Balancing act: faulty acid/alkaline levels can kill you.

There's a dangerous and undetected national health problem negatively affecting most of us. It cares little for gender or race and harms everyone from newborns to the elderly. This problem is excess acid in the lymph system (the sewage treatment plant of the body) and ignoring it could cost you your life.

What do you mean undetected acid problem?" I hear you say. "We've known about acid for decades. We've been inundated with commercials for antacid products for over 50 years. Don't you remember the jingle, 'How do you spell relief?' Everyone I know can answer that question immediately."

Millions--including newborns and children--experience acid indigestion, gas, bloating, colic and acid reflux (gastroesophageal reflux disease). Believe it or not, many two- and three-week old infants are fed antacids for their colic.

But we only see and treat the symptoms of this deadly acid imbalance rather than attacking the underlying cause, which is a malfunctioning lymph system allowing waste to build up in the body. Excess acid damages the lymph system, creating a poisonous backlog of proteins, cellular waste, and other toxins.

Living Cells

We're missing the fact that excess acid is much more than a digestive problem. You don't need to have any visible signs in order for it to be negatively affecting your health.

You're a cellular being; made up of approximately 100 trillion cells. Most of them are alive. And, just like you, they need nutrition and oxygen in order to remove waste. Every time you activate a muscle, you're asking your cells to work. Working cells produce waste byproducts such as lactic acid. These would not be a problem if your body was working optimally.

When you're out of balance and overly acidic, the lymph system--made up of a network of tiny lymph vessels (some as small as a strand of hair) and lymph nodes--becomes constricted and doesn't operate efficiently.

Think about what would happen to a flower or piece of meat if you were to place it in acid? The part making contact with the corrosive would constrict and tighten. When the internal body becomes too acidic, the lymph system constricts, causing lactic acid, proteins, cellular waste, toxins, hormones, lipids (like cholesterol), and fluid to become trapped in the tissues around your cells. This creates an unhealthy acidic environment in which your cells must live.

Headaches, migraines, anxiety, depression, chronic fatigue, asthma, obesity, heart disease, cancer, ADD, autism, and Alzheimer's all carry a common denominator: acid imbalance. You become affected where your circulation is most impeded--in your skin, muscles, bones, organs, or brain.

This acidic and toxic cellular environment is the missed root cause of many diseases. If your cells are unhealthy, you're unhealthy. So, your path back to optimum vitality begins with a balanced cellular environment.

Evidence All Around

Next time you're with your family, friends, or at work, look around. Do you see acne, beauty marks, skin tags, bumps, dark blemishes, or red irritated rashes? These are all signs that the body is out of balance and filling with dead cells, proteins, and toxins. Once you start looking, you'll be amazed at how many individuals in our nation have skin problems.

Recently I was at the post office and more than three-quarters of the 20 individuals there had obvious skin ailments. As a nation, we've become so desensitized to these skin issues that we don't even question why we have them. Even obesity is a sign that the body is acidic and out of balance. Damaged lymph systems allow excess proteins, cellular waste, lipids (fats), and other toxins to combine in the body to form fat or plaque.

Something Fishy

Think of a fish tank with a filtering system and colorful fish swimming around. What would happen to the environment of the fish if the filter became dirty and couldn't clean efficiently? First, an overgrowth of algae would appear on the tank walls. Then, because the filter can't clean the waste from the fish, the animals themselves begin to suffer, becoming sick from their own waste.

That's exactly what's occurring right now in your body. If we equate the fish tank model to the body, the fish tank is your body and your cells are the fish. The filtering system is your lymph system. When the lymph system becomes damaged, your own cellular waste builds up, creating an unhealthy cellular environment. If the fish tank becomes dirty enough, the fish eventually die. If your internal body becomes acidic and toxic, and enough of your cells become damaged and sick, the same can happen to you.

Diet Part of the Solution

Most people believe a bad diet is responsible for their acid-related health problems. This is only part of the answer. When we eat, the food we consume is broken down into either an acid or alkaline ash. Most fruits and vegetables help to create a more healthy alkaline ash, while the typical American animal protein-based diet creates an unhealthy acid ash. If you eat pasta, chocolate, beef, chicken, fish, white bread, eggs, or white rice and wash it all down with coffee, tea, soda, beer, or wine, you're creating too much acid ash. Those high-acid diets result in a very unhealthy cellular environment.

What you eat plays a large role in whether you are in balance, or out of balance and acidic. That said, I've also seen many people experiencing problems with their lymph systems who say they eat mostly vegetables. While the plant-based, alkaline diet is important, it takes much more to create vibrant health. Daily exercise, stress reduction routines, proper hydration, deep breathing, and eating less processed foods are all part of the solution as well.

Move Your Blood

The body has many ways to deal with excess acid. The lungs, pancreas, kidneys, and even sweating help detoxify acid and bring about balance. This is why exercising every day is so important. If you're not moving your blood through your organs, then proteins and acid waste can build in your blood, tissues, or organs.

Another critical part of balancing the body is proper hydration. In this day and age when water is so accessible, most Americans are dehydrated, especially if they're taking decongestants or antihistamines. The body is around 70 percent water. Blood is 90 percent water. And lymph fluid is a whopping 96 percent water. If you're dehydrated, then your circulatory and lymph system can't function efficiently and you quickly fill with acid waste.

Detoxifying Steps

There are five simple steps for detoxifying your body. Ignore them at your own peril.

STEP 1.

Learn the Warning Signs of Toxicity.

Being aware that you are becoming toxic can help you prevent a major health crisis. An example is migraines; most sufferers feel their muscles tighten in their shoulders or neck before most migraine attacks. Now that you know that tight muscles are a sign of acidity and toxicity, you can take steps to balance your body to prevent a health crisis.

STEP 2.

Green Up Your Diet

That doesn't mean just eat green vegetables. "Green" your diet by eating a large variety of fruits and vegetables. Alkalinizing nutritional supplements can help, too, as does drinking water, which is naturally pH balanced.

STEP 3.

Increase Your Circulation

Tear yourself away from the television, the computer, even your easy chair and head outdoors for some exercise. Take along some bottled water to keep you hydrated. Don't forget to breathe deeply of fresh, unpolluted air.

In the winter, or in heavy traffic areas, find large indoor spaces like community health centers or shopping mails for high-spirited walks or jogs. These are simple steps that most people miss. Being well hydrated, exercising daily, and deep breathing all help to detoxify the body.

STEP 5.

Reduce Your Stress

Yes, easier said than done, but entirely possible. Get yourself a massage, learn to meditate, and enjoy relaxing walks--all excellent ways to reduce stress. You might consider going "newsfree" for a day or skipping television completely for a week.

Stress is a killer and is extremely acid-forming in the body. It's a known major contributing factor in most diseases.

Since you'll always have to endure some stress in your life; it's important to learn how to manage it for improved health. Try reading a book on the subject or attending a stress-reduction seminar. You might even discover help at your local place of worship.

STEP 5.

Manual Detoxification

Here's a very helpful key for overcoming acid imbalance. Self-massage of your lymph system can unblock built-up toxins and keep lymphatic fluids flowing freely. Look at the illustration below showing the location of your lymph nodes. Gently massage some of those areas with your fingertips or knuckles a couple minutes each day. Keep a light touch. Manual massage therapy helps begin the healing process by increasing circulation of nutrients and oxygen in the body.

Keeping in Balance

Acid-alkaline equilibrium is simple to understand. Your body is continually moving between acid and alkaline trying to maintain balance. Unfortunately, most of us are far too acidic, which makes us tired or sick. Some of us may otherwise look healthy, but may be 100 times more acidic than we should be.

Once you understand what your body needs, you become empowered to address many health concerns by helping to bring it back into balance. It's something you need to do on a daily basis if your goal is to live a happy, healthy, vibrant life.

John Ossipinsky LMT, CST-D, LLCC is a lymphedema therapist, acid-alkaline researcher, and radio show host. He's the author of An Undetected Acid-Alkaline Imbalance (Vision Publishing) which is available at bookstores, online at www.acidimbalance.com, or by calling 1-800-214-8110.