An important part of holistic healing is knowing the pH balance of your body. This sounds all very scientific, but luckily, it's quite easy to check. Any health food store, or drug store should carry pH test strips, such as this one:
Okay, so why is it important to know your pH level and what does this mean for your health? Great questions! Simply put, your pH level is an indicator of your overall health. It's important to know how acid (or overly alkaline) your body is running so you can bring it back to a slightly alkaline level. Food plays a major role in this, as some foods increase acidity and some increase alkalinity.
So without getting to scientifc and geeky on you here, let's break-it down. First, it's important to know the scale:
As you can see here, optimally, you want to be around at 7.3; this is an ideal state for your body. I will share that I run at about 5.6 which is very acidic. In fact, Crohn's disease is listed as one of the aliments from running too acidic. I also suffer from Lupus flares, another disease found in the "too acidic" department. Go figure.
What is the pH scale?
The pH scale is a system of describing acidity or alkalinity, ranging from pH 0 to pH 14, with pH 7 being neutral. Values lower than 7 indicate acidity; those higher than 7 indicate alkalinity. Each number on the pH scale represents a tenfold change in acidity or alkalinity. Thus pH 5 is 10 times more acid than pH 6, and pH 4 is 100 times more acid than pH 6; pH 11 is 1,000 times more alkaline than pH 8. (Source: Wikipedia)
So here are two websites that provide a slew of information about pH balance and health:
1. Balance pH Diet
2. How to Boost Your Immune System
After you test your pH and read up on what this means for you, now what? Let's turn to food.* Food plays an important role in bringing your body to an optimal pH balance. Please see below and review these acid/alkaline food charts:
List of Acid / Alkaline Forming Foods
Acid / Alkaline Food Chart
*As always, please consult with a holistic practitioner or other medical professional before changing your diet or lifestyle.
Continue to test your pH balance throughout the month and while on a mindful alkaline diet. Good luck on your healing journey. This post is not exhaustive on the subject, but it is meant to be an impetus for you to look (perhaps more closely) into this component of healing.
Amber - such a great post! We ended up buying a water ionizer because, though our diets were already pretty alkaline, our nutritionist believed that our reverse osmosis water purifier was counter productive for our daughter's IBD and causing even more inflammation. We tested our water and it registered a 3! Very acidic for a little girl with intestinal problems. Thanks so much for educating us on these important issues.
ReplyDeleteGreat, informative post Amber. It reminded me that I need to eat more alkaline foods. I always found it interesting that citrus fruits were alkaline forming. I better go put some lemon in my glass of water!
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