Digestive Wellness: Strengthen the Immune System and Prevent Disease Through Healthy Digestion, Fourth Edition (72 page)

Take one day a week to relax.

Honor the Sabbath.

Believe that people have good intentions and are doing the best job they can.

See the world through a “loving” filter.

If you begin with just one or two of these stress-management techniques, you’ll find more peace and balance in your life. Find what works for you and make it into a habit. If you want to truly heal your body, you will find that exploring your emotional and spiritual self speeds up the process.

“Metabolic acidosis underlies chronic disease and makes people more likely to be resistant to treatment and to feel helpless and hopeless.”

—Russell Jaffe, M.D.

Our acid-alkaline balance is regulated by the body’s mineral management. Our bodies strive to maintain our blood pH between 7.3 and 7.5, which corresponds to a urinary pH of about 7.0. Our metabolism, enzymes, immune system, and repair mechanisms work most effectively within this narrow pH range. The body is very sensitive to changes in blood pH, so that always has to stay fairly constant or else we are rushed to the emergency room. To balance blood pH, minerals are drawn from elsewhere in the body. Sodium and potassium are pulled into the bloodstream from the reservoirs of fluid outside of our cells (extracellular fluid); when these extracellular stores have been used up, the body then resorts to pulling calcium, magnesium, and other alkalizing minerals from the bones and illnesses can occur.

Imagine how much harder it would be for us to function if the air were filled with sulfuric acid; the more caustic the environment, the more detrimental it would be to our health. Similarly, our cells react to an acidic internal environment by becoming sluggish and unable to function properly. A change of 0.1 in either direction outside of the optimal blood pH range of 7.3 to 7.5 can produce up to a 10-fold reduction in enzyme activity. This happens for
each
10th of a point, so the more out of line pH is, the less cellular activity occurs. Wastes build up, toxins aren’t excreted, cellular messages aren’t sent, and nutrients aren’t properly utilized—it’s kind of like a labor strike!

Acidity contributes to disease, constipation, diarrhea, kidney and liver problems, and the fatigue that accompanies most health problems. What’s more, most of us are continually “borrowing” minerals from bone to stabilize our cellular and blood pH. If we don’t replenish these minerals, the long-term effects are osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and overall poor health.

A urinary pH of 7.0 indicates that we have enough buffering (alkalizing) minerals to balance our acids. Alkaline-forming minerals include sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Acid-forming minerals include chlorine, sulfur, phosphorus, and iodine. Many of us are deficient in potassium, calcium, and magnesium, although we do get plenty of sodium chloride (salt). Optimal cellular health and resistance to bacterial infections are promoted by all of these minerals, but especially by abundant supplies of sodium and calcium.

Most of us unknowingly have a slightly acidic body environment. An excess of carbon dioxide and carbonic acid is created and accumulated in our blood through:

Eating an acid-forming diet

Stress

Toxins

Immune system reactions

Metabolic regulatory mechanisms that create acid by-products

It’s essential that our foods contain buffering minerals to offset this naturally acidic internal state. Fruit, vegetables, seaweed, and some other foods help alkalize our systems—but we don’t usually eat enough of these. Unfortunately, the standard American diet contributes to our overall acid load, as proteins, fats, sugars, grains (generally speaking), and refined foods are acid producing. Stress, alcohol, and cigarettes further compound the problem.

SOFT DRINKS DEMINERALIZE BONES AND TEETH

One 12-ounce can of cola contains enough phosphoric acid to dramatically change our pH. The pH of the cola is between 2.8 and 3.2, but the kidneys cannot excrete urine that is more acidic than about 5.0; in order to dilute this can of cola to an appropriate urinary pH, you’d need to produce 33 liters of urine! So, the body turns to its stores of alkalizing minerals. If there aren’t enough reserves of potassium and magnesium in the extracellular fluid, then calcium will be taken from bone. The amount of minerals needed for this particular task is equivalent to the buffering capability of four Tums!