Gout Pal Interactive

Thaijim

Jim

Thank you, Jim, for raising that question. It's been on MY mind for some time.  As a matter of fact, there are several questions:

1) How does one measure, relatively accurately, alkalinity (pH) of urine, stomach acid, saliva, body?

2) What impact does the pH of the various items mentioned have on the well-being or ill-being of a person?

3) How does/can one control and/or change the various pH's?

4) What significance does a “high” or “low” pH have?

5) What is the “recommended” healthy pH to achieve and/or maintain a healthy body/life???

hansinnm said:

Thaijim

…I am curious to know how or what is used to measure alkalinity…?

Jim

Thank you, Jim, for raising that question. It's been on MY mind for some time.  As a matter of fact, there are several questions:

1) How does one measure, relatively accurately, alkalinity (pH) of urine, stomach acid, saliva, body?

Zip has already mentioned that body pH (i.e. blood) is maintained pretty constantly. The mechanism is a little beyond me, but has much to do withe storing/relasing the aforementioned hydrogen ions in various bits of the body (wish I'd done more than disect frogs in biology class). Stomach acid is not something you could measure. Urine and saliva can be measured with pH papers or electronic meters.

2) What impact does the pH of the various items mentioned have on the well-being or ill-being of a person?

Though there are definitely a few new-agers who claim pH affects everything, there is a strong body of evidence to show that there are health effects. This is way beyond the scope of this site, but be very careful where you look for extra info. I have found pHbalance to be pretty well balanced, but I have not checked all their sources. Stick to claims that can be verified in PubMed.

3) How does/can one control and/or change the various pH's?

Eat properly! Protein and phosphorous are acidifying. Potassium, magnesium, and calcium are alkalyzing. You need all of those, but in the right balance. Learn about PRAL,follow the links, then ask more questions. If you are at risk medically from acidosis (or whatever the opposite is called, you usually get treated with baking soda (or whetever cures the opposite).

4) What significance does a “high” or “low” pH have?

It depends very much on context. The significance for gout sufferers is that uric acid forms crystals more readily when pH is lower. The only fluid you can really influence is urine, which is significant for risk of stone formation. Untreated gouties can alkalize urine to avoid uric acid kidney stones. Allopurinol takers can alkalize urine to avoid oxypurinol stones.

5) What is the “recommended” healthy pH to achieve and/or maintain a healthy body/life???

6.5 to 7.5 for urine, but best to read the link at the bottom of the pHbalance page I referred to earlier. This explains how pH changes during the day and what ranges are good to aim for.

One thing that is very important to watch for is that there are thousands of sites that repeat totally unfounded information about pH. Besides general confusion in the struggle to sell something worthless, there are 2 specific points which people just get wrong.

Myth #1. pH of food is important. No it is not. It makes as much sense as “if you eat yeast and shoe polish, next day you will rise and shine”. The alkalizing comes from minerals in the food and the way they combine with hydrogen atoms. Citric acid, acetic acid and any of the other dietary acids that we eat have as much to do with this as yeast and shoe polish has to a bright start to the day!

Myth#2. This is the worst one, because it almost sounds credible. The argument is that the food as we eat it is irrelevant, and the important thing is what is left when the food is digested. This has lead to reams and reams of information about the ash content of food, measured by burning the food until all water is completely removed. Though it runs fairly close to my toast recipe, it has absolutely no relevance. This is the source of thousands of lists of acid and alkalizing food, and they are ALL wrong

To summarize, I believe that alkalizing is important for gouties and allopurinol takers, but it should not be an issue unless you have a particularly high protein diet, or like eating fireworks, matches or phosphate fertilizer. Dietary assessments give an indication of what foods should be beneficial. PRAL is a good estimate for individual foods, and there is a more accurate calculation called NEAP that assesses total daily intake. Though they give a fairly accurate assessment of your diet, to be certain of pH you can confirm it by peeing on testing paper.

(Apologies to zip2play for any wonky chemistry. In chemistry class I only woke up when our amazing science teacer threw sodium in water)

Hans- I've tried the diet proposed by Goutcare and it seems to work.

I see no reason to doubt that halving my UA in serum since  a check last year is all down to  tweaking my BP meds that can only manage 15% fall  in trials, welcome though that reduction is.

You are already convinced that an alkaline diet is better than acid, with or without gout- and though the diet is quite hard to stick to, there are loads of tips. They will probably send it without a purchase- they are a good outfit, from my dealings with them.

I hope this advice helps- I have no connection with them -other than as a customer of their UA meter.

http://www.goutcare.co.uk/#/fo…..4531860779

I have also taken advice from here and purchased the Energise test strips Juliana mentioned.

I'll report here on their use , the BBB thread is getting sidelined a bit with this very interesting issue.