Body pH Levels: The Basics of Good Health

What regimen do you follow to stay healthy? If you are like most Americans, you try to eat the right foods, get regular exercise, maintain a healthy weight, etc. Sometimes, though, no matter how hard you try, you may not feel very healthy. Perhaps you catch colds easily and feel tired a lot. Or maybe you struggle with heartburn, weight gain, and aging skin. It can be frustrating to deal with these ongoing health issues, especially if you consider yourself a health-conscious person. However, one essential element that seems to be missing from most people’s health regimen is maintaining ideal body pH levels.

People who do not know about the importance of body pH levels are often discouraged when it comes to their health. The fundamental theory of body pH levels is fairly simple. By measuring your urinary pH with urine pH test strips, you can determine if your body pH levels are too acidic or too alkaline (or basic). When body pH levels are out of balance, your body is unable to function properly. Overly acidic or overly basic body pH levels can corrode tissues and leave residues throughout the body, possibly leading to a host of health issues such as weight gain, premature aging, fatigue, kidney stones, and much more.

Maintaining a healthy body pH balance is similar to keeping a pool or fish tank at the right pH levels. When you test the water in your pool and fish tank, you adjust the pH levels so that the water remains clear, clean, and free of dangerous organisms like fungus, mold, mildew, bacteria, parasites, and more. Your body is also mostly water—up to 70 percent water. Likewise, if the pH levels of the water in your body become too acidic or too alkaline, you will be susceptible to bacteria, viruses, and parasites as well as disease.

Body pH levels are mainly affected by what you eat. Once digested, certain foods such as pork, beef, rice, coffee, chocolate, pasta, and breads produce acid in the body. Other foods—mainly fruits, vegetables, and legumes—have an alkaline affect on body chemistry. Not surprisingly, because of the typical Western diet, most of us have overly-acidic body pH levels.

All in all, you will see more success in your efforts to be healthy by paying attention to your body pH levels. You can test your body pH levels through your urine, which should remain at a pH level of 6.5 to 7.5 on the pH scale. Maintaining healthy body pH levels is one more excellent reason to make sure you consume plenty of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and beans in your diet.