Some of you may have heard me talk about the importance of alkalizing your body.  You might have even read one of the books I frequently mention on this subject.  One of these has the bold title "Alkalize or Die" (by Theodore Baroody).  There's also Fit for Life by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond, a great introduction to the subject.  Another more recent book is "The pH Miracle Diet" by Dr. Robert Young.   There are several others on the subject.  The bottom line: Being properly alkaline is critical to our good health.

For those that don’t understand the difference between acid and alkaline, here’s an explanation.  Water is made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen, hence H₂O.  When split, you get H⁺ and OH^-.  The H⁺ makes liquids acidic and the OH^- makes them alkaline.  When they both come together, you get neutral acidity or a pH of 7.0.  Anything over pH of 7.0 is alkaline and any liquid with a pH below 7.0 is acidic.  The pH scale is so vast that a system had to be used to make the huge numbers easier to work with.  It’s a logarithmic scale called the pH scale and small changes in this scale mean large changes in the concentration of hydrogen ions (H⁺) and hydroxyl ions (OH^-).  More precisely, a change in pH from 5.0 to 4.0 means the pH has become 10x more acidic.  A change from 6.0 to 4.0 means the liquid has become 100 x more acidic.  Alternatively, a pH from 7.5 to 8.5 has become 10x more alkaline. 

Human blood is slightly alkaline and well oxygenated blood is more alkaline blood.  The pH of human blood must be in a narrow range of slightly alkaline: 7.35 to 7.45.  This doesn’t sound like a large jump, but in terms of oxygen content, blood with a pH of 7.45 has 64.9 percent more oxygen than that of blood at pH 7.3!  

Now as Americans eat so much food that creates acid wastes, the body has to try hard to maintain alkaline blood and it WILL do this, otherwise you can suffer from various health challenges.  So it does its best to alkalize the blood by withdrawing calcium from the bones.  (Remember, Tum’s is calcium carbonate to neutralize ‘excess’ stomach acid.)  It also excretes excess acids via the urine, hence one of the most important reasons to drink water: eliminating acidic wastes from the body.

This information is meant to assist you in revisiting the issue because, despite our best efforts, most folks are still dangerously acidic.  (If you don’t believe me, go purchase some ‘pH’ paper from a health food store or online and test your saliva or urinary pH against the color chart provided.   Most of the health challenges that TOO MANY Americans are suffering from, can be traced--at least in part--to an overly acidic system.  You can follow a diet low in animal products, with little if any sugar and refined carbohydrates and also containing no soda, no junk food and little if any coffee, right?  You can consume free-range (and preferably organic) animal products, organically grown fruits and vegetables and take other steps to minimize excess acid in your body.  But do you know what?  Most folks are not anywhere near to consuming a diet that promotes optimum alkalinity in their body.  They're also not drinking enough water--of any kind--to excrete wastes adequately.  (See, Your Body's Many Cries for Water by F. Batmanghelidj, M.D. for more on the benefits of drinking more water.) The best way to counter the tendency to be overly acidic—besides following the aforementioned guidelines and drinking more water—is to use a quality water alkalizer/ionizer.  And the way to help enhance your health to the maximum extent possible is to use a filter/alkalizer /ionizer that has specific features that enable you to get the most for your dollar.

While one in 6-10 households in Japan and Korea own a water ionizer/ alkalizer, in America it is about...one in 15,000!  As this percentage goes up, so to will the health of all Americans!