Is pH Imbalance Causing Your Acid Reflux?

Maintaining a proper pH balance can make a huge difference in your overall health including the elimination of heartburn and acid reflux.

3 Ways pH Imbalance Causes Acid Reflux

1. Your body functions are dependent on tiny electrical signals sent along the neural network. This electrical current is enhanced by having a proper pH. Being too acidic will negatively affect this current and thusly the performance of organs including your digestive tract.
2. Lower pH levels cause lower oxygenation. This lack of oxygen negatively affects the functioning of the digestive tract causing the digestive process to slow down. The longer food takes to digest the more acids build up causing a greater risk of heartburn, as well as acid reflux due to the pressure of stomach contents on the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). Being slightly alkaline allows for proper oxygenation making for a more efficient digestive process.
3. Some researchers believe that acidic foods may add to the acid levels in your stomach and lead to heartburn. They encourage the avoidance of acidic food, so antacids aren’t needed later to neutralize stomach acids. Whether this is correct or not, alkalizing foods help get the body to a proper pH level allowing the digestive tract to operate efficiently.

How to test your pH?

Knowing your pH level can be important in pinpointing whether an imbalance in alkalinity is causing your digestive tract to perform poorly leading to heartburn issues. A healthy blood pH is a level of 7.36 to 7.45. Different areas of the body have different pH levels. For instance, a normal pH for the stomach will be between 1 and 3.

We can easily test our saliva and urine with pH test strips that can be found at your local pharmacy. All you do is activate the strip with your fluid and compare the reading to the chart on the strip’s container. A healthy pH level measured by saliva is in the 7 to 7.4 range. To test saliva, you can spit on the strip. Try measuring your level first thing in the morning before drinking anything or brushing your teeth or two hours after eating or drinking anything. Urine pH levels should be 6 to 7. It will be on the more acidic end (lower number) in the morning and higher pH in the evening. Urine can be tested by urinating on the strip.

Because of variances in our bodies and diets, it will take a week or more of testing to get a good idea of your level. Continue testing daily if your levels aren’t in a proper range. This will help you understand how to adjust your diet and consume more alkaline foods for proper balance.

What causes pH imbalance?

Poor or acidic diets can cause a pH imbalance that can lead to heartburn and many other chronic illnesses. When the body is acidic it pulls alkaline reserves from our organs and bones in an attempt to neutralize the acid and maintain a balanced pH.

There’s a debate of whether negative emotions like anger and frustration cause additional acid in the body or just make us more sensitive to the discomfort of heartburn and acid reflux by accentuating the pain. So reducing stress in our lives may help bring our pH into balance. It sure can’t hurt.