Dropping Acid

The oft perpetuated "an acidic environment creates disease" has no basis in science or real life.

I used to say it all the time, “disease lives in an acidic environment” so much so that I decided to actually stop parroting this phrase and start researching where it came from. I’m writing this today after an article came to my inbox about ovarian cancer and prevention, noting that cancer lives in an acidic environment and you need to be alkaline to ‘kill cancer’. I want to talk about how making such black and white assumptions about the human body is inaccurate and does not represent the biology of a human.

If you do not quite understand what pH is, you can read more about it here. It is essentially the potential of hydrogen in a solution. The more hydrogen, (H+) the more acidic and vice versa.

Different parts of the body have different pH

Ok, so if a person says, disease lives in an acidic environment, where exactly is this acidity? Your gut maintains an acidic environment, otherwise you would not properly digest your food. Humans evolved eating a diverse diet which includes fruit, veggies, animal protein, and fats…..those are the basics. We have different types of teeth to chew this diverse diet, and we have a gut that can take on this food as well. The digestive system in general is responsible for digesting, but most of the action is in the stomach where stomach acid is pumped in as soon as we start to chew and those enzymes start to break down the food in the mouth. The body relies on the acidity of the stomach to properly utilize minerals and protein. Enzymes do this too, but not pertinent to this conversation. Ok, so the stomach is acidic. The lower bowels are not as acidic since the pancreas neutralizes the stomach acid by pumping out bicarbonate as soon as the broken-down food gets to the duodenum. The small intestine and on down to the colon, while not as acidic as the stomach, is still slightly acidic in different areas and the colon contains millions of bacteria which keep that area acidic.

Urine pH changes depending upon our diet and at any point during the day you could have slightly acidic urine to slightly alkaline.

The blood maintains a slightly alkaline concentration by the action of the kidneys and lungs. If the pH of the blood dips too far in either direction (acidic or alkaline) the individual will be very compromised and may die. Blood pH is maintained within a very tight range but on average is about 7.4.

Interstitial fluid pH can vary from one area of the body to another, and I think THIS is where we may see some slightly acidic concentrations that could lead to problems. We need more science on this. This paper I found explains how the interstitial fluids of the body are slightly acidic in Type II diabetic patients and explains how metabolic disease can lead to slightly acidic interstitial fluids. Essentially these people have a mitochondria issue which leads to an access in H+ in the fluids, which is adding acidity, of which the blood cannot compensate for. The blood has pH buffers, the interstitial fluids do not since that would interfere with many cellular functions. So in the case of metabolic disease, acidity is a consequence, not a determinator of dysfunction.

Now for the cancer thing….

This paper describes the chemistry of a cancerous tumor cell. You can read the whole paper HERE.

Cancer cells have an inverted pH gradient: extracellular and intracellular pHs (pHe, pHi) are acid and alkaline, respectively (1). The acid shift in the tumor microenvironment (TME) is closely associated with hypoxia (2) but, more specifically, with highly activated glycolysis in tumor cells. Even in normoxia, about 80% of all malignant tumors use aerobic glycolysis, described as the Warburg effect (3), which is an integral part of metabolic reprogramming and sustaining biosynthetic pathways in cancer cells (4).

The take away from this illustration is: inside the tumor is alkaline, and outside the tumor is acidic. Tumors essentially pump the acid out of the cell and use the acid to proliferate (grow). Inside the cell is an alkaline environment and its’ food source is sugar.

So you can see, to say an acidic environment creates cancer, is not really a true statement since cancer creates its own alkaline environment inside and acid outside. And again, in the case of Type II Diabetes, slightly acidic interstitial fluids is a consequence of the disease, not a determinator.

There is more to this argument I am trying to make, so keep reading.

This article HERE is a great read and referenced in regards to the science known right now about the body and it’s regulation of acidity and alkalinity. Essentially the body regulates the acid alkaline balance of the body within very tight limits through the action of the kidneys and lungs. If you have advanced kidney disease or a major lung ailment in the end stages like COPD, the mechanisms of regulation become inhibited and your blood can become acidic. In this case, you will need emergency care since the blood needs to stay within a slightly alkaline state to maintain its nutrient level and electrical charge. You can read more about that here. The kidneys use these electrolytes to maintain pH. The lungs excrete CO2.

Now about FOOD

While its important to eat a healthy diet (what is THAT??) many of the foods on an ‘alkaline"‘ diet happen to be very good for you. I’m talking about green smoothies, lots of fruits and veggies, but a gal can’t live like a rabbit. I need meat. Meat is also good for you, regardless of what the vegans say (sorry vegan friends, I love you!), and regardless of the climate police, the WEF and their meatless goals, and regardless of what the modern medicine docs say about red meat (also good for you). The source is of course important, so if you buy factory meat, what are these animals eating? But local. Anyway……we also need fat in our diet. Fat is neutral btw. Animal protein is considered ‘acidic’, but guess what? Eating does not affect your blood pH. Why? Because the body has figured this system out pretty well. And what’s more, in regards to Type II Diabetes, sugar and starches are neutral too. Huh. Go figure. I find this very interesting in light of the info I just read in that paper above. Sugar is neutral, but too much sugar too often causes Diabetes, but sugar doesn’t cause acidic fluids….the body is complex and I am not even going to try to go down that worm-hole right now.

So you eat some bacon and eggs, wait an hour, and test your urine (or your saliva) and what will you find? Slightly acidic urine. Drink a green smoothie and what will you find? Slightly alkaline urine. This is your kidneys doing their job! And testing your pH in this way is nonsensical and has nothing to do with being too acidic. (honestly I never understood that)

So to sum up, the acid alkaline myth is essentially wrong and is a bit more nuanced and complex than saying ‘disease lives in an acidic state’. While some diseases like Type II Diabetes create an acidic interstitial fluid environment, the blood pH is unaffected, and is a result OF the disease, and if the blood pH gets too acid or too alkaline, you will die if you don’t receive some type of intervention. Your urine pH has to do with what you eat or drink, and serves as an indicator for not the blood pH, but the urine pH and how the body uses the kidneys and lungs to maintain a slightly alkaline blood pH. Interstitial fluids are affected by the blood buffering system, but we know this can be affected by pathological states like diabetes. And lastly, cancer creates its own environment and is instigated not by being too acidic, but from toxin load and detoxification mechanisms and immune function more than anything else.

So I hope this was informative and intelligible and I don’t sound like I’m talking in circles. here is Chris Kresser’s articles on this myth. He can explain it in a bit more depth if you are interested.

https://chriskresser.com/the-ph-myth-part-1/

~Sara

Sara Woods Kender
sara@sarasherbs.com
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