Monday, September 23, 2013

pH Balance for Gout Control

One way you can help control your gout attack is by controlling the pH balance of your body. The pH, or Power of Hydrogen, in the body is measured on a scale from 0 to 14. A pH of 0 is extremely acidic, a pH of 14 is extremely alkaline, and a pH of 7 is neutral. The body is naturally alkaline but only slightly around 7.5. A person can become extremely sick if the body is too acidic or too alkaline so it is important to try to keep it balanced. Most of the food and drinks we consume are acidic making our bodies more acidic. Consider all the alcohol, sodas, and caffeinated beverage we have in a day. They are all acidic. Even fruits which are healthy to eat are high acidic. Then on those hot days when you are drinking lots of water to stay hydrated. The water we drink (from the tap or bottled) is generally acidic. This makes our job as gout sufferers even harder because the more acid is in our bodies the harder it will be to stop a gout attack.
During one of my longest gout attacks, I decided to find out about the acidity of my body. I purchased some pH balance strips that you would use to test the chemical in a pool. So when I would go to the restroom, I could check the acidity of my body. It was eye opening to see how acidic my body was. You can find Urinalysis Strips online designed to inform you about the chemicals in your body beyond just your pH balance. I highly recommend testing your pH balance but either test strip should to the trick for gout issues.
Since our bodies and food are so acidic, what does a gout suffered do? We need to consume more food and drinks that are more alkaline than acidic. When I looked at a list of alkaline foods I noticed that some of the vegetables on that list are high in purines, like cauliflower and asparagus, which I once enjoyed. As I mentioned before, bottled water is generally acidic. I decided to use the pH strips in samples of the water I was drinking. I tested water from the kitchen and bottled water. Water from my tap was very acidic probably due to the metal pipes. Bottled water depends on the brands. Most of the bottled water that you find in the stores are neutral or slightly acidic depending on the brand. A few were more acidic than others. I then discovered that there are some brands that sell alkaline water. Most are only slightly alkaline around 8.0. If you look in the health food stores some can be found to be as high as 9.5. Unfortunately, purchasing bottled alkaline water can be expensive. Then someone introduced me to Alkaline drops. These are drops that you add to any drinks to make them more alkaline. There are many brands of alkaline drops available. I have tried several brands in tea and water. Some brand leave a bad taste so I suggest you try a few brands and see what you like. There are home remedies around that use baking soda to help balance the pH but I did not enjoy the taste of it but alkaline drops are not bad.

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