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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The first way to assist with decreasing body acidity is to decrease the acid input from diet by eating more alkaline foods. There are many tables on the internet and in books on acidic and alkaline foods, however, they don’t always agree. The recommendation for 80% alkaline food and 20% acidic is difficult to obtain for most people, and also leaves out many whole foods that have significant nutritional value for essential fatty acids, antioxidants, and vitamins. An approach that is more achievable for many people is to eat a balanced, anti-inflammatory, whole-food diet, which increases the amount of vegetables and fruit servings that we eat, utilizes whole grains, and limits or eliminates both animal protein and processed food. In addition, people should drink 2-3 liters of water each day. Water that is slightly alkaline is best. There are many web sites that explain an anti-inflammatory diet; I’d recommend starting with Dr. A Weil’s web site discussion. Read about it and see how many of the changes to an anti-inflammatory diet are also changes to an alkaline diet and decide for yourself. If after diet changes are made, the urine testing still shows acid, supplements that increase the alkaline buffer for the blood can be added.

Choose a Supplement and Use It

The choices for supplements are many, but only a few have been studied. One that has is potassium along with a base such as bicarbonate, which is what was used in some of the studies. The bases that are available with potassium include bicarbonate, which can be used as a buffer immediately, and others, such as gluconate and citrate that are changed to bicarbonate by the liver. It is important to note that supplementing with potassium chloride (K⁺ Cl^-) would not be helpful because the chloride, even though a negative ion, is not able to act as a base to buffer acid. Bicarbonate is also available with sodium, instead of potassium, as baking soda, but is generally not recommended because of the sodium content. Sodium salts can cause fluid retention and elevate blood pressure, and should not be used if you have high blood pressure or cardiac disease. Additionally, sodium does not replace the potassium that has been lost from the bone breakdown. Therefore, starting with an alkaline supplement that contains potassium is the first choice. There are many products available. The only way to evaluate them is to look at the amount of potassium. The base will be an equivalent amount.  It is more difficult to compare products if you choose a combination. There are many websites that advertise their particular alkaline supplement, but whichever you choose, check the urine pH 30-90 minutes after taking it to measure its effectiveness. Also check it several times during the day until the changes in diet, dose, and frequency of the supplement are stable. Many products limit the amount of potassium to 99 mg. Depending on your diet, you may need to supplement with many tablets a day for a balanced pH. Potassium gluconate is also available as a powder that can be mixed with water and taken in larger doses. There will be individual variations; the only way to know what is right for you is to measure the response. The goal is to have a urine pH of 6.8 in the morning and 7.0-7.2 throughout the day.

Once one knows of this diet-induced chronic metabolic acidosis, disease associations and treatment is looked at in a different way.  Since the systems of the body work in concert with each other, I suspect there are many other organ effects of chronic metabolic acidosis that have not yet been detailed. However, this is an aspect of your health that you can address now. The Wisdom Master has said, “Your body is a vehicle to live life and develop spiritually.  It can only serve you as…you take care of it.  You are responsible for your health, take control of your body.”

Comments and questions welcomed. References upon request.

Disclaimer: This article contains information not evaluated by the FDA. It is not meant to diagnose, treat or prevent any specific disease, or substitute for the advice and care of your health care practitioner.

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