Acid/Alkaline Diet for a pH Balance
Acid or Alkaline – Which is Healthy?
AlkaMax for Restoring pH Balance
Food Chart to Post on Your Refrigerator
pH Poll of People Who Have Cancer
pH Meter and Test Kits
pH Test Paper
Acid Or Alkaline – Which is Healthy?
According to the experts, your cholesterol levels, calories, blood pressure, blood sugar, and even your hormone levels are not the most important thing. The most important measurement of your health is the pH of your blood and tissues. Whether you are acidic or alkaline is what matters the most. The pH levels of different areas in our body are different. However, the blood pH is the most telling of all.
So, what exactly is pH? Acidity and alkalinity in the body are measured by the pH (potential of hydrogen) scale. Water has a pH of 7.0 and is considered neither acid or alkaline but neutral. An acidic body is unhealthy. While each organ has its own pH balance, experts generally agree that a healthy person’s saliva should be between 7.2 and 7.5.
If your pH is between 6. and 6.5, you are acidic and can potentially develop one or more of the 150 degenerative diseases. These may take time to develop, but your goal should be to talk to your healthcare professional and take action sooner than later to address the acidity issue.
If your pH is below 6.0, then you are highly acidic. You are likely to be mineral deficient and have definitely developed illnesses and disease at this point.
A balanced diet contains 40% acid forming foods and 60% alkaline. To test your pH level, you can purchase pH Strips or pH test kits.
Comments: The recommended percentage of acid/alkaline seems to be all over the board. Some people recommend 35%-65% acid/alkaline ratio for a balanced pH; others insist on 20-80. However, it seems like an average person should be in good shape with a 40-60 acid/alkaline diet. Please consult with your healthcare expert for his/her professional recommendation.
AlkaMax for Restoring pH Balance
There are several ways to raise your pH balance or to restore it to an acceptable level. If you’ve tried eating the right food (see Food chart to post on your refrigerator) and your progress is slow, you might want to try AlkaMax. We’ve tried AlkaMax and it took only a few days to see the results. Because AlkaMax is a natural supplement, it was approved by our Naturopath Doctor for raising the pH level.
What is AlkaMax recommend for?
AlkaMax can be used for restoring the pH balance, bone/joint health, fatigue caused by acidic conditions, acid indigestion and heartburn.
Acid/Reflex
We prefer AlkaMax for digestive issues, such as acid reflex and heartburn. Most of the time we only need one capsule to get the relief. We definitely prefer AlkaMax over Tums and other antacids which are not recommended as a long-term solution because of the potential damage they can cause. Check out the Customer Reviews about AlkaMax on Amazon.com.
AlkaMax and DGL
AlkaMax comes in liquid, powder and capsule form. We’ve used the capsules because it contains de-glycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL), which is safe for people with high blood pressure. Although you will notice that the warning says that due to licorice contents it is not recommended for patients with high blood pressure, according to our Doctor that is not true. DGL is made from licorice from which the glycyrrhizin has been removed, which can raise blood pressure. The manufacturer told us that even though DGL doesn’t raise your pH level, they had to put the warning on the label as a precaution. You can do your own research to find out exactly what DGL is.
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WARNING! Blood pressure patients need to be careful as to which form (liquid, powder, or capsule) they should select. For example, they avoid the powder form of AlkaMax because it contains licorice. Instead, they should use the AlkaMax capsules, which are safe because they use the de-glycyrrhizinated licorice. |
New Manufacturer
This product used to be manufactured by a company called TriMedica but is now manufactured by Natural Balance and is sold by HerbalRemedies.com. The relationship between TriMedica, Natural Balance and HerbalRemedies.com is not clear but all we know that this product is really good for acid reflex and it also does a decent job of raising your pH level if you use it for a few days.
Testing Your pH Level
Another thing we recommend (especially for cancer patients) is to purchase a digital pH tester rather than using the paper strips that come with AlkaMax. It is well worth the money. We believe the paper strips are pretty useless and strongly recommend that you purchase a digital pH tester. We have one brand of pH tester listed later on this page.
You should be able to find AlkaMax at your local health food store. If not, you can do a search on the Internet and purchase it online. We purchase this product at Amazon.com. It comes in 30-capsule or 90-capsule size.
Old AlkaMax Packaging:
New AlkaMax Packaging:
Comments: We have experienced excellent results from this product for indigestion even with a single capsule. We have also experienced decent results for raising our pH level when the product is used for several days. People with high blood pressure should only use AlkaMax in the capsule form.
Food Chart to Post on Your Refrigerator
Print out this food chart “Food and chemical effects on acid/alkaline body chemical balance”. Notice that italicized items are NOT recommended.
pH Poll of People Who Have Cancer
According to a book written by Doctor Robert R. Barefoot and Carl J. Reich, M.D.:
- Most kids have a pH of 7.5
- Over 50% of adults have a pH of 6.5 or lower
- Cancer patients usually have a pH of 4.5
Here’s a poll of 1718 people with cancer who tested their saliva and provided their results. If you have cancer, you can add your own saliva pH result to the poll at this link: http://www.alkalizeforhealth.net/salivaphtest.htm.
pH Meter and Test Kits
Digital pH Meter from HACH
This is a digital pH meter. It looks similar to a thermometer. One drop of urine or saliva (we’ve always done the saliva test) is placed on the tip and the pH is given in the digital readout up to 0.1 accuracy. pH meters come in many flavors but for long term use and low maintenance the best meters use pH probes with ISFET technology. This is basically an electronic solid state chip that can use as little as one drop of fluid for testing. Some meters use glass bulbs but those wear out fast and they should always be stored wet to maintain good function. You can purchase the pH meter from any vendor but in our experience if you purchase from HACH, the manufacturer, you get better service and warranty and we weren’t really able to find it cheaper than HACH at any other place.
How to Use the pH Meter
Based on our research, the best way to measure your pH is to test it in the morning when you wake up (before you drink, eat or rinse your mouth). Spit in your hand and then pour the saliva on the tip of the pH meter sensor. The meter will display the reading. Rinse the meter gently under warm water, do not shake, and dry it with a soft cloth. We’ve found the manufacturer (HACH) to be really helpful when to comes to answering questions about this pH meter, troubleshooting any problems with calibration, cleaning the pH meter, or general maintenance.
Digital pH Meter
H130 = $212
Comments: The original IQ120 model was advertised as the world’s smallest pH meter (5.5″ long). The current model H130 (which is equivalent to the old IQ120 model) is not much larger. It’s waterproof, needs no maintenance and supports a wide pH range (2.0-12.0). Since 2006 we have purchased several of these pH meters and they work great and are not only very easy to use, they are very accurate and easy to clean. In our experience, HACH’s tech support has been outstanding.
Update on September 8, 2009: The price for IQ120 was $159 in 2004. It’s now $195 in 2009. There are newer models that are also available, which we haven’t tried. It doesn’t matter which digital pH meter you use, as long as it is a digital meter that will test your pH. We use the saliva test to monitor our pH.
Update on August 15, 2013: The new model (equivalent to IQ120, which is no longer manufactured) is called H130 and it’s still a pocket-size, waterproof pH tester. The price as of August 15, 2013 was $205. This supports one-point calibration, which is all you need for saliva test because it supports the range 5.0-9.0 pH. Do not bother spending more money for a 2 or 3 point calibration unit (H135 or H138) because for saliva testing H130 is all you need.
Update on November 2, 2014: The price for H130 is $212 in 2014. We just recently ordered this new model. We believe it is still the best pH meter out there for what we want to achieve. It is easy to use and very accurate. It displays pH along with the temperature. You can get a chart from HACH, or from Internet search, that displays pH levels and different temperatures so you know what the exact reading is going to be. Don’t forget to read the tips at the beginning of this section “How to Use the pH meter.”
pH Test Paper
In order to begin testing your pH you will need pH test paper or a pH meter. The test paper is limited in terms of range and also accuracy so a pH meter is a far better choice. If you have the budget for one it is the only way to go. The color of the paper that matches the test colors is the pH. The image below shows a universal pH test paper that you can purchase from Walmart and other stores.
Comments: The paper tests are pretty confusing for the most part. In our opinion, it’s almost impossible to match the colors exactly to the chart so we believe that for accurate readings investing in a digital pH meter is definitely the way to go. We have posted the information for test paper only for people who cannot afford a more expensive digital pH meter.