Bodily pH and Homeostasis



What does bodily pH mean?

We are always hearing about the pH of our blood and the necessity of staying in balance, also referred to as homeostasis. What does that really mean? The potential of hydrogen ( pH ) is a measure of acidity or alkalinity of a solution. The lower the pH, on a scale of 0 to 14, the more acidic the solution; the higher the pH, the more alkaline is the solution.

Our body fluids ( blood, lymph, and intracellular and extracellular fluid) in and around our cells are meant to be alkaline. When a solution is neither acid nor alkaline, it has a pH of 7, neutral. A healthy pH of 7, 7.4to 7.5, slightly alkaline is desirable. When healthy, the pH of blood, spinal fluid, and saliva is content at 7.4. Our urine is slightly alkaline in the morning, with a pH of 6.5 to 7.0 However, if urine measures are very alkaline, it is a sign of essential and traces of alkaline minerals exiting the body instead of being absorbed by the cells. The result would be malnourishment and nutrient-starved tissues.

Cells require a clean alkaline environment to sustain life. Therefore, the pH of our blood, saliva, and extracellular fluid must be alkaline to nourish the tissues and clean the environment in and around our cells. If we struggle to maintain alkalinity, the cells will not be able to do what they were created to do. Well-nourished cells will allow the body to repair, regenerate, and therefore thrive. Even if we know what we are supposed to eat to give our body nutrients and energy, we are motivated to eat emotionally and habitually, triggered by advertising and our environment. Ask yourself, “Have I been eating for energy, vitality, and health?

How does the food I eat affect my pH levels?

Everything that grows from the earth as food is rich in electrolytes, such as sodium, chloride, potassium, magnesium, calcium ,phosphate. All of our acids from the body's metabolism should be neutralized by eating a diet rich in electrolytes from plant-based choices.

The food and water we choose to drink and eat greatly influence the pH of the body. Stress, fear, dread, worry, sadness will also dramatically affect the body’s pH. That said, we require an alkaline diet, but we also need to focus on thoughts, what is positive, genuine, and admirable. Since the blood must stay alkaline to sustain life, our organism has a “tampon system” that permits the blood to remain alkaline even if we don’t feed our body through electrolytes. The body will take from its reservoirs, bones, skin, hair , muscle, etc to maintain blood pH.

Every chronic disease is a sign that the body has become too acidic. Nearly 99% of the human body mass consists of 15 chemical elements that we need to replenish constantly. These elements are calcium, iodine, silicon, sodium, magnesium, potassium, iron, oxygen, manganese, fluorine, phosphorus, sulfur, chlorine, carbon, and nitrogen. By adding more raw food to your daily food agenda, you will be more successful in replenishing these vital elements. Alkaline-forming foods should dominate over acid-forming foods. In my experience, a healthy ratio would be 80 percent alkaline to 20 percent acidic foods daily. Try and choose whole, pure, fresh, organic food as much as possible. Avoid all processed and refined sugars, especially those that come with a long list of ingredients that we cannot even pronounce. These are deadly and have no use to our cells !

Frances Michaelson

A pioneer in the fitness industry, Frances opened the first personal training center in the West Island of Montreal in 2001. In 2008 , Frances had the “gut feeling“ that there was more to learn about health and how our bodies function, which led to further her education in the field of Naturopathy and holistic nutrition. She has since authored two books. Her latest book, "Do you Have the Guts to be Healthy" was published in March 2021. As a trainer and naturopath, she truly loves seeing people transform themselves by trusting their bodies instead of getting caught up in the medical system. Practicing health is the only way to live the gift of life well!

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