Question: When these liquids are acidic, are they by nature taking electrons away causing oxidation and formation of free radicals?
Dr. Young: When we ingest any acidic food or drink, our body immediately reacts to neutralize or buffer the acid. For example, let’s say you drink a glass of orange juice. But before drinking the orange juice you test the pH of your saliva. After drinking the orange juice you test your saliva pH again. You would think that drinking orange juice, which has a pH between 2.5 to 3 and is highly acidic, would actually cause the pH of your saliva to go down. But it does not. The saliva pH goes up higher then when you first tested the pH. The pH of the saliva should test out over 8. What is happening is the salivary glands are releasing sodium bicarbonate to buffer the acids of the orange juice. This is why the saliva pH goes up. If the saliva pH does not go up this indicates that your alkaline reserves are deficient. All forms of sugar are acidic to the body. Even fruit sugars are acidic. When the body is trying to neutralize an acid, it has to secrete an alkaline buffer to do so. When you ingest sugar or you drink a glass of fresh orange juice, or you take any acidic food in the mouth, the pH will sharply go up to neutralize the acid from that food. This is done to protect the alkaline design of the body. When you start using up your alkaline reserves and you do not replace those reserves with alkaline foods and drinks, you begin to compromise other parts of the body. Especially if, the daily diet is loaded with acidic foods and drinks. When the alkaline reserves are deficient and the diet is also deficient in foods or drinks that will build up those alkaline reserves the body starts pulling alkaline minerals from the bones and muscles. This causes deficiencies of the bones and muscles. When your blood is compromised from a deficiency of alkaline reserves, such as sodium bicarbonate or the elements to make sodium bicarbonate, the body will begin pulling calcium from the bones and/or magnesium from the muscles to maintain the alkalinity of the blood plasma. This is when you will start experiencing the deficiencies of alkalinity that are expressed in the seven stages of acidosis, going from sensitivities all the way up to degeneration.
