Date: October 13th 2001

Online Health & Nutrition Newsletter Vol. 5 Issue 10c
"Spirit of Health"

*****************************************



This is the One Hundredth and Twenty Second Issue
of our online Newsletter, "Spirit of Health."

We bring you articles which are usually outside
the conventional medical school of thought and can be useful
to the independent minded individual in taking responsibility
for their health.

An online version of this Newsletter, plus records of all
of the back issues of the Newsletters, can be viewed by clicking -
http://www.healthfree.com/health/newsletter/index.html

******************************************

pH - What is it?


The Textbook of Medical Physiology by Arthur C. Guyton, M.D.,
probably the most recognized authority on human physiology states: "...the
regulation of hydrogen ion concentration (pH or acid/alkaline balance) is one
of the most important aspects of homeostasis." (Homostasis is where the
components involved seek to maintain a balance between them.)
_______________

DEFINTIONS:
ph = measure of how acid or how alkaline a substance is.
ph scale = scale of measurement for acidity and alkalinity.

acid neutral alkaline
1 7 14

All chemical processes have an ideal pH at which they are most
efficient. For example the body functions best with an internal chemistry
being near neutral or slighty alkaline (pH of 6.8 to 7.4). The pH of the blood is
even more specific:

BLOOD ph 7.4 = Normal 7.2 = DEATH 7.6 = DEATH

Our internal body chemistry functions in an alkaline environment.
Our blood must maintain a pH of 7.4. If it drops below that to 7.2 we die.
The same is true if it reaches or exceeds 7.6 for any prolonged period of time.

The cells of the body in health (generally) are alkaline. In disease the cell
pH is below 7.0. The more acid the cells become, the sicker we are and can
feel. The cells won't die until their pH gets to about 3.5. Our bodies produce
acid as a by-product of normal metabolism. This is the result of our bodies
burning or using alkaline to remain alive. Since our bodies do not
manufacture alkaline, we must supply the alkaline from an outside source to
keep us from becoming acid and dying.

Food is the means of replenishing the alkaline to the body. The main
determining factor of alkaline is the organic minerals. One can equate
organic minerals with alkaline for better understanding. Foods are of two
types, acid or alkaline. This refers to the ash value of a food. (Meaning the
type of residue that remains after the food is digested and processed). Is it
acid, or is it alkaline? If there is an acid residue (inorganic acids), the
body must neutralize this acid to keep the blood from getting acid. The acid
is neutralized with alkaline.

Ideally there is adequate alkaline in the diet to do this. However,
if there is not, the body must extract alkaline from its cells to neutralize
the acid. This, of course, causes the cells to become acid, and thus
diseased. Because our bodies are an alkaline entity, in order to maintain
health, the majority of our diet must consist of alkaline ash foods.

Dr M. Ted Morter, in his lecture series titled, "Dynamic Health", relates
the following regarding your body's state of pH and your health:

"Body Check

"To find out how the pH of your internal fluids are faring,
specially treated test paper is used to check some of the
fluids your body generates. pH test paper is designed
specifically to indicate pH values. The paper you'll use
registers pH values, essentially in two-tenths increments,
from moderately strong acid of pH 5.5 to mildly alkaline
pH 8.0. The thin strip of pH paper changes color when it
comes in contact with moist or wet acid or alkaline
substances. A color guide comes with the pH paper. This
guide shows the colors the paper can register. Each
color represents a particular pH value. The numerical
value is shown above each color sample.

"So that's the test equipment you'll use - pH paper. And
what do you use it on?

"Even though your blood is the most important fluid in your
body, you don't "open a vein" to check your internal pH.
Tears and perspiration take effort to generate, so they're out.
Other more readily available fluids are urine and saliva. The
details of the checking procedure are given later. For now, you
need to understand what you are trying to accomplish by
checking the pH of either urine or saliva.

"Urine pH and saliva pH results are valid only if checked under
controlled conditions. That is, you set the scene first. Random
or willy-nilly checks of the pH of either of these fluids may
be interesting, but they're meaningless. With a little planning
before you whip out your pH paper, you get something to hang
your health on.

pH and Health

"Monitoring your pH gives you an indication of how well or how
hard your body is working to survive your lifestyle. Notice that
I said "it gives you and indication#" The results of your pH tests
are indicators of how you body is responding to the foods you
eat and to other stresses. The actual acid or alkaline level of your
internal environment affects how your body functions. The pH
values you get when you test your urine or saliva are indications
of how your body is functioning.

"When your body is at its pH best, it hums along smoothly and
easily. And when your body hums along smoothly and easily,
your life has a good chance of doing the same. When you body
is at less than it's pH best, its hum may turn into an exhausted
moan as it works overtime to survive. And when your body is
exhausted, you are exhausted.

"The pH of your internal environment is a good indicator of how
hard your body is working just to survive. The ideal pH for most
of the fluids of your internal environment is just above the pH 7.0
neighborhood. Your blood must be slightly alkaline pH 7.35 all the
time. That's a "must", not an "it-would-be-nice". If the pH of your
blood falls much below 7.35 or rises much above 7.45 for more than
a few hours, you can't survive. When your pH values are too far below
or too high above pH 7.0, your potential for health plummets.

"Although your blood is slightly alkaline, the fluids in your stomach
are usually quite acid. Digestive fluids my be as low as pH 1.0. That's
strong acid. This strong acid helps to "break down" the foods you eat
as they begin their journey through your body. When we talk about the
pH of the body, we're not talking about stomach pH. We're talking about
the fluid in and around your cells.

Checking pH is not a Diagnostic Test

"As a rule, we go to a doctor when we have a specific pain, problem, or
symptom. Rarely does a doctor hear the complaint, "I'm feeling great.
Fix it." Our health focus is usually on identifying symptoms and trying to
get rid of them. When a doctor orders lab tests for you, these tests are to
find out if a problem exists in a particular organ or system. We concentrate
on identifying parts of the body that are the source of our misery. Not
so with a pH check.

"Monitoring your pH helps you evaluate how your whole body is doing.
It's a health index evaluation process, not a disease identifying process.
Your pH doesn't tell you whether or not you have a life-impairing, or
life-threatening disease. You can't look at your pH results and correctly
conclude, "Mercy me, I have galloping graphospasm!" pH test's don't
diagnose!

"Your pH checks are not diagnostic tests. They are evidence to use in
evaluating your overall health. Your internal pH concerns your whole
body. Not parts. Knowing the pH of your body won't tell you if your liver
is functioning perfectly. It won't tell you if your pancreas is struggling
to produce insulin. It won't tell you if your blood pressure is running
amuck. It won't tell you if you are anemic or overweight or nearsighted.
Check your pH is not a diagnostic test. This cannot be emphasized too
strongly.

"If you find that your internal pH is higher or lower than "ideal," you
won't know any more than your did before about which, if any,
disease you may have. However, your will have a strong indication
that your body's systems and organs are working under extreme
stress of toxicity - its internal fluids are being "poisoned" by too
much acid. But that doesn't mean you have any particular disease. It
means that unless your change your ways (probably starting with the
type of food you eat), you could develop a disease. Remember, pH
is an indicator of the condition of your internal environment. And
your internal environment affects your overall health.

"Perhaps a disease label has already been attached to your symptoms.
If so, the chances that your organs and systems are living in an ideal
pH neighborhood are about as good as your chances of being the first
person to hit a golf ball to Jupiter. And knowing the pH value of
your internal environment won't cure your disease any more than
knowing your blood pressure will cure hypertension. However, it can
give you a clue that your body is "fighting stress" rather than "fighting
disease". The disease is an effect of the stress your body copes with
in a "tough neighborhood."

There Goes the Neighborhood

"Some types of foods you eat can mess up your internal neighborhood.
They leave an acid "mess" that the body must neutralize and eliminate.
These messy foods are essentially high-protein foods - meats, poultry,
fish, and grains. They are acid ash-producing foods. Most of us eat a
lot of acid ash foods. That's our custom, tradition, and a large part of
our economy. But acid ash foods leave the internal equivalent of
blowing trash, beer cans, drug paraphernalia, derelict cars, and graffiti.
In other words, junk! Messy junk that pollutes the internal area and
environment.

"The "junk" from acid ash foods is in the form of an acid residue
that's left after high-protein food has been digested. We might say
it's the physiological equivalent of toxic waste. During digestion,
the usable parts of food are absorbed to help nourish the body. But
a residue that can't be used is left. This residue itself will eventually
make its way through the kidneys or bowel and out of the body.
However, before it is eliminated it must be neutralized - weakened,
buffered. If it isn't neutralized, it can fry delicate kidney tissue. That's
not good.

"However, our bodies are smarter than we will ever be. Your own
body has all sorts of ways to protect itself. The primary protection
against strong acid is alkalizing minerals. These vital minerals can
neutralize, or tone down, the acid from "quite strong" to "slightly
strong." Pretty clever. Unfortunately, in the process of neutralizing
the acid, the minerals are eliminated right along with the residue.
The vital neutralizing minerals tag along with the acid all the way
our of your body. Gone forever. That's the bad news.

"The good news is that these lost minerals are easily replaced.
Replacements come from the fruits and vegetables your eat. No
problem - acid in the body is neutralized by minerals, replacement
minerals come along in the fruits and vegetables to take their place.

"But suppose your don't eat fruits and vegetables - well, not much,
anyway.

Your intelligent body isn't going to let a little thing like your
negligence keep it from doing what needs to be done. Your body
is a survivor. It was designed to survive. It wasn't designed
to be healthy or sic. If minerals that were lost aren't replaced,
other minerals jump in to do the job - survival. But these
substitute minerals weren't just sitting on the bench waiting to
be called into the game. They have important full-time jobs, too.
when they are called on to handle the emergency, they are taken
from their primary jobs. For example, calcium is a "substitute"
neutralizing mineral. Where do we keep our biggest calcium
supply? Our bones. If you don't replace neutralizing minerals
by eating fruits and vegetables, calcium is taken from your
bones. The disease label is "osteoporosis." The practical
effect is weak bones. And it's hard to hold your head up when
your spine is gradually collapsing.

"Your diet can be so top-heavy with acid ash foods that your
neutralizing, or buffering, systems are overwhelmed. There
is just too much acid for them to handle - acid saturation. When
acid-laden materials arrive at the kidneys, the kidneys must
act to neutralize the acid fast. It's another backup system.
Ammonia. The kidneys generate ammonia that has a pH
of about 9.25. A little ammonia mixed with strong acid raises
the pH value. A lot of ammonia in a strong acid raises the pH
value a lot.

"So when your body is too acid for too long, it plays the game
of life with a lineup of backup systems. These backups are either
substitute minerals, or ammonia. When your body is too acid -
when your internal pH is too low - the systems and organs of
your body work overtime just to stay even. They need rest just
as you do. If the red-alert goes on for months or years, systems
and organs become exhausted. And exhausted body can't
compete with disease. Eventually, disease wins the game.

What does all of this have to do with checking pH?

"Monitoring your pH periodically gives you a status report on
the quality of the environment of your internal neighborhood.
Remember, pH monitoring doesn't report on how the system,
organs, and processes are doing. It is your personal "neighborhood
watch."

"Of course, that's not a scientific explanation of how your
physiological processes work. However, it may give you an idea
of how the pH of your body affects your potential health and how
the environment of a perfectly good internal neighborhood is
ruined. And it gives you a picture of some of the things that go
on in your body that allow pain and disease to take up residence.
The process boils down to#

1. Acid ash from many of the foods your regularly eat must be
neutralized (buffered) before the acid is eliminated through the kidneys.

2. Vital minerals are used to neutralize the acid, and in the process
these minerals are lost through the kidneys and bowel.

3. If the neutralizing minerals aren't replaced, other minerals will be
taken form other functions to neutralize the acid.

4. If the neutralizing (buffer) systems aren't up to the task, or if the
body is saturated with acid, the kidneys generate ammonia as a
last-ditch effort.

5. The body is over-acid, buffer systems are overwhelmed, and systems,
organs and processes are overstressed.

6. The body's systems and organs aren't able to perform at their best
because they have become exhausted.

7. Exhaustion opens the door to disease.

That's principally what you learn form checking your urine
pH - whether or not the foods your eat regularly leave the door
open to disease.

More Acid

Your body works constantly to get rid of acid no matter where
it come from. Acid ash-producing food isn't the only source of
acid in your body. Two other prominent sources contribute you're
your internal acid level: (1) cellular activity, and (2) naturally acid
foods. First, self-generated acid from cellular activity.

Your cells produce acid as they function. As long as cells are
alive, they work and produce acid. As cells die off, other cells
replace them. The new cells also produce acid. So, as long as you
are alive, new cells are being produced, and cells are producing
acid. In addition, when you exercise, cells produce more acid than
when you're resting. Acid production is a standard procedure
for your body.

That's strange! The body works best when it is slightly alkaline.
Staying alkaline is so important that the body uses and loses
vital minerals as it gets rid of acid. Yet the body produces acid."
______________

The second and final part of this article will appear
in next weeks Newsletter.


To see tables of common alkaline ash and acid ash foods, and
instructions on how to use pH papers to test saliva and urine,
click the following link.

http://www.healthfree.com/health/rescue/phguide.htm#acidash



To order pH papers, look near the end of the online order form
at the following link -

http://www.botanicals.net/cgi-local/shopbo.pl/page=botanilist.html/SID=PUT_SID_HERE


For a free copy of the "Live Food Diet Program" (alkaline producing foods
and recipes)
email your request to www.healthfree@healthfree.com


For details on a terrific whole food, alkaline producing supplement -

Herbs for Nutrition - Vital Nutrition Plus
http://www.healthfree.com/health/herbs/vitalnutri.htm


Best Regards,

Ron Radstrom

e-mail: healthfree@healthfree.com

Health Freedom Resources may be contacted at:
727-443-7711 phone / 727-442-4139 fax
website: http://www.healthfree.com

Excellent Herbal formulas may be obtained from
Southern Botanicals at:
727-461-5455 phone / 727-442-4139 fax
website: http://www.botanicals.net

We do not share your email address with anyone.

Sign up for our FREE Spirit of Health newsletter.
Just email us at newsletter@healthfree.com
and type "Newsletter Request" in the subject line.

-----------------------------------

Disclaimer: The staff of HFR, Inc.
and Southern Botanicals are not doctors
and do not diagnose, prescribe for or
treat any disease, nor do they dispense
medical advice. Our mission is to provide
information which the individual may apply
according to his own free choice. Herbs and
herbal formulas are classed as foods; any
mentions of them and their uses are intended
solely as nutritional support. No health claims
of any kind are made for any product or
formula mentioned herein. If you have or
may have an illness, consult your licensed
health practitioner. HFR, Inc. and
Southern Botanicals are not affiliated with
any physician or health practitioner.