What is a pH scaleOn this page you can read what a pH scale is, how it relates to your health and weight loss, how to test your pH, and how to maintain a healthy pH. What is the pH Scale pH stands for Potential for freeing Hydrogen ions. The difference between acidity and alkalinity is based on the ability to free hydrogen ions. Very simply put, the pH scale measures the amount of oxygen in your blood. When your blood is too acid it will not carry enough oxygen. When it is too alkaline, it will carry too much. The scale goes from 0 to 14. A pH of 7 is neutral, a pH of 0-7 is acid. A pH of 7-14 is alkaline. Each unit of change represents a tenfold change in acidity or alkalinity. Thus the difference between a pH of 4 and 5 is much greater than the difference between 6 an 7.
Many people know the pH scale from measuring the pH in swimming pools or on shampoo bottles. In the raw food diet we use it for two other reasons. Your body's pH is a indication of health. Different organs have different pH levels but overall, your body's pH should be 7. The pH of healthy blood is 7.35. Thus slightly alkaline. Read below how your pH affects your health and how you can influence it. You can also use a pH scale to find out how alkaline or acid a certain food is after digestion. People have categorized foods into foods with a low pH (acid foods) and foods with a high pH (alkaline foods). See the alkaline food list for details. pH Scale and Health Your body functions best when the pH of your blood is 7.35. If your blood pH gets below 7 or above 7.45, your body cannot function. Because of our Western diet high in refined sugar, processed food and animal protein, most people are too acidic. Put on top of this stress (very acidifying) and pollution and it's a recipe for problems. Symptoms of a Person with Low pH Typical characteristics of an acid person are: low energy, no enthusiasm, tires quickly, irritable or poor sleep. Acid people are often sensitive to cold, brittle teeth, weak nails or dry skin. The immune system weakens which makes your prone to viruses (cold and flu) and recurring infections (bronchitis, urinary tract infection). If acidity becomes chronic, an amazing variety of illnesses may occur and shows up in your bodies weakest spots. The result is cancer, diabetes, PMS, arthritis or allergies.
Balancing Your pH So you see, it's extremely important for your body to maintain a healthy acid - alkaline balance. Your blood will immediately correct even the slightest change in pH. Your body has two ways to do this:
Weight Loss and pH If you're too acid and there are not enough alkaline minerals to buffer the acids with, your body will store some of these acids in your fat. It will only release them if there are enough alkaline buffers to neutralize them. Now, if you want to lose weight and go on a diet of unhealthy food (sugar, high animal protein, junk food) you will lose even more alkaline minerals and your body cannot release it's excess fat with the stored acids. Because if it does release the fat with its acids you become too acidic. If you don't eat enough calories and loses weight (fat) nonetheless, the released acids cannot be neutralized. This is very dangerous. This explains why some people just can't loose weight. Maintaining a Healthy pH Fortunately, it's easy to stay healthy and get back to balance by eating a raw food diet. A balanced raw food diet is rich in alkaline minerals such as organic, plant based calcium, sodium, silica, magnesium and potassium. On this website you find many recipes, tricks and ideas to have fun and stay healthy forever. How To Test Your pH The first thing to do is to test your pH so you know how you're doing on the pH scale. This is easy, cheap and quick. In the next article you can read how to test your pH in seven easy steps. Related Articles Readers who read this article also liked: How To Test Your pH Get health secrets, recipes, blog and video updates by e-mail
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