Alkalinity and oxygen levels: Is there a connection between pH levels and cancer risk?
05/20/2019 / By Edsel Cook
Several studies show that pH levels of the human body exert an effect on the risk of cancer. People who desire to avoid cancer should strive to maintain their pH levels at slightly alkaline quality instead of letting it drop to acidic levels, which can encourage the rapid growth of tumors.
Levels of pH can change depending on various factors like food, hormones, physical activity, sleep, and stress. But a range of 7.3 to 7.45 is considered to be balanced and healthy, being slightly above the neutral level of 7 pH.
The University of Bari conducted several studies on various cancer tumors in 2013. They reported that the different types of cancers shared one trait – a low-pH or acidic environment.
“This perturbation in pH dynamics rises very early in carcinogenesis and is one of the most common patho-physiological hallmarks of tumors,” they wrote in their scientific paper. The Italian researchers came to the conclusion that cancer cells grew best in an acidic environment. (Related: If you’re still eating these cancer-causing foods, here are some reasons to stop.)
Acidic pH levels and oxygen shortages encourage the rise of cancers and diseases
Numerous factors can increase the acidity of the body, and all of them are related to stress in one way or another. In turn, stress is triggered through three main ways – consuming meat and other acidic foods, excessive amounts of physical activity, and emotional or mental distress.
When the blood pH levels drop to harmful levels, the body starts storing acidic compounds inside cells in order to maintain a healthy pH level. These acidic compounds are mostly toxins, so they end up increasing the acidity and toxicity of the cells that are storing them.
The increasingly acidic conditions in the intoxicated cell leads to hypoxia, a state wherein oxygen is in dangerously short supply. They also destroy respiratory enzymes and injure DNA.
Many of these acidic cells will die off. But others can survive the acidic conditions by mutating into abnormal states that grow nonstop at an uncontrolled rate – in other words, they become cancer cells.
To make matters worse, disease-causing microorganisms like bacteria, viruses, and yeasts flourish in acidic environments. So in addition to increasing the risk of cancer, low pH levels also open the door for other illnesses to take advantage of the body.
Stopping the growth of cancer cells by improving alkalinity and oxygen levels
An alkaline diet is one of the most effective ways to either prevent the onset of acidity-related diseases or help the recovery process from conditions like breast cancer. Such a diet calls for increasing the consumption of cruciferous vegetables from organic sources. At the same time, dieters should refrain from eating dairy, meat, refined grain with high gluten content, sugar, and other acidic foods.
Another way to increase and maintain alkalinity is to take baking soda before meals or two hours after meals. A research team from the University of Arizona experimented with the effects of increasing the alkalinity of mice with metastatic breast cancer tumors. They gave oral doses of baking soda to the lab animals to raise pH levels.
Their results showed that baking soda raised the pH levels of the mice and the cancer tumors. The alkalinity greatly delayed the growth and spread of breast cancer.
Last but not least, it will be of immense help to know the pH levels of the body. A pH strip should be used to evaluate either the saliva or urine. If saliva is used, a reading of at least seven or higher is healthy, while urine measurements should be at 6.4 to 6.8. This should be done upon waking up and before drinking, eating, or brushing the teeth.
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Tagged Under: acidic pH, acidity, alkaline pH, alkalinity, Baking Soda, breast cancer, cancer risk, ph levels, prevention, tumor growth, women's health
