pH and the body: intro

I’ve been meaning to write about this topic for a while now but as to why it took me this long to write about it, that is mostly because of my job now. I know so many people that are already acidic even before they reach their 20s and I do think that they should have a better understanding of what their body goes through just to protect them from their body pH changes and what they could have done to cause their body pH to change so drastically.

So pH (the power of hydrogen/ potential hydrogen). In a chemistry sense, this measures how acidic or basic something is and is usually measured on a scale of 1 to 14. 1-6 being acidic, 7, being neutral and 8-14 being alkaline or basic. It can also be defined as the amount of free hydrogen atoms (protons) something can give off. In a lab setting, I’ve seen some acids and some bases exceed this chart though and those chemicals are often ones that are never safe to use in the lab anymore because of how strong their fumes usually are and how harmful they are.

On a medical and on a nutritional scale though, pH is usually more concerned with foods and diseases. You see. pH greatly influences your body functions since your blood pH usually follows a strict 7.35 - 745 pH. Anything lower than that, you might be considered acidic. Then anything higher than that pH range, your body is considered alkaline. Of course, other parts of the body should have different pH values since they will have a different set of functions, enzymes and proteins. Like your saliva, for example: saliva pH is usually around 6.5 to 7.5, but that is essential to begin digestion. when food gets swallowed, the esophagus and the upper stomach will have a pH range of around 6.5 to 4 then the lower part, where the food really gets digested, should have a pH range of 4 to 1.5 since your stomach contains around 1 molar hydrochloric acid and that in itself, is fairly acidic. Then from your gastric tract, the pH changes again to a range of 7 to 8.5 but this pH range is essential for nutrient absorption. But for the sake of simplicity, I’m just going to talk about the general body pH since you guys aren’t really medicine enthusiasts. Plus I’m mostly going to discuss ranges since each body differs from each other way too much. What’s a normal range for you may be abnormal for someone and that does not always indicate that the person should seek immediate medical intervention.

What’s the thing with body pH and how does the body maintain it?

Well, a change in body pH has a huge impact on your body. Most of your body relies on a certain pH to function and in a sense, an acidic body pH makes a body more prone to diseases and body problems. I’m not saying that an alkaline body pH is good either. It’s all better when your body is in a safe range.

Although your body has its own way of regulating itself through buffers in the blood like haemoglobin, a few proteins and the phosphate present in the bloodstream (ATP, ADP, free phosphates, etc). It does have a limit.

When the buffers come to their limit, that’s when the lungs and kidneys act up. And these organs always work in tandem in the case of extreme body pH changes. In case of an acidic body, the lungs will induce hypoventilation (or slow breathing). Through slow breathing, oxygen is reduced while carbon dioxide is removed. Though this carbon dioxide is removed through the kidneys and not the lungs in the form of carbonate (HCO3-). This is basically what makes your body more alkaline. Then for an alkaline body, the lungs work to absorb more oxygen through hyperventilation (fast breathing) since oxygen in itself is already acidic.

It’s in these mechanisms that make me have a greater appreciation of the human body because of how fast it acts against abrupt changes.