while body mechanism is healthy :
Our body has a natural regulatory mechanism to maintain acid-base homeostasis, which is crucial for proper bodily functions. Here’s a brief overview:
The body’s acid-base balance is regulated by the following mechanisms:
1. *Buffer systems*: Chemical buffers, such as bicarbonate, phosphate, and protein buffers, help maintain the body’s pH levels by neutralizing excess hydrogen ions.
2. *Respiratory system*: The lungs regulate carbon dioxide levels, which affect blood pH. Increased CO2 levels lead to acidity, while decreased levels lead to alkalinity.
3. *Renal system*: The kidneys play a critical role in maintaining acid-base balance by regulating electrolyte levels, reabsorbing or excreting hydrogen ions, and maintaining strong acid excretion.
4. *Endocrine system*: Hormones like aldosterone and parathyroid hormone help regulate electrolyte balance and calcium levels, which impact acid-base balance.
When this delicate balance is disrupted due to the poor physical state of these organ systems and thus its machanism acidity can occur, leading to various health issues.
Therefore distorted physical state which leads to slowing down physiological function or mechanism of these organ systems are main causes of acidity which further trigger more cronic issues that include:
– *Respiratory acidosis* (e.g., chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia)
– *Metabolic acidosis* (e.g., diabetic ketoacidosis, lactic acidosis)
– *Renal tubular acidosis* (e.g., kidney disease, electrolyte imbalances)
– *Dietary factors* (e.g., excessive meat consumption, low fruit and vegetable intake)
By understanding how our body regulates acidity, we can better appreciate the importance of maintaining a healthy balance and take steps to prevent acidity-related issues.
Relationship of spinal column and acidity:
The spinal column plays a crucial role in maintaining the body’s acid-base balance and overall health.
By addressing spinal health, we can help restore balance to the body’s mechanisms, reducing acidity and promoting overall wellness.
A disturbed mechanism in the spinal column can indeed affect various bodily functions, including:
– Nerve function and transmission
– Muscle tension and balance
– Pressure difference
– Respiration – ventilation/ breathing
– Organ function and digestion
– Blood flow and circulation
– Hormone regulation and balance
When the spinal column is misaligned or restricted, it can lead to issues like:
Distorted posture:
– Vertebral subluxations
– Spinal curvatures (e.g., straight or increase lordosis or distorted or hunch back or scoliosis, kyphosis)
– Herniated discs
– Pinched nerves
These issues can, in turn, contribute to acidity and related problems, such as:
– Digestive issues (e.g., constipation, acid reflux)
– Respiratory problems (e.g., asthma, bronchitis)
– Fatigue and low energy
– Mood imbalances (e.g., anxiety, depression)
– Weakened immune system
By addressing spinal column disturbances through conscious efforts in natural sequential order and specific direction in flow of movement of muscles we can help restore balance to the body’s mechanisms and promote overall well-being.
Our Body Mechanism Regulates Acidity while its healthy.Throughout the human body, many chemical reactions are in equilibrium.
When this mechanism goes wrong acidity occurs.
Therefore our aim should be to enhance our body mechanism / organ systems to be healthy.
When it comes to pH, our body likes to keep tight control of the balance between acidity and alkalinity.
At times, this balance can be disrupted.
Now, we must think about the ways we generally control acidity.
One is to remove/add acid, the other is to remove/add base through food or medicine.
But this will not correct the body mechanism which is its physical state of organ systems. We have to remove the reason/ cause behind this chemical balance, yes but for time being to control with diet is absolutely necessary to treat symptoms.
So how can we do this?
But our aim should be, to follow the process of Improving and enhancing the physical and physiological function of organ systems.
What is pH balance?
Our body’s pH balance is the level of acids and bases in our blood at which our body functions best.
The human body is built to naturally maintain a healthy balance of acidity and alkalinity. The lungs and kidneys play a key role in this process.
If the lungs or kidneys are malfunctioning, our blood’s pH level can become imbalanced. Disruption in our acid-base balance can lead to medical conditions.
The lungs control our body’s pH balance by releasing carbon dioxide.
Carbon dioxide is a slightly acidic compound. It’s also a waste product produced by cells in the body as they use oxygen. The cells release it into our blood, and it’s taken to our lungs.
When you exhale, you’re expelling that carbon dioxide, a process that also helps regulate our body’s pH balance by reducing acidity.
The amount of carbon dioxide we exhale depends on the function of our lungs. Our brain constantly monitors this in order to maintain the proper pH balance in our body.
The kidneys help the lungs maintain acid-base balance by excreting acids or bases into the blood. The kidneys’ effect on acidity works much more slowly than that of the lungs.
Disorder of lungs
When acidosis or alkalosis is caused by a lung disorder or issue with exhalation, it’s referred to as “respiratory.” When acidosis or alkalosis is caused by a problem with the functioning of the kidneys, it’s referred to as “metabolic.”
There are two main places where we can do this — Enhance the function of the lungs and kidneys.
The lungs may seem like a strange place for controlling pH however, if we consider how CO2 is transported from the tissues , we see that CO2 dissociates into carbonic acid. Hence, the higher the CO2 levels in the tissues, the lower the pH gets (more acidic).
Acidosis
How the lungs and kidneys regulate body pH during acidosis
So, if we are experiencing an Acidosis (low pH), if we decrease our CO2, we can increase the pH. We do this by hyperventilating and blowing off our CO2.
However, this is limited by the amount of CO2 we have in our bodies; once we have blown off all our CO2, there is no more that the lungs can do to help us compensate.
Conversely, if we experience an Alkalosis (high pH) our lungs can try to compensate by slowing down our breathing to increase our CO2, however, this can be dangerous because it can cause hypoxia (lack of oxygen).
The benefit of respiratory compensation is that it happens very quickly (a few minutes) however, it has a very limited range of effectiveness.
The kidneys deal in acids and bases, they can excrete/retain H+ if needed and they also control the excretion/retention of bicarbonate (HCO3-).
Alkalosis
How the lung and kidneys regulate body pH during alkalosis
If you are acidotic, your kidneys will try to excrete H+ and retain HCO3-, if you are alkalotic, your kidneys will try to retain H+ and excrete HCO3-. The drawback of this is that it takes a few days to be effective, but it is a lot more powerful than respiratory compensation.
Now, consider someone who has been losing acid in large amounts for several days say, from vomiting a lot (they lose acid from their stomach). This person’s pH would be high (they would be Alkalotic), they wouldn’t be breathing much because they are trying to increase the amount of acid that they have (Respiratory Compensation) and because it has been several days, their kidneys would be trying to excrete bicarbonate (it would be low) and retain H+ (Metabolic Compensation). Now, is this a metabolic or a respiratory cause? The lungs are not causing it so it is a Metabolic alkalosis.
A lot of these cases seem quite complex and may be confusing, however, it is always good to break each part down in order to deduce the answer. 🙂
It’s very simple to understand but not easy to work physically in today’s lifestyle. But there’s no other way if we want to prevent it.
Our priority should be to keep the physical state of lungs and kidneys in good condition for better physiological function to balance chemical secretions of tissues ( pathological changes in tissues).
