pH Test Strips

Our western diets now heavily consist of an abundance of foods that digest to leave an acidic residue or ‘ash’ in our bodies. But what happens when acidic ash passes through our delicate digestive membranes? Could it cause bloating, distension, ulcers and bleeding, and could these symptoms collectively be diagnosed as ‘Crohn’s disease’?

 

Electrolytes are absolutely essential to our electrical-chemical bodies, not only for enabling the electrical  impulses to pass between cells, but also to provide the alkaline materials (such as magnesium and bicarbonate) that enable acidic ash to be neutralised. More detailed information about the importance of maintaining a healthy pH balance has been covered under the posts ‘The Acid Alkaline Food Guide‘ and ‘The pH Miracle‘ but it’s important to realise that we can take self-responsibility for monitoring the pH of our body fluids on a regular basis.

 

Lovetoknowhealth.com, in their article ‘Alkaline diet for people with Crohn’s disease’, had this to say: ‘As Crohn’s patients avoid acidic ash foods the body begins to recoup its acid-alkali balance. This is the start of the recovery process as the body gradually recovers from the effects of a negative acidic environment. ‘ Source.

 

But how do we know any changes we make to our consumption habits are helping our bodies delicate digestive symptoms to heal? There are a wide variety of test strips available in the marketplace at low cost and they are all useful for testing the pH of;

• drinking water both before and after adding electrolytes
• saliva
• urine

Testing one’s urine is perhaps the most sensitive to changes in our electrolyte intake – you’ll notice the readings vary within a few hours of taking electrolyte supplements, drinking electrolyte enhanced water or consuming an alkaline  meal. Conversely pH test strips will also indicate very clearly when an excess of acidic foods and fluids has been consumed.

 

Comment

It’s quite an eye-opener to find that one’s urine has a pH of around 5.5 after working on diet for years. The pH strips motivated me to work much harder on my food and fluid choices as they bring into sharp focus any poor dietary choices we make.