Restore Your Body’s Health and Build Your Immune System with pH Balance

By Unamarie Clibon, Pharm.D., M.D.
Medical Oncologist, Hemotologist, and Internist

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In addition, I was taught in medical school that the loss of kidney function is inevitable with aging, but now the group at UCSF has data that this loss of kidney function with ‘aging’ may in fact be due to decades of untreated chronic metabolic acidosis caused by our diet. I always wondered why a decrease in kidney function was considered inevitable. I suspect there are other ideas taught in medicine about the ‘inevitable’ which are not true.

Restore Growth Hormone Even with Aging

Another effect of acidosis is decreased growth hormone.  Growth hormone is secreted by the pituitary gland and regulates growth.  We know that in children with a disease called renal tubular acidosis (a genetic disorder that produces acidosis, decreasing blood pH) there is growth retardation, because the acidosis causes a decrease in growth hormone secretion.  One only has to treat the acidosis, and it reverses the problem—growth hormone returns to normal and growth normalizes.  No extra growth hormone has to be given. Many researchers have correlated decreases in growth hormone levels with aging.  The study groups at UCSF raise the question that this may all be due to decades of the diet-induced chronic metabolic acidosis.  Is it possible that the ‘inevitable’ decrease in growth hormone is not natural with aging, but due to diet? This could have huge significance. It needs more study, but while those studies are being done, it seems wise to address one’s pH balance now. 

Optimize Immune Function

Finally, there is data that show even a 0.1 change in pH of the blood (that would be 7.45 to 7.35—the range considered normal) can alter the function of certain cells of the immune system, which is important for prevention of infections and some cancers. In addition, acidosis can cause damage to the mitochondria, the power house of the cell, and this also results in decreased immune function.  Here at the HÜMÜH Monastery, those who maintain pH balance do not get colds or flu, even though there are many visitors and retreatants throughout the year.

Take Control of Your Body

So how does one check pH balance?  Checking the pH of blood requires a special blood draw and lab equipment, and therefore is not practical for frequent measurements. The alternatives are to check the pH of urine or saliva. pH paper is readily available in pharmacies and health food stores.  There is more data on checking urine pH, and it may be more convenient since checking saliva pH requires timing. Checking urine pH is not reflective of the actual pH of blood, but it is reflective of how much acid the body needs to excrete from diet and metabolism. For example, if the urine pH is 6.0 or less, the urine has significant acid. In the studies on oral potassium bicarbonate at 3 different dose levels per day, urine pH ranged from 6.9 to 7.2.  So supplementation allowed a urine pH to be about neutral or slightly above. (See Panel 1 on page 1) Therefore, the potassium bicarbonate supplement assisted in buffering the acid from the diet, so the other buffering systems did not have to be activated. Continued...

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