Protocols For Fibromyalgia

 

Our approach to the “treatment” of fibromyalgia is a multi-pronged approach.

1. Assist liver function - by utilising FAITH DROPS and coffee enema.
2. Assist body in detoxing - by utilising FAITH DROPS, healthy diet and coffee enema.
3. Aid in restored pH balance of the body - thereby ensuring normal clotting etc of blood - by providing information on correct eating, balance the body’s pH and supplementation.
4. Assist in normal bowel function by restoring gut flora - by utilising FAITH HEALTH PROBIOTIC.

Begin protocol by taking the drops according to the table set out below.

Faith Drops Fibromyalgia Oral dosage treatment - adults

DAY	FAITH + ACTIVATOR 1:1	FREQUENCY
1	3 activated FAITH	Drops Hourly
2	3 activated FAITH Drops	Every 2 hours
3	3 activated FAITH drops	Every 6 hours
Continue with 3 drops twice daily until clear. Do not exceed 3 drops at a time orally.

 

DAY	FAITH HEALTH PROBIOTIC	FREQUENCY
1	1 to 3	Hourly
2	3 activated FAITH Drops	Every 2 hours
3	3 activated FAITH drops	Every 4 hours
Continue with 3 drops three times daily until clear. Do not exceed 3 drops at a time orally.

 

Conventional Treatment

There are no medications available that successfully treat all symptoms of fibromyalgia. Instead, conventional treatment involves treating individual symptoms, most often analgesics to kill pain, antidepressants to elevate mood and alleviate pain (often working synergistically with the analgesics), and sleep agents to promote restful sleep.

In many cases, just getting a diagnosis of fibromyalgia is helpful to the patient to confirm that the disease is not all in his or her head. Unfortunately, the drugs prescribed to treat symptoms of fibromyalgia all have adverse effects, especially because the condition often requires long-term treatment.

What You Have Learned So Far

• Fibromyalgia is a little-understood syndrome with multiple symptoms. It commonly affects women between the ages of 30 and 60 years. As many as 10 million people in the United States have it.
• The most common symptoms of fibromyalgia are muscle pain, fatigue, sleep disorders, tingling and/or numbness, vaginal pain and sexual dysfunction, and tender points at many of 18 specific sites on the body.
• The cause or causes of fibromyalgia are unknown. One leading theory is that fibromyalgia is a central sensitization disease associated with elevated levels of oxidant stress in muscle tissue and changes in nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. It may also be exacerbated or caused by hormonal imbalances and infection.

The disease is conventionally treated with a wide array of drugs that address individual symptoms, such as pain and depression. These drugs have unacceptable side effects.

Limiting Damage with Antioxidants

Today’s most exciting research implicates oxidative damage as an underlying problem in fibromyalgia and calls for more research into the use of antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids to fight inflammation and scavenge free radicals.

Many studies have found oxidative damage in people with fibromyalgia (Bagis S et al 2005; Hanninen O et al 2000; Ozgocmen S et al 2005a, 2005b). In addition, levels of superoxide dismutase, an internal antioxidant, are reduced in women with fibromyalgia (Bagis S et al 2005).

Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome-whose symptoms often are the same as those of patients with fibromyalgia-have been shown to have both high levels of oxidants in their systems and low levels of the antioxidant vitamin E (Vecchiet J et al 2003).

A study of patients with fibromyalgia and a number of other chronic pain conditions demonstrated a decrease in joint stiffness and pain when subjects shifted to a living-foods (foods that have not been cooked or heated) diet, which is rich in antioxidants, lactobacilli, and fiber (Hanninen O et al 2000).

A Washington State University researcher hypothesized that vigorous antioxidant supplementation may help minimize damage from peroxynitrite and other oxidants (Pall ML 2005 a).

Research conducted by the Agricultural Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) determined that blueberries (which can be consumed fresh, frozen, canned, or as an extract) are highest overall in total antioxidant capacity (Wu X et al 2004). Other antioxidants that patients with fibromyalgia should take include selenium, vitamin C, and vitamin E.

Hormonal Therapy for Fibromyalgia

Because of the hormonal connection, people who have fibromyalgia should consider getting a full hormonal blood test panel. If any hormones are out of balance, hormonal modulation therapy should be implemented.

Studies indicate that patients with fibromyalgia may benefit from hormonal modulation therapy (Geenen R et al 2002). In addition, a subset of patients who are severely deficient in growth hormone may benefit from growth hormone replacement (Bennett RM 2002).

Support for hormonal replacement in fibromyalgia is mostly anecdotal. Integrative physicians have observed that patients with fibromyalgia often have symptoms—such as widespread pain, migraine, poor sleep, and gastrointestinal complaints—that are similar to people who have hormonal deficiencies.

Also, hormonal testing often reveals that women who have fibromyalgia have low levels of crucial hormones. It is important when considering bioidentical hormonal replacement therapy to seek the advice of a qualified physician and to have your blood tested.

Boosting Adenosine Triphosphate Levels

One study demonstrated that patients with fibromyalgia tend to have low levels of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the molecule that is essential for storing and transporting energy within the cells of all living organisms (Park JH et al 1998).

One case report suggests that supplementation with D-ribose, the 5-carbon sugar that forms the base of ATP, may be helpful (Gebhart B et al 2004). Additional nutritional supplements appear to support the production of ATP, including the following:

Magnesium and malic acid

Magnesium is essential to healthy muscle function. The enzymes that liberate energy from ATP require magnesium to function properly.

A review of studies on magnesium and malic acid found that blood levels of these two nutrients vary considerably in people with fibromyalgia, but multiple, controlled studies have found magnesium and malic acid to be effective in relieving the symptoms of fibromyalgia (Holdcraft LC et al 2003).

Vitamin B6

Pyridoxine is required to boost the action of magnesium and malic acid in the creation of ATP. Vitamin B6 supplementation may be considered for patients with fibromyalgia whose vitamin B6 levels are abnormally low.

Getting a Good Night’s Sleep

Melatonin is a pineal hormone that has been widely studied for its ability to produce sleep. In the body, melatonin is secreted in response to darkness, causing sleepiness.

Because so many patients with fibromyalgia have insomnia or unrefreshing sleep, researchers have sought to determine whether melatonin can be of specific help to them as a sleep agent.

Studies have found that people with fibromyalgia have low melatonin levels. Supplementation with melatonin resulted in improved sleep and lowered requirements for prescription drugs (Rohr UD et al 2002).

A Swedish study determined that patients with fibromyalgia produce less melatonin during hours of darkness than do healthy control subjects, making melatonin therapy potentially helpful as a sleep aid (Wikner J et al 1998).

Researchers in Argentina conducted a pilot study in which they found that sleep patterns, sleep quality, and pain measures markedly improve in patients with fibromyalgia after 4 weeks of treatment with melatonin (Citera G et al 2000).

In the United States, a double-blind, placebo - controlled study showed that 20 percent of the patients with fibromyalgia significantly improved their sleep patterns and quality when they took 6 mg of melatonin each night before bed.

Diet and Lifestyle Approaches

Patients with fibromyalgia can do a number of things to help diminish their pain, deepen their sleep, and generally improve their quality of life.

Diet

No controlled studies have been undertaken to date to test whether specific foods can alleviate symptoms of fibromyalgia.

The following dietary guidelines may help patients with fibromyalgia (Hanninen O et al 2000):

• Consume plenty of calcium to support bone density. Foods high in calcium include milk, ice cream, yogurt, broccoli, hard cheeses, oysters, sardines, spinach, and oranges.
• Apples are high in malic acid, an antioxidant important in limiting muscle pain.
• Blueberries have been shown by the USDA to be higher in antioxidants than any other fruit, vegetable, nut, or herb.
• Carbohydrates increase serotonin levels, essential fatty acids reduce fatigue, and protein helps improve mental alertness (Wallace D et al 2002).
• Caffeine, a strong stimulant, should be avoided, particularly late in the day, to ensure that it does not negatively affect sleep.
• Alcohol should never be used to alleviate or mask pain.

Exercise

Moderate, regular exercise has been shown to reduce symptoms. Patients with fibromyalgia should work some of the following exercises into their schedule:

• Walk 20 to 40 minutes daily. Walking - outdoors when possible - is perhaps the best regular exercise.
• Swim 30 to 60 minutes three times a week. Swimming can successfully strengthen and tone painful muscles.
• Do isometric and stretching exercises. These types of exercises, particularly those focused on muscle groups susceptible to fibromyalgia pain, are vitally important.
• Strengthen and stretch muscles through yoga. Yoga is also an excellent way to engage with other people and take your mind off pain.
• Maintain good posture at all times. Don’t stay in a single position for long periods.
• Use supports such as armrests, railings, pillows, and slings to help avoid needlessly stressing sensitive muscles.
• Focus as much as possible on relaxation and stress reduction. Deep breathing, meditation, and other forms of conscious relaxation are often quite helpful.

Tobacco use

People with fibromyalgia should not smoke or use tobacco. Smokers with fibromyalgia have lower pain thresholds and more sleep problems than nonsmokers.

Nicotine withdrawal can cause muscle spasms, and vascular constriction is worsened by smoking, leading to increased numbness, burning, and tingling (Wallace D et al 2002).

Other Treatments

Many patients with fibromyalgia report excellent results fighting pain with the help of therapists trained to use a variety of the following musculoskeletal and psychological treatments:

• Regular massage. Offers significant pain relief.
• Chiropractic. Chiropractors work to align the spine for optimal nerve flow and to increase range of motion and relax muscles.
• Physical and occupational therapy. Physical and occupational therapists, particularly those specifically trained to work with patients who have fibromyalgia, can design rehabilitation programs involving both manipulation and exercise that often show positive results.
• Acupuncture. A 2500-year-old treatment system, using very thin needles, that has shown moderate degrees of effectiveness in treating both pain and fatigue in patients with fibromyalgia.

Psychotherapy, counseling, and support groups. These groups can be enormously beneficial to people with fibromyalgia, offering great assistance with issues such as anxiety, loss of self-esteem, anger, shame, depression, and relationship challenges.

FAITH DROPS Wellness Recommendations

Our approach to fibromyalgia takes into account the many facets of the disease.A main aspect of treatment will include getting sleep therapy.

The following supplements have been shown to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation, support healthy ATP levels in cells, aid in restful sleep and digestion, and support muscle function:

• Magnesium-160 to 500 milligrams (mg) daily
• Malic acid-600 mg daily
• Vitamin B6-250 mg daily. High doses of vitamin B6 can cause neuropathy (nerve damage).
• Vitamin C-1000 to 2000 mg daily
• Selenium-200 micrograms (mcg) daily
• SODzyme-2000 mg daily. This special supplement enhances the levels of superoxide dismutase, an internal antioxidant.
• D-Ribose-3 grams (g) daily
• Gamma E-at least 200 mg daily
• Omega-3 fatty acids-1400 mg of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 1000 mg of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)
• Blueberry extract-500 mg daily
• Melatonin-300 mcg to 6 mg daily
• DHEA-starting dose of 15 to 75 mg daily. Have blood tested in 3 to 6 weeks to make sure optimal levels are maintained.

In addition to these supplements, hormonal testing is recommended. If levels are low, bioidentical hormonal replacement may be recommended. For more information about hormonal testing, call The Compounding Pharmacy of South Africa in Johannesburg.

Finally, patients who have been conventionally treated may have gastrointestinal problems from the many drugs that are often prescribed. These drugs may alter the levels of beneficial bacteria in the gut.

For this reason, a person who has fibromyalgia should take probiotics, including the lactobacillus group of beneficial bacteria, to restore gastrointestinal function.

REFER TO INFORMATION ON FAITH HEALTH PROBIOTIC.

Fibromyalgia Safety Caveats

An aggressive program of dietary supplementation should not be launched without the supervision of a qualified physician. Several of the nutrients suggested in this protocol may have adverse effects. These include:

DHEA

• Do not take DHEA if you could be pregnant, are breastfeeding, or could have prostate; breast; uterine; or ovarian cancer.
• DHEA can cause androgenic effects in woman such as acne, deepening of the voice, facial hair growth and hair loss.

D-Ribose

• Do not take D-ribose if you have gout.
• Do not take D-ribose if you have elevated uric acid levels. D-ribose can elevate uric acid levels.
• Consult your doctor before taking D-ribose if you have diabetes or hypoglycemia. D-ribose can cause or exacerbate hypoglycemia. See your doctor and monitor your blood glucose level frequently if you take D-ribose and have hyperglycemia or diabetes.

EPA/DHA

• Consult your doctor before taking EPA/DHA if you take warfarin (Coumadin). Taking EPA/DHA with warfarin may increase the risk of bleeding.
• Discontinue using EPA/DHA 2 weeks before any surgical procedure.

Magnesium

• Do not take magnesium if you have kidney failure or myasthenia gravis.

Melatonin

• Do not take melatonin if you are depressed.
• Do not take high doses of melatonin if you are trying to conceive. High doses of melatonin have been shown to inhibit ovulation.
• Melatonin can cause morning grogginess, a feeling of having a hangover or a “heavy head”, or gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea and diarrhea.

Vitamin B6

• Individuals who are being treated with levodopa without taking carbidopa at the same time should avoid doses of 5 milligrams or greater daily of vitamin B6.

Selenium

• High doses of selenium (1000 micrograms or more daily) for prolonged periods may cause adverse reactions.
• High doses of selenium taken for prolonged periods may cause chronic selenium poisoning. Symptoms include loss of hair and nails or brittle hair and nails.
• Selenium can cause rash, breath that smells like garlic, fatigue, irritability, and nausea and vomiting.

SODzymes

• Do not take SODzymes if you are allergic to soy, corn, or wheat.

Vitamin C

• Do not take vitamin C if you have a history of kidney stones or of kidney insufficiency (defined as having a serum creatine level greater than 2 milligrams per deciliter and/or a creatinine clearance less than 30 milliliters per minute.
• Consult your doctor before taking large amounts of vitamin C if you have hemochromatosis, thalassemia, sideroblastic anemia, sickle cell anemia, or erythrocyte glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency. You can experience iron overload if you have one of these conditions and use large amounts of vitamin C.

Vitamin E

• Consult your doctor before taking vitamin E if you take warfarin (Coumadin).
• Consult your doctor before taking high doses of vitamin E if you have a vitamin K deficiency or a history of liver failure.
• Consult your doctor before taking vitamin E if you have a history of any bleeding disorder such as peptic ulcers, hemorrhagic stroke, or hemophilia.

Discontinue using vitamin E 1 month before any surgical procedure.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

The best bit of research discovered some years ago is the article set out below and is written by written by Dr. Majid Ali, M.D.

The information is on his website.

OXYGEN AND FIBROMYALGIA

What is fibromyalgia? Fibromyalgia (FM) is often considered a medical mystery. It need not be. I often hear all laboratory tests are negative in patients with FM.

That's not true. Most physicians are uneasy when confronted with persons suffering with FM. That need not be so. I sometimes hear FM is not treatable. Nothing is further from the truth.

Why are so many people confused about the cause of FM?

• Because it doesn't fit into some neat model of a disease category. Why isn't FM treated successfully by mainstream doctors?
• Because there are no effective drugs for it.

THREE BASIC FACTS ABOUT FIBROMYALGIA

1. All symptoms of fibromyalgia are caused by cellular oxygen deprivation.

2. Oxygen deprivation is caused by dysfunctional oxygen metabolism.

3. Oxygen metabolism becomes abnormal due to excessive and cumulative oxidative stress caused by sugar overload, antibiotic abuse, undiagnosed allergies, synthetic chemicals, and anger.

Dysfunctional oxygen metabolism is not merely lack of oxygen in the air we breathe, in the blood, or in the cells.

This is a critical distinction. I coin this term for a much deeper problem of oxygen metabolism within the cells that involves failure of enzymes involved in oxygen metabolism.

This also forms the core of my ODD theory of the fibromyalgia/fatigue complex (ODD stands for oxidative-dysoxygenative dysfunction).

3 Rs OF FIBROMYALGIA

• Fibromyalgia is Real.
• Fibromyalgia is Reversible.
• Fibromyalgia cannot be Reversed with drugs.

That fibromyalgia is reversible is the second core point of this article. It is regrettable that many fibromyalgia "experts" emphatically state that it is irreversible. (Why would anyone become an expert in a disease that he can never effectively treat?) I strongly disagree with them.

I consider persons with fibromyalgia as human canaries whose oxygen enzymes are more easily injured than other people.

They are more vulnerable to unrecognized allergies, sugar overload, excessive antibiotics, and anger, and have been poisoned by synthetic chemicals. Those human canaries are telling us something important about the shape of things to come.

What injures their oxygen enzymes eventually will injure the oxygen enzymes of others, unless we find ways to protect the oxygen metabolism.

FOUR MAIN SYMPTOMS OF FIBRO CANARIES

1. Persistent muscle pain and weakness.

Explanation: Oxygen deprivation causes muscle pain.

2. Disabling fatigue.

Explanation: Oxygen deprivation in tissue causes fatigue and exhaustion.

3. Brain fog (problems of mood, memory, and mentation).

Explanation: Oxygen deprivation in brain cells causes brain fog and dysfunction.

4. Air hunger.

Explanation: Oxygen deprivation within the cells causes air hunger.

The last item requires a special comment. Like other physicians, until some years ago I accepted the prevailing view that the body learns about the lack of oxygen through special oxygen sensors in the brain as well as in the walls of large blood vessels in the chest and neck.

My fibro canaries have forced me to look deeper into this issue. The sense of air or oxygen hunger in fibromyalgia cannot be explained merely on the basis of those oxygen sensors. Oxygen levels in the large vessels in those locations are within the normal range in fibromyalgia.

Thus, I had to look for some other mechanism. Now I believe oxygen hunger is caused by abnormal oxygen metabolism within the cells though the evidence for my view at this point is indirect.

OTHER MAJOR SYMPTOMS OF FIBRO CANARIES

1. Symptoms of weakened immune systems, such as sore throats, swollen neck glands, and painful tissues.

Explanation: Oxygen deprivation in immune cells causes immune weaknesses.

2. Abdominal bloating, cramps, episodes of diarrhea and constipation, and problems of digestion and malabsorption.

Explanation: Oxygen deprivation in the bowel causes bloating, cramps, and malabsorption.

3. Cold sensitivity and poor circulation.

Explanation: Oxygen deprivation in skin causes cold sensitivity.

4. Sleep difficulties, restless leg syndrome, and legs.

Explanation: Oxygen deprivation interferes with functions of the sleep center and causes other problems, such as restless leg syndrome.

5. Lightheadedness, dizziness, heart palpitations, and skipped beats.

Explanation: Oxygen deprivation in the heart and vessel walls causes lightheadedness, dizziness, heart palpitations, and skipped beats.

6. Dry skin, dry eyes, dry mouth, and dry vaginal tissues.

Explanation: Oxygen deprivation in the cells of the skin, eyes, mouth and vagina muscles causes cell shrinkage and dryness skin.

7. Vaginitis, bladder spasms, and bladder infections in women and prostatitis in men.

Explanation: Oxygen deprivation in genital tissues causes vaginitis, bladder spasms, and bladder infections in women and prostatitis in men.

8. Joint and muscle stiffness and pain.

Explanation: Oxygen deprivation in joints and muscles causes stiffness and pain.

9. Lack of sex drive in both sexes and menstrual irregularities in women.

Explanation: Oxygen deprivation interferes with the enzyme functions of sexual organs and their hormones.

What Causes of Fibromyalgia?

1. Metabolic oxidants

2. Microbial oxidants

3. Man-made oxidants (Oxidants are substances that damage tissues.)

Three Molecular Mechanisms of Fibromyalgia

1. Oxidosis (too much oxidation)

2. Dysoxygenosis (too little oxygen)

3. Acidosis (too much acidity) (Oxidosis is rapid breakdown. Dysoxygenosis [dys-oxy-gen-osis] is abnormal oxygen metabolism.)

Three Levels of Injured Cellular and Organ Ecosystems and an Ecologic Road Map to Recovery

1. The base trio of the bowel, blood, and liver ecosystems

2. The middle trio of the thyroid, adrenals, and pancreas ecosystems

3. The top trio of the limbic system, sex hormones, and neurotransmitters.

TOXINS: Metabolic, Microbial, and Man-Made

Of the three main types of toxins identified above that lead to fibromyalgia, the metabolic toxins are the least important in the initial stages, but the most dangerous in advanced stages of fibromyalgia.

The reason for that is that all kinds of metabolic havoc are wreaked on the human tissues once oxygen metabolism becomes dysfunctional.

Metabolism (the sum total of all life processes) produces many oxidants as waste products. In health, the detox mechanisms of the body neutralize and clear such oxidants.

In illness, such oxidants are produced in such large quantities that the detox systems fail. Excess oxidants accumulate and cause oxidosis which, in turn, leads to dysoxygenosis and acidosis.

The states of illness that lead to oxidosis and dysoxygenosis include fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, chemical sensitivity syndrome, and others.

Microbial oxidants are produced in large quantities by microbes which live in the body in health. Those microbes multiply rapidly in the bowel and blood ecosystems with sugar overload, antibiotic abuse, pesticides, pollutants, and other toxins.

All microbial oxidants cause oxidosis which, in turn, leads to dysoxygenosis and acidosis. Microbial oxidants include those produced by:

1. Yeasts (mycotoxins);

2. Bacteria (endotoxins and exotoxins);

3. Viruses (oxidants produced by damaged cells); and

4. Parasites (oxidants produced by parasites as well as by cells and tissues damaged by parasites).

Man-made oxidants include designer killer molecules (such as pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides), industrial pollutants, toxic metal compounds (such as dental mercury amalgams), and synthetic hormones.

The toxic burden of chemicals has increased markedly during this century.

THREE FURIES:OXIDOSIS, DYSOXYGENOSIS, AND ACIDOSIS

Oxidosis is the build-up of oxidants in the body that leads to excessive oxidative injury to molecules, cells, and tissues. Oxidosis is the basic mechanism of all cellular and tissue injury. It creates both dysoxygenosis and acidosis.

Fibromyalgia cannot be understood without a full grasp of this simple scientific fact. Nor can anyone design a rational and scientific plan of recovery from fibromyalgia without grounding all therapies on this fact.

Dysoxygenosis is my term for abnormal oxygen metabolism. It is not simply a lack of available oxygen in the lungs or tissues. In dysoxygenosis, cells and tissues cannot fully utilize oxygen that is available to them.

The symptom-complexes of fibromyalgia cannot be understood without a full grasp of this scientific fact. Dysoxygenosis is caused by oxidosis and, in turn, fans the flames of oxidosis as well as acidosis.

Consider the following: A healthy young man sprints two hundred yards on a beach, stops to catch his breath, and within minutes is ready to sprint again.

That is not the case with a young fibro canary. If he were ever to sprint (even after a lightning storm, when the beach air has been cleared of pollutants), he will not be able to get out of his bed the next day.

Indeed, many fibro canaries may be bedridden for days after such exertion. There will evidently be no deficiency of oxygen in the air by the sea, nor in his lungs. His problem will be abnormal oxygen metabolism.

Acidosis disturbs the delicate balance between acids and alkalies (pH level) in the body. The changes in pH seriously interfere with the activities of enzymes involved in the digestive-absorptive, detox, neurotransmitter, and energy functions of the body.

Acidosis is caused by oxidosis and dysoxygenosis which, in turn, feeds the fires of both oxidosis and dysoxygenosis.

FIBRO IS REAL

If you are a fibro canary, you know that fibromyalgia is real. If your physicians doubt that, they cannot help you.

Be kind to yourself and find another physician who understands this problem. The road to recovery from fibromyalgia is often long and difficult. You need not make it much more difficult.

FIBRO IS REVERSIBLE

If you are a fibro canary, please be kind to yourself and shun people who insist fibromyalgia is irreversible.

The road to recovery from fibromyalgia is often long and difficult. You need not absorb the negativity of others.

FIBRO CANNOT BE REVERSED WITH DRUGS

If you are a fibro canary, please know that fibromyalgia cannot be reversed with any drugs. You will learn that sooner or later. No drug at present is known to cure fibromyalgia.

It seems highly unlikely that such a drug will be synthesized in the foreseeable future. In this volume, I discuss at length my reasons for that view.

Healing is an energy phenomenon. Hope is another word for healing.

Seven Aspects of Oxygen and Oxidation

Majid Ali, M.D.

1. OXIDOSIS

Oxidosis (oxi-do-sis) is excessive loss of energy through rapid loss of electrons. In the context of aging, oxidosis causes disease and premature aging. Oxidation is loss of electrons. In chemical reactions, electrons are transferred from one atom or molecule to the other.

The donor substance loses electrons and is so oxidized. The recipient gains electrons and so is reduced. The gainer becoming reduced seems strange but that is the awkwardness of the scientific terminology.

People see electrons every day. There is a spark when the plug on an electric appliance is pulled without first turning the unit off. That spark is a storm of electrons. In this example, a running appliance gains electrons from the source in the power company and uses it to produce energy for its function.

That is exactly what happens in oxygen-driven oxidative reactions in the body. Oxygen first gains (steals) electrons from other substances and so begins the process of generation of energy. Those substances, in turn, are oxidized. Light is produced by a light bulb in a similar way.

A high-energy beam of electrons loses some energy as light particles called photons and turns into a low energy beam of electrons.

Butter turns rancid, a flower wilts, meat decomposes - that is oxidation. A person develops a cataract and loses his eyesight. That happens when the proteins in the lens become oxidized. When a heart fails after a heart attack that is because oxidosis in the heart muscle cells interferes with their function.

In all tissues, excessive oxidation means a rapid breakdown in tissues. Thus, I see the hand of oxidosis at autopsy in each and every case, regardless of whether the death was caused by cancer or by chemotherapy, by coronary artery spasm or by a cardiologist's stent, by hepatitis or by pneumonia.

Oxidosis leads to dysfunctional oxygen metabolism, which is the basis of all symptoms of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. It is the molecular basis of pain, fatigue, and brain fog in those syndromes.

2. DYSOXYGENOSIS

Dysoxygenosis (dys-oxy-gen-o-sis) is my term for dysfunctional oxygen metabolism. It is not merely lack of oxygen due to heart disease or asthma, nor poor transport of oxygen due to anemia.

The scientific term for that is anoxia. Dysoxygenosis is the failure of cellular oxygen metabolism due to damage to the enzymes of oxygen metabolism. Thus, dysoxygenosis threatens the health of every cell, every tissue, and every body organ.

Dysoxygenosis in muscle cells causes severe fatigue. In brain cells, it causes problems of mood, memory, and mentation. In the skin and eyes, it causes advanced dryness.

In the cell membrane, it causes leaky membrane dysfunction, so that what is inside the cell hemorrhages out and what is outside floods the cell innards. Thus, the cell becomes dehydrated, shrunken, and loaded with toxins. Such a cell cannot function well.

3. ACIDOSIS

Acidosis (acid-o-sis) is excess acidity. Acidosis slows or blocks the enzyme systems of the body, including those involved with energy, digestion and absorption, detoxification, muscle function, and neurotransmitters.

Enzymes are catalysts that facilitate life processes. Acidosis fans the flames of both oxidosis and dysoxygenosis which, in turn, cause more acidosis.

As in the case of dysoxygenosis, acidosis in muscle cells causes severe fatigue. In brain cells, it causes problems of mood, memory, and mentation. In the skin and eyes, it causes advanced dryness. And so on.

4. OXIDATIVE COAGULOPATHY

Oxidative coagulopathy (co-ag-u-lop-athy) is the process by which clean blood turns into "dirty" blood.

In health, the red blood cells are rounded, smooth in outline, and do not stick to each other. The hunter immune cells have irregular but sharp boundaries and move around like amoebae, searching for microbes to kill and digest.

The antibody-forming immune cells are also smooth, rounded, and free of debris stuck to their surfaces. The plasma (fluid part of the blood) is clear and without any areas of congealing. There is no microclot or microplaque formations.

In 1997, my colleague, Omar Ali, M.D., and I introduced the term oxidative coagulopathy to describe a range of abnormalities in the blood of patients with coronary heart disease.

We observed the following changes in blood slides: deformities and clustering of red blood cells, death of immune cells, zones of congealed plasma, and microclot and microplaque formation.

The blood clots and unclots all the time. However, in oxidative coagulopathy, microclot formation occurs at a rapid rate and unclotting cannot keep pace with clotting. Thus, microclots and microplaques accumulate in the blood and get stuck to the inside of small arteries in the heart and brain, causing heart attacks and strokes.

Later I described similar changes in fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.5 Adding bacterial culture to milk turns it into yogurt. Lemon juice squeezed into milk curdles it.

That happens because microbes and certain acids solidify the proteins in milk, the same way microbes and certain acids entering the circulating blood curdle it. In health, such curdles (microclots) are readily dissolved by clot-busting enzymes.

In fibromyalgia, a large number of microbes and large quantities of toxic oxidants enter the blood from the bowel, causing excessive microclot formation.

5. OXIDATIVE LYMPHOPATHY

Oxidative lymphopathy (lym-phop-athy) is my term for a process by which lymph becomes oxidized, rancid, thick and gluey.

Lymph is the pale fluid that drains toxins from tissues. Such fluid stagnates in muscles and other tissues, preventing the free flow of oxygen-rich blood, causing soreness in tissues, and producing trigger points in muscles.

I introduced this term in 1998 to focus on issues of stagnant lymph in tissues4 and described its clinical significance in fibromyalgia in 1999.6

Blood and lymph channels exist in all body organs. Thus, damage caused by oxidative coagulopathy and oxidative lymphopathy quickly spreads to all cells of the body.

3M oxidopathy is my term for oxidative damage to cell membranes, matrix, and mitochondria. Matrix is the cement that holds cells together. Membranes are coverings of cells and their inner structures.

Mitochondria are tiny power batteries of the cells. Since all three are continuously exposed to oxidized (rancid) blood and lymph, it should not surprise us that the oxidative coals in the blood and lymph (microclots) will also sear the 3M (matrix, membranes, and mitochondria).5

6. OXIDATIVE-DYSOXYGENATIVE DYSFUNCTION (ODD)

ODD is a state in which: (1) oxidosis is caused by oxidants of all three types (metabolic, microbial, and man-made) that threaten health; (2) oxidosis leads to dysoxygenosis (abnormal oxygen metabolism), which slows or blocks all life processes; (3) oxidosis and dysoxygenosis together cause acidosis; (4) all three elements (oxidosis, dysoxygenosis, and acidosis) feed upon each other and together fan the flames of oxidative injury.

In fibromyalgia, an oxidative-dysoxygenative (OD) state leads to injury to every microecologic cellular and macroecologic tissue-organ ecosystem of the body.6

7. OXYOLOGY

Oxyology (oxy-olo-gy) is the study of oxygen, just as pathology is the study of diseases. A sound knowledge of oxygen metabolism in health and of dysfunctional oxygen metabolism in dis-ease and premature aging is of fundamental importance.

Indeed, I believe neither health nor the aging process can be understood without such knowledge. In this volume, I present many aspects of oxygen that seldom, if ever, are discussed in medical textbooks.

DARWIN, OXIDOSIS, DYSOXYGENOSIS, AND INTEGRATION:

The Medicine of the New Century - Majid Ali, M.D.

Three issues will dominate medicine in the next century: accelerated oxidative injury (oxidosis), abnormal cellular oxygen metabolism ("dysoxygenosis"), and an integrative view of the human microecologic cellular and macroecologic tissue-organ systems, and that medicine will grow under Darwin's glow.

Among the ecologic shifts, oxidosis and dysoxygenosis will be the core issues in basic and clinical research. Integration of empirical and experimental observations will be the mainstay of all therapeutic strategies. Prediction is a risky business; still, those three predictions seem entirely safe.

The health/dis-ease/disease continuum is a spectrum of energetic-molecular dynamics. The enormous healing potential of spiritual surrender and certain energetic phenomena is well known to all astute observers in medicine.

Only those who limit their work to mechanistic aspects of illness and have little, if any, passion for healing question the role of spiritual and energetic phenomena in clinical medicine. However, technology sufficiently sensitive to measure subtle energy fields - and molecular and cellular resonances created in them - is not yet forthcoming.

Thus, as far as observable and reproducible phenomena are concerned, we are left with the molecular components of the energetic-molecular healing phenomena, the two dominant concerns being oxidosis and dysoxygenosis.

What do alpine meadows of Yosemite National Park, piney woods of South Carolina, and plains of Laramie, Wyoming, have in common? Answer: The warm summers there are unusually hushed.

The reason for this is that the frog population in those areas - and many others in the world - has been decimated. By some estimates, up to a third of the nation's amphibians - frogs, toads, and salamanders-have disappeared. In 1988, in Costa Rica on a Monteverde ridge, half of the 40 amphibian species simply vanished. Some wags have speculated that those amphibians were stolen by aliens - a global whodunit!

In Chesapeake Bay, during some summers, nearly all Eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) are parasitized by dermo (Perkinsus marinus), which causes severe systemic acidosis. Up to one-half of the total population succumbs.2 Similarly, grass shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio) suffer from heavy parasitic infestation by epicardean isopods (Probopyrus pandalicola).

3 In Alaska, ten years after one of the largest oil spills in history, the Valdez accident, species which have failed to recover include the common loon, cormorant, harbor seal, harlequin duck, and pigeon guillemot.

4 In the Pacific island of Guam, the introduction of some alien species, most notably a brown tree snake, has fundamentally transformed communities of birds, mammals, and lizards during the past 50 years.

5 Extinction of 22 native terrestrial vertebrate species has been attributed to ecologic relationships among the especially versatile introduced predators and the naive native prey. Such reports often spark academic debates in the small world community of ecologists. Sometimes, such news also stimulates dinner-table conversation in a few households. But, amazingly, the obvious relevance of such reports to human health receives little, if any, attention.

Enter Charles Darwin. He was the first systematic integrationist. The essence of his life's work was integration of seemingly incongruous observations concerning natural phenomena into some meaningful whole.

His seminal ideas of strife for resources, adaptation to changing environments, and natural selection could not have germinated except in the "soil of ecologic thinking." The genocide of frogs, oysters, shrimp, and other life forms can be understood only when peering through Darwin's microscope.

Oxidosis and Dysoxygenosis

In 1983, based on a chance reflection on why stale buffers lose some of their buffering capacity, the author was puzzled as to why butter turns rancid spontaneously but rancid butter does not turn unrancid spontaneously.

Fruit on a kitchen table spoils spontaneously but spoiled fruit does not unspoil spontaneously. Unmindful of the evident relevance of the second law of thermodynamics to those questions, he put forth his hypothesis that spontaneity of oxidation in nature is the primary driving force in molecular and cellular injury, and hence of aging and all disease processes.6 That simple idea has preoccupied him ever since.

Subsequent high-resolution microscopic and biochemical studies led to the conclusion that a state of accelerated oxidative molecular injury (oxidosis) is the core pathogenetic mechanism involved in initiating and perpetuating environmental illness,7 chronic fatigue syndrome,8 ischemic coronary artery disease,9 altered states of bowel ecology,10 arrested growth in children given chemotherapy and/or immunosuppressant steroid therapy,11 amenorrhea and oligomenorrhea in chronic fatigue syndrome,12 and other disorders.13

Those investigations made it abundantly clear that the three core molecular deviations that separate a state of health from that of absence of health as well as disease states are oxidosis, dysoxygenosis, and acidosis. Next, attempts to integrate those molecular dynamics with clinically recognizable patterns of oxidative injury to human microecologic cellular and macroecologic tissue-organ systems culminated in the following three concepts:

1. Oxidative regression to primordial cellular ecology plays a role in the pathogenesis of diverse entities, such as chronic fatigue syndrome and cancer.14

2.. Oxidative-dysoxygenative dysfunction (ODD) plays the core pathogenetic role in chronic disorders affecting all organ-systems of the body, such as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and Gulf War syndrome.15

3. A clinical model of the microecologic cellular and macroecologic tissue-organ systems designated The Pyramid of the Trios of Human Ecosystems provides a framework for successful therapeutic strategies16

Too much oxidation and too little oxygen - those are the molecular clues to the case of the missing toads. Frog corpses were found decomposed or eaten, but the cause of death remained elusive.

A partial answer to the mystery was provided by Australian, American, and Canadian researchers last year. The culprit, they reported, was not an alien, but a lowly fungus belonging to the genus Chytridiomycota.

17 Significantly, the prior rap sheet of this fungus shows it to infect plants and insects, not frogs. How does the fungus, which affects the frogs' skin, kill them?

The investigators believe the fungus suffocates frogs by clogging their skin pores through which they breathe.

It seems likely that the fungus not only mechanically blocked oxygen transport but also caused severe oxidative injury in frogs, as fungi do in humans.18

In California, pesticides were reported to be the villains. How do pesticides kill? By poisoning respiratory enzymes of insects.

It so turns out that some of those enzymes, such as cholinesterase, are identical to the human cholinesterases. What robs insects of their oxygen supply also suffocates human microecologic cellular systems.

In Chesapeake Bay, during summer months the water oxygen content drops and acidity rises steeply due to heavily contaminated effluent from hog farms draining into coastal marshes.

That causes the oxygen-deprived Eastern oysters to lose their immune resistance to the dermo parasite. The aquatic life which succumbed to the Valdez spill also died the same way: too much oxidative stress, too little oxygen.

The Case for Ecologic Integration

The ideas of ecologic integrity - and, more recently, sustainability - are "hot" issues for ecologists and environmentalists.19 Darwin guides them well. In clinical medicine, however, critically important disruptions of the human micro- and macroecosystems are seldom, if ever, addressed. It is as if Darwin never lived for the general physician community.

A case in point: It is not uncommon for the author to find 80 to 90% of phagocytes in the blood smears of elderly patients with circulatory disorders to be well-preserved and actively motile. By contrast, 30 to 60% of phagocytes in children with recurrent infections and repeated courses of antibiotics are often inactive and/or disintegrated. The yeast-like anaerobes in the peripheral blood infect the phagocytic cells and kill them.

The predator then becomes the prey. Tales of the brown tree snake in Guam fascinate us, but the matter of human hunter immune cells becoming the hunted escapes our notice. Antibiotic abuse persists.

The case for integration in medicine is equally compelling, though rejected to date by the general physician community in the United States. Notwithstanding some impressive gains (such as the recent inaugural graduation of the nation's first university of integrative medicine20), most physicians still find the term integrative medicine unsettling.

Old prejudices die hard. But, integration in medicine is not merely playing Tantaric Indian music while doing an unnecessary coronary bypass operation, nor is it adding acupuncture after spinal fusion surgery has failed to relieve backache. Integration in medicine must be philosophic before it can be clinical.21

While prestigious medical journals continue to deride or resist integrative nondrug therapies,22 the world community of biologists is eagerly seeking integration with physicists, mathematicians, and computer scientists to solve problems they recognize cannot be solved with the prevailing reductionistic model.

Indeed, Science recently addressed the need for an "integrative agenda" for reaching beyond reductionism in science,23 and devoted a large part of its April 2, 1999, issue to the theme (and need) of integration among the various scientific disciplines to advance our understanding of complex systems in nature.

Seashell Fossils and Petrified Pine Trees

On July 22, 1834, HMS Beagle reached Valpariaso Bay on the Pacific coast of South America. Darwin promptly hired a mule and was off to "unravel the mystery" of the Andes.30 During his travels on his "fine chaos of mountains" of the Cordilleras, he made two important observations. At the height of 12,000 feet, he found fossil seashells.

On his way down, at 7,000 feet, he discovered petrified pine trees embedded in marine rock. The trees, he reasoned, had once stood on the Atlantic coast, were sunk beneath the sea, then raised to 7,000 feet as the Andes rose from the ocean floor.

Robert FitzRoy, the captain of the Beagle, was not impressed by Darwin's reasoning. He held on to his (then prevailing) view that the mountains stood as they were created on the day of creation. He seemed to have little use for Darwin's notion of relatedness of his two finds and the relevance of the two to his notion of the origin of the Andes.

Thousands of papers are written each year to report the research findings about ulcerative colitis, Crohn's colitis, collagenous colitis, microscopic colitis, and other types of colitis. The essential issue in such research should be ecologic disruptions which set the stage for the various morphologic patterns of the inflammatory process.

Amazingly, that essential issue is totally ignored in such papers. Articles after articles describe histologic lesions and laboratory abnormalities encountered in patients with colitis and promote the use of one or more drug regimens containing steroids to suppress symptoms.

Regrettably, a growing number of gastroenterologists now prescribe immunosuppressant drugs such as 6-MP and cyclosporine.

The author does not see any papers which delve deep into the nature of ecologic relationships among the causative factors.

Surprisingly, the approach to ecologic problems of the bowel continues to be in line with FitzRoy's fixed view of the Andes rather than the evolving, ecologic concepts of Darwin.

Resistance to Integration

The resistance of the general medical community to integration in clinical medicine is difficult to understand. Recent advances in molecular biology and genetics clearly demonstrate that human molecular dynamics and healing responses are exceedingly complex.

In light of such advances, the prevailing notions of one-disease/one-diagnosis/one-drug are neither defendable on theoretical basis nor on empirical grounds. Consider the following examples of ecologic relationships and complexity in biologic systems:

It is now evident that the imminent conquest of the human genome, though establishing the identity of 100,000 or more genes, is far from a complete victory. We know that expression of individual genes is not merely a "gene matter." Gene expression in most cases requires participation of five or more proteins.24

The dynamics of viral infectivity and pathogenicity are far more complex than previously thought. For instance, five genes which promote replication of some bacteriophages within the bacterial bodies are, in turn, controlled by six other genes, four of which function as promoters while the remaining two encourage dormancy. But the story does not end there.

The complexity of viral replication further grows when we recognize that one gene that favors dormancy (C1) feedbacks to amplify its own expression while diminishing the output of the gene (Cro) that triggers immediate viral replication.24

The chemotactic motility of Escherichia coli is triggered when an attractant molecule binds with one of its many Che (for chemotaxis) membrane receptor proteins. For decades, such motility was thought to depend on precise titration of the various molecular components of the system.

Studies with mutant E. coli which either grossly overproduce or markedly underproduce Che proteins show that following an initial period of altered chemotactic motility, mutant microbes expediently return to patterns of motility of non-mutant microbes, thus negating the old concepts of fixed roles of genes, their protein products, and functionality.25 The sameness and variability of even simple microbial behavior defy reductionistic notions.

The author's purpose in citing the above biologic phenomena is to show that the dominant one-disease/one-diagnosis/one-drug (the one-cause/one-effect/one-solution) mode of the prevailing medical dogma is not tenable in light of advances in molecular biology and genetics in recent decades.

Indeed, it is astonishing how prestigious medical journals continue to hold that blinded single-drug trials conducted for brief periods of weeks and months can provide reliable long-term solutions to disruptions of astoundingly complex microecologic cellular and macroecologic tissue-organ systems of the human body, both in health and disease.

A case in point: the author and his colleagues have shown that coronary artery heart disease results from an ecologic disruption of the circulating blood. Microclot and microplaque formation occurs in the circulating blood as a part of the spectrum of changes of oxidative coagulopathy.

2 Just as a water pump pumping clean water functions well, a blood pump pumping clean blood can be expected to function well.

Evidence for that view has been published.

26 Integrative management protocols employed by the author and his colleagues that focus on ecologic aspects of the blood ecosystem and prevent oxidative coagulopathy (without resorting to drug therapies for blockade of adrenergic receptors or calcium channels of cardiac myocytes) produced excellent clinical results (complete control of symptoms and discontinuance of all drugs in 61% and more than 75% reduction in symptoms and dosage of drugs in another 17% in patients with advanced coronary heart disease).

26 Now consider what happens when the essential ecologic issues are ignored and purely mechanical approaches are adopted for clearly ecologic problems. The reported rates of closure of coronary arteries within six months of balloon angioplasty are in the range of forty to fifty percent.27 In recent years, there has been a staggering increase in the use of coronary stents.28 Predictably, such stents failed to address any of the ecologic issues involved. The following quote from an editorial published in the December 3, 1998, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine (pages 1702-3) is illuminating:

"Cardiologists have mistakenly believed that stenting reduced the incidence of death and myocardial infarction. However, careful examination of the results of randomized trials comparing stenting with balloon angioplasty, including the results of trials by Erbel et al. shows an excess number of deaths and myocardial infarction among patients assigned to stents".

An important point not included in the above quote is that such dismal results are obtained not with just one stenting procedure but with an average insertion of 1.7 stents.29

Gulf War Syndrome - Darwin Was Ignored, But at What Cost?

What can we make of over 100,000 young men and women who went to the Gulf War in good health but over nine years later are still partially or totally disabled?

The Gulf War syndrome is dismissed as an all-in-the-head syndrome by many. Anyone who believes that there is nothing demonstrably wrong in Gulf War syndrome should take a drop of blood from a patient and study it with high-resolution phase-contrast microscopy. He will find advanced evidence of oxidative coagulopathy.

The Gulf War was a grand experiment in human biology to see how much cumulative oxidative stress people can take before their redox defenses break down. It was the first true virtual war in which fighting men and women were shown the potential for devastation over and over again. There was widespread fear of poisoning by chemical warfare and of risk of mutilation and death caused by the Star Wars technology.

Soldiers were administered antidote for war poisons that were known to cause nerve-muscle injury. They were exposed to massive amounts of pesticides and toxic chemicals in war materials. Dead cattle were found in fields, raising concerns of biological warfare. The hot days and cold nights of the desert increased rates of outgasing.

Finally, there were the oil fields put to torch. Chemical toxins that went up with smoke had to come down. So it was that the total cumulative oxidative stress on over 700,000 soldiers in that war far exceeded any recorded before. Darwin should have been the scientist to guide us in how to assess ecologic damage sustained by the men and women in harm's way. What actually happened was astonishing.

All ecologic issues were ignored. Instead, the ill veterans were prescribed symptom-suppressing antidepressants and anxiolytics without searching for the underlying molecular and cellular basis of symptomatology. Their battered bowel, blood, and liver ecosystems were neglected. The obsolete one-disease/one-diagnosis/one-drug model prevailed.

Gulf War syndrome was chalked up to post-stress syndrome, the old all-in-the-head standby. It was as if the Gulf region ecosystems did not exist. It was as if the bowel, blood, and liver ecosystems did not exist in the bodies of the sick veterans. It was as if ecologic relationships in nature do not matter, as if Darwin never lived. Gulf War syndrome was ignored. But, at what cost?

Genes Are Not the Only Alphabets of Biology

Genes make up the language of biology, but only in limited ways. The preoccupation of a student of biology - and of human health - should not be merely with numeration of genes, but with how genes integrate with their protein products as well as the membrane receptors and the ligands that trigger their expression.

The known dynamics of ligand-receptor-gene-product proteins are mind-numbing in their complexity. Genes are components of those strings of life (molecular ecosystems), not their beginnings, not their ends. Compared with gene dynamics in viruses and bacteria, those in humans in health and disease are mystifyingly complex.

Thus, the prevailing notions of one-cause/one-effect/one-solution in clinical medicine are too simplistic to be taken seriously.

Mapping of the human genome, it seems to the author, is like learning the Urdu alphabet. Can one claim to understand Ghalib simply because he knows the Urdu alphabets? (Ghalib is considered the most transcendent poet in both Urdu and English in the eyes of many who know both languages.

A Goethe reader might say the same about the German alphabets.) Elegant poetry is not merely the joy of individual words finding new meanings but also such words giving luminescence to words that precede and follow them. It is the same way with genes.

Deciphering the human genome will be a hollow victory unless it brings forth a deeper understanding of how genes self-regulate, speak to each other, listen to each other, influence each other, and integrate with each other for the good of the whole being.

Darwin's Work Is Now Author's Work

Darwin's work, the author recognizes, is now his (author's) work. Darwin's larger message is clear. It is as relevant to us as to his inches on the Galapagos Islands. No human suffering can be understood except through clear concepts of interrelatedness among the human microecologic cellular and macroecologic tissue-organ systems as well as the ecosystems in which humans live.

The nineteenth-century one-disease/one-diagnosis/one-drug models of illness simply are irrelevant to the dominant chronic disorders of the twenty-first century, e.g. coronary heart disease (clearly a disorder of the blood ecosystem), inflammatory bowel disease and colitis (evidently states of the battered bowel ecosystem), and the fatigue-fibromyalgia complex (undoubtedly a disorder of the disrupted bowel, blood, and liver ecosystems), and so on.

Darwin continues to illuminate the author's clinical work and will undoubtedly govern the principles and practice of medicine in the new century.

RESTORING pH BALANCE TO THE BODY.

Are You Overly Acidic?

We are alkaline bodies by design, but acid generating by function. Acid is produced by the parietal cells of the stomach to aid in digestion, and acid is consumed in organic form in fruit.

However, other than the stomach, no part of the body should be acid.

Despite this, one of the most widespread and insidious causes of illness that plague our society is acidosis - an accumulation of more acid than the body can effectively process.

Patients often initially consult a doctor seeking relief from symptoms of a chronic condition - arthritis, diabetes, emphysema, arteriosclerosis, or cancer.

Regardless of the particular symptomatology, all of these conditions originate with an increase in the amount of acid in the body.

Acidosis is generally seen by medical science as a part of the pathology of several different diseases including impaired liver function.

It is encountered often enough to be assumed to be normal, however, acidosis is definitely not normal. It is the forerunner of most, if not all, chronic degenerative diseases including cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and heart disease.

These diseases are rampant enough to be considered epidemic in our country.

Acidosis is often a covert condition in that the patient feels good in the early stages of acid accumulation. In fact, he may boast of an exaggerated feeling of well-being and an unusually high level of energy.

Unfortunately, this is an inaccurate perception resulting from the "stimulatory" reaction of the body's regulatory systems that are operating in high gear to process the excess acid.

Both the good feeling and high energy level will disappear as more acid accumulates. In a continued effort to maintain alkalinity, the neutralizing alkaline reserves are depleted and the liver becomes increasingly congested and is unable to perform its function of detoxification.

When the extra cellular and intracellular fluids lose their alkalinity, the person is considered to be in a condition of acidosis.

ATTITUDE AND ACIDOSIS

Prolonged periods of acidosis affect not only the physical condition but also the mental and emotional states of patients.

Similarly, mental attitude can affect the physical state. It is possible for a person to maintain a diet high in fruits and vegetables and still be acidic. Regardless of the diet followed, the person who is negative in his outlook on life is acidic.

Negative thoughts act to stimulate the action of the adrenal glands that in turn speed up the body's metabolic activity.

As this occurs, more acid is produced and since the process is continuous, the amount of acid overpowers the alkaline from the good food and the net result is acid. And the cycle can be perpetuated; the more acidic we become, the more negative, defensive, argumentative and unpleasant we become.

The pessimist who can find nothing good about anything is almost certainly in some degree of acidosis.

SYMPTOMS OF ACIDOSIS

Symptoms of prolonged acidosis that are caused by the consumption of excess protein can easily be mistaken for individual character or personality traits.

However, definite attitudes and mannerisms develop as a result of the super-charged internal activity of the body as it works toward ridding itself of the damaging excess acid. The person who is on a high-protein diet moves through a progression of symptoms.

Initially, he . . .

• Has an exaggerated sense of well-being.
• Is a high achiever, a "mover and shaker"
• Believes himself to be perfectly well.
• Is overly ambitious and restless due to the irritation of the nerves.
• Later he Sees only the pessimistic side of issues and life.
• Can't sleep restfully
• Wakes up as tired in the morning as he was when he went to bed
• Constantly finds fault with everyone and everything
• Is tired and experiences generalized aches and pains
• Becomes irritable, ill tempered, and difficult to please
• Shows signs of "aging" as the body removes alkalising substances from the muscles then calcium from the bones

Although everyone who is suffering from acidosis does not experience all of these symptoms, it is helpful for the practitioner to be able to correlate some "personality traits" with clinical findings and to recognize indications that the patient's body is over taxed and headed toward chronic degenerative disease.

10 Reasons to Avoid Acidosis

• Corrodes Arteries, Veins and Heart Tissues
• Like acid eating into marble, acidosis erodes and eats into cell wall membranes of the heart, arteries and veins, weakening cardiovascular structures and inter connective tissues.
• Accelerates Free-Radical Damage and Premature Aging
• Acidosis causes partial lipid breakdown and destructive oxidative cascades.

This accelerates Free Radical Damage of cell walls and intracellular membrane structures, which then unravel, killing cells in the process. Acidosis is thus thought to be the first step toward premature aging, accelerating oxidative cascades of cell wall destruction, creating wrinkling, age spots, dysfunctional hormonal systems, interfering with eyesight, memory, and a host of other age-related phenomena.

• Causes Weight Gain, Diabetes and Obesity

An acid pH has considerable influence over the majority of weight problems, including Diabetes and Obesity. It seems that a habitually acid pH can directly cause immediate weight gain.

Here's what happens when a system is too acidic. A condition known as Insulin Sensitivity or Syndrome X results, which forces too much insulin to be produced, and the body is flooded with insulin so that it won't waste any calories, it diligently converts every calorie it can into fat.

It is thought that an acid pH immediately signals the powerful genetic response to an impending famine, directly interacting with the all important and very sensitive, Insulin - Glucagon Axis.

This makes the body produce more insulin than usual, and in turn, produce more fat and store it. In general, the more insulin that  is available to the body, the higher the probability that fat will be produced and stored, rather than used and burned as energy.

Thus, an acid pH will probably alert the genetic response to famine, directing more insulin to be produced and storing more fat than usual.

Conversely, a healthy, slightly alkaline pH, will be more likely to yield normal fat burning metabolic activity, making no demands on the body to overly produce insulin and make fat, allowing fat - weight to be burned and naturally lost, and, with a healthy pH, there's less likely to be any yo-yo effect, or rebounding from a diet with additional weight gain.

As long as nutritional stores are maintained, a healthy, slightly alkaline pH allows fat to burn normally for energy, rather than being hoarded under the mistaken biochemical belief of an impending famine.

With increased pressure to produce insulin under the worst conditions, beta cells lose phase with one another, cellular communication is thwarted and the Immune System begins to over -  respond. Stress within the cells increas, making it difficult for them to perform adequately, and further, survive.

In a very real sense, they simply burn out! Acidosis is thus thought an important yet often underestimated precursor to Diabetes Mellitus. Interestingly, before the advent of synthetic insulin, diabetes was treated historically by buffering the system with base or alkaline causing powders.

• Causes Cholesterol Plaque to Form

LDL-Cholesterol is laid down at an accelerated rate within an acid chemical environment of the cardiovascular system, inappropriately lining the vascular network, and clogging up the works!

The amount of cholesterol in the diet has not been found to be a major factor in cholesterol plaque formation. Rather, pH status appears to be the factor more directly involved, binding cholesterol with heavy metals and other cellular debris.

• Disrupts Blood Pressure

With acidosis, (pH<7.20) arteries become dilated. Yet, severe lowering of blood pH also causes persistent venous vasoconstriction (a disease in the calibre of blood vessels).

When this happens, peripheral blood is shifted more centrally: The more acidic the patient, the greater the fractional redistribution of blood to the central vessels.

This central redistribution of blood adds to the heart's workload when its contractibility is compromised

• Disrupts Critical Lipid and Fatty Acid Metabolism

Acidosis disrupts general lipid and fatty acid metabolism within the body. Fatty acids are intimately involved in nerve and brain function.

When fatty acid metabolism is disturbed, neurological problems may arise including Multiple Sclerosis, Macular Degeneration and others, as well as problems with hormonal balance within the endocrine system.

• Inhibits Metabolism of Stored Energy Reserves

An acid pH inhibits efficient cellular and body metabolism. Acidosis causes chemical ionic disturbances, interfering with cellular communications and functions.

Acidosis reduces Ca (calcium) binding of plasma proteins, reducing the effectiveness of this intracellular signal.

Acidosis also leads to a disease of calcium cations (positive Ca) entry through positive Ca channels, resulting in reduction of cardiac contractibility, or the ability of the heart to pump efficiently and rhythmically.

Also, positive Ca and positive H (Hydrogen) regulate the activity of intracellular proteins and are driven out of cells, because of the "Sodium-Potassium pump" (Na-K pump), which provides a strong incentive for sodium to be driven into cells.

There are some 10 times the amount of positive Na in extra cellular fluids than in cells. The Sodium-Potassium pump regulates the amount of sodium and potassium each cell in the body stores, and uses up as much as 25% of our caloric input per day to run.

Positive Ca exchanges the positive Na, being forced out of cells, but naturally, the electrochemical gradient for positive Ca favours both positive H and positive Ca entry into cells, as there is less calcium and positive H in cells than in the extra cellular fluids.

Therefore, in acid solutions, less sodium will be present, slowing down the processing and induction of nutritional items going into cells. (Calcium may become inordinately leached from bone mass, causing osteoporosis).

An acid pH drains us of energy and disallows stored energy reserves to be used. Furthermore calcium may become inordinately leached from bone mass, causing osteoporosis.

• Inhibits Cellular Regeneration & DNA-RNA Synthesis

For DNA-RNA synthesis and healthy cell proliferation to occur, cell pH must not be acidic. However, cancerous cells grow well in acidic mediums, therefore an acid pH actually accelerates and increases the possibility of cellular mutations (Cancer).

CANCEROUS CELLS DO NOT CONTAIN HYDROGEN ATOMS. WHEN HEALTHY CELLS HAVE PLENTY OF HYDROGEN THEY CANNOT BECOME CANCEROUS. IF WE CAN GET HYDROGEN INTO ANY UNHEALTHY CELLS, THEY CAN HEAL.

• Inhibits Oxygen Getting to the Tissue

Acidosis or an acid pH decreases the amount of oxygen that can be delivered to cells, making normally healthy cells unhealthy so eventually they die.

• Inhibits Life Giving Electrolyte Activity

Life-essential functions, like electrolyte Potassium (K plus) and Sodium (Na plus) channels, are inactivated by acidosis.

This has far reaching effects cardiovascularly, since without sufficient electrolyte management, heart attacks are likely to occur. Without appropriate electrolyte management, our heart literally stops beating.

Inhibition of electrolyte activity also affects the way we feel and behave, and is intimately involved in the energy levels we experience, because of the nature of the Na-K Pump and cellular metabolism.

An Acid pH is The Seed-Bed of Degenerative Diseases

• Cardiovascular Disease: Arteriosclerosis, Heart Attacks, Stroke, High Cholesterol, and High Blood Pressure
• All Forms of Cancer
• Diabetes, Insulin Sensitivity, Obesity
• Neurological Diseases, MS, MD, ALS and Parkinson's disease
• Liver & Kidney Disease
• Senility, Dementia, Alzheimer's
• Immune Deficiencies
• Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis & Tooth Loss
• Hormonal Imbalances
• Premature Aging, Male Prostate Problems
• Understanding pH Level and Why Many People Have Disease / Cancer

According to the research total healing of chronic illness only takes place when and if the blood is restored to a normal, slightly alkaline pH.

pH: What does it mean?

pH is the abbreviation for potential hydrogen. The pH of any solution is the measure of its hydrogen-ion concentration. The higher the pH reading, the more alkaline and oxygen rich the fluid is. The lower the pH reading, the more acidic and oxygen deprived the fluid is.

The pH range is from 0 to 14, with 7.0 being neutral. Anything above 7.0 is alkaline, anything below 7.0 is considered acidic.

Human blood stays in a very narrow pH range around 7.35 - 7.45. Below or above this range means symptoms and disease. If blood pH moves too much below 6.8 or above 7.8, cells stop functioning and the patient dies. The ideal pH balance for blood is 7.4

A healthy blood pH without cancer has acid / alkaline balance almost equal. Actually a healthy body is slightly alkaline measuring approximately 7.4. This ideal blood 7.4 pH measurement means it is just slightly more alkaline than acid.

If you have a health problem, most likely you are acidic. We have seen that research shows that unless the body's pH level is slightly alkaline, the body cannot heal itself. So, no matter what type of modality you choose to use to take care of your health problem, it won't be effective until the pH level is up.

If your body's pH is not balanced, you cannot effectively assimilate vitamins, minerals and food supplements. Your body pH affects everything.

Like most living things on earth the body has to have a balanced pH like most living things on earth or it does not function correctly. The alkaline level is very important because research has already proven that disease cannot survive in an alkaline state and yet thrives in an acidic environment.

FACT: An acidic balance will: decrease the body's ability to absorb minerals and other nutrients, decrease the energy production in the cells, decrease its ability to repair damaged cells, decrease its ability to detoxify heavy metals, make tumour cells thrive, and make it more susceptible to fatigue and illness.

An acidic pH can occur from, an acid forming diet, emotional stress, toxic overload, and/or immune reactions or any process that deprives the cells of oxygen and other nutrients. The body will try to compensate for acidic pH by using alkaline minerals. If the diet does not contain enough minerals to compensate, a build up of acids in the cells will occur.

There are two factors that are ALWAYS present with cancer no matter what else may be present. Those two factors are Acid pH and Lack of Oxygen. At Faith we can manipulate those two factors that always have to be present for cancer to develop and by doing so will that help reverse the cancer?

Cancer needs an acid and low oxygen environment to survive and flourish within. Terminal cancer patients are around 1000 times more acidic than normal healthy people. The vast majority of terminal cancer patients possess a very low body pH. Why?

In the absence of oxygen, glucose undergoes fermentation to lactic acid. This causes the pH of the cell to drop from between 7.3 to 7.2 down to 7 and later to 6.5 in more advanced stages of cancer and in metastases the pH drops to 6.0 and even 5.7 or lower. Our bodies simply cannot fight disease if our body pH is not properly balanced.

The normal human cell has a lot of molecular oxygen and a slightly alkaline pH. The cancer cell has an acid pH and lack of oxygen. Cancer cells cannot survive in an oxygen rich environment. Again, the higher the pH reading, the more alkaline and oxygen rich the fluid is. Cancer and all diseases hate oxygen / pH balance. pH balance is very important for one's health.

FACT: If your body's pH is not balanced, you cannot effectively assimilate vitamins, minerals and food supplements. Also, mucus on the small intestine can block your body from vitamin and mineral absorption.

How to Test your pH Level

Test your pH level... If you are sick or have cancer simply wet a piece of Litmus Paper with your saliva 2 hours after a meal. This will give a reflection of your state of health.

Salivary pH Test:

While generally more acidic than blood, salivary pH mirrors the blood (if not around meals) and is also a fairly good indicator of health. It tells us what the body retains. Salivary pH is a fair indicator of the health of the extra cellular fluids and their alkaline mineral reserves.

Optimal pH for saliva is 6.4 to 6.8. Spit upon arising before anything is put into the mouth. A reading lower than 6.4 is indicative of insufficient alkaline reserves. Two hours after eating, on testing - the saliva pH should rise to 7.8 or higher. Unless this occurs, the body has alkaline mineral deficiencies (mainly Calcium and Magnesium) and will not assimilate food very well. To deviate from ideal salivary pH for an extended time invites illness.

Acidosis, an extended time in the acid pH state, can result in rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, lupus, tuberculosis, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, most cancers and many more health problems. If salivary pH stays too low, the diet should focus on fruit, vegetables and still mineral water as well as removing strong acidifiers such as sodas, whole wheat and red meat.

Urinary pH Test:

The pH of the urine indicates how the body is working to maintain the proper pH of the blood. The urine reveals the alkaline building (anabolic) and acid tearing down (catabolic) cycles. The pH of urine indicates the efforts of the body via the kidneys, adrenals, lungs and gonads to regulate pH through the buffer salts and hormones.

Urine can provide a fairly accurate picture of body chemistry, because the kidneys filter out the buffer salts of pH regulation and provide values based on what the body is eliminating. Urine pH can vary from around 4.5 to 9.0 for its extremes, but the ideal range is 5.8 to 6.8.

Foods considered to be alkaline-forming and thus helpful to people with consistently acid pH include: almonds, aloe vera, apples, apricots, bee pollen, buckwheat, cabbage, cantaloupe, celery, carrots, cucumbers, dates, poached eggs, figs, grapefruit, honey, lettuce, millet, parsley, raisins, peaches, fresh red potatoes, pineapple, soy products, sprouted seeds, cooked spinach, turnip tops, wakame miso soup, azuki beans, rice, mineral water.

People who remain too acid often display symptoms such as:

anxiety, diarrhea, dilated pupils, extroverted behavior, fatigue in early morning, headaches, hyperactivity, hypersexuality, insomnia, nervousness, rapid heartbeat, restless legs, shortness of breath, strong appetite, high blood pressure, warm dry hands and feet.

Acidosis (overly acidic body) is the primary indicator of Calcium Deficiency Disease.

Balancing the pH is a major step toward well - being and greater health. Scientists have discovered that the body fluids of healthy people are alkaline (high pH) whereas the body fluids of sick people are acidic (low pH).

Balancing the pH is a major step towards well-being and greater health.

Eating the proper foods and getting the best nutrients, in balance, will help you avoid all that - along with the misery and quality of life that so often precedes death, sometimes by decades.

What is pH?

pH (the power, or potential, of Hydrogen) = the unit that indicates the hydrogen density of acid and alkaline water.

Water becomes acidic with increased hydrogen ions (H+), and alkaline with increased hydroxyl ions (-OH). The measuring unit of acidity and alkalinity is indicated by pH values, e.g. pH 7 is considered neutral.

Each numerical increment indicates 10 times more hydrogen or hydroxyl ions. For example, an increase of 1 in a pH table means 10 times more alkalinity. A decrease of 1 means 10 times more acidity.

The pH level of our internal fluids affects every cell in our bodies. The entire metabolic process depends on an alkaline environment.

Chronic over acidity corrodes body tissue, and if left unchecked will interrupt all cellular activities and functions, from the beating of your heart to the neutral firing of your brain. In other words, overacidity interferes with life itself. It is at the root of all sickness and disease.

Maintaining pH balance

The human body tends to maintain body fluid (blood) at pH 7.365, according to the homeostasis function. The body tries to maintain the balance of each organ with alkaline body fluid of pH 8.8 from the pancreases as the peak.

However, consistent acidic constitution will result in lowering one's self-protection function in the body. Even though there is no visible sign of disease, alkaline water drinking will support the body with homeostasis functions. Drinking alkaline water also prevents geriatric disease because it defends the body against acidification of the physical constitution.

Saliva and Urine pH Testing

Introduction

To recap, pH is the acronym for potential hydrogen. It is a measure of the degree of saturation of the hydrogen ion in a substance or solution.

From a mildly technical perspective, let's look at the molecule of water, H2O. H=Hydrogen and O=Oxygen.

If water and water is combined we get H2O + H2O => H3O + OH-

H3O (the hydronium ion+) is the acid element and OH- (the hydroxyl ion-) is the base or alkaline element. (You may also note that the +ion is a cation and the -ion is an anion.) In pure water these are balanced and upon measuring with a pH meter the reading would be 7.

7 is neutral on a pH scale which goes from 0 to 14. This scale corresponds to the hydrogen ion concentration from 100 to 10-14 moles per liter. This is a huge range which sensitive instruments can measure.

When the H3O and OH- are out of balance a pH meter will detect this and the reading will move above or below 7. Like a teeter-totter, if one goes up the other goes down and vice versa.

In the human body a pH balancing act is continuously going on to maintain homeostasis. When defining measurement values of certain pH levels of human fluids, there are no absolutes that can be written in stone because the value that "should be here" has to be balanced against other values "that should be there". In essence, in the human body things never happen in a vacuum and you need to be ever mindful of these things as you make your measurements.

pH Buffer System

There are three primary pH buffering systems of the body but for now we simply want to say a few words about the word "buffer". What exactly does that mean? A buffer keeps something where it should be. It buffers adverse swings. It shields, cushions and protects.

If you have ever seen a pH test strip for a swimming pool, you will note a section of the strip that states "pH" which will give a direct pH reading, and a section of the strip that states "total alkalinity".

Now you might have a swimming pool reading of 7.2 pH, but if "total alkalinity" is low, the pH of 7.2 can be easily moved too acid or too alkaline. It can be pushed around because the total concentration of (-) ions (the "total alkalinity") is low. Hence, pH can get pushed around and will not stay put.

This same thing happens with humans. pH values can get pushed around fairly easily if total alkalinity is low. The key is to balance pH and increase total alkalinity levels. Now just so you don't go overboard with the thought that all must be alkaline to the extreme, note that everything has balance and a perfect range.

There are compartments in the body that you could say need "total acidity" in order to function. So for our purposes, we will say that the key is "total buffering" which is a good ionic concentration to maintain a solid pH that stays within an ideal range for the thing being measured.

In general we can raise the body's buffer capacity through consumption of mineral rich food; however, this is not always easy to do with our current agricultural situation of chemical farming on depleted soils. So in a clinical environment, we can assist pH balance in the body by using supplemental minerals.

We pay attention to the anionic/cationic ratios, and while minerals like sodium, potassium and magnesium are important, we use various forms of calcium to push pH in specific directions (up, down or neutral) depending on the calcium type and this increases "total buffering" activity to maintain a solid pH that stays within optimum range and does not move easily.

Now with that said, it is easy to use the wrong calcium in the wrong pH range and screw things up. But we'll cover this later.

pH Range

For our purposes we will be measuring urine and saliva. In a perfect world with other health parameters in place, the pH of both urine and saliva will be right around the 6.4 level - and this would be at just about any time of day when tested - though the best times to track and test for a baseline reading would be two hours after a meal.

Understand that pH can move all over the place. This is so because most individuals "total alkalinity" is not very strong. So two hours after a meal for instance, you may find the urine going acid as it is a reflection of the meals acid components pushing the pH.

But as "total alkalinity" increases in an individual, this swaying urine pH starts to lock in at the 6.4 level. This takes time to accomplish.

The question may arise as to why urine and saliva should be steady in the 6.4 area, and the answer lies with the work of many researchers, most specifically in this regard to Dr. Carey Reams. In our own clinical work with the research of Reams, Vincent, Rivici and others, we strongly concur with the 6.4 level for urine and saliva.

The reason 6.4 seems to be ideal is for specific ionization principles to be carried out in the body. Anytime we talk about the human body and biological terrain, we can relate it to stories of farming and soil terrain for there is common ground in both areas.

After all, we do come from the dust of the earth and it is the dust of the earth from which we will return (our bodies at least). pH is but one parameter that quantifies the nature of the terrain.

When a plant grows, it draws up from the cationic earth and reaches towards the anionic sky. As one force of the plant spirals up, another energetic force spirals down.

The plant uptakes the water and minerals from the soil and ionizes, changes and incorporates those substances into the fibers and matrix of the plant.

In order for the plant to reach its optimum and most healthy state (and nutritious when talking about edible plants) the soil terrain must be within an ideal range of parameters.

When we eat the plant, the process is reversed and the plant substance is broken down through the pressure and resistance of digestion and the soil of the liver transforms, stores and dispenses components of the life processes which are further acted on by the soil of the cells and glands throughout the body.

It is the circle of life; highly charged, electric, and magnetic, some might say electromagnetic or electrostatic.

I am reminded of a story of this circle of life spoken of by Buckminster Fuller who was truly a great thinker (you may recall the geodesic dome and Bucky balls). He was once asked the question, what is fire?

In a nutshell, he said that if you were to watch a log burning in the fireplace, the fire you are seeing is the sun's radiation unwinding. The sun's flame winds through the sky and through photosynthesis is absorbed by the tree.

The tree grows and for every year of its life a growth ring forms showing a years worth of absorbing the sun's flame. When the tree gets chopped down to a log and burned in the fireplace, you are witness to the sun's flame coming back out. It's the circle of life.

The food you consume stores the flame of the sun. The more perfect your body's biological terrain, the more capacity you will have to extract every ounce of the flame to give you vibrant health and dynamic energy.

The food you consume is met with the resistance of digestion, and it is this resistance which causes a friction and a release of energy in the form of amino acids and mineral ions, colloids, heat and electricity.

Visualize a hydraulic press. That press sits between your saliva pH of 6.4 and your urine pH of 6.4. At that pH level the press has maximum force and effect to extract all the energy food has to give.

But if the saliva pH that is above the press or the urine pH that is below the press shifts outside of the 6.4/6.4 range, the efficiency of the press begins to fall. Hence, metabolic efficiency begins to go askew, imbalance sets in, and over time problems can develop.

The testing that follows are a series of tests to illustrate where your pH lies and will give you insights to the degree of balance (or not) within your body.

We will follow this up with a few guidelines and simple mineral and calcium rules that can help an individual re-balance the pH.

Daily Cycles Test

This is an on-going test over several days to even a couple of weeks to determine how your pH swings during the day under different circumstances and food consumption habits.

• Take a sheet of paper and make 5 columns headed "time", "consumption", "saliva pH", "urine pH", "feel".
• You will record your urine and saliva pH every time you go to the bathroom.
• When you wake up in the morning record the time and your pH values and how you feel.
• When you eat breakfast, record the time.
• Next time you go to the bathroom record the time, your pH values and how you feel.
• Next time you eat, record the time and what you ate.
• Next time you go to the bathroom record the time, pH values and how you feel.
• Do this throughout the whole day and over many days.

Here you will start to track what you eat, how that makes your pH sway, and how you feel during the process.

It can be an invaluable tool to begin to make associations like; every time I eat x food, my pH a few hours later goes to y value, and I feel like.

You may start to notice patterns that are either for your benefit or perhaps not. Do it for a long enough period and you will start to see cause and effect. You are on the road to taking real charge of your health.

Wake-Up Test

First thing in the morning, your eyes open up, you roll over and test your saliva pH. In a best situation, your pH reads 6.4.

Individuals with either chronic degenerative diseases or those setting themselves up for such will see their wake up saliva from 5.5 or lower with concurrent urine pH as low as 4.5.

These values represent a long term acid stress on the body. Generally this means that an individuals alkaline reserves are very low to depleted. In general you do not want to see a wake up saliva pH below 6.1.

Salivating Test

You sit down to eat, you get the aroma of your favorite mealtime dish, you are ready to chow down and something begins to happen in your mouth.

You begin to salivate. This is a reflection of the enzyme amylase kicking in for the starch digestion process.

This enzyme needs a range of pH ideally around 7.2 pH. So if you have adequate alkaline reserves in your body, testing your saliva pH as you salivate before a meal should give you a pH reading of around 7.2.

If your pH is not getting up to at least 7.0, you can assume there is stress in your alkaline reserves and the further below 7 it goes, the more depleted the reserves are.

You could also suspect digestion all around is not doing so well. This typically indicates a longer term problem and more serious effort needs to be applied to help restore overall health.

Acid Meal Test

Here you are going to eat an acid forming food evening meal. Meat, pasta, beans, bread, nuts, fish, no vegetables.

Next morning, check your first urine pH. The meal the previous evening was too acid, but the body needs to be getting rid of this acid, so the urine should reflect this.

Best situation would be wake up urine from 4.5 up to 5.8 or so. This would be a reflection of your body having enough alkaline reserves that it was buffering the acid and the adrenals and kidneys had appropriate energy to get rid of it. It is a healthy response.

Wake up urine after the acid evening meal between 5.8 and 6.8 is a reflection that the body is barely compensating, and the higher the pH the worse the situation.

Wake up urine after the acid evening meal of 6.8 or higher is not good. It is a possible indication that the body is dumping bicarbonate ions and may be in the ammonia cycle of the liver to help deal with the acid. This situation probably means depleted alkaline reserves and possible exhausted adrenal glands as well as probable digestive problems.

If the above situation or an alkaline morning urine is accompanied by an acid saliva less then 5.8, the situation is getting worse, and the further apart the numbers, the worse it is. Definite remedial action for alkaline reserve build up is critical.

As a point of reference, have you ever been to a nursing home and smelled an ammonia odor? Did you think that was because the nursing home was doing a good job of house cleaning? Well that is not the case. What is happening is you are smelling the urine of very sick people in their last days.

Their bodies are in a give up state, they are likely dumping any alkaline buffers they have and the body is in last ditch mode trying to maintain sufficient blood pH for life to hang on by converting the acid in their systems to ammonia. The single biggest thing those individuals need is more water for hydration and a lot of alkalizing minerals.

I would venture to guess that if this were to occur in nursing homes around the country a lot of their patients would be getting better and going home.

Alkaline Meal Test

Here you are going to eat an alkalizing evening meal. Basically all vegetables. Green leafy veggies, broccoli, lima beans, carrots, etc. Next morning check your first urine pH.

If the pH range is 4.5 to 5.5 you can consider it a too acid response. It means your body has a lot of excess acidity stored and you need to keep up those alkaline evening meals until the numbers come up.

If you have a pH range from 5.5 to 6.8 it could be considered that you have a better level of alkaline reserves, but key to that assumption would be how you feel. If you feel healthy this range is ok. If you have symptoms of problems, you may need to dig more into the situation.

If the pH range is 6.8 to 8.5 again it could mean all is very well IF you are perfectly healthy. However, if you were experiencing serious symptoms of ill health, this alkaline response could be an indication that your cells are too toxic to use the alkaline reserves and instead are being dumped.

It should be mentioned here that there can be times when someone consumes many vegetables and alkaline minerals and their pH readings average far above 6.4. They believe this to be healthy but it actually is reflecting an underlying imbalance. Instead of using the minerals they are being dumped.

Further testing will many times show an anabolic/catabolic imbalance - some clinicians also refer to this as an anaerobic/dysaerobic imbalance. This is related to the mix of fatty acids and sterols on cell membrane walls.

If these fatty acids and sterols go askew it will affect cell membrane permeability so what goes in does not necessarily get assimilated the way it should.

Moving pH

To get a quick "average" pH, you can measure yourself two hours after breakfast and two hours after lunch. Do this over a period of days and get your average numbers. Then use this formula:

(Avg Urine pH ____ + Avg Saliva pH X 2 ___) / Divided by 3 = ___

Average pH Between 6 and 7

If your average pH is between 6 and 7 just use the neutral calciums of gluconate and orotate to build up your total alkalinity along with other minerals and trace minerals.

Average pH above 7

If your pH is above 7, add calcium lactate and vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Clinicians have found about 1000mg twice a day of C is good, and the higher above pH 7 you go, the more vitamin C you can take. Stop the calcium lactate when you come into range between 6 and 7 and pull back on the vitamin C.

Do not take vitamin D.

Average pH below 6

If your pH is below 6, add calcium citrate or calcium carbonate (something like coral calcium is the carbonate form). With pH 5.6 to 6 clinicians have found that adding 1000 IU of vitamin D once or twice a day is beneficial and pH from 5.2 to 5.6 up to 5000 IU of vitamin D is good, while pH below 5.0 up to 50000 IU of vitamin D once or twice a day would be ok as little vitamin D is being absorbed in the acid terrain. You can use the vitamin D to help push the pH up. Stop the calcium citrate and carbonate when you come into pH range 6 to 7. Pull back on vitamin D and go to cod liver oil for vitamin D requirements.

Do not take vitamin C.

Testing Gear

In order to begin testing your pH you will need pH paper or a pH stix. These are available from Damaansa Holdings. pH Stix come packaged in a box containing 100 pH test strips giving an indication in .25 pH unit increments, and test a range of 4.5 to 9.0.

Plus, pH Stix use the double color indicator method, allowing for a more accurate determination of the pH value of what you are testing. These are more accurate than regular pH paper.

Importance Of balancing your Alkalinity and not becoming TOO ALKALINE.

We live and die at the cellular level. All the cells (billions of them) that make up the human body are slightly alkaline, and must maintain alkalinity in order to function and remain healthy and alive. However their cellular activity creates acid and this acid is what gives the cell energy and function.

As each alkaline cell performs its task of respiration, it secretes metabolic wastes, and these end products of cellular metabolism are acid in nature. Although these wastes are used for energy and function, they must not be allowed to build up. One example of this is the often painful lactic acid which is created through exercise.

The body will go to great lengths to neutralize and detoxify these acids before they act as poisons in and around the cell, ultimately changing the environment of the cell. Most people and clinical practitioners believe the immune system is the body's first line of defense, but in actuality it is not. It is very important, but more like a very sophisticated clean-up service.

We must instead look at the importance of pH balance as the first and major line of defense against sickness and disease and for health and vitality.

The human body is very intelligent. As we become more and more acidic the body starts to set up defense mechanisms to keep the damaging acid from entering our vital organs. It is known that acid gets stored in fat cells.

After all, if the acid does come into contact with an organ the acid has a chance to eat holes in the tissue. This may cause the cells to mutate. The oxygen level drops in this acidic environment and calcium begins to be depleted. So as a defense mechanism, your body may actually make fat to protect you from your overly-acidic self.

Those fat cells and cellulite deposits may actually be packing up the acid and trying to keep it a safe distance from your organs. The fat may be saving your vital organs from damage. Many people have found that a return to a healthy inner biological terrain helps them to lose excess fat.

Benefits of Alkalinity

Today's lifestyle causes a multitude of disorders and malfunctions in the metabolism of our bodies. Despite the efforts of the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, our food supply, drinking water, air and soil are becoming increasingly contaminated with toxic chemicals.

Never before has the human body been presented with such a heavy burden of foreign substances to metabolize and eliminate thus taxing the body beyond its natural capabilities of detoxification.

Many people just don't feel good anymore. Some find themselves being much more susceptible to colds, or to whatever "bug" is currently going around. Much more serious are the increasing cases of autoimmune diseases such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia. "Health" and "wellness" have become relative terms.

Low-level toxicity from many sources can be very difficult to detect. The combined action of all these toxins creates a "toxic cocktail" effect which can seriously weaken the body and the mind through a process we call "fermentation" or the over-acidification of the blood and tissue as a result of the proliferation of yeast, fungus, and bacteria.

Yeast and fungus are single cell life forms which inhabit the air, soil, water, and many of the foods we eat. They are more highly developed than the intermediate states of bacteria or the early stages of viruses. Over the years, they have developed into over 500,000 different species. They are opportunists and survivalists.

They are constantly looking for new places to house themselves where they may begin to colonize and proliferate. Being that they are single cell life forms, they can only be seen under a microscope but once colonized, these cells make a visible presence in the form of mushrooms, and molds on food.

Yeast, fungus, bacteria, mold, and viruses tend to house themselves in very specific sites in the body, depending on their particular requirements for nutrients and colonization conditions. All are capable of causing severe fermentation through the by-products of their metabolism, which enter the extra cellular fluid or the blood and then are distributed throughout the body. This culminates in the over-acidification of the blood and tissues which systemically poison and destroy the cells of the body.

This condition we call over - acidification is a direct result of an inverted way of eating - the abundance of animal protein, especially red meat and pork, dairy products (milk, cheese, ice cream), sugar in any form (sucrose, fructose, glucose). Therefore, there is only one sickness and one disease.

The primary source of nourishment for yeast, fungus, and bacteria is sugar. As these organisms feed off the sugar and proteins of our bodies they produce and excrete waste called toxins. These toxins effect us physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

The solution to this growing problem is to cleanse the blood and nourish the cells. We do this by eliminating those foods which create over-acidification and eating more foods that are alkaline. Yeast, fungus, bacteria, mold, and virus can only survive in an acid base, they cannot survive in an alkaline base. It is, therefore, very important that there is a proper ration between acid an alkaline foods in the diet.

When an ideal ratio is maintained, yeast fungus, bacteria, mold, and virus will revert back to their normal healthy state. The ideal ration in a normal body is 4 parts alkaline to 1 part acid which will allow the body to maintain a pH factor of 7.365. To avoid a lengthy chemistry lesson, we will get right to the point that pH refers to the relative concentration of Hydrogen (H+) ions in a solution.

Low pH values indicate higher concentrations of Hydrogen ions or acids, and high pH values indicate low concentrations of Hydrogen ions or alkaline. For example, 10 to -1 is more acidic than 10 to -14.>

An ideal diet should consist of dark green and yellow vegetables, soy beans, sprouted grains and nuts, and essential fatty acids. This ideal way of eating would reduce our susceptibility to toxins, detoxify the body, and reduce or prevent future exposures allowing for cellular regeneration leading to "health" and "wellness".

Acid-Alkaline Forming Foods

Foods may be classified in relation to the metabolic process as acid alkaline. Alkali's are soluble salts and acids are corrosive agents which have trouble combining with other things.

A balanced diet contains 35% acid forming foods and 65% alkaline.

Highly Alkaline:

String Beans, speckled Banana, Dandelion greens, Dates, Figs, Prune, Raisins, Swiss Chard.

High Alkaline:

Almonds, Asparagus, Avocado, Yellow Banana, Fresh Beans, Beets, Blackberries, Carrots, Chives, Cranberries, Endive, Sour Grapes, Kale, Dried Peaches, Persimmons, Pomegranates, Plums, Raspberries, Spinach.

Neutral Oils:

Cold Pressed, Expeller Pressed, Almond, Avocado, Coconut, Canola, Cottonseed, Linseed, Olive, Safflower, Sesame, Sunflower, Walnut.

Alkaline:

Agar, Alfalfa, Apple and Fresh Apple Cider, Fresh Apricot, Globe Artichokes, Bamboo shoots, Snap Beans, Sprouted Beans Berries, Blueberries, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Cantaloupe, Cauliflower, Celery, Cherries, Chestnuts, Chicory, Coconut Milk, Collards, Corn fresh and sweet, Cucumbers, Daikon, Eggplant, Escarole, Garlic, Ginger root, Gooseberry, Grapefruit, Guava, Horseradish fresh and raw, Kelp, Kohlrabi, Leek, Lemon and Peel, Lettuce, Lime, Loganberry, Mango, Melons, Raw Milk, Acidophilus Yogurt, Whey.

Highly Acid:

Alcohol, Artichoke root, Barley, Bread, Buckwheat, Caffeine, Coffee, Corn, dry and products, Custards, Drugs, Flour all, Ginger preserved, Honey, Lentil dry, Mate, Millet, Oatmeal, Peanuts, Rice all, Rye Grain, Sorghum, grain, Spaghetti and other Pasta, Sugar Cane, raw beet, Tobacco, Walnut (English), Wheat grain.

Acid:

Dried Beans, Cashews, Coconut dried, Cranberry Juice and concentrate, Egg yolk, Filbert, Fruit Jellies (Jams Canned, Sulphured, Sugared, Dried), Grapes Sweet, Pasteurized Milk Products, Dry Peas, Pecans, Damson Plums, Water-chestnuts.

Acid Fats:

Butter, Cream, Margarine, and Lard.

Acid/Alkaline (pH) are the two characteristic conditions of blood and cell solution. Any solution is either more acid or more alkaline. If Acidic Characteristics dominate, the solution is acid. However there is no absolute acid or alkaline. An Acid solution always contains some alkaline factors, and an alkaline solution always contains some acid factors. Neutrality is an ideal condition in which the amount of acid and alkalinity is equal. It is an ideal state, and not realistic. In reality, what we eat or drink is always more acid or alkaline.

ACIDOSIS is not in itself a specific disease; it is a general condition of the blood and thus the root of many different diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, cancer, tumors and many more. Many people today have this blood condition without knowing it. ALKALOSIS is not as common as acidosis, but also indicates an unbalanced condition of the blood.

All natural foods contain both acid and alkaline forming elements. In some, acid forming elements dominate, in others alkaline forming elements dominate. According to modern biochemistry, it is not the organic matter of foods which leave acid or alkaline residues in the body.

The inorganic matter (sulphur, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, magnesium and calcium) determines the acidity or alkalinity of the body fluids. Food comparatively rich in acid forming elements are acid forming foods, those comparatively rich in alkaline forming elements are alkaline forming foods.

Acidic condition inhibits nerve action, alkalinity stimulates nerve action. One who has a balanced condition can think and act (decide) well. A balanced food plan is a great help in maintaining the pH balance of the blood; however it does not reveal results in a day or two. It takes a longer time to show the effect. Cold showers make the blood alkaline, while hot showers make the blood acid.

If the blood develops a more acidic condition, then our body inevitably deposits these excess acidic substances in some area of the body such so that the blood will be able to maintain an alkaline condition.

As this tendency continues, such areas increase in acidity and some cells die; then these dead cells themselves turn into acids. However, some other cells may adapt in that environment. In other words, instead of dying as normal cells do in an acid environment, some cells survive by becoming abnormal cells.

These abnormal cells are called malignant cells. Malignant cells do not correspond with brain function or with our own DNA memory code. Therefore, malignant cells grow indefinitely and without order. This is Cancer, and cancer develops in the following stages:

• Ingestion of many acid forming foods, fatty foods, refined foods, carcinogenic substances such as nitrates, and chemically treated foods in general. X-ray scans contribute even at this stage.
• Increased constipation
• Increase of acidity in the blood. This causes an increase of white cells and a decrease of red cells, which is the beginning of leukemia.
• Increase of acidity in the extra cellular fluids.
• Increase of acidity into the intracellular fluids.
• Birth of malignant cells. This is the stage of cancer called initiation.
• The further consumption of many acid foods. Receiving high levels of radiation, chemical and drug treatment. This stage is called cancer promotion.

There are two types of acid and alkaline foods.

1. One is acid or alkaline foods, which means how much acid or alkaline the foods contain.

2. The other is acid or alkaline forming foods, which means the acid or alkaline forming ability of foods to affect the body or to say differently, the pH condition foods cause in the body after being digested. This is the one that will be the focus in changing the body's pH.

A neutral pH is considered 7, so a pH above 7 is alkaline and a pH below 7 is acid.

The pH of blood is 7.4. This means that it is slightly alkaline. This alkalinity has to be kept almost constant; even minor variations are dangerous.

If the BLOOD alkalinity lowers to pH 6.95 (barely over the line of the acid side), a coma and death result.

If the concentration in the blood changes from 7.4 to 7.7, tetanic convulsions occur.

Although only a blood test can reveal the blood pH, it is possible to monitor the pH of the body with a simple home test kit of litmus or nitrozine paper.

Testing a saliva and urine daily average for three days should reveal a pH of between 6.8 and 7.1.

Some variation will occur depending on recent type of food and drink intake.

Different body pH values are: stomach juice = 1.5, urine=7.0, saliva=7.1, and blood=7.4.

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