How to correct the pH balance as it relates to cancer causes
How to shift your body from acid to alkaline
What does pH have to do with health? If we look for common denominators to all diseases we can find factors that make any disease worse. If we can find and correct these basic common denominators we will improve the health condition and perhaps even cure what is wrong in the body. Every disease begins at a cellular level with particular cells becoming acidic, stressed, toxic and injured. All cells live in and are bathed in fluid. Naturally, treating the environment the cells live in is the best place to start healing the cells no matter what the disease.
What does pH do in the cells? The collagen fibers in the connective tissues of our body are the “acid catchers” of the body. They both catch and store body acids as a sort of “pre-kidney”. The blood transports acids to the connective tissues and the extracellular spaces in the body for storage. The collagen fibers catch and store the trapped acids until they are cycled to the kidneys for excretion. If too many acids become stored in the body it becomes an acid burden that causes inflammation and pain. When the acid burden in the body is too much for the kidneys the acids remain in the connective tissues and organs causing inflammation and pain and eventually–even cancer.
Acidity in the body is a major common denominator in almost all diseases.
The role of pH
The human blood is a transport system to bring nutrients to the cells and shuttle the debris and results of metabolism out to the removal sites in the body. Human blood should always be a pH of about 7.40 with absolutely no variance. The range of pH is set on a scale of from 1 to 14, with the pH of 1 is the most acidic, (like battery acid), and the pH of 14 is the most basic, (like oven cleaner). Water is supposed to be neutral with a pH of 7.0.
The strongest acids in our bodies are sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid and nitric acid formed by the metabolizing of proteins. These acids are excreted by the kidneys and as these acids pass through the kidneys, they utilize basic minerals to neutralize them so they don’t burn the kidneys. Sulfuric acid uses the calcium taken from bones to neutralize and form calcium sulfate so it does not harm the kidneys. The more basic minerals are taken from the body and used to neutralize these strong acids, the more the body becomes acidic.
Weak acids, like the acetic acid in vinegar, tartaric acid and the acids in most fruits and lemons are different than strong acids as they contain minerals which are basic. Weak acids combine with water to be converted into carbonic acid which further breaks down into carbon dioxide and water. Carbon dioxide exits through the lungs and water exits via the kidneys. The minerals in these weak acids replenish your mineral supplies. Weak acids actually help to alkalinize the body by adding more minerals to it.
The pH tide
The human body has an ebb and flow of fluid that should cycle daily. Stored body acids are mobilized from our connective tissues and extracellular spaces while we sleep. We become the most acidic around 4 a.m. as acids reach maximum concentration in our body fluids and urine. This morning cycle is the Acid Tide. Conversely, we are the most alkaline around 4 p.m. after lunch has been metabolized. This is when the most bicarbonate is being generated by the stomach. The afternoon cycle is called the Base Flood.
How do we get so acidic in our bodies?
The main reason we become acidic is from over-consumption of protein. Humans need about 40grams of protein daily, but the average American diet contains about 200grams of protein a day.(1) History shows that the richer a civilization becomes, the more meat they eat, the more acidic they become and ultimately, the sicker they get. Plato mentions this in ancient Greece civilization.
An imbalance in the body pH develops when there are too many acid producing proteins and not enough alkaline foods being consumed. This causes the alkaline minerals to be used up neutralizing the extra acids from meals that are stored in the connective tissues. Acidosis is often not a condition of too much acid but rather of not enough alkaline.
In the case of acidosis, we need to carefully watch our protein intake. Base minerals that are lost with the consumption of excess protein acids need to be replaced. The best source for organic minerals are not from supplements but rather from plants.
How to correct the pH balance
It has often been said that cancer cannot survive in an alkaline body. This is only partly true in that most cancer victims are already chronically acidic. Changing the body pH from acid to alkaline is a very good way to battle cancer but understanding the process of pH in the human body will enlighten you as how to best utilize this tool. Because the body re-mineralizes via the acid tide/base flood, just becoming hyper alkaline will not totally cure cancer but encouraging the pH cycle will definitely improve the odds.
Digesting pH facts
Hydrochloric acid (HCL) is made by the parietal cells in the stomach. The body takes sodium chloride (salt) in the stomach and breaks it down into HCL and sodium bicarbonate. HCL does its part to sterilize food, ionize minerals and convert pepsinogen into pepsin to break down proteins in the stomach. The sodium bicarbonate enters the blood stream to circulate through the body where it flushes the acids out of the connective tissues. Any extra sodium bicarbonate is collected by the kidneys, liver and pancreas. When there is not enough sodium bicarbonate in the body, the stomach has to produce more HCL to make more sodium bicarbonate–often causing acid reflux symptoms.
Since HCL and sodium bicarbonate are made from sodium chloride, low salt diets and processed-demineralized table salts can drive the body into acidosis. Consuming a high mineral salt, like Himalayan or Celtic Sea Salt, is very important and ultimately helps the body alkalize.
Without a good organic sodium chloride you cannot make HCL to break down minerals and digest proteins. Without minerals, the acids become trapped in the extracellular spaces causing inflammation and disease. This is how the cancer/acidic cycle perpetuates.
Some pH don’ts
Over the counter antacids wreak havoc on the body pH Over-the-counter antacids are histamine H2-blockers that treat symptoms of acid reflux but cause a gross imbalance in the pH balance of the body. These drugs include Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, Axid and others. These drugs block the production of HCL in the stomach, interfere with digestion, short the body of critical minerals and short the sodium bicarbonate supply in the body. When the HCL content of the stomach is deficient, grave results will inevitably appear in the metabolism.
In the case of too little HCL there is a gradual starvation of the mineral elements in the body. Food will be incompletely digested and nutrient assimilation will fail. Next comes a septic process in the tissues such as; pyorrhea, dyspepsia, nephritis, appendicitis, boils, abscesses, pneumonia, etc. Deficiency of normal acids leads to a stagnation of the gall bladder and pancreas, leading to diabetes and gallstones.
Stimulating the tide
Taking an HCL supplement like Betaine HCL with the morning and noon meals will help provide the stomach with the acids necessary to break down nutrients for assimilation and also help lower the pH to create an acid tide. Taking ¼ to 1 teaspoon of aluminum free baking soda in the late afternoon or early evening will stimulate the production of more HCL, along with blood borne bicarbonate to create the base tidal flood. The extremes in the pH tide will help stimulate the transfer of acids from the extracellular spaces along with the transfer of minerals and other vital nutrients to the cells.
To determine your pH in the morning, use the second urine specimen checked with litmus paper to gauge the body pH of your tissues. A perfect reading would be pH of 6.8. Recheck the urine at 2:00 p.m. to see that there is base flood of about 7.6.
(1) http://www.cancer-healing.com/acid_alkaline_balance.php
Authored by Cancer Nutritionist Craig Stellpflug NDC, CNC, Dayspring Cancer Clinic Scottsdale, AZ
Copyright 2012 Craig Stellpflug© Permission is hereby granted to copy and distribute this article but only in its entirety
One reply on “Correcting the pH Balance”
Thanks Craig for sharing. Seems like we are living in an acidic culture nowadays. It is difficult not to resonate to the masses and the media. I sure do appreciate you my friend .