Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.
Last week we learned that there is only one state of pH that our bodies can be in…and that is in the alkaline range of 7.35 to 7.45. There is no such thing as acid/alkaline balance, because acid destroys alkali and vice versa; pH is a number, not a ratio.Now, we will see why the theory of getting your body more alkaline is one, not possible, and two, even if possible, would not rid you of disease as is claimed.
The body’s own immune system kills pathogens with an oxidation process using hypochlorous acid. Here’s how it works:
When a pathogen enters the body, and all systems respond properly, white blood cells, called neutrophils, attack the invader by engulfing it. Next, it produces an oxidant called hypochlorous acid, which is bioselective of certain organic materials, not all, and kills the pathogen immediately.
So yet again, we see an oxidant actually kills pathogens. This is how the body works. We see it again in the stomach. It produces hydrochloric acid (HCL) to break down food and kill pathogens. It creates an acidic environment to kill pathogens.
In the alkaline theory, if you have cancer, you can kill it with alkali. But how? The body pH cannot be changed more than 1% either way. You can eat all the alkaline foods and drink you want, but it doesn’t change blood pH. The logic just isn’t there. The blood, skin, organs and tissues are a fixed pH for a reason. Too much change in either direction will kill you.
The stomach is so powerfully acidic that it makes any food acidic. Will the stomach be less acidic if you drink a glass of baking soda water? Yes, temporarily, until the acids neutralize it. Then, after the stomach acidifies all the food to break it down into usable parts, it must be converted into a slightly alkaline state so it can be absorbed into the blood, since blood is slightly alkaline. The pancreas releases enzymes to change all food to slightly alkaline. Very cool! Nothing escapes the alkalinity conversion. Then, after the nutrients and essentials are absorbed in the small intestine in an alkaline state, all remaining residue is again converted back to an acidic state by the time it reaches the lower colon.
Now, on to this idea that pathogens cannot live in an alkaline environment. Go google “alkaliphile.” This will return some 72,000 pages on microbes that live in an alkaline state. These will never live in your body because they need a ph of 9 or higher. We are, at most, a 7.45. So we can disregard these as we are not susceptible to them.
Then, there are “neutrophils.” You will see thousands of microbes that live in this pH range of 6 to 8. We are great hosts for these guys with a body pH of 7.4. Take, for instance, Leukemia’s and Lymphoma’s, which both live quite well at 7.4. If you wanted to kill those two off by raising blood pH, it would have to go above 8 before they are killed, then that would kill you. So, the facts are that diseases which affect us can and do live in an alkaline environment…us. This point of fact is totally opposite from the acid-alkaline theory! The body makes acid environments to kill disease, not alkaline.
The point is, the body is totally dependent on oxidation taking place at all times. When you stop taking in oxygen, an oxidizer/acidifier of the body, is the only time your body will actually turn more alkaline than 7.45. And you know what happens when you stop taking in oxygen?
I am not trying to say definitively that some of these alkalizing ideas have absolutely no merit. I just conclude that at this time the premise by which they say they obtain results is improbable. In due time, we may come to find out that there is merit to alkalized water or food, just by some other process we have no clue about today. But as for body pH, it just doesn’t change very much at all, and that is a fact of biology.