Can pH-Balancing Help My Acid Reflux?

pH-Balancing is an idea that works and helps people with Respiratory Reflux. The goal is to reduce the acidity of acidic foods, such as Fruits, by adding an alkaline “mixer” or “chaser.” 

Here are examples of “mixing”: You have oatmeal (pH 6.0) with blueberries (pH 3.3) and because there is much more oatmeal, the combination’s pH is raised to an acceptable pH level. Similarly, if you have a bowl of cereal in the morning with almond milk (pH 7.4), you can add almost any fruit, because the volume of pH 7.4 milk acts as a buffer; it will pH-balances acidic fruits.

Here’s an example of “chasing”: You consume an alkaline beverage after eating something acidic. In Dropping Acid: The Reflux Diet Cookbook & Cure, I allow one teaspoon of vinaigrette daily. Why? Because it is only a teaspoon and it makes a very tasty salad. The best choice is to make your own dressing using quality balsamic vinegar and olive oil. So, to pH-balance the acidic salad, drink some Alkaline Water  after you eat some salad. 

Why A Low-Acid Diet?

It has been previously established why a low-acid diet is important for people with acid reflux. That’s because of Pepsin, the primary stomach enzyme — when you have a reflux event, up come acid and pepsin — ends up sticking to your tissue and causing tissue swelling, inflammation, and damage. That said, pepsin requires acid for its activation. So, don’t give the pepsin in your throat any acid to “drink.” Meanwhile, if you eat or drink anything pH <5, you activate your tissue-bound pepsin, and that is bad. Refluxers should aim at consuming foods and beverages pH >5. Try consuming acids with something more alkaline.  

What Is pH Balancing? 

I discovered pH-balancing when making smoothies for myself. Any “added alkaline” can buffer acid, but the ones that I use the most are alkaline water, almond milk, and bananas. (You can use any alkaline water brand pH 9.5 or higher, but try to avoid those with phosphates added.) 

For smoothies, with one banana (pH 5.7), a half-cup of small ice cubes (pH 9.5), and a half-cup of almond milk (pH 7.4), you’re good to go. After that, you can add almost any other fruit (except citrus) and your smoothie will be delicious and not overly acidic, pH-balanced.

If you want to use alkaline water ice cubes for smoothies or other purposes, get the above type of silicon mini-ice cube tray, because regular-size ice cubes do not blend well. 

Are There Things Too Acidic For pH-Balancing?

Yes, there are. You can’t pH-balance anything with a pH less than 3.7, including soft drinks, Gatorade, energy drinks, seltzer, and fruit juices. BTW, pH stands for potential of hydrogen; it measures the concentration of hydrogen ions in a substance. And the pH scale is logarithmic. That means that something pH 4 is 10 times more acidic than something pH 5, that pH 3 is 100 times more acidic than pH 5, and that pH 2 is 1,000 times more acidic than pH 5. 

For people with respiratory reflux, aim for pH 5 or higher, and that’s where pH-balancing can help. Again, almost everything in a bottle or can is very (too-) acidic to prevent pathogens from growing … no good … because most soft drinks are in the range of pH 2.7 to pH 3.7. 

In Conclusion

pH balancing is a good idea. It won’t cure reflux, but can help. In particular, alkaline water can be used several different ways to help neutralize acids, and so can relatively alkaline things like almond milk and banana. 

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