Is Acid Causing Your Joint Pain?

It doesn’t take a chemistry major to know that acid is bad for your health. Certainly you won’t be opening up a D-cell battery and dumping out its contents on your salad anytime soon, right?

Take a look at the terminals on your car’s battery, or inside a child’s toy after the batteries have been left to sit for too long. You’ll likely get a good visual reminder of the corrosive nature of acid.

But guess what. Acidity is often found right inside your own body. Some of it is good and necessary. But too much acidity, called acidosis, can cause pain… or even death.

What is acidosis?

You may have heard of pH before, perhaps in the term “pH balanced” in a commercial. Basically, pH is a measure of how acid, or in the opposite direction, alkaline (or base) a substance is from water, which is considered neutral.

Measurement of pH usually falls in a range of 0 — 14. Lower numbers indicate more acidity while higher numbers are more alkaline. In the chart above you’ll find battery acid actually falls below that range meaning very high acidity. Stomach acid is also highly acidic. That’s how it helps digest your food.

Blood pH, on the other hand, should fall in a relatively narrow range of about 7.35 – 7.45 pH, which is slightly more alkaline, or even less acidic, than water. Acidosis occurs when acid levels rise in the blood causing its pH level to fall below 7.35. Values greatly outside the normal range can lead to irreversible cell damage.

How bad is acidosis? Just take a look:

Believe it or not, that’s just for starters.

How acidosis causes joint pain

What you don’t see on the Symptoms of Acidosis chart above is how excess acidity leads to inflammation and joint pain. Of course, arthritis itself is a form of inflammation in the joints. So how does acidity cause joint pain? Like this…

As your body becomes more acidic, acid toxins, calcium and other minerals are deposited into your joints. Chronic inflammation caused by chronic acidity becomes widespread throughout your body. Combined, these cause pain and degenerative arthritis in your joints. Worse, chronic systemic inflammation is also linked to chronic fatigue, heart disease, fibromyalgia, and cancer.

The good news is the whole process of acidosis can be reversed by restoring the proper pH balance to your blood through increased alkalinity. Before you know it you’ll have less pain and better health.

Restore proper pH balance to your body

Most westerners consume a diet full of acidic foods and beverages. Coffee, soda, and alcoholic beverages are poor drink choices. Dairy products, processed foods, sugary foods, meats and pastas are some of the top acidic food hazards many of us eat on a daily basis.

But this doesn’t mean you have to give all of these up altogether. Instead, focus on increasing the percentage of alkaline foods you consume to about 75-80% of your diet.

Many fresh vegetables are highly alkalizing, counteracting the effect of other acidic foods we eat. Sour cherries, figs, and fresh coconut make great alkalizing snack choices too.

You can begin your health transformation by eating more leafy green salads with a simple lemon juice, fresh herb and olive oil dressing. If you prefer vinegar, choose a raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar. While lemons and cider vinegar are acidic during digestion, they both have an alkalizing effect on our pH.

Avoid the high acid foods and drinks I just mentioned. When you eat healthier with high alkaline foods you will finally be able to throw off the food cravings that keep you constantly hunting for snack foods. Add in more fruit and especially vegetable juices to your diet for a great acid-busting pick-me-up.

Here’s a great tasting high alkaline recipe you can create at home in your own juicer or high-end blender to get you started:

High Alkaline Delicious Vegetable Drink

2 large carrots
1/4 head of cabbage or a small bunch of kale
1/2 cucumber
1/2 medium red beet
optional: add some parsley and / or a pinch of salt