Aa
TO HEPATITIS RESEACHER & others
wanted to ask your opinion on a low reading of PH in a urine test, the rest of test was normal. mine was 5.0 and from what i have read a low PH is bad for overall health. does a low ph correlate with HCV? should i have concern about this and try to raise this to 7.0 which is normal. and lastly any suggestions to raise this? thanks again for all your help.
I keep mine raised by drinking something that I buy at Wholefoods Market called GREENS+. From what I know about PH balance in the body, we need to have that balance between acidic and alkalyine. Diseases live/thrive in acidic bodies, moreso than alkalyine ones. The drink that helps me to keep mine at least to a 6.5 and higher is this drink that I mentioned. You can mix it with water...not how I do it YUCK!! or mix it with your favorite juice, which is how I drink it. I do this at least two to three times a day....AM GREENS+....bottles of water in between....Lunch time GREENS+ drink....bottles of water throughout the rest of the day....and right before I go to bed I do another GREENS+ drink......with water on my nightstand. The drink has all of your grasses in to help move your body to the alkalyine side like wheat grass, barley grass, soy sprouts, alfalfa grass and so on.......This is what I do to help.....I hope that maybe this will help as well....Take care.....
In Him,
Rick
PS: You can also buy from Wholefoods Ph testing strips to tell you where you are as far as PH balance.
In Him,
Rick
PS: You can also buy from Wholefoods Ph testing strips to tell you where you are as far as PH balance.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
The pH of your body fluids is typically regulated with extreme precision to be between 7.38 and 7.42. This is more precise than you can even measure with a good pH meter. As you know the pH is the inverted logarithm of the concentration of protons in an aqueus fluid and it is in equilibrium with all the acidic and basic side chains of the amino acids that form the proteins in our body. Any change in the state of dissociaton of these amino acid side chains will lead to a shift in charge of these and the resulting new electic field forces within the protein will then give the protein a new, suboptimal shape. Thus even small changes in the pH will lead to a new shape for most proteins - with a totally disastrous irreversible breakdown of the machinery of life, thats why for instance lactic acidosis from a certain point on, even when treated in a hospital with iv pH correcting fluids means certain death.
We eat acids and we also produce acids in our metabolism from nonacidic precursor molecules, e g fat/carbohydrates. Some basic substances are also consumed and produced, typically less in daily molarity, so you end up with a net production of protons.
To constantly maintain the extremely precise proton concentration in our plasma the kidney has the fundamental capacity to excrete just the right amount of protons into the final urine, making it typically mildy acidic, down to pH 5. This is normal and healthy and helps to keep the urine sterile. It does not reflect an increased proton concentration - low pH- in you plasma, but the fact that your kidneys are doing their job.
If large amounts of external acids are ingested, like large doses of unbuffered Vit C or lipoic acid or lemons etc, you might overburden the renal capacity to excrete these extra protons. Intake of proton consuming - pH upping , alkaline substances like Mg or Ca carbonate, as in antacids - will shift the net proton production to a lower value.
It is not desirable to generate a totally neutral urine ( pH7- see above).
I did not mention the influence of bicarbonate/CO2/respiratory function on the pH, because it is of no relevance to the steady state, it just reflects the operation of the main compensatory buffer system to temporary disturbances of the acid/base balance.
We eat acids and we also produce acids in our metabolism from nonacidic precursor molecules, e g fat/carbohydrates. Some basic substances are also consumed and produced, typically less in daily molarity, so you end up with a net production of protons.
To constantly maintain the extremely precise proton concentration in our plasma the kidney has the fundamental capacity to excrete just the right amount of protons into the final urine, making it typically mildy acidic, down to pH 5. This is normal and healthy and helps to keep the urine sterile. It does not reflect an increased proton concentration - low pH- in you plasma, but the fact that your kidneys are doing their job.
If large amounts of external acids are ingested, like large doses of unbuffered Vit C or lipoic acid or lemons etc, you might overburden the renal capacity to excrete these extra protons. Intake of proton consuming - pH upping , alkaline substances like Mg or Ca carbonate, as in antacids - will shift the net proton production to a lower value.
It is not desirable to generate a totally neutral urine ( pH7- see above).
I did not mention the influence of bicarbonate/CO2/respiratory function on the pH, because it is of no relevance to the steady state, it just reflects the operation of the main compensatory buffer system to temporary disturbances of the acid/base balance.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
I meant to tell you that the ph inside your body is maintained precisely by your kidneys and not altered much by your diet etc as long as the kidneys work. The excess acid is excreted and a pH in the urine between 5 and 6 is quite normal. If you want to bring the urinary pH up, that is fine but HCV will not be affected by it either way.
thanks for the reply. just to make sure i read your reply right you are saying i should not worry about my ph being between 5.0 & 6.0? glad to hear some good news for a change. i was scared with what i read when i did a googel search about low ph. how studies show that most people with cancer have low ph and that acidity can cause all kind of health problems, etc. nothing i read sounded like low ph was good, actually many said that higher alk was better but in the middle 7.0-7.5 was the best. also when i did a search about "hcv & ph" it came up with alot of technical stuff about hcv virus rna needing low ph to replicate, "Hepatitis C Virus Glycoproteins Mediate Low pH-dependent Membrane Fusion", and other things like this. does this mean my vl will replicate more with a low ph? if so should i try and raise it? thanks again
whaaa...? Just kidding...I suppose Copyman means eating a diet high in alkaline producing foods, like some fruits most veggies? HR, can you address that aspect to the question? thanks...
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
This is not to say that an overall habit of moving the acid/basic intake more in the alkaline direction by eating more fruits/veggies with more Potassiumsalts is not a good idea, it most likely is, particularly for bone health, so that not even a minute amount of metabolic acidosis is typically present. But one has to start with the fundamental aspects of physiological ph constancy management before engaging in more esoteric considerations. We are capable to excrete large amounts of excess acid every day to have this precise inner milieu. Nevertheless, steering towards a neutral pH in the urine with diet and alkali salts might still be beneficial in the long run for several aspects of health.
Fascinating thread, I now know a whole lot more now than I did 5 minutes ago. I am still crunching that inverse logarithm thing though :). HR the way you explain it makes it so much easier to understand. I hope you know how much we all appreciate your expertise, time and responsiveness. Thanks!!!!
Sorry about the double now's. I guess that is better than double negatives though. It's been a long day.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
A ph of 5 for instance means that the actual proton ( H+ions) concentration is 10 to the power of minus 5 Mols of protons per liter aqueus fluid. Or 0.00001 Mols of protons per liter. That is still 6 times 10 to the power of 18 protons per liter.Thats 1000000000000000000 protons/liter. While a pH of 7 is only 6 times 10 to the power of 16 protons per liter. That is 100 times less.
Thus, the lower the pH, the more protons, 10 times for each unit lower.
Thus, the lower the pH, the more protons, 10 times for each unit lower.
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Hepatitis C Community
Learn about this treatable virus.
Getting tested for this viral infection.
3 key steps to getting on treatment.
4 steps to getting on therapy.
What you need to know about Hep C drugs.
How the drugs might affect you.
These tips may up your chances of a cure.
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Condoms are the most effective way to prevent HIV and STDs.
PrEP is used by people with high risk to prevent HIV infection.
