pH Balance: Restoring & Maintaining Our Health

Awareness Cures

Life is compelling us to wake up, moment to moment, in the face of any behaviour we’re trying to let go of. As the famous Gestalt psychologist Fritz Perls proclaimed, “Awareness cures.” 

pH Balance

Do you remember the pH sticks from your high school chemistry class?  Well, now we know a lot more about pH balances than before! 

The human blood pH should be slightly alkaline (7.35 – 7.45).  Below or above this range lead to symptoms and quite possibly disease.

• A pH of 7.0 is neutral

• A pH below 7.0 is acidic

• A pH above 7.0 is alkaline

Many people have a more acidic pH caused by an acid forming diet, emotional stress, toxic overload and other factors. The body will try to compensate for an acidic pH by using alkaline minerals, but if your diet does not contain enough of these minerals to compensate, a build up of acids in the cells will occur.

How It Affects the Body

An acidic balance will:

• decrease the body’s ability to absorb minerals and other nutrients

• decrease the energy production in the cells

• decrease it’s ability to repair damaged cells

• decrease it’s ability to detoxify heavy metals

• causes tumor cells to thrive, and
• make it more susceptible to fatigue and illness.

For example, a blood pH of 6.9, which is only slightly acidic, can induce coma and death!

It's called Acidosis.

Acidosis is more common in today's society due to the typical North American diet:

• too high in acid-producing animal products such as meat, eggs and dairy
• too low in alkaline producing such as fresh vegetables
• consumption of processed foods such as white flour and sugar, and 
• drinking acid-producing beverages such as coffee and soft drinks 

I'm sure you have heard this before: all we have to do to correct the balance of an high acid body is to shift the awareness of our diet and our overall lifestyle!  How difficult can that be?

Don't stop reading.

To maintain good health our diet should consist of:

• 60% alkaline forming foods, and
• 40% acid forming foods.

To restore health the diet should consist of:

• 80% alkaline forming foods, and
• 20% acid forming foods.

Here are just a few alkaline foods:

• Lemon, lime and grapefruit
• Dates, figs and apricots (rehydrated)
• Tomato, apple, pear, mango, papaya and avocado
• Watercress, fennel, asparagus, celery and cauliflower
• Onion, garlic, ginger (fresh) and beetroot
• Kelp, spinach, rocket, parsley and coriander
• Sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds, and their oils 
• Almonds, walnuts and pecans
• Quinoa, millet, buckwheat, oats and brown rice
• Almond milk, brown rice milk
• Ground coconut and coconut water
• Red meat, including pork and venison

Here are some acid foods:

• Poultry, including feathered game
• Processed breakfast cereals (low in nutrients, high in sugar and salt)
• Commercially produced biscuits, cakes and breads (high in yeast, white flour, salt, sugar and additives – all acid-forming components)
• Cola, diet cola and alcohol
• Tea, coffee, chocolate (especially milk chocolate, which is high in sugar and dairy solids)

I Would Rather Be Sick!

Could it be that all of the acid foods are the foods you love to eat?  Psychologists say it can feel overwhelming or even traumatic to think about changing or shifting away from foods that you love. So instead of the common strategy of fighting a habit, we can become more aware or awake each time we eat, and ask ourselves this question:

“Is this what I wish to choose in this moment?"

It is Interesting because even if we ask ourselves this question and choose in the moment to continue eating, we have then “exercised” our choosing muscle, and made it stronger. The next time we are faced with the same choice, our ability to choose and accept any choice becomes stronger and even compassionate.  Don't underestimate the power of conscious choice!

Facing our unwanted habitual thoughts on food or our health-draining food habits can be very enlightening and an act of self-evolution. It's funny about life:  it calls and nudges us through our personal challenges but we can become "unstuck" and grow. It’s not about fighting with yourself, hating yourself, hating the habit, or attacking your own weaknesses; it is about following a path with gentle kindness and awareness toward yourself and toward a better understanding about the chemistry of food and then gently guiding yourselves back to good health, higher energy levels and possible no more pain!  It's all about BALANCE!

This is a handy, post on your fridge reminder of the balance: 

For good health our diet should consist of:

• 60% alkaline forming foods 
• 40% acid forming foods.

For restoration of health the diet should consist of:

• 80% alkaline forming foods 
• 20% acid forming foods

For more information, Andrew Subieta and the clinic staff can be reached at Osteoklinika Pain Management & Rehabilitation 905.660.8810. 

Also, please check our website at www.osteoklinika.com for more information about Bio-Structural Integration™, or our Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter pages.