Sunday, September 30, 2007

High Acidity - A Cause For Concern?

byKathryn Alexander

I'm often asked about acidity and what this means in terms of health. In short, it means that your cells are not using oxygen efficiently - in other words instead of oxidizing they ferment, and as with any ferments, acids accumulate as a by-product. This sets up a vicious cycle as an acidic cell repels oxygen and so perpetuates the problem. A fermentative environment is an unhealthy environment that supports cancer, fungal conditions such as systemic candida, and excites inflammation. It will also bring about calcium deposition in the arteries, joints and soft tissues.

The anomaly is that our natural metabolism produces vast amounts of acids - to be precise 10.4 mmols /minute which is 6,500 times the amount held in the body at pH 7.4. The pH (measure of acidity) has to be maintained within a very narrow range so we need to eliminate these acids as soon as they are produced. This is where breathing comes in. Breathing keeps in step with acid production - the more acid you produce (the faster the metabolism), the faster you breath. The acid is "blown off." If we stopped breathing for just 4 minutes then we would see a drop to pH 3.0 and we would die.

What goes wrong?
To understand acid production we have to look at energy production within the cell. If we follow the journey of glucose (a chief source of energy) we see that it is shuttled down a conveyor belt where each worker (enzyme) on the line modifies the glucose step by step to ultimately capture its energy. The waste product is carbonic acid which is split into carbon dioxide and water and easily eliminated. Problems occur when one or another worker goes on strike because he doesn't have the tools to do his job.
Our enzymes require minerals and vitamins (tools) in order to function (for example, the energy cycle enzymes require potassium, magnesium, manganese, copper, iron, B1, 2, 3, 5 and 6, CoQ10) and usually there is no problem as the food we eat comes with these very nutrients required for their metabolism. However, most of the foods consumed today are depleted of nutrients and come empty-handed.
It's a bit like ordering a construction kit. When it arrives you find that the basic materials may be present, but all the tools are missing. Without the tools you can't assemble the kit. In the body, we can go to the tool shed (bones) where we can draw on our reserves, but eventually these will also become depleted. So the workers (enzymes) become redundant and the cell accumulates partially metabolized by-products of glucose - all of which are acids.

These acids can't be broken down to carbon dioxide and water (and eliminated through the breath) but have to be neutralized or buffered within the cell until the kidneys remove them. However, this is a much slower process and over a period of time acids will accumulate. As you can imagine, the buffering system within the cells becomes taxed. Buffers are like patrol men which capture and bind free hydrogen ions. Free hydrogen ions (H) are the measure of acidity - this is what the "H" stands for in pH. When there are no more buffers the bones are called upon to grab the hydrogen ions.

In order for this to happen, they have to release calcium in exchange for hydrogen, and you guessed it - the bones become eroded while the soft tissues harden. So the effects of acidity are measured not so much by the overall pH of the body but by the general hardening and erosion within the system.

How do our dietary choices contribute to acidity?
High acidity arises when our nutrient intake (minerals and vitamins) fails to meet our requirements for energy production. This is when the enzymes go on strike. There are a variety of situations which exacerbate this:
A diet high in empty foods will draw upon our nutrient reserves for its metabolism.

Refined and processed foods where nutrients have been lost due to the refining process or damaged through processing. Refined cereals (white rice, white flour) and sugar are among the major culprits.

A high fat diet. Fats are refined and devoid of many of the nutrients found in the whole grain or seed. Fats are nutritionally expensive requiring many nutrients for their metabolism.

Diuretics such as caffeine and alcohol will "wash" away nutrients through the kidneys. Increased energy requirements mean increased nutrient requirements.

Stress and stimulants (caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, recreational drugs, sugar) all stimulate energy production without supplying the raw materials or nutrients. In short, they make the body eat itself and draw on its own nutrient reserve to accomplish this.

Fasting or skipping meals has a similar effect of inducing body breakdown and nutrient loss.

Exercise increases nutrient requirements especially for zinc, magnesium and the B vitamins. Heavy exercise regimes will deplete all nutrients unless supplied by the diet. Adolescents are the most vulnerable group as demands for zinc are high for physical and sexual maturation. Zinc deficiencies lead to mental, emotional and physical imbalances. Certain fuels, such as protein and fat, are regarded as dirty fuels. Carbohydrate is a clean combustion fuel leaving no acidity in the tissues but protein leaves sulphuric acid and fat generally contributes to generalized acidity when taken to excess.

There is a saying "Fat burns in the flame of carbohydrate" meaning that without some carbohydrate to stimulate the energy production line, fatty acids (from fat) will accumulate within the system. It takes up to seven days for the kidneys to remove this type of acidity, so on a high protein, high fat diet, we see a cumulative acidic effect over many years.

What can we do?
Make sure that your diet is unrefined, unprocessed, organic, and of high nutrient value.

Try not to take foods or drinks that will draw on your nutrient reserves.

Ensure that you have the broadest range of foods possible.

Vegetarians will need to guard against iron, zinc, vitamin D, A and B12 deficiencies.

To reduce acidity adopt a high alkaline diet (high in organic fruit and vegetables, low in fats and protein). These foods, when metabolized within the cell leave an alkaline ash. This relieves the burden on the cells' existing buffering system and will neutralize the accumulated acidity. Once this happens the electrical potential of the cell becomes more negative and oxygen (which is attracted to the negative) is drawn into the cell. Additionally, the high amount of potassium in the fruit and vegetables ousts sodium, toxins and excess water from the cell and the cell is purged of impurities.

Remove salt (sodium chloride) from the diet. Salt increases acidic conditions and competes with potassium. Supplementation with nutrients may be applicable for deficiency states and may work in the short-term. But the solution is not this easy as an acidic cell will not readily take up nutrients and therefore long-term improvement may be difficult to achieve. However, by following the alkaline diet we can reverse acidity, improve oxidation and enable vitamin and mineral access to the cell.

High Acidity - A Cause For Concern?byKathryn Alexander

Saturday, September 22, 2007

THE pH EQUATION & HEALTH

According to many health researchers, total healing of chronic illness takes place only when and if the blood is restored to a normal, slightly alkaline pH. In case you missed it, let me say it again...

Total healing of chronic illness takes place only when and if the blood is restored to a normal,
slightly alkaline pH.

The magnitude of meaning behind this research is of incredible importance to someone who is fighting a disease, overcoming an illness, or just desiring to feel better. What it means is this...

Your Body pH Affects EVERYTHING.
Human blood stays in a very narrow pH range right around 7.3. Below or above this range means symptoms and disease.

When pH goes off, microbial looking froms in the blood can change shape, mutate, mirror pathogenicity, and grow.

When pH goes off, ENZYMES that are constructive can become destructive.

When pH goes off, OXYGEN delivery to cells suffers.

WORD ABOUT OXYGEN
More and more research is showing that low oxygen delivery to cells is a major factor in most if not all degenerative conditions. Nobel laureate, Dr. Otto Warburg of Germany, won his Nobel Prize for his discovery of oxygen deficiency in the CANCER growth process.

As stated above, when pH is off and our bodies are running more acidic, our cells are getting less oxygen. Cancer thrives under an acid tissue pH/oxygen deficient environment. Is it any wonder today that cancer rates are up?

To recall how important oxygen is to your life, just stop breathing for a minute. Get the idea? Each cell in your body can breathe fully or not. Which it is depends upon having an optimum pH balance. Do you think keeping an eye on your body pH might be important in your life?

pH Controls the Things You Can't Live Without...
Like your BRAIN.
Your brain needs fuel to run, and the fuel it uses is glucose.






















But unlike other cells, your brain can't store glucose. It depends on the second to second supply from the bloodstream - a bloodstream that is affected by pH, which controls the efficiency of INSULIN, which allows sugar to enter into cells which in turn controls blood sugar levels.

Your HEART.
William Philpott M.D. in his 'Biomagnetic Handbook' made an important body pH/electrical connection. As the pH of the blood goes more acid, fatty acids which are normally electro-magnetically charged on the negative side switch to positive and automatically are attracted to and begin to stick to the walls of arteries which are electro-magnetically charged on the negative side. (And as science states, opposites attract.)

It should start to make sense that a society which over-emphasizes food that could push blood to be more acid will have a high rate of heart disease. And so it goes.

pH control impacts every biochemical process in the body including...ENZYMES which are part of that biochemical process. There are hundreds if not thousands of enzyme processes which take place in the body. Many are so specific that they are like complex square pegs that need to "fit" into specific square holes in order to carry out their duty. If blood pH is off balance even a little, some important pegs are not "fitting" their respective slots. Enzyme function and thus life itself begins to suffer.

MINERAL ASSIMILATION is affected by pH. Minerals have different pH levels at which they can be assimilated into the body. Minerals on the lower end of the atomic scale can be assimilated in a wider pH range, and minerals higher up on the scale require a narrower and narrower pH range in order to be assimilated by the body. For example….
Sodium and magnesium have wide pH assimilation ranges.
It narrows somewhat for calcium and potassium.
Narrows more for manganese and iron.
More for zinc and copper.
More for iodine.

Iodine, which is high up on the atomic scale, requires near perfect pH for its assimilation into the body. Iodine you may know, is one of the most important minerals for proper functioning of the THYROID. But, the thyroid doesn't get access to iodine unless the body pH is near perfect. With a society in a largely pH unbalanced state, one would suspect a lot of thyroid problems. Malfunctioning thyroids have been connected to arthritis, heart attacks, diabetes, cancer, depression, overweight, fatigue and more. Are you starting to see the basic metabolic picture evolving here?

Due primarily to agricultural soil depletion and over-acidic food consumption, mineral deficiency is a large problem facing most people today. And mineral deficiency relates to the quantity of life energy or, more specifically, electricity, in our bodies.
Body mineral content and balances control the quantity of electricity in our bodies.
The speed at which the electricity flows is controlled by the body's pH balance.
pH Balance and the Mineral Connection.

There are complex biochemical processes taking place in the body constantly in an attempt to keep blood pH as near perfect as possible. These are known as the pH buffering systems. These buffering systems need a good balance of minerals to work effectively. If we are getting inadequate mineral intake from the food we eat, we are going to start having problems with our pH balancing systems and if our pH is unbalanced, what is the result?

Well, by now you should start having a good idea. Pick your disease, choose your unbalance. Cancer, arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, chronic fatigue, allergies, obesity, just name it. If you don't feel good, one of the basic things that stands between you and perfect health is your body's pH. Your basic metabolic body balance.

While We're on the Subject of Minerals....
Did you know that.....Minerals are as important as, if not more important than, vitamins. Minerals are co-enzymes which help vitamins function. In the absence of minerals, vitamins can't do their job. Many minerals are referred to as trace minerals, which might make it seem as though they are of little importance, but nothing could be further from the truth. Minerals and their deficiencies have been implicated in a wide range of off-balance health conditions.

Here are some examples:
Supplementing a diet with sufficient chromium and vanadium can help prevent diabetes and has been seen to reverse diabetes in those already diabetic, as vanadium is reportedly able to replace insulin in some cases.

Copper deficiency is implicated in aneurysms (brain, aortic, etc.)

Magnesium is quite possibly the most important mineral for the reduction of coronary heart disease. (The latest "cutting edge" research shows that heart disease is really a function of heart muscle acidosis.)

Boron helps keep calcium in the bones, helps women preserve and make estrogen, and helps men keep testosterone. Boron affects alertness. Boron can help eliminate arthritis.

Potassium and magnesium (along with organic sodium) are some of the most important minerals for rebalancing the electrical properties of the cell, for eliminating excess acidity, and for helping to balance calcium.

Magnesium helps conduct electrical messages between all the neurons of the body.

People get irrational when potassium levels are low.

Zinc is involved in over 200 brain enzyme interactions.Drinking zinc mixed with distilled water can stop anorexia nervosa in a day. Zinc deficiency symptoms include loss of taste and smell. Zinc deficiency in children results in moodiness, depression, irritability, photo phobia (light sensitivity), antagonism, temper tantrums & learning problems. Children who do poorly on achievement tests tend to have low iron levels. These children also display disruptive, impulsive and irritable behavior in the classroom. Children who have high lead levels do more poorly overall. Most of these children's mineral imbalances go undiagnosed and instead are medicated with drugs. Likewise, ADD - Attention Deficit Disorder can often be eliminated by balancing nutritional trace minerals. There is no need to drug our children.

Cigarette smoke is rich in cadmium (the blue color in the smoke). Cadmium is the most neurotoxic substance known to human beings. A low zinc/high cadmium ratio is implicated in learning disabilities. Zinc is needed to balance cadmium. Too much copper is an irritant to the brain.

A story is told by Dr. Alex Schauss, a noted author, researcher, and nutritional mineral expert. It is about his experience with a 9 year old boy brought into his clinic some years ago. The boy had been charged with attempted murder. His criminal record began at age 6. He burned animals, shot at people's houses and beat up mothers pushing baby strollers. The police all said he would be a lifetime criminal, a Charles Manson type of psychotic. He was on six psychiatric drugs, and was kicked out of school after he tried to kill a 10 year old girl. Dr. Schauss did a hair mineral analysis and discovered his copper levels were off the charts. He added supplemental zinc to the boy's diet to chelate out the excess copper, and within two weeks the boys urinalysis showed all the excess copper had been eliminated. He went off all medication, returned to school and became a model student.

Years later the boy returned to see Dr. Schauss. He was a junior in college, an A student, on the varsity basketball team, and had a heart of gold. High manganese levels show statistically high correlation with violent behavior., while lithium balances and helps control manganese. The cities of the world with the highest lithium concentration in their water show the lowest homicide rates. The trace element rubidium cures manic depression.The right ratio of copper to zinc in the cell acts as an antioxidant.This information shows just a teeny fraction of how minerals and mineral imbalances can affect your health.

Much of this information is buried in professional journals, there for the taking. It appears that due to politics and the influence and strength that the medical/drug industrial complex has over the suppression of information, these things stay buried.

If this type of information, along with the other things we know, could be assimilated into our society, whether through the efforts of individuals or that of our government, and if people like doctors, psychiatrists, and dietitians were to act on it, we could lessen violence in our society, close jails, raise academic achievement, and greatly reduce outlays of public money for Medicare and Medicaid. We could see our health insurance premiums drop to about $50 dollars a month for a family of four because we could eliminate our need for expensive hospital visits and treatments excepting emergency care for accidents.Without a doubt, the single most important thing you can do for your health is to supplement your diet with broad spectrum trace minerals. They are that important.

Your Disease is in Perfect Harmony With Your Body.
From what you've learned so far, you should begin to understand the truth of this statement. When your body's mineral balances are off, your health is off. When your body's pH and basic metabolic processes are off, it sets up the internal environment that becomes a new playground for the opportunistic "bugs" - bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc.

Earlier we talked of the concept of colloids of life in your blood like the elemental forms called protits and somatids vis a vis Enderlein and Naessans. Whether actual life or not, one thing that is certain is how colloidal particles form and ultimately evolve is a function of pH - the terrain of the blood. What else is a constituent of the blood? How about the mineral balances we've been speaking about. Research has shown that microorganisms can evolve into different looking forms when exposed to and combined with elements like heavy metals. And so it is in the blood.

For example, some researchers contend that patients with high levels of mercury in their mouths will often exhibit specific pleomorphic microbe looking elements in their blood. Is it possible that something like high levels of copper, as referenced in the story above, are more than just an irritant to the brain? Might they set up the internal environment in the body whereby the colloids of life form into specific "bugs" that with some level of microbial consciousness are actually behind aggressive, violent or psychotic behavior? Something to think about perhaps, and in so saying, your blood may be much more than what you think it is.

http://biomedx.com/microscopes/rrintro/rr4.html

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Sunday, September 16, 2007

Chlorine In Your Tap Water

Would you drink a cup of pesticides?
What about a cup of chemical water?

All your aquarium fish will die within a matter of minutes if you add tap water to your fish tank without also adding a de-chlorinator to remove the chlorine. Doesn't that tell you something about the danger of drinking chlorine?

Chlorine in tap water results in cancer and many other diseases, according to researchers worldwide.

According to recent research in Europe, pregnant women in their first trimester who drink five or more glasses of chlorinated tap water a day may be at a much higher risk of miscarriage than women who drink non-chlorinated water.
Concerned that chlorine may cause spina bifida and stillbirths, the British government has ordered an independent study on chlorine-treated drinking water. Scientists from Imperial College, London University, are interested in this new research from doctors in Norway, Canada and the United States reporting higher levels of birth defects in areas where chlorine is used, compared with drinking water treated by alternative methods.

John Fawell, a leading specialist on water quality and an independent industry consultant, says: "The people who have done this work in Norway and in the United States are reputable researchers and the government and water companies have commissioned their own research from London University. All of Britain's and the United State's water companies chlorinate their public water supplies. The only people who use non-chlorinated water are those with their own water wells.

A Norwegian study of 141,000 births over a three-year period found a fourteen percent increased risk of birth defects in areas with chlorinated water. Scientists have already found an association between chlorine and an increased risk of bowel, kidney and bladder cancer, but it is the first time that a link has been verified with higher levels of spina bifida.

Dr. Per Magnus, the research scientist who carried out the Norwegian study, states: "This is an important finding because we know there are chemicals released by the action of chlorine on organic particles at treatment works. We have observed mutations in these chemicals that seem to tie up with mutations that are found in babies. We were in a unique position in Norway to make these observations because in some areas our water comes from the mountains and doesn't require cleaning with chlorine."

The Norwegian government has ordered more research be done. Concerned families have begun filtering their tap water. A popular method is to place sachets of coral sand, dredged from Norwegian fjords, into water before it is consumed, removing all traces of chlorine in tap water after fifteen minutes.

In Canada at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, researchers found that high levels of trihalomethanes, a by-product of chlorine in drinking water, significantly increased the risk of stillbirth.

Bladder cancer has been linked to chlorinated drinking water in an average of ten out of eleven studies. One of the studies in Ontario, conducted with funding from Health Canada, found that fourteen to sixteen percent of bladder cancers in Ontario showed a direct correlation to drinking water containing high levels of chlorine by-products. Chlorinated water has been linked to colon and rectal cancers in the studies, but the occurrences were not as common as those for bladder cancer.

Solutions? Dr. John Marshall, of the Pure Water Association, an American consumer group campaigning for safer drinking water, states: "It shows we should be paying more attention to the chemicals we put in our drinking water and should be looking for other alternatives to chlorination. A number of safe, non-toxic options exist, such as treating water with ozone gas or ultra violet light."

O2 Berry Instantly Removes Chlorine From Your Drinking Water

For now, investigate the purest "spring" water sources available in your region of the country. Keep a water jug close by and constantly full, sipping on "pure" water all day long. Use it for your coffee or tea, and teach your children the difference between pure water sources and chemically altered water. Investigate the safety of the piping in your home, and add a water filter to the house tap if possible. Place filters on icemakers, and don't drink from the garden hose. If you have access to a water well, have it tested for heavy metals, and place a filter on that tap, if necessary.
Pure water is a human being's primary survival mechanism. Don't take the importance of natural water lightly.

Dr. Janet Starr Hull

Related:
* Chlorine - In Your Pool and Diet Cola (Splenda)
Posted September 2004 Permanent Link
Other Articles In The September Issue
Introduction
Healthy Feedback
Does This Sound Like You?
The Photosynthesis of Health
Healthy Fats - The Benefits of Plant Sterols
Q & A with Dr. Hull
Did You Know?
Healthy Recipes
Seeking the Perfect Sweetener
Other Articles In This Category
The Photosynthesis of Health - September 2007
Healthy Fats - The Benefits of Plant Sterols - September 2007
No-Aspartame On Your Hospital Chart - August 2007
Over-Prescribed Antibiotics - August 2007
No-Smokin' the Cream Of Tartar - August 2007

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Acid-Alkaline Balance


Proper Health starts with the correct acid-alkaline balance in your body. The pH level (acid - alkaline measurement) of our internal fluids affects every cell in our bodies. Extended acid imbalances of any kind can overwhelm your body, and lead to health complications.
Just as the body regulates its temperature in a rigid manner, so will it manage to preserve a very narrow pH range - especially in the blood. As a matter of fact, the body will go to such great lengths to maintain a blood pH of 7.365 that it will even create stress on other tissues, body systems, and organs to do so. Chronic acidity will interrupt all cellular activities and functions - it interferes with life itself.
When the pH of the body gets out of balance (too acidic), we may experience low energy, fatigue, excess weight, poor digestion, aches and pains, and even more serious disorders.

The cycle of acidity begins primarily as a result of three things:
1. Ingesting acids. Eating too many acidifying foods like processed sugar, meats, dairy, coffee, alcohol, etc. Create an acid ash in the body. These acids can overload the body’s ability to neutralize them.

2. Creation of acids. Pathogens and microforms create acidifying toxins in the body. As the body becomes more and more acidic, bad bacteria, yeasts and other microforms proliferate in the body. Since these organisms are living, they eat as well as create resulting toxins. These toxins are often very acidifying.

3. Improper elimination of acids. Not all acids are the same; some are weak and some are strong. Weak acids like citric acid are much easier to neutralize than strong acids like uric acid. The body uses many systems in order to buffer acids including breath, mineral reserves, and fat. When the body’s buffering systems become compromised, excess acids build up.
The process of reestablishing acid-alkaline balance begins with proper diet and nutrition. This includes eating alkalizing foods (vegetables, low sugar fruits, etc.), super hydration (drinking plenty of alkaline water that is ionic and structured), and proper supplementation.

Mineralize your body:
Every Sachet of O2 Berry contains calcium, magnesium, and over 70 trace minerals.
These essential minerals (electrolytes) become ionic in water allowing them to be absorbed quickly and easily by your body.
O2 Berry is delivered in a pure ionic form, which means it is immediately bioavailable to the body.
O2 Berry may also help your body to:
Assimilate vitamins and minerals from the foods you eat and the supplements you take
Combat arthritis and heart disease
Cleanse the kidneys, intestines, and liver
Protect your body from free radical cell damage
Increase muscle and joint mobility
Increase your oxygen levels
Control digestive problems
Regulate blood sugar
Manage blood pressure
Neutralize harmful acids that lead to illness
Help in fighting the battle against cancer and other diseases

Revitalize Your Body :
Higher Alkalinity = good health. O2 Berry transforms your water into a powerful alkaline beverage, which fights against the physical stress caused by today's fast-paced lifestyles.
It takes 32 glasses of alkaline water to neutralize the acid from one 12 oz. soda. Each time you drink acidic soda, coffee, tea, and energy drinks your body uses its own buffers (from bone and dna) to raise the body's alkalinity to maintain your healthy blood pH level of 7.35-7.45.
Drinking water with O2 Berry in it, can help the body restore it's mineral supplies to balance it's pH.

Delicious Berry taste helps you to drink more water:
O2 Berry adds a light Berry flavour to the water without any artificial sweeteners or colours.
As anyone with kids knows, getting them to drink more water instead of soda or sugary fruit drinks is a challenge. Adding O2 Berry's mineral benefits and flavour to water can help you and your kids drink more water and minerals every day.
The Facts:
"More than 1 in 5 Americans unknowingly drink tap water polluted with feces, radiation or other contaminants Nearly 1,000 deaths each year and at least 400,000 cases of waterborne illness may be attributed to contaminated water"
-The New York Times - June 2, 1995

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Dietary supplements cannot be used to prevent or treat any disease. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA.