Are you acidic?

Are you acidic?

Almost everyone over 40 years old is. That’s about the age when the body’s first line of defense against acidity (buffering) becomes depleted.

Obviously, the stomach and the upper intestinal tract should be acidic. That’s critical for proper digestion.

But the rest of the body works best in a neutral to slightly alkaline condition. An acidic environment in these areas reduces oxygen and water to the cells.

Are you susceptible to infections? Low oxygen and water levels are conditions favorable to viruses, bad bacteria, and the development of cancer cells. Frequent and prolonged infections may be signs that the body is acidic.

The body has a backup system to counteract acidity. It dissolves bones. Ignoring acid buildup in the body will lead to weak bones—osteopenia and osteoporosis.

Our lifestyle creates acidic conditions. Most of our foods are acidic to the body. With few exceptions, everything but vegetables is acidic. Most of the liquids we drink are acidic. Sodas are highly acidic. So is coffee. Exercise and physical labor generates lactic acid, the source of the aches and soreness we feel after hard labor and exercise.

Take me, for example. I drink a couple mugs of coffee in the morning. (I call it my starter fluid.) I love cheeses. And even though my wife and I eat a lot of raw vegetables, I still enjoy occasional meats. And sugar. I sweeten my coffee with honey. We almost always have something sweet after our evening meal. We usually eat a piece of dark chocolate.

So I fight acidity every day! We bias our foods toward vegetables. For breakfast, we have what I call a scrambled omelet. We’ve been doing that for over eight years and we have yet to tire of it. We dice low glycemic vegetables, sauté them in coconut oil, grapeseed oil, and water, add some favorite spices and seasalt, and then scramble eggs into them. For lunch, we usually eat raw vegetables with peanut butter, hummus, or cream cheese. For dinner, we may have a salad along with some kind of protein.

We also take alkaline nutritional supplements. Our favorites are spirulina, phyto powders, and Microhydrin.

How can you tell if you are acidic? Check your urine with a pH strip. We do it several times a week. If you’re just starting to fight acidity, test yourself at least once a day. Your pH will vary throughout the day, so you may want to test several times a day.

You can also test your saliva, but a urine test gives you a truer indication of the pH of your organs.

Where can you buy pH strips? A good health food store will carry them. If not, you can purchase them online.