Acid - base

October 28, 2002

In a simplified way : an acid is a chemical which contains Hydrogen ions

H+ loaded with a positive electrical charge. A typical example is the Hydrochloric

acid HCl made of one atome of Hydrogen H and one atome of Chorine Cl. When

you dip that molecule in the water H becomes H+, it loses one electron

to Cl who becomes Cl-.

HCl is present in our stomach.

A base is a chemical which contains Hydroxide ions OH- loaded with a

negative electrical charge. A typical example is Sodium Hydroxide Na OH,

very useful to unplug sink drains. it is made of one atom of Sodium Na,

one atome of Hydrogen H and one atom of Oxygen O, When you dip it in water

(Stay away) it becomes Na+ and OH-.

When you mix acid and base, usually you get some kind of inert compound,

and water. For example you mix HCl and NaOH - you get NaCl the common salt,

and H2O water.

The pH is a system to measure the acidity or basicity of a liquid. Pure

water is pH 7, acids are below (6, 5, 4...1) Bases are above : (8, 9, 10...

14)

An acid of pH 5 is 10 times more concentrated than an acid of pH 6

An acid of pH 4 is 100 times more concentrated than an acid of pH 6

The venoms of ants is an acid (Formic acid), When ants bite you, you

can soothe the pain with a lite base (Ammonia)

The venom of wasps is basic, when you are stung, you can soothe the

pain with a light acid (Vinegar)

You have to be careful when you mix these things together, or just with

water. Usually the transformation releases lots of heat.

In the body of course this does not happen because the concentrations

are low.

There is Hydrochloric acid in the stomach to help digestion. The stomach

is lined to resist the acidity, but not the intestines. So later on, the

Gall bladder releases bile which is a base. This neutralizes the effect

of the hydrochloric acid and prevents it to attack the walls of your intestine.

Chemical balance is critical to the body's functioning. Therefore, the

body controls its chemicals very strictly. The acid-base balance must be

between a pH of 7.35 and 7.45 or trouble will start. (the ambiance of the

body is generally basic (a base)) Every other chemical in the body is affected

by the acid-base balance. The most important chemicals in this system are

sodium, chloride, potassium, calcium, ammonium, carbon dioxide, oxygen,

and phosphates.

The lungs rapidly adjust acid-base balance by the speed of breathing,

because carbon dioxide dissolved in water is an acid--carbonic acid. Faster

breathing eliminates more carbon dioxide, decreases the carbonic acid in

the blood and increases the pH. Holding your breath does the opposite.

When you breath faster, you make you blood more basic. When you hold your

breath, you make your blood more acid.

The kidneys also regulate acid-base balance somewhat more slowly than

the lungs. They handle all the chemicals,

often trading one for another that is more or less acidic. The trading

takes place between the blood and the urine, so

that extra chemicals end up passing out of the body. If the kidneys do

not effectively eliminate acid, it builds up in the blood, leading to a

condition called metabolic acidosis.

Hope this is not too technical and did help.

Frederic

walmart_hurts wrote:

> What do you think, if anything,

about the yin and

> yang aspects of digestion? What is an acid? What is a

> base?

I don't think that I have the thourough grounding in both Western

and

Eastern ideas of nutrition that I would need to bridge the gap

sucessfully between different ideas regarding digestion and pH

levels, so I haven't really spent that much time trying to.

My understanding of the TCM process of digestion leads me to believe

that it is Yang in nature; It relies on quite a bit of transformation

and separation in transmuting food into the various forms of qi.

Transformation, especially of a denser form of energy (food) into

a

lighter form (qi) seems Yang to me.

The Yin aspects of digestion seem to be most strongly linked with

elimination. However, my understanding of this process is still

somewhat shaky. It mostly seeems to involve filtering the

denser "turbid" energy from the lighter, and eventually expelling

the "turbid of the turbid" energies the form of urine and feces.

This

process of downward filtering and condensing makes me consider

this

portion of digestion Yin.

I haven't really thought about acids and bases to any great degree,

although I have been looking into the macrobiotic explaination

for

this. Macrobiotics also makes a correlation between yin/yang and

acid/alkaline. Although this seems like an odd idea to me, I thought

I would give it a deeper look. Compared to Reid's theories of

alkaline digestion, the macrobiotic theories that yin or yang foods

can raise the pH level of a persons blood seem a bit more reasonable.

I am currently awaiting a book on the macrobiotic acid/alkaline

viewpoint called _Acid_and_Alkaline_ by Herman Aihara that will

hopefully shed some more light on the subject.

Mbanu

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October 28, 2002

Thanks, Frederic.

> The venoms of ants is an acid (Formic acid), When ants bite you,

you can

> soothe the pain with a lite base (Ammonia)

I wish I had known this when we lived in Arizona. There are some

aggressive red ants there whose stings are very painful for several

hours.

> The venom of wasps is basic, when you are stung, you can soothe the

pain

> with a light acid (Vinegar)

>

> You have to be careful when you mix these things together, or just

with

> water. Usually the transformation releases lots of heat.

So you definitely want to use mild acids and bases in low

concentrations.

> Chemical balance is critical to the body's functioning. Therefore,

the

> body controls its chemicals very strictly. The acid-base balance

must be

> between a pH of 7.35 and 7.45 or trouble will start. (the ambiance

of

> the body is generally basic (a base)) Every other chemical in the

body

> is affected by the acid-base balance. The most important chemicals

in

> this system are sodium, chloride, potassium, calcium, ammonium,

carbon

> dioxide, oxygen, and phosphates.

The pH will affect the availability of certain minerals. This

applies not only to bodies but to soil. For example, soil " locks "

onto iron at high (base) pHs. It will not let go of it until the

soil is acified. (The pH brought down.) A typical sign of lack of

iron in plants will be green veins in the leaves, but the rest of the

leaves are yellow. Iron deficiency in non-native plants - like

citrus trees - is a problem in deserts. First of all, " aridisols "

(technical name for desert soils) are very low in iron. But simply

adding iron to the soil is not enough to correct the problem because

aridisols also are very alkaline (high pH). The soil just locks onto

any iron added and won't give it up to the plants. The soil has to

be acified at the same time the iron is added to the soil in order

for the plant to be able to get the iron. Or, spray iron onto the

leaves.

> The lungs rapidly adjust acid-base balance by the speed of

breathing,

> because carbon dioxide dissolved in water is an acid--carbonic acid.

> Faster breathing eliminates more carbon dioxide, decreases the

carbonic

> acid in the blood and increases the pH. Holding your breath does the

> opposite. When you breath faster, you make you blood more basic.

When

> you hold your breath, you make your blood more acid.

I want to emphasize this one because it's something that healers will

see with some frequency. Some of the cases of anxiety and panic

attacks you will see are due to " Respiratory Alkalosis " . The person

will feel like s/he is suffocating and needs oxygen when the opposite

is the case. The oxygen level is too high, and the carbon dioxide

level is too low. The person is too alkaline.

Naturally, when a person feels like s/he is suffocating and needs

more oxygen, the person is going to breathe faster. This makes the

problem of Respiratory Alkalosis even worse because the level of CO2

falls even more while the level of O2 rises more. The solution is to

have the person breathe into a paper bag or hold the breath. This

will result in the CO2 rising, the O2 level falling, and the end of

the panic and anxiety. (I want to mention that any breathing

problems will result in anxiety, and sometimes the person's O2 level

is too low. If the person's anxiety and full-blown panic attack is

coming from Respiratory Alkalosis, the holding the breath or

breathing into a paper bag will work relatively quickly. There will

be some lessening or the anxiety or panic within seconds.)

> Hope this is not too technical and did help.

It is just right. You have a talent for explaining scientific

matters in a very accesible and understandable way.

Victoria

October 28, 2002

Bear in mind that there are slight differences between the way TCM and Macrobiotics see Yin and Yang. Macrobiotics see Yang as an inwardly going spiral while Yin is an outwardly going one. Transporting to dietetics Yang foods are hard (salt being the ultimate Yang) and go inward, grounding and concentrate, while Yin foods are dispersing and centrifugal. Quite the opposite of TCM. Still, both Macrobiotics and TCM see warm and hot foods as Yang and cool and cold foods as Yin.

Just examples of how the interpretation if Yin/Yang differ in these disciplines.

I haven't really thought about acids and bases to any great degree, although I have been looking into the macrobiotic explaination for this. Macrobiotics also makes a correlation between yin/yang and acid/alkaline. Although this seems like an odd idea to me, I thought I would give it a deeper look. Compared to Reid's theories of alkaline digestion, the macrobiotic theories that yin or yang foods can raise the pH level of a persons blood seem a bit more reasonable. I am currently awaiting a book on the macrobiotic acid/alkaline viewpoint called _Acid_and_Alkaline_ by Herman Aihara that will hopefully shed some more light on the subject. Mbanu Post message: Chinese Traditional Medicine Subscribe: Chinese Traditional Medicine- Un: Chinese Traditional Medicine- List owner: Chinese Traditional Medicine-owner Shortcut URL to this page: /community/Chinese Traditional Medicine