Do you know your first morning urine pH level?  If not, you've missed a very important part in taking your health into your own hands.  Not only is your body's pH an important number to know, it is paramount in insuring long term health and vitality.  Your body's pH is a measure of hydrogen ion concentration.  When it is below 7, you are in an acidic state, when above 7, you are considered alkaline.  As a reminder, most inflammatory diseases such as cancer, heart disease, arthritis, and other immune challenges can not easily survive in an alkaline environment.  Causing your pH to be as alkaline as possible is one major step that is totally in your hands regarding the outcome of your physical health.

According to many pH experts, the magic number seems to be 6.470.  If you can get your first morning urine to this level or at least very close to it on a consistent basis, you can rest assured you are in the right direction for staying young and healthy for many years to come.  My husband has lately been in the habit of testing our children's urine levels periodically.  When they start to become acidic, he knows they are currently in or have just had a growth spurt and the body has used up the mineral stores.  If he catches it on time, he will supplement the kids with additional Celtic Sea Salt and the body goes back into balance right away.  If you do this with your kids, you will notice that if you are too late in supplementing the sea minerals, your child may come down with a cold or other illness because of the ability of the viruses, bacteria, fungus, and parasites that thrive in an acid environment.  The rule of thumb is, if your child grows more than 1/2 inch in one month, they probably need additional minerals.

How do you measure your pH levels?  It is extremely simple to do.  Get yourself some pH paper from a trustworthy source.  It is quite inexpensive and lasts a long time.  We carry some Hydrion pH paper at our local clinic, otherwise check at your local health food store or a place where pet fish are sold (as they use the same strips to test the fish water).  Put the strips in your bathroom so you remember first thing in the morning.  When you wake up, you can either urinate directly on a strip (if you've got good aim), or urinate in a cup and place the strip in the cup.  You may want to catch it about mid-stream for complete accuracy.  Then match the color of your strip to the level on the pH strip container.  If you are alkaline, GREAT.  Keep up the good work with your dietary and water intake.  If you are in the acid range, it is time to make some changes.

The easy way to a perfect pH:  GREENS, SALT, and WATER!  Let's clarify a bit here.  The dark leafy greens are the ones we need.  You can use a quality greens powder if 2 cups of daily greens are too hard to consume on a consistent basis.  As for the salt, this is not the chemicalized salt we see in processed foods!  It must be Celtic Sea Salt.  This contains the high mineral content needed to run all those bodily functions and if you are drinking enough water, will create a pretty quick change in your overall body pH.  I typically recommend about 1/4 teaspoon daily along with at least half of your body weight in water.  If you don't have the water with the salt, you are risking dehydration.  And as for the water, this must be either filtered, spring, or reverse osmosis, and preferably not in a plastic bottle.  Do your best to avoid foods that will cause acidity:  sodas, coffee, sugar, alcohol, most grains, tobacco.  And incorporate more of the alkaline foods:  vegetables, fruit, seaweed, bee pollen, cultured foods (kimchee, sauerkraut, etc), and herbs.  This is obviously a shortened list, so do your research to focus in on specific foods.  Also, do not get discouraged if you change over your diet and find your pH not changing as fast as you would like.  You have probably been acidic for many years and an overnight change is nearly impossible.  Just do your best each day to choose more raw alkalinizing foods and let your body do the rest.  Again, consistency is key.  Your small steps over time will certainly pay off in the long run!