Having a balanced body pH is crucial to any healing program. You may not have heard about the importance of balancing your body's pH, and to tell you the truth, neither had I until a couple of years ago. Now there seems to be a resurgence of information on this previously well-known but largely forgotten aspect of total health.

In its natural state, the body is slightly alkaline. It must maintain this slightly alkaline state for your very survival, and has developed complex mechanisms to ensure that this balance is maintained.

For instance, our blood has a pH of 7.35 - 7.45; outside this range, death usually follows, so the body must counteract this imbalance for its very survival. To counteract acidity, the body will leach important minerals like calcium, sodium and potassium from the bones and tissues. This sets the stage for many degenerative disorders, including osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. A pH of 7.0 is considered neutral, whereas anything above 7.0 is alkaline, and anything below 7.0 pH is acidic.

How does a body become acidic?

A body becomes acidic by eating too many acidic foods such as meat, grains, junk food, etc., alcohol, coffee, sodas, drugs, smoking, over-exposure to toxins in general, sedetary lifestyle, stress, and perhaps most importantly, by the accumulation of toxic metals in the system. Toxic metals create a large number of free radicals, which lower the body's pH and make the body more acidic. In fact, if you take steps to get rid of the accumulated mercury, aluminum, lead and other toxic metals and chemicals, the body's pH will naturally adjust by one to two points.

Balancing an overly acidic condition is vital for People with ALS, because an acidic body has an over-abundance of free radicals. Free radicals, as you have read in the "Antioxidants" section of this web site, help to promote the condition of ALS.

How can we assist the body in being more alkaline?

Eating a diet composed mainly of alkalizing foods such as most vegetables and fruits, and avoiding toxins will go a long way to help balance the body's pH. However, an alkaline diet is often difficult for many people to follow. We suggest a program of: Ridding the body of toxic metals and chemicals, adding alkalizing supplements to the diet and drinking alkaline water.

What are the benefits of rebalancing my body's pH?

Balancing the body's pH contributes to the overall healing of the body:

• When you alkalize the body and your pH level is at least 7.0, you "dump" toxins like mercury and lead much more effectively! This allows tissues to be cleansed and healed naturally and more quickly by the body;

• Yeasts, viruses, bacteria and other pathogens cannot survive in an alkaline body - these microforms all need an acidic medium in which to survive and thrive. Think of a swimming pool - when the pH of the pool is kept withing tightly controlled limits, bacteria, fungus and viruses cannot survive - the same is true for your body.

• According to several prominent scientists, degenerative diseases cannot gain foothold in an alkaline environment; when you alkalize the body, weight and health return to normal.

How do I learn more about rebalancing my pH?

There are a number of good books on the market, and these include:

"The pH Miracle" by Dr. Robert O Young

"Reverse Aging" by Sang Whang

"Alkalize or Die" by Steven Barody

These books will also go over the particulars of an alkaline diet, for those of you who are interested.

Alkalizing Supplements

For those of you who would find a water ionizer simply too expensive, there are a number of effective alternatives. One is adding alkalizing drops to ordinary tap water to make the water alkaline. Keep in mind that alkalizing drops only alkalize the water, they do not provide any purifying, antioxidant, or gene protective capabilities.

Please Note: It is important to remember that one of the chief causes of over-acidity and ill heath is toxic metals and chemicals that are in the body.

Important Link: To read our article on detoxifying metals and chemicals, click here.

A Simpler Way to Rebalance pH:

Adding alkalizing supplements to the diet and/or drinking alkaline water is an effective and simple way to rebalance the body's pH. There are a number of good alkalizing supplements on the market, and there are water ionizers that divide tap water into acid and alkaline water. The water ionizers were developed in Japan in the 1950's, and they were approved by the Japanese Government.

Water Ionizers

Water ionizers are the "cadillac" of reversing acidity, because not only do they create alkalinity, they also create water that has superior antioxidant abilities. According to Dr. Sherry Rogers, MD, and author of the book "Detoxify or Die", ionized water is such a good free radical scavenger that it performs as well as the primary antioxidant enzymes that the body makes, namely superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase.

And it does an even better job than SOD, because SOD produces hydrogen peroxide which then has to be neutralized, but ionized water does not produce this unwanted free radical. As well, alkalized water suppresses genetic DNA breakage or mutation while it scavenges over four types of free radicals.

Thus, ionized water has several functions: It purifies the water, alkalizes the water, neutralizes free radicals, and protects the genes by preventing DNA damage.

The other great thing about water ionizers is that you use it with ordinary tap water, giving you an endless supply of purified, alkaline antioxidant water. The drawback is that they can be expensive. However, we have found a manufacturer who will give the readers of this web site a significant discount on the purchase of a water ionizer/purifier called Akai® from Japan and imported by an excellent company called High Tech Health Inc.

Ionizer Plus Water Ionizer The Ionizer Plus water ionizer manufactured by Akai® and distributed by High Tech Health has the reputation of being the best ionizer on the market. The company has been around for a number of years, and many health professionals recommend their water ionizer. According to the manufacturer, the water from their ionizer is guaranteed to fix digestive problems in 30 days, by eliminating an overly acid condition in the digestive tract.

We ourselves tried another alkalizer before switching over to High Tech Health. We found the taste of the water from their machine to be much smoother and "wetter", which makes it easier to drink and enjoyable. The special filter used in the Ionizer Plus unit is the strongest on the market and will last for a usage of 4400 liters of alkaline water (enough for 2 years on average) . We drink alkaline water daily, and no longer need special alkalizing supplements as a result. For more info on the High Tech Health water ionizer, click here High Tech Health has offered readers of this website a special discount of $300.00 off the regular retail purchase price of their water ionizer. For more information on the water ionizer/filter and it's health benefits please call us at 520-877-2637 or click on the above mentioned link. You can also call High Tech Health directly at 1-800-794-5355 or 303-413-8500 and ask to speak to one of their product specialists. Remember to mention our name, Evenbetterhealth.com when ordering the water ionizer (or their saunas) to receive your special discount. As well, High Tech Health offers a 30 day money-back satisfaction guarantee, so you can try it risk free.

How can a hair analysis help one achieve better health? If we consider that diet is what we consume and nutrition is what we retain, then we can see that discovering what the body needs when it needs it is a valuable tool in creating health.

A hair analysis can determine which essential minerals the body is needing more of and which toxic elements it needs to eliminate. It also provides valuable insight into the body's metaoblism and what dietary changes would be most helpful for recovery.