How To Test Bodily pH Levels
Testing your internal pH level gives you a snapshot of your overall health. Your body fluids are a reliable measurement and reflection of the fuel you give your body. This type of testing allows for a preventative health approach, rather than waiting for a disorder to develop.
You can determine quickly and easily, in the privacy of your own home, what your pH is through saliva or urine testing.
When To Test Your pH
In order to gain full insight into the pH of your body fluids, it is recommended to test both – urine and saliva. Test the pH at different times of the day and record the readings over a longer period of time to gain a bigger picture of your progress, rather than reading each in isolation.
Definitions:
The acid/alkaline scale for measurement of acidity and alkalinity.
If we count changes of one unit from the neutral pH 7, each represents a ten-fold difference.
7.4 pH .... Ideal alkaline body level.
7.0 pH .... Your body is neither alkaline nor acidic (neutral pH)
6.4 pH .... Your body is 10 times more acidic than pH 7.4
5.4 pH .... Your body is 100 times more acidic than pH 7.4
(Constant, minor health problems leading to development of disease)
4.4 pH .... Your body is 1,000 times more acidic than pH 7.4
(Serious degenerative disease(s) may be present)
3.4 pH .... Your body is 10,000 times more acidic than pH 7.4
It's at the last level (of pH 3-4) that we find possibilities of terminal, degenerative disease. Only at a body fluid pH of around 7.4 can one maintain the proper amount of alkaline minerals in the body for it to function, build, and repair.
Here’s How To Test Saliva:
1. Test first thing in the morning or wait 2 hours after a meal. Food residues, salt, etc. can remain in the saliva for up to 2 hours after a meal, causing a false reading. Swish your mouth with fresh saliva and swallow. Repeat twice. 3rd time keep fresh saliva in mouth.
2. Take a small strip of pH paper and spit some saliva onto it. There are three colors that give a general indication of your body's pH level.
Color Range Test Result
a) Blue to purple - 7.0 - 7.4: Healthy internal environment
b) Light green - 6.0 - 6.5: Development of cold's, flu's, ongoing disorders, etc.
c) Yellow - 4.5 - 6: Distinct possibility of disease
The pH of the non-deficient and healthy person is in the 7.5 (dark blue) to 7.0 (blue) slightly alkaline range. The range from 6.5 (blue-green) which is weakly acidic to 4.5 (light yellow) which is strongly acidic represents states from mildly deficient to strongly deficient, respectively.
Most children are dark blue, a pH of 7.5. Over half of adults are green-yellow, a pH of 6.5 or lower, reflecting aging and lifestyle defects. Cancer patients are usually a bright yellow, a pH of 4.5, especially when terminal." (The Calcium Factor: The Scientific Secret of Health and Youth, by Robert R. Barefoot and Carl J. Reich, M.D.)
When To Test?
Don't make the mistake of thinking just one test is enough to determine your body pH. pH levels vary during the day due to activities, stress and food.
Measurements should be taken several times a day for 4 - 5 days.
Bear in mind, if you're on an intense cleansing regime, the reactivated stores of acid will re-circulate and be picked up by the kidneys to be excreted into the urine. So, you'll get acid readings while the body is laboring to make it-self more alkaline.
Testing Your Urine
The urine pH level test looks at how acidic or alkaline your urine is via a urine sample. Various disorders, diseases, your nutrition and medications you are on can influence the ph level of your urine. That’s the reason why the urine ph level is a good indication of your body’s overall health.
The lower the number, the more acidic your urine is. The higher the ph level, the more alkaline your urine is. The average urine ph level result at around a ph of 6.
A lower level of urine ph level could be a environment for kidney stones.
Urine with a high pH level can be an indication of a urinary tract obstruction, pyloric stenosis (a narrowing of the opening from the stomach to the first part of the small intestine ), urinary tract infection, kidney failure or aspirin overdose.
The first urine of the day is usually slightly more acidic than normal, therefore test the first & second urine of the day.
This pH testing kit consists of either strips of paper, or a roll of paper from which one can tear strips. Tear off a strip of paper then collect your urine in a cup and dip the paper in it.
Shake off any excess fluid and wait 15 seconds. The paper will change color as it collects water.
Compare color change to color chart. Discard the used pH test strip.
Try and complete the color matching as soon as possible as the colors are not stable and can change further. (simplexhealth.co.uk)
Fluctuations In Readings
Fluctuations in readings are common due to diet & lifestyle; or a difference between your urine and saliva readings. The mouth contains more acidic bacteria while the urine reflects the removal of acid from the body. So test both your saliva and urine under the same conditions and over a period of time to get a more accurate picture of your progress, rather than isolated readings.
**Note: Trying to buy pH paper from a pharmacy is futile, as one of the truest sources of self-help has been pulled from retail shelves. Your best bet is to source the strips on the internet. It's relatively easy to find them; they're cheap to buy, and are a great indicator of your body's state of health.