Do you know your pH?
All organic matter on our planet has a pH level and yes, that includes us!! A pH level of 7.0 is neutral, which means that anything below 7.0 is considered acid, and anything above is alkaline. Neutral is a wonderful thing, in this case.
battery acid is a dangerous 1.0 on the pH scale... stay away!
pH is the acronym for “potential of Hydrogen.” Basically, your pH level determines your personal acid to alkaline ratio.
Human blood is slightly alkaline at around 7.40. It is important to strive for balance, as we do not want to be too acid or too alkaline. (Being too alkaline is less common).
Why do we want a balanced or neutral, pH? In the simplest of terms, if our bodies are too acid, it means that their is an accumulation of acidic waste in our cells, human tissue, organs, glands, etc… This, of course, is not a good thing.
Acid is a host for bacteria and invites disease into the body. A neutral or slightly alkaline body cannot be a host for disease. Thus, why we must strive for balance.
How can we create this balance? There are many factors that influence our pH levels in the body. Having a poor diet and too much stress will cause a dangerous imbalance. (It is easy to test your pH balance with litmus paper. For now though, you will be able to determine your pH just by analyzing the foods you eat on an everyday basis- use the chart below).
Below is a rather rough diagram to help you determine whether your diet is alkaline or acid.
Here is the wonderful news: You can control your pH. Without getting caught up, or stressing about whether certain foods are, or are not, acid, you can make a drastic improvement in your diet by taking these few steps:
- Decrease (or eliminate) consumption of sodas, coffee, non-herb tea, candy, chocolate, milk, animal protein, cheese, starch and alcohol.
- Always buy organic, non-homogenized, milk.
- Choose a raw goat cheese from a trusted source, instead of pasteurized cow milk cheese.
- Avoid processed snacks and fried foods.
- Order the grilled chicken or fish with a side of vegetables instead of the fried chicken with fries.
- Snack on raw nuts (like almonds) and seeds (like sunflower or pumpkin) instead of peanuts, candy or protein bars.
- Concentrate on eating more vegetables, green things, fruit, and high-quality grain, and sprouted-grain products (like Kamut pasta or Ezekiel brand bread).
- Make your own salad dressings from first-cold pressed olive oil, instead of buying the pre-made stuff that contains hidden sugars and bad oils like, soybean oil.
- Use Stevia and raw honey in place of sugar and artificial sweeteners.
- Use organic butter instead of margarine and sea salt instead of iodized table salt.
- Add avocado to your sandwich instead of mayonnaise.
- If you are going to enjoy wine at dinner, load up on the vegetables.
For beginners, it is all about creating balance. I am not saying that you need to give up your red meat, wine and chocolate.
There are a million and one ways you can improve your pH level and thus, health and still enjoy life. How do you strive to maintain a healthy balance? What “acid”-forming foods have you traded in for a more alkaline alternative.
- I did not mention it on my diagram, but Carob (alkaline) is a wonderful substitute for Cocoa (acid). In my opinion it hardly tastes like cocoa but sweetened with NuNaturals brand Stevia, I am enjoying it.
Thank you for posting this! It is very informative, I have never thought about foods contributing to the PH of my body. All signs point to unprocessed and unrefined foods always!
I found your article on pH levels very informative. It gave me good understanding about how the foods we eat effect our body’s pH. In your chart you mention medications. Many people have to take medications in order to stay alive. Do you offer tips for people on medication therapy and how they can balance their pH with proper nutrition.
Hi Tim,
Yes, I understand that many people rely on medications. These medications are very acid-forming. For this reason it is even more pertinent that they concentrate on a highly-alkaline diet.
For someone looking to improve their health, and perhaps come to rely much less on medication, I would suggest they enjoy a diet rich in the “green area foods” (on the chart) and try to really limit or avoid more acid forming foods and beverages.
For instance… I would highly recommend they concentrate on a alkaline forming breakfast and lunch (i.e trade in your coffee for a freshly pressed carrot or green juice in the AM, fruit salad, banana smoothie, etc. etc.).
Then for dinner, try to limit your meal to only 1 or 2 acid-forming things. If you are going to enjoy wine, try to limit it to only 1 or 2 glasses… enjoy a fresh salad as an appetizer, a roasted beet and goat cheese dish is quite delicious and filling also. For dinner, add steamed vegetables to whatever cooked foods you may be enjoying and watch the butter.
Get some exercise. It is good for the heart and the mind.
Alkaline-forming foods can be quite amazing and fresh herbs spruce up can spruce up any dish. Enjoying a 65-70% alkaline-forming diet is sure to help people on medication therapy have a more balanced pH.
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