.  I wish that I could honestly say that I understood it to any large degree.  We are trying to apply some of the principles to our lives and feel we have been fairly successful by maintaining a stable pH with daily urine tests.  Even though our understanding is deficient the fact that we are stable indicates we are pretty close to perfection.  It is just like carrying a stable weight, blood pressure etc.  It is just like carrying a stable pH in a swimming pool.  If the pH is stable and you don't have to add acid to much of a degree, it means you are carrying a total alkalinity that is buffering excess acids.   In a pool you will read that just bringing total alkalinity up to about 120 parts per millions makes all the difference in the buffering world.  Now we are just talking bringing total alkalinity up to 120 parts per million from 100 parts and this is  miniscule.  Now in pool chemistry it is the pool servicing that governs what chemicals are applied and to what concentration.  All I know when my pool was slightly out of whack I started to accumulate wastes on the walls of the pool.  As soon as I corrected the total alkalinity, the problem disappeared.  This is analogous to the insides of your arteries and organs.

In human health eating a certain amount of alkaline foods and some high powered supplements on a regular basis that includes fresh vegetables and some fruit and  some of the more prominent alkaline foods as in apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, sauerkraut, and even dill pickles, yes they are alkaline.  Another excellent alkaline food is citrus.  Don't be misguided with the "citric acid" label"  Citrus when it hits the stomach turns into a fine alkaline food as the other "acid" foods mentioned above. 

It is the acid carbs as in sugar, sweets, breads, pasta etc. that when consumed in flagrant excess is when the body just cannot buffer it with a minimum amount of alkaline foods and supplements.

A weighted Alkaline diet along with a minimum amount of acid causing  foods especially high glucose foods and using high heat vehicles as in deep frying and barbecue causing damaged cholesterol.   Damaged/contaminated cholesterol is what  you should really worry about, not the good cholesterol that Doctors are obsessed with lowering.  Heated foods add to acidity.  If you have to indulge in a little cooked foods (as we do) make sure you counter it with an overwhelming amount of alkaline foods.  Raw green vegetables in particular.  The daddy of them all in providing enough alkalinity is a daily smoothie with the right live ingredients and prepared with a high speed blender.  Check out our feature on smoothies...... http://www.blueeyedcurse.com/smoothies.htm

Alkaline foods stabilize all functions of the body and is similar to  adjusting the total alkalinity of a swimming pool.  Pool chemistry needs human intervention  to add just enough chemicals periodically. In alkalinity adjustment sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) is used.  You don't need much,  once you obtain the proper balance.  Example:  We may use a 2 1/2 lb bag of sodium bicarbonate in a 6000 gallon pool every 3 months.

A pool chemistry that is out of whack accumulates wastes on the sides of the pool.  A pool chemistry that is easily adjusted for the correct total alkalinity has pool surfaces that are clean as a hounds tooth.  Clean as a hounds tooth is what you want your arteries, heart portals, brain pathways and just about every part of your body to be?  Acid wastes are the culprit in all health problems.

In the case of human alkalinity, as long as you have a diet that is predominately alkaline you don't have to be precise in amount rendered as in pool chemistry. The miracle of the human body has the ability to take what it wants and gets rid of the rest, as long as you supply it with the right alkaline foods and vegetables and fruits are the right alkaline foods.

Chemistry

Below is a segment out of Dr. Reams's theories to give you a taste of the issue.

The pH measures Resistance between Cations and Anions in the Body. If the pH reading is 6.40 for Urine and 6.40 Saliva, this shows the body is getting MAXIMUM Energy from food consumed... If the pH reading is consistently either HIGHER or LOWER than desired, then over time TOO MUCH energy is being LOST, allowing some of illness to begin.

The .04M in the BTI equation means 4 Million Particles per Liter. The NORMAL Albumen count is 40,000 per liter of urine per 100 pounds of Body Weight.

NO instrument is required for measuring Albumen which is the termed used for the solid particles in the Urine.... Hold a bottle of fresh urine to a strong light source... The Urine should be CLEAR Yellow with a FEW visible Particles that can be easily seen.... Many particles throughout the Urine, or a cloudy masses, reveals the body is TOXIC and in NEED of immediate cleansing... These particles and masses are carcinoma cells... FOAM in the Urine indicates NOT enough water is being consumed. Albumin is the measure of the amount of dead cells being eliminated. This should be a constant number. If the body is eliminating too many, the body is changing cells too quickly, and thus aging too fast.  

Check out Dr. Reams's full article below...

http://www.libertyzone.com/hz-Carey-Reams.html

There will be fluctuations especially after one eats.  The best time to test is 2 hours before or after a meal.   Not coincidentally,  the human cell and I suspect all cells must be  7.4, even  a mosquitoes.  The human body has a built in adjustment that maintains the balance or at least tries to, even to the extent of cannibalizing ones own bone mass to acquire much needed minerals to obtain the needed pH requirements.  This is where the dreaded osteoporosis is born, but there is much more including in the absence of oxygen,  cell pH can drop to 6.5, lactic acid is formed and attacks the DNA.  In the acid medium of 6.5, enzymes within in the cell become toxic and eventually brings about the death of the cell. 

A tumor consists of a layer of living cells with uncontrolled growth surrounding a central mass of dead cells.  Keep in mind, blood and cells are in the 7.4 range, body fluids less.  You can monitor your urine pH using pH test strips and you can purchase these from  www.ph-ion.com  They are inexpensive and invaluable.  The best time to test your urine is first thing in the morning.  A urine pH under 6.5 usually indicates that you are over acid and your kidneys are not doing the job overnight that they are intended to do.  Readings close to 6.0 or less, you better get on the stick.  More on this below.

Tissue Acid Waste  (The Serial Killer)

In most cases,  human pH problems are acid conditions as stated above.  In fact,  we have written on "Tissue acid waste" and we quote an Internet article by a Dr. Weed.  “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”   

The pH has  a profound effect on the static electrical charge factor and if you think that is not relative to what is going on in your arteries, heart, cholesterol, triglycerides, plaque, obesity, breast cancer receptors, prostate, Alzheimer’s and a host of other things, you had better get a different life.    We have had a life full of pH considerations, but don’t ask us  why it took  65 years to apply it to ourselves and anyone who would listen. 

Free Radicals  

pH and alkalinity are closely related to the free radical process that  are both essential to life and harmful. The body produces oxygen free radicals as a natural part of making energy in most cells. Because making energy and thus free radicals cannot be avoided, the body has evolved a variety of defenses against free radicals known as antioxidants. These quench or neutralize the free radicals after they are produced, allowing cells to make energy without building up toxic levels of free radicals.  Tissue acid waste that is associated with every ill known to man is directly connected to free radicals.  Tissue acid waste, free radicals, oxidants are basically one in the same. 

The problem with free radicals arises when the body comes under assault above and beyond the normal metabolic process.  Since the air, water, and food all contain significant sources of free radicals, the body now has to quench these or face cellular damage and disease. 

Keep in mind that one of the largest sources of free radicals and inflammation is strenuous exercises, whether it is sports, physical training or for that matter hard work.  I personally got involved with a concrete and block laying affair for a natural gas generator stand recently.   It was hot and I noticed my urine the next morning was quite colored.  This is usually associated with lack of hydration although I thought I drank a sufficient amount. 

There are other serious implications with this condition and you can bet there is a very acid condition associates with highly colored urine and as we know acid conditions are the forerunner for wastes and with a dark urine it means that the kidneys are not doing their job, they have been overwhelmed.  In addition to noticing the dark coloring I took a pH urine test and sure enough I was well below the desirable 6.5 pH as it was 5.5. 

An occasional situation like this I believe is not that threatening, although a continuous regimen of this rigorous activity,  and not taking in a large amount of liquids preferably alkaline based would be in order, let alone indulging in acid forming liquids that would only compound the problem.  All sugar based liquids would be acid based.

I might add that when I do get involved with heavier than normal physical activities, I will add an extra green smoothie with our high speed blender to the one we normally indulge in every day.   We do incorporate a modest amount of fruit and berries along with the  big Fuji apple we plug in seed and all.   High alkaline drinks as in our green dominant smoothie will go a long way in sponging up the excess acids like nothing else. 

Additionally, chronic inflammation causes a great increase in free radicals because immune cells use free radicals to try to control the inflammation. White blood cells are very active; requiring and producing a lot of energy and free radicals. Fortunately plants contain numerous types of antioxidants that can bolster the body's defenses against free radicals.

A properly alkalized body  goes a long way in establishing a stable and correct pH and will be able to manage free radicals and be able to optimize the anti-oxidants you take in, in various ways.   More information on blending in this feature.

Calcium/ Magnesium

Our agricultural past  just surfaces automatically at times when we are preaching health and it certainly does now.  Although the list below relates to calcium and magnesium's role in human health it sure did in agriculture and it has made it a great deal easier for me to comprehend some of this when I can relate it to the past.  So pardon me if I put my farmers straw hat on again.  The fellow on the left is an imposter as I don't smoke a pipe.

Alkalinity as we related in detail above plays the same role in trees and plants.  Calcium and magnesium provide the cells with alkalinity if it needs it.  Normally when we tested our soil for pH and it fell out of the recommended ranges (orchard 6.8 pH, ground crops around 7.0 dead neutral, potatoes a tuber enjoyed a much acid environment in the 6.0 range.  Something to do with a disease correlation when the pH was too high) Again when the soil went out of range it usually was accompanied with a low Calcium and Magnesium content.  We had the good fortune in upstate New York to have available from a nearby Massachusetts mine an excellent source of lime that had a nice Calcium and Magnesium compliment.  The pH range dictated how much lime would be spread and it usually was anywhere from 2 to 6 ton per acre.

The surprising benefits of calcium: 

All the benefits you will read in this feature and throughout our many features in Blueeyedcurse.com regarding the vital mineral Calcium can be directly attributed to the fact that the best food sources of calcium and they are listed below in this feature in our personal intake are derived from the fact that calcium foods have complimentary minerals magnesium for one.  This compliment adds to the bodies mineral stability and (Total Alkalinity) that mitigates any acids that are presented to the body. 

A perfect example would be the extraordinary benefits of fish (Our favorite is Portuguese sardines) that not only have omega 3 fatty acids but also the calcium and other minerals to again  mitigate whatever amount of acids are generated by the meat in the sardines.   Exercise is another one, that if practiced aggressively in a cardiovascular program is an acid forming activity but vital.  Any meats are acid but should be limited to no more than the area in the palm of your hand at a sitting.  Here you will be getting the sufficient benefits of the meat/protein,  but yet balancing the alkaline/acid benefits with the food contents themselves along with complimentary food sources (added to the meal)  as in green raw vegetables.

I have a personal practice where I take a fairly nice tootsie roll of roast beef to start my day but we make sure that the roll has a nice amount of spinach with the meat to counter not only the acid aspects of the meat but also the iron content of the beef.  Ironically spinach has a nice compliment of iron that has a neutralizing affect on the iron and the negative nature of the iron in meat.  We call it fighting fire with fire. 

Incidentally calcium from natural foods have this same attribute in neutralizing inert calcium deposit/wastes,  one example calcium oxalates as in kidney stones.  Here again is a fighting fire with fire approach by ingesting the right calcium source to mitigate the ill effects of calcium that has changed its characteristics from good to bad.  An example of this is the calcium wastes that are generated when the body is called upon to cannibalize the bone matrix itself, and in the process leave a terrible residue for the body to handle and in many cases are in able to handle without dire health consequences.

Foods with Minerals

In human health obtaining minerals from foods is the way we work.  Nuts, seed, grains, vegetables etc. and fatty fish like sardines and salmon have valuable minerals in them including Vitamin D.  Dairy products, cheese in particular is great calcium food and gives us a great excuse to depart from our normal schedule with a Kashi Pizza on Sunday evening.   They have an excellent natural product.   It gives the cook a break as well.  Don't forget the tomatoes with Lycopene in that pizza and if you want to sneak in a few pieces of Pepperoni as we do, do it, I won't tell"

Above and to the left is a concoction that I prepare just about every morning for breakfast and the foods in it are loaded with live minerals.  I say live because an unadulterated nut,  a seed or even the ground up flax seed that is ground/chewed just before eating is live and will provide you with the full compliments of minerals in a  form that nature intended.  My wife comes right in back of me in this operation and slices fruits and berries over the top.  If you want the full run down as to what our family eats,  check the link below.....  http://www.blueeyedcurse.com/newmeal.htm

Incidentally the green things in the mix are the  pumpkin pepetia seed that can be purchased at most health supply stores. 

We get the pumpkin and flax seed from Whole Foods.  We buy equal amounts (about 1 1/2 lbs of brown and Golden Flax seed.  Mix them up in a brown paper bag and distribute them into plastic grocery bags and refrigerate.  Sesame seeds are great but they plug up my seed grinder, don't use them unless you place them into a blender with a smoothie as we do.  

We buy our assortment of nuts from the Hialeah Nut Factory in Hollywood,  Florida where we live.  I buy 5 lbs of Walnut half's, 5 lbs of raw almonds, 2 1/2 lbs of Brazil and 2 1/2 lbs of Pecans.  I do the brown bag operation with this and mix them up real good before distributing them into the common plastic grocery bags and refrigerate.   We do use plastic containers for our nuts and seed for every day use.

A modest amount of supplements will supply some of your alkaline needs, but I would caution against relying  entirely on supplements.  Whole foods is the way to obtain minerals and just about anything else you need to  keep that chemistry in balance.   We personally use a modest amount of supplements but we use them concurrently with our food intake and in particular dark green raw vegetables that are the great equalizer when it comes to neutralizing  excesses.  In fact we had an Internet medical guru that advised eating green vegetable when eating beef to counter what he referred to as the down side in the iron in beef.  The body has a miraculous ability to regulate excess alkalinity as long as you don't overload it with one particular supplement.  A moderate array of foods and supplements that are alkaline is the way to go.  The body will take what it needs and gets rid of the rest.  Unfortunately the body does not do a great job in getting ridding of excess acids.  It has mechanisms to balance them but cannibalizing ones bone matrix to gain the minerals to do it is one of the ways and this is a bummer.

The importance in obtaining the right minerals and establishing a stable pH is reflected in the list below and there is no question doing a daily green smoothie that has at least a 75% ratio of green vegetables is the best means to obtain these vital minerals.  This practice will provide the following.....

A great link into an intelligent explanation on the pH balance and total alkalinity is  http://biomedx.com/pH/index.html 

Back To Main Menu