By: Dr. Dave Carpenter, ND, C. Ac., CCI

1. First thing upon waking, test your saliva with the pHydrion paper (available at most health food stores). When you get out of bed, spit in a spoon and then dip the end of a pHydrion test strip in the saliva (DO NOT PLACE THE PAPER IN YOUR MOUTH - this keeps the chemicals on the test strip out of your mouth and out of your bloodstream).  Note the color change, compare to the color guide on the container, and write down the pH number on the test log.  Do this before brushing your teeth, drinking, smoking, or even thinking of eating any food. The optimum saliva pH should be 6.8 to 7.2.

2. Next, test your first urine of the morning. This is urine that has been stored in your bladder during the night that is ready to be eliminated when you get up. You need to urinate on a strip of pHydrion paper.  Simply pass the end of the strip quickly through the stream of urine.  Note the color change and compare it to the guide on the test strip container and write down the pH number for your records.  The first urine should run optimally between a pH 6.8 to 7.2.  If your first urine pH is lower than 6.8 you are deficient in alkaline buffers and need to consume alkaline ionized water and move to a more alkaline diet rich in fresh green vegetables and fruits.  If your first urine pH is higher than 7.2 you are taking in enough alkaline buffers to neutralize the acids produced by physical, mental and emotional stress and metabolism from the day before.  To balance the pH of the urine you need to move away from acidic foods and drinks and begin ingesting liberal amounts of alkaline ionized water and electron rich green vegetables, low sugar fruits and healthy polyunsaturated fats.

3. When you can, test your second morning urine before eating any food.  The acids should be gone the second time you urinate so your urine pH should be ideally around 6.8 to 7.2.  If the pH is lower than 6.8 then you are in a state of latent tissue acidosis and you are deficient of alkaline buffers such as bicarbonate, sodium, potassium, and magnesium.  The lower pH is also indicative of a diet high in animal protein and thus an increase in the level of acids produced from metabolizing these proteins.  These acids include nitric, sulfuric, phosphoric, and uric acids.  To build your alkaline reserves consume ¾ to 1 oz. per day of alkaline ionized water per pound of body weight, and eliminate protein from dairy, beef, chicken, turkey, pork and fish from your diet to normalize pH at 6.8 to 7.2.  Eat liberal amounts of vegetables and fruits, nuts and seeds, green drinks, and healthy polyunsaturated fats. These should make up at least 80% of your daily diet.

4. Another way to test your alkalizing buffer system is to eat a raw almond after testing your first saliva of the day.  Chew the raw almond up well and wait 5 minutes to repeat the saliva test. This time the saliva should test approximately 8 to 8.5 on the test strips because the body has released stored buffers into the saliva to buffer the acids in the almond which is slightly acidic.  If you do not see the test strips turn dark blue (8 to 8.5 pH) then this is an indication that you are low in minerals and other acid buffers and need to make changes in your lifestyle.  Eating an 80% alkaline food diet, reducing stress and drinking 1 oz. of alkaline water for every pound that you weigh each day should help your body correct this imbalance.

These tests show the following:
The efficiency of the digestive system in dealing with what you ate the night before is shown by the first and second AM urine and saliva pH readings.  These numbers will change from day to day if you are living and eating acidic.  When you begin the Change Your Water...Change Your Life hydrating plan, you will see the pH of the urine and saliva become more constant and balanced at a pH of 6.8 to 7.2.

How well you treat yourself in general determines how effectively the salivary glands, pancreas, gallbladder and liver will be able to handle excess acidity.  This is once again understood by the AM urine and saliva pH.  This number shows the overall state of your health and the condition of the alkaline reserves of your body, which reflects the diet you have been eating and the fluids you have been consuming over the last days, weeks, months, and years. This pH number stays rather constant and will only change after some time and effort has been spent in alkalizing the body.

The pH of the saliva and urine between meals should be kept in the basic range, pH 7.0 to 7.2.  After one eats, the stomach releases its necessary HCL to help digest the food.  While doing this, it also performs the opposite action, i.e., it makes an equivalent amount of base or baking soda, sodium bicarbonate, that is picked up by the blood stream and delivered to the alkaline glands of the body, the saliva, the pancreas, the gallbladder, the pylorus glands in the duodenum and the liver.  The maximum amount of base in the blood and therefore in the urine and saliva occurs one to two hours after you eat.

If all the acids generated in a day of digestion, respiration, metabolism and degeneration are not all flushed out during the night they accumulate, day after day. The results are the expression of states of imbalance (symptoms) as the body desperately tries to maintain the alkaline fluid pH at 7.365.  The day to day buildup of acids affects each of us differently depending on our genetics, lifestyle and diet. I have found that acids settle in the weakest parts of the body and if not eliminated through the bowels, urinary system, lungs or skin, acids are then bound to fat and stored on our hips, thighs, stomach, breasts and brain. Bottom-line... all symptomologies are the result of excess acids retained in the body, which is ultimately the direct cause of ALL sickness and ALL disease.

Monitoring your saliva and urine pH puts the responsibility of caring for your health back into your hands.  Measuring the saliva and urine pH guides your therapy and shows you how living, eating and drinking determines the quality and quantity of your life.  You should monitor your saliva and urine each day for at least 12 weeks or until you establish your balanced pH at 6.8 to 7.2. Once you have established a balanced saliva and urine pH at 6.8 to 7.2 you can reduce the number of tests to once a day or 2 to 3 times a week.