Measuring stomach pH/function using pH paper

The official way to measure stomach pH is to start with the stomach empty so only fluid remains in the stomach. Stomach fluid is removed through a tube that is inserted into the stomach through the esophagus (food pipe).

An easier way to approach this to get a “relative” stomach pH is to use pH paper to test your saliva. Normal saliva pH should be 6.4 as the pH of the stomach goes up and down the saliva will change in its pH as well.

You can demonstrate this on yourself by checking your pH and then consuming a meal and recheck your pH over the next hour. You should notice that your pH becomes alkaline right away as the acid in the stomach is being diluted by the food. In most cases it takes 30 minutes to an hour before your pH returns to the pre-meal state. If it takes longer for your pH to return to normal that suggest a weakness in the digestive process. Even though this test doesn’t give you an exact stomach pH it will give you a functional pH significant enough to tell you how your digestive process is doing.

To do proper pH testing on the body it’s important to have pH paper that is sensitive to subtle changes. The common pH paper that’s found in the drugstore is usually not sensitive enough to do proper body pH testing. Some papers only test every .5 in the pH scale you want to paper that tests every .2 in the pH scale. Your urine and saliva pH should be 6.4 under normal circumstances during the day. The exceptions to this is that your urine pH becomes concentrated overnight and tends to be more acid. And so if you want an accurate urine pH it’s best to check it sometime after your first morning void. Then the pH should be 6.4 any other time that you tested it unless you’re having an allergy reaction which would tend to make it more acidic.

Your saliva as we mentioned earlier will become more alkaline right after a meal. So the best time to check your saliva pH is either before you eat or more than an hour after you eat.

By checking your saliva pH every 30 minutes after a meal can reveal subtle problems with the digestive process. If it takes more than an hour for your saliva pH to return to its pre-meal state then that suggest a weak digestive system.

The problem in the digestive system causing your saliva pH to be off could be anywhere within the digestive track and so an evaluation is necessary to find the source of the problem. We recommend that if you start a meal at a pH 7 or higher that you take enzymes both before and after that meal. Most enzymes are best taken at the end of a meal unless their vegetable-based enzymes. The idea is that you want your digestive system to do as much as it can and then just supplement it to help improve a more thorough breakdown of your foods.

Undigested food is an irritant to your colon. This is why chronic use of antacids are so dangerous not only because they put undigested food which is an irritant to the lining of the colon but they also allow microorganisms that would normally be killed in the upper digestive track. HCl helps purify your food as well as breaking it down. So chronic use of antacids would deprive you of essential nutrients from the foods that you eat. And since minerals are metal they will be the first of the nutrients that you will start noticing deficiencies from. But other elements like B-12 are classically found low in people who use antacids chronically.

 “The FDA report cautions against high doses

or prolonged use of PPIs, because they’ve been

shown to increase the risk of infection, bone fractures and dementia.”

But the danger doesn’t stop there. All acid stopping drugs (not just PPIs) inhibit nutrient absorption, promote bacterial overgrowth,reduce resistance to infection and increase the risk of cancer and other serious diseases.”

Your body pH, which is tested through the urine, can also be a factor affecting your digestive pH. It’s not uncommon to find both of these pHs to be extremely different and at opposite extremes. If your urine pH, body pH, becomes way too acid there can be a negative feedback loop that suppresses your stomach’s production of even more acid. So an attempt to correct your digestive pH you might have to utilize techniques to improve your body pH. Since most of our chronic diseases develop in an inflammatory chemistry having an acid urine can be a indicator of inflammatory chemistry.

Utilizing alkaline water or alkalizing foods can have a healing effect on an inflammatory chemistry. You can ask for a pH food list to help correct your body pH if it is too acid or to alkaline. If your urine is too acid then you need to eat more alkalizing foods which are listed on the handout.