What we eat is critical to the function of our connexin molecules. If we eat the proper foods, our connexin molecules may remain open and connected and operate so that we may be healthy. If we eat the wrong foods, our connexins become dysfunctional and closed, and we may become ill.
Over the last sixty years, the creation of processed foods has accelerated dietary change as never before! Simply put, the human genome cannot possibly adapt quickly enough to such a rapid and radical alteration of the food supply. Our biochemistry and physiology are left confused and disrupted by this new diet. Our modern, processed-food diet has resulted in a major reduction of molecules in our food that can enhance connexin function in favor of molecules that close or reduce connexin function
THE HUMAN BODY AND MOST LIFE FORMS STRIVE TO BE NOT ACIDIC; THEY PREFER TO BE THE OPPOSITE, OR SLIGHTLY ALKALINE. CLINICALLY, A BLOOD PH OF 7.4 IS CONSIDERED NORMAL. IF YOUR BLOOD PH IS LESS THAN 7.4, YOU ARE SAID TO BE ACIDIC, TO HAVE AN ACIDOSIS OR A BASE DEFICIT; IF YOUR BLOOD PH IS GREATER THAN 7.4, YOU ARE TERMED ALKALINE, SAID TO BE ALKALOTIC OR TO HAVE A BASE EXCESS.
Clinically, the gold standard for measuring a person’s overall acid/base balance is blood pH. Blood pH is an overall composite of what is going on in the whole body and is regulated primarily by your kidneys, lungs, intestines, and liver. To know exactly what is going on at the cellular level would be ideal, but it is not clinically practical to measure the pH within the cell. Practically, the most useful pH measure for following one’s diet and consumption of acid-producing or alkalinizing foods is to measure urine pH.
The pH in blood is maintained within the narrow range of 7.35 to 7.45. Your body maintains this narrow range by using buffers -- chemicals that can switch back and forth between 2 forms, a weak acid or weak base. The buffers are only temporary "stop gaps" to avoid dramatic changes in blood pH. A blood pH of 7.4 is considered normal, while is considered acidic if less than 7.4.
Long-term correction of blood pH requires the kidneys to excrete the acid or base in urine. For example, when your blood pH is low (acidic), your kidneys react by excreting more acid in the urine. The urine pH becomes more acidic until the blood pH returns to normal.
Urine pH can change quickly and by large amounts (2–3 pH units) in response to a person’s diet. Thereby, urine pH provides you with rapid feedback regarding the nature of your diet. A rapid change in urine pH does not signify that a rapid change in blood pH will follow. However, if urine pH is constantly measured as acidic over long periods of time (months), it is indicative that the body is chronically producing large amounts of acid (most likely from acid-generating foods). If your urine pH is constantly measured as alkaline over time, this is an indicator that your diet is overall net-alkalinizing, and your body is not likely to be acidic.
The following figure begins with acid-producing food or dietary constituents being broken down by your intestines and then transported through the blood to your liver and other cells where they are metabolized. Metabolism of protein and organic acids by the liver results in acid generation (H+), which enters the blood and eventually reaches all cells. Other constituents in our food are absorbed and metabolized to yield acid (H+) or base (OH–).
Two tissue types, bone and muscle, are shown in continuity with blood. When the blood is acidic (H+) and equilibrates with bone or muscle, this leads to their breakdown. Acidosis of the blood results in calcium removal from the bone that is used to buffer the blood, or in other words, neutralize the acid. This loss of bone calcium results in osteoporosis. In turn, the calcium in the blood is filtered by the kidney and can lead to kidney stone formation.
Our urine pH reflects the net renal acid load generated in our body, which comes primarily from eating acid-generating foods. Therefore urine pH is highly reflective of our diet.
pH and Disease
The eight major diseases are linked to the connexin molecule and its dysfunction. Medical and scientific studies show that the net acid-producing diet of modern man along with declining kidney function (this reduces the ability to remove acids from our body) as we age, results in the formation of a metabolic state known as chronic low-grade metabolic acidosis. This acidosis, or too much acid in our bodies, can diminish connexin function and lead to disease.
In addition to opening and closing the connexin molecule, pH also regulates connexin gene expression or the number of connexins. An acidic pH reduces connexin mRNA (the message from which connexins are made). This results in decreased production of connexin molecules, which in turn results in a net decrease in overall cellular connexin function.
From: http://www.molecularfitness.com/hcn1_0/urine_ph_vs_bbood_ph.aspx
http://healthguide.howstuffworks.com/urine-ph-dictionary.htm
