PREVENTING EXCESSIVE BONE LOSS
Maintaining a pH above 7.0 is even more important to prevent bone loss and maintain bone density than calcium, vitamin D, and magnesium. The average person has low pH and serious vitamin D deficiency. Low pH leaches minerals from bone. Many foods lower pH, while fruits and vegetables and certain mineral supplements raise pH. Boron is especially important for maintaining bone density.
What is “a healthy pH”?
Measuring the pH of a liquid determines whether the liquid is acidic or alkaline. A pH below 7 means the liquid is acidic, above 7 the pH is alkaline. The phrase “the pH of the body” refers to the pH of the watery solution inside the cells of the body. The phrase “a healthy pH” means that generally the pH inside the cells of the body is somewhere between 7.0 and 7.4.
It’s too difficult to measure cellular pH without cutting up some flesh or using incredibly expensive microscopic instruments. Liquids outside of cells usually have a different pH measurement than cellular pH, but give an indication of cellular pH.
Saliva pH is a fairly current indication of pH of the body. Saliva pH indicates what body pH was about 30 minutes to an hour ago. For example, changes in pH caused by a glass of soda can be seen in saliva pH in about 30 minutes. Saliva pH is a much more definite indication of body pH than urine pH and is much more timely and accurate than urine pH. A healthy saliva pH is between 6.8 to 7.2.
Saliva Tests May Soon Replace Blood TestsUrine pH is a measurement of the result of intake of food, junk food, water, medication, etc. throughout the day of the day before. Healthy morning urine pH is 5.5 to 6.5. The low pH of urine is created by cellular waste, mostly uric acid. Generally, urine pH is out of date information. Saliva pH is much closer to real-time information if you want to see if what you’re doing is making a difference in normalizing your pH.
The body has many chemical mechanisms for keeping blood pH fairly constant at 7.35. When bone loses calcium due to low pH, some of the calcium is moved to the blood to maintain blood pH.
Foods That Lower pH
Table salt is pure salt plus added iodine (to prevent goiter - hyperthyroidism). Iodine lowers pH but sodium raises pH so iodine doesn’t lower the pH of salt enough to worry about. Many medications lower pH. Alcohol lowers pH. The pH of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is very low at pH 2.2. Mega doses (1000 mg) and even non mega doses (100 mg) of ascorbic acid lower pH. Ascorbic acid should be avoided and more alkaline forms of vitamin C, such as sodium ascorbate or magnesium ascorbate should be used.
Carbon lowers pH. Believe it or not, just holding your breath and allowing carbon dioxide to build in your body will lower your pH. The carbonation of soda (fizz, bubbles) is carbon dioxide filled bubbles. In soda, the carbon combines with water to form carbonic acid, which is acidic. Soda has a pH of anywhere from 2.5 to 5.5. Soda that becomes flat lacks the carbon dioxide bubbles and therefore has a much higher pH. The glass of diet root beer pictured was left out for 24 hours and the pH rose from 4.5 to 6.5. Citric acid is a common ingredient in soda and also lowers pH. Soda’s inherent pH problem, numerous chemicals, acid-forming sugar content, and large volume per serving makes soda the number one most unhealthy food product there is. Do yourself a favor and avoid it.
Continually low body pH is called acidosis. The uneasy and restless feeling of low pH and high pH (alkalosis) can easily be mistaken for nutritional deficiencies, food allergies, and even ADHD.
Soda, chewable vitamin C, and unencapsulated ascorbic acid dissolve tooth enamel. A little ascorbic acid somehow caught between the lip and a tooth overnight can create a minor cavity over night, enough for plaque to start collecting and make the cavity worse.
This pH chart provides more information on foods and minerals that lower pH.
Bones aren’t the only thing leached from by low pH. Water treatment plants add sodium hydroxide and other high pH substances to tap water to prevent the pH from dropping too low. Low pH water will leach lead from solder joints made with lead-containing solder. Lead-containing solder was banned in 1987. Low pH also leaches mercury from amalgam dental fillings (50%mercury 50%silver). Low pH water contains more bacteria and viruses and therefore requires more chlorine to be safe enough to drink.
Ban on Lead-Containing Solder (.gov)Foods that Raise pH
Canning salt is pure salt (NaCl), raises pH, and is sold next to table salt. Most fruits and vegetables have an acidic pH. During digestion the acids in fruits and vegetable are completely broken down leaving only the mineral content to affect pH. The mineral content of fruits and vegetables, mainly potassium, raises pH.
Forms of minerals that raise pH end in “ate”, for example, zinc picolinate, calcium citrate. Continually high pH is called alkalosis.
This pH chart provides more information on foods and minerals that raise pH.
Testing Saliva pH
Testing pH level is easy. Test strips are sold at pet stores that sell fish. After about 45 minutes or more after a meal or beverage, wipe off lips with tongue, spit several times, spit on the pH test strip, wait for the test strip to change color, and match color of test strip with the color chart on the label.
A digital pH meter is very handy and easy to use, just make sure you don’t buy a digital pH meter made for gardening. Have the meter off, spit on it, turn it on, wait for the LCD measurement to hold still (a few seconds or so), read LCD measurement, and remember to shut it off. Normal digestive acids keep saliva pH a little below blood pH. A healthy saliva pH is 6.8 to 7.2.
Boron
Boron is an essential nutrient and part of the government’s RDA. The RDA for boron for adults is 20mg a day. Boron is necessary for bone health because it activates vitamin D. Boron is needed to make use of both calcium and magnesium. Studies show boron reduces the symptoms of arthritis and degenerative bone diseases (osteoporosis and Paget’s disease). Boron also reduces the pain caused by these illnesses. One study found that a significant boron deficiency decreases brain activity similar to lead poisoning.
Boron Relieves Pain (.gov)Relationship Between Boron and Mg (.gov)
Soda Causes Bone Loss
Surgeon General’s First Report on Bone Health (.gov)
Bone pain is also known to be caused by a vitamin A deficiency. The body converts beta carotene to the exact amount of vitamin A it needs, so long as the body is not deficient of zinc. Strange bone pain, for example in toes, can be caused by vitamin A deficiency, which can be easily corrected with beta carotene. Diseases that cause bone loss can also cause bone pain.
Magnesium
According to the National Institutes of Health, “Magnesium is needed for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body. It helps maintain normal muscle and nerve function, keeps heart rhythm steady, supports a healthy immune system, and keeps bones strong. Magnesium also helps regulate blood sugar levels, promotes normal blood pressure, and is known to be involved in energy metabolism and protein synthesis. There is an increased interest in the role of magnesium in preventing and managing disorders such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.”
Quote / Magnesium FactSheet (.gov)Food in general doesn’t contain much magnesium - to agree all you have to do is use a food values chart to try to create a day of meals you would actually eat that provides the RDA for magnesium (300mg). Magnesium supplements are very helpful in maintaining a healthy diet. Always take magnesium before bed. Start off with half a dose every other day. The higher the quality magnesium supplement the less magnesium needed. Too much magnesium day after day causes deep fatigue, while the right amount of magnesium significantly increases endurance. Magnesium slows time so never take magnesium before work - magnesium will make 8 hours of work feel like 12 hours of work. Be sure to take magnesium after a movie, not before, otherwise the movie will seem like it’s moving very slow. Probably the best forms of magnesium are magnesium citrate and orotate.
Nutritional Food Values (”W” list more useful) (.gov)Nutritional Values of Food (.gov, .pdf)
Best Forms Of Calcium
Because the body is water based (70% water), minerals have to be soluble (dissolvable) in water in order to be absorbed by the body. Whether a form of a mineral is absorbable (bioavailable) depends on the pH needed for the mineral to dissolve in water.
Many forms of calcium are not bioavailable at a healthy pH of 6.8-7.2. Calcium carbonate, for example, needs a lower pH to be bioavailable. Calcium carbonate is used in nutritional supplements and as an added ingredient in many foods. Calcium carbonate is also known as scale (found around your faucet aerator), lime, limestone, marble, chalk, portland cement, and dolomite. Calcium phosphate is also not readily bioavailable and found in many supplements as a filler or binder labeled as “di calcium phosphate”. Calcium citrate is a readily bioavailable form of calcium and probably the best form of calcium.
Forms of calcium that are not bioavailable will become bioavailable if pH of chyme drops far enough. During a meal, water is drawn to the meal to make a thick solution called chyme. Stomach acids with a pH of 1.5 are released and mixed with the chyme in order to break food down into component parts. The chyme can have a low enough pH to make calcium carbonate and other low quality forms of calcium supplements absorbable. High quality calcium supplements, like calcium citrate, don’t need such a low pH to be absorbed and therefore don’t have to be taken with a meal.
According to the National Institute of Arthritis “You can find out how well [your calcium supplement] dissolves by placing it in a small amount of warm water for 30 minutes and stirring it occasionally. If it hasn’t dissolved within this time, it probably will not dissolve in your stomach. Chewable and liquid calcium supplements dissolve well because they are broken down before they enter the stomach.” It may be best to type “liquid calcium” into your favorite shopping search engine to find a good calcium supplement.
What To Look For In Calcium Supplements (.gov)Calcium supplements and supplements of several other minerals are alkaline-forming and can raise pH too high (alkalosis) for some, some calcium supplements even come with pH test strips (coral calcium). Symptoms of high pH are light headedness, confusion, and for some unexplained energy. Unfortunately high pH is brought back down by alcohol. If one is not aware of having high pH, it can lead to unknowingly drinking for relief from high pH and the relief ends as soon as the next alkaline-forming supplement is taken. The only way to get control of this situation is to use pH test strips to figure out which supplement(s) is raising pH too high. Saliva pH (as an indication of body pH) really needs to be around 6.8 to 7.4.(pH chart)
Exercise
The pounding of bones when walking or running somehow informs the body to start making bones more dense. Increase in bone density can be measured in just a few weeks of any sort of increased foot work activity.
Vitamin D
Of course, the body cannot make use of calcium if there’s a deficiency of vitamin D. There are two forms of vitamin D. Vitamin D2 is found in plant foods. Vitamin D3 is found in animal food. The body uses D3 more readily than D2. Vitamin D3 goes through several changes until it becomes calcitriol. Supplements of vitamin D3 (and D2) can be found in health food stores. Calcitriol is available by prescription only. The blood test for intake of vitamin D is the 25-hydroxylvitamin D test and results should be around 50 ng/mL (or 125 if measured in nM/L).
The form of vitamin D added to milk (to prevent rickets in children) is D3. Butter contains some vitamin D3. Margarine doesn’t contain any D3 at all. The increase in colon cancer over the last three decades may be due to the loss of vitamin D due to increase use of margarine over butter. Bone pain can be caused by a vitamin D deficiency.
Sources and RDA For Vitamin D (.gov, scroll down 1/4)Vitamin D
Vitamin D Council
See “Review of Vitamin D”
Phosphorus
Too much phosphorus lowers pH and is plentiful in animal food. Grains (including whole grains) and legumes (especially soybeans), and other plant foods are high in phosphorus in the form of phytic acid (also known as inositol hexaphosphate, IP6). Phytic acid cannot be digested by the human body so the main source of phosphorus for most is animal food. But phytic acid in the body combines with calcium, magnesium, manganese, iron, and zinc preventing absorption of these minerals. Soaking grains and legumes in 140 degree water and then cooking reduces phytic acid by about 50% without adversely affecting taste. But a supplement of calcium citrate, especially a multimineral supplement of citrate forms of minerals will out maneuver the phytic acid problem.
Copper
A little copper is needed for bone strength. Most people get enough copper just from drinking water passing through copper plumbing. If you’ve ever looked inside a copper pipe (for incoming water) that’s been in use for a number of years, you’ll see green “stuff” built up inside. The greenness is copper and water picks some of it up as it passes by. In fact, CPVC (tan, plastic) piping for cold water is not as healthy as copper piping, unless of course blood level of copper is too high. Supplements of copper are not a good idea unless in a multivitamin supplement. Don’t take a separate supplement of copper and certainly don’t take double doses or mega doses of copper supplements. Too much copper can cause emotional symptoms. For some reason, many schizophrenics have high copper and low zinc levels.
Bone Health and Other Nutrients (.gov)Ipriflavone
Ipriflavone is a plant extract and has been used in Japan and other countries for many years to stop bone loss and for some possibly rebuild bone. It doesn’t work for everyone. Ipriflavone is a synthetic phytoestrogen.
Ipriflavone (.gov)Glandular Disease and Bone Loss
The parathyroid glands are not thyroid glands. There are 4 parathyroid glands and are located near the thyroid glands. The parathyroid glands keep blood calcium normal during low calcium intake by secreting parathyroid hormone (PTH), which cause the release of calcium from bone. When one or more of these glands releases too much PTH (called hyperparathyroidism) more calcium is released from bone than necessary. Fortunately when one or more parathyroid glands releases too much PTH, the healthy parathyroid glands become dormant.
Serum calcium (blood calcium) level is used to pre test for hyperparathyroid hormone. If serum calcium is above 10.2 and below 13mg/dL (a $17 test) then the test for PTH hormone is usually ordered. If PTH is above 65pg/dL, usually the disease hyperparathyroidism is the diagnosis.
PTH Test (.gov)Once the parathyroid gland(s) that is releasing too much PTH is removed, the other healthy parathyroid glands come out of dormancy in a few days and will maintain normal blood calcium, thus surgery cures this disease.
One cause of hyperparathyroidism is the kidneys not releasing the active form of vitamin D. This causes the parathyroid glands to release too much PTH, causing too much calcium to be released from bone. The active form of vitamin D is called calcitriol and is available by prescription.
Vitamin D Fact Sheet (.gov)Vitamin D
Would a drug be useful for bone loss caused by the disease? No. The body repairs broken bones better than new and certainly can increase bone density on its own - if it’s given what it needs to increase bone density, including a supplement of boron (ionic boron is best), a supplement of magnesium, and a supplement of a high bioavailable calcium supplement (calcium citrate). Keeping body pH normal (saliva pH of 7.0-7.2) is very important in preventing leaching of calcium from bone. The pounding of walking signals the body to increase bone density.
There are several other diseases that cause bone loss.
High Blood Calcium (.gov)Other Causes Of Bone Loss
Vegetarians who don’t drink soda lose half as much bone in their old age compared to meat eaters.
The coffee drinking population has over twice as many hip fractures as non coffee drinkers.
Homocysteine
Homocysteine and Hip Fractures (.gov)Bone Loss and Losing Teeth
How To prevent Bone Loss Around Teeth(1) pH is a measurement of the number of hydrogen ions compared to the number of hydroxide ions in a solution, with a pH of 7 mathematically defined as an equal number of both. The term “pH” is an abbreviation for potential hydrogen.
