Neverending discussion: pH

After reading Dr. Kim's article about pH and listening to Dr. Tennant as well, I feel some what pH-confused. My first question: Are products like this one (http://www.vitacost.com/body-rescue-ph-protector-drops) helpful at all in regulating proper pH or just a waste of money? And I'm not talking about the pH of the blood here, rather everywhere else but the blood.

I think many people have misconceptions about this pH thing, incuding myself, because the information out there is so misleading sometimes. The body has an intricate system of maintaing the pH of blood and other tissues, and I'm not sure that I think taking an alkaline mineral supplement is going to negate the effects of an off balance diet. If I were going to try and do anything, I'd focus on consuming more vegetables. Juice a 2 carrots, a cucumber, and an apple and drink that a couple of times a day. Eat kale salads. Most of the effect of the pH "modulators" extend mostly to the GI tract, and I see it being way less abrasive to use a balanced diet (balance your proteins with green vegetables) than pumping yourself full of calcium chloride and sulfated castor oil. I don't think the human body was meant to consume something that has a pH over 12, in complete isolation. Alkalizing components usually come as part of an entire whole food. That's just me.

I have a simple explanation for all this alkaline stuff. First, it's improperly labeled.

Eating according to the pH is a waste of time. The thyroid governs 99.5% of the activity anyway.
It does help to consume antioxidants versus foods that steal electrons. It also helps to remove
substances (heavy metals) that steal electrons.

The intestine operates on an optimal pH of 4.5 to 5.5, and intentionally over doing it on "alkaline-forming"
food isn't the key to health. For the carnivores out there, eat more meat.

We need plenty of stomach acid to break down proteins into their component amino acids.

I would change the alkalize or die phrase, to antioxidant or die prematurely.

Here's an example. Lemons have a low pH, yet they are powerful antioxidants. Try cutting an apple
in half and watch the browning or oxidant effect happening. Or Try cutting on in half and pouring
acidic lemon on it, and watch it not turn brown.

CS, that bit about the apple is interesting and could easily be an indicator of low stomach acid for me. Now that I think of it, low stomach acid is probably the cause of my remaining issues.

My wife and I are concerned about this as well because we think we cannot make a baby boy. We've had two children and both are girls. We know that if the mother is acidic then its hard for the male sperm to survive in the acidic environment. We tried the PH test strips yesterday and we both got very acidic.

Hey CS,

That's really interesting info. So should I consider all of this information out there on the
over acidity caused by eating too many animal products to be off base? You look at things
like the China study (which I already know to be BS, but just for example), that show eating a more plant based diet reduces cancer risk...does this ahve anything to do with alakalizing? Despite the rationale of being a canrivore and eating meat, I still have concerns about eating too many acidic foods. Do you think we should have any concern about uric acid and over acidity, being that acids steal electrons?

anthonyspencer54 wrote:Hey CS,

That's really interesting info. So should I consider all of this information out there on the
over acidity caused by eating too many animal products to be off base? You look at things
like the China study (which I already know to be BS, but just for example), that show eating a more plant based diet reduces cancer risk...does this ahve anything to do with alakalizing? Despite the rationale of being a canrivore and eating meat, I still have concerns about eating too many acidic foods. Do you think we should have any concern about uric acid and over acidity, being that acids steal electrons?

The 'China study' is a classic example of science fiction delivered to celebrated status due to the fact that a fanatical vegan is an academian with high "credentials."

The China hypothesis is so factually flawed that the proof the author uses is proof against this own theory.

Unfortunately, proud vegans take his work seriously as a sort of 'vindication' of going vegan to be wise.

His alarming work has been debunked many times over.

There are many acids, which are good, including uric acid (it is after all an antioxidant). Plenty of theoretical, and fanatical vegan-based authors have proposed that uric acid is "bad." It's not. Instead, it is important to understand what causes the uric acid to be elevated (as the body needs more of it to protect).

I take loads of thioctic acid, (also known a lipoic acid) and with acetyl L-carnitine helps extend life-span.

An abundance of protein is necessary to produce glutathione. If you're low on that, you live a shorter life. Patients in ICU are almost always low on glutathione, so instead of the junk, they call hospital food, I would give them all of the essential amino acids. Especially whey protein.

Do vegetables help reduce cancer? It depends on the kind that are being eaten. The best ones have epigenetic qualities, such as broccoli sprouts.

Details such as how the meat is cooked, and what other foods are consumed often left out of the equation.