Register | Account Cart 0

Maintaining My pH On The Inside

Posted by Just Fitter on

Getting to know the “inner you” is simpler than most people think. Like most things you’d like to achieve, you have to start with the basics and move forward one step at a time: know your pH, maintain a balanced diet, keep a physically and mentally healthy state.

Know your pH

Potential of Hydrogen or pH is a scale used to specify the acidity or alkalinity of a certain solution. Testing acidity and testing alkalinity is done with the use of a pH test strip; you will be able to measure the concentration of hydrogen ions in a solution. The colors on the strip determines the acidic or alkalinity state of the substance being tested.

Testing your pH level

It is easy to determine your body’s pH using a simple urine test. For best accuracy, test should be performed first thing in the morning.

In order to measure the two extremes of chemical properties – acidic and basic – a pH scale is used. This pH scale ranges from 0 to 14 with each number assigned to a different color. A pH less than 7 is acidic. A pH greater than 7 is basic. A pH of 7 is neutral, which is also considered as the optimal acid level in the body. As shown, the left most end of the scale sits red, which represents the most acidic, and a purple at its opposite end represents 14 which is very alkaline.

pH scale color chart

pH scale color chart

Steps to getting an accurate urine pH reading

A good approximation of tissue pH is easily obtained by testing the pH of your first-morning urine. Follow these simple steps to test your pH at home:

  1. Obtain and become familiar with pH test paper. This paper measures the acid or alkaline state of any liquid. Readings at the low end of the scale indicate an acidic state, and those on the higher end, a more alkaline state.
  2. First thing in the morning, after at least 6 hours of sleep or rest without urinating if possible, get a test strip or tear off a three-inch piece of paper from the roll. It is alright if you need to get up in the middle of the night to urinate. Just do not eat anything or be active. In all cases simply measure your urine when you get up to stay.  Either urinate directly on the paper, or collect urine in a cup and dip the paper into the urine in the cup.
  3. As the test paper is moistened, it will take on a color. The color relates to the acid or alkaline state of your urine. Match the color of your test strip with the chart provided on the package. A number below 7 means that your urine is on the acid side. The lower the number, the more acidic the condition. Seven indicates a neutral state, neither acid nor alkaline.
  4. Keep track of your pH levels for a few weeks. The ideal urine reading should fall between 6.5 and 7.5 with an occasional lower (more acidic) reading.

Maintain a balanced diet

Your body is built to naturally maintain a healthy balance of acidity and alkalinity. It has the ability to adjust its pH levels on its own. In fact, the different systems in your body have different pH levels. This helps the different systems maintain the proper pH levels in the blood. For instance, the blood’s pH level must be between 7.35 and 7.45. If a system in your body becomes too acidic, the blood will take alkaline elements from another system, such as the small intestine, to correct the pH level. However, when alkaline elements are removed from the small intestine, it may affect digestion. As you can see, although the body can adjust its pH levels, it may affect other systems in your body and can lead to health problems. Additionally, the body has its limitation on how much it can correct pH levels.

For that reason, the foods you eat play an important role in maintaining a proper pH level in your body. If your diet consists of acid forming foods, your body can become more acidic. Conversely, if you eat too many alkaline forming foods, your body can also be too alkaline.

Alkaline and Acid

A balanced diet may also result to a balanced pH. So, it is important to have a balanced diet to help ensure that your systems remain strong. Your body's pH balance, also referred to as its acid-base balance, is an indicator at which your body functions best.

Alkaline Diet

It has been suggested that an alkaline diet may prevent a number of diseases and may have significant health benefits for people with high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol. Hence, this diet encourages people to eat more fresh produce: fruits, vegetables, seeds, legumes, tofu and eating less calories, high carbohydrates and dairy products. Following this diet along with some exercise may also help promote a healthy weight loss.

Keep a physically and mentally healthy state

From healthy diet plans to helpful weight loss tools, making conscious decisions to be healthy is actually very important. Your personal health does not only refer to your physical well-being but also wellness of emotional, intellectual, social, economic, spiritual and other areas of life-your ability to take charge of your health on your own.

So, your conscious effort to know your pH, maintain a balanced diet, and keep a physically and mentally healthy state will eventually lead you to maintain your pH from the inside.

TAKEAWAY

The human body has an amazing ability to maintain a steady pH in the blood with the main compensatory mechanisms. Being aware of your pH also leads to maintaining a good diet, which also results to good benefits for people with diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure and even promotes weigh loss. As the saying goes, “we are what we eat”, proves that the acid level in our body really depends on the food we put in our mouths.

Your pH (potential of Hydrogen) and ph (personal health) are both important and should go hand in hand to achieve the healthier you that you want to become. Ultimately, knowing your pH, maintaining a balanced diet, keeping a physically and mentally healthy state should be a conscious effort to maintain your pH from the inside.

So, have you checked your pH?

References:


Share this post



← Older Post Newer Post →