Hi , a friend of mine has been telling me to check my PH on a daily basis and as far as I keep my body in alkaline mode and cut out on any acidic food cancer can not spread or let say it can not breath in alkaline conditions.
Do you agree with this ? This means no more caffeine , sugar , fruits , wine and the rest ?
I would love to know your opinions.
Best wishes
Given CLL is in our blood, if this theory were true, you might think that changing your blood pH might slow CLL, but per healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...
"Human blood is maintained between pH 7.35 and 7.45 by acid–base homeostasis mechanisms. Levels above 7.45 are referred to as alkalosis and levels below 7.35 as acidosis. Both are potentially serious. The idea that these diets can materially affect blood pH for the purpose of treating a range of diseases is not supported by scientific research and makes incorrect assumptions about how alkaline diets function that are contrary to human physiology."
More: sciencebasedpharmacy.wordpr...
So relax and keep enjoying those favourite foods and drinks. You can't adjust your body pH by what you eat.
Neil
No such thing as alkaline or acidic food diet. Food itself can have a pH but once digestion starts, that pH is altered considerably. All food gets into the stomach which has a pH of roughly 2.0 which is very strongly acidic. Then, food passes into the small intestine where it is neutralized and becomes slightly alkaline with a pH around 7.4.
Your body keeps your blood at about pH 7.4. The entire alkaline diet is BS.
Donald Trump suggested bleach injections. Sodium Hypochlorite has a pH of about 11 which is very alkaline. It will surely kill any cancer with the slight side effect that it will kill the host as well.
From what I'm reading the best thing to do is just eat real food which means to eliminate all ultra processed stuff. Literature says we should eat at least 30g of fiber from plants per day. I, personally, eat about 1 Kg of veggies per day and am supplementing with fish, meat, dairy products and eggs. Occasionally I do plant-only days once a week when I replace meat with nuts and seeds.
When people speak of "acid" versus "alkaline" foods, they are Not referring to any pH of the food before ingestion. It refers to whether or not the metabolic residue tends to increase acidity of the body, or increase alkalinity. The idea that "acid" or "alkaline" promoting foods can affect disease is unproven. What it CAN affect, is the amount of energy ones' body needs to maintain the slightly alkaline blood in the body. So foods that metabolize primarily "acidic" will need more energy, overall, to metabolize & excrete compared to those that metabolize alkaline. So needing extra energy can be considered a "stressor". And this acid base buffering stress affects our kidneys. We see people developing hypertension as they age, and excessive sodium ingestion stressing the kidneys to where some believe the organ can fail/work less than optimally at an earlier age, when stressed unnecessarily. Stressing the kidneys excessively, compared to the diet humans evolved on, is theorized to be one reason people can develop kidney problems as they age. Additionally, when one is fighting a disease, ideally, one wants to have energy available for fighting the disease. So even if there weren't other reasons to eat foods that metabolize alkaline, this reason alone is why many advocate for an "alkaline diet". Another reason to eat an "alkaline diet" is that those foods are primarily plant based, containing fiber, phytonutrients, and various vitamins/minerals. IMO a lot of the "eat an alkaline diet" when referring to cancer patients, is that laboratory tests show cancer cells do better in an acidic environment. But that's in a test tube, not the body.
mdanderson.org/publications...
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
An "alkaline diet" has one avoiding processed foods, sugar, and chemicals. Which is much healthier than someone who eats fast food/frozen/packaged items daily and as most of the food ingested. Snacking on chips, soda, store bought baked goods and getting meals from fast food places isn't the best for us.
1234098, I found this interesting. I've suffered with leg & foot cramps at night for years. My family doctor told me to drink more water. That didn't help. A friend said drink pickle juice! That works! When a cramp started I drink pickle juice and in minutes, the muscle relaxes. It is amazing relief. Well, I now drink water with electrolytes and a PH of 9.5. The cramps have pretty much disappeared! I do drink the suggested amount of water, half in ounces of your weight in pounds. I am 134 pounds, so should drink around 65 ounces of water each day. Does it affect my CLL? I have no idea, but I sure feel better overall. Sandra🙂
Taking magnesium tablets or using a topical magnesium cream or spray also helps with cramps. Worked for me. So did treating my CLL. There's lots besides acetic acid (from the vinegar) in pickle juice.
Neil
Yes! I did discover the magnesium cream. I keep one at work and one in my purse! Wonderful, quick results!!!! Sandra🙂
I had leg cramps at night until I started taking a supplement called Keto Electrolytes which have magnesium and potassium. No more leg cramps. (Taking the less expensive K and Mg supplements separately didn't work as well for some reason.)
My Dad had CLL for 30 years & never needed treatment. He lived to 94. He ate whatever he wanted. When he developed diabetes, he made minor adjustments. Our family ate red meat 5 times a week, mostly starches & some veggies. I inherited his CLL at 52. I eat red meat 4+ times a week. Eat starches, desserts. More veggies than when I grew up. Was on W&W 12 years - felt great. Remission 3+ years from chemo. My hematologist said enjoy life. So for me foods do not effect me or my CLL.
Not saying anyone should follow my poor habits. I believe the best is moderation.
But if red meat was so bad, I'd be in huge trouble by now.
When I have occasional issues with leg cramps, I take magnesium glycinate 400 mg twice a day for a month, then ween off. Acupuncture helped that & a lot of other issues. Was a great help during chemo.
Also I keep a small bar of soap (ivory) if possible) under the fitted sheet by my calf area. It keeps the cramps away 98% of the time!! Crazy but it works! I forgot use one first nite at a hotel & I had leg cramps! Next nite at relatives, I remembered to use it and cramps did not return the entire trip.
I havent needed the magnesium in about a year. 🙏💕
Sometimes it is calcium I need to resolve the cramps. Admit I've never tried the soap trick!
I have been on calcium way before CLL because I have osteoporosis. So the calcium has not helped my cramps. Interesting that it has helped yours. Never heard of that. Try the soap 😉
I think it's because I always take magnesium but not calcium, so figuring my calc/mag balance is out of whack, which is why calc seems to work (knock on wood -- or it's coincidence?). Don't take much either. If you've been regularly taking calcium and not magnesium, you may well have the opposite issue and need magnesium.
When I first started with leg cramps I took someone's advice & added magnesium glycinate for a year. Weened off of it and was stable for 2 years. Then when cramps came back, I went back on it & did soap trick. Weened off after 3 months. Except for taking it a random week, I haven't needed the magnesium in 3 years.
I remember buying those Ph strips and testing my levels for about a week. It was at a time when I was exploring many avenues to gain some control over for my life, to find some peace and to improve my overall wellbeing.
I quickly learned special diets such as the alkaline diet, or the keto diet were not the answer. They actually put more stress on me and were counter productive to my wellbeing.
Re acidic v alkaline foods, this is instructive healthline.com/nutrition/le...
Snip
Does the pH of food matter?
Proponents of the Alkaline Diet seem to believe that the foods you eat can affect your health by influencing the pH of your blood. They generally claim that alkalizing foods prevent bone loss and can prevent or treat cancer.
However, as discussed above, this theory completely ignores the role your kidneys play in regulating the pH of your blood, among other methods your body uses to maintain pH (6Trusted Source, 10Trusted Source, 11Trusted Source).
In addition, contrary to popular belief, many large reviews have concluded that acidifying diets have no impact on calcium levels in the body (12Trusted Source, 13Trusted Source).
In fact, several studies actually link high protein diets, which are thought to be acid-forming, with healthier bones (14Trusted Source, 15Trusted Source, 16Trusted Source).
As for the effects some people think acidifying foods have on cancer, studies show there is no direct link between the amount of acidifying foods you eat and your risk of developing the disease (17Trusted Source, 18Trusted Source).
Nevertheless, an alkaline diet may offer some health benefits to certain individuals.
For instance, people with kidney disease usually need to restrict their protein intake. Consuming an alkaline diet may slightly decrease the need for this (7Trusted Source, 19Trusted Source).
It may also reduce the risk of kidney stones in those prone to developing them (20Trusted Source).
However, more research on these purported benefits is needed before strong conclusions can be made.
I'm sorry to tell you that it is not true at all. I presume that your friend is not a doctor and is just repeating what he read somewhere on the internet which is full of nonsense. If you want to know something about how to eat right then get it from this doctor who wrote the book for people just like you and me: amazon.com/Metabolical-Proc...
One of the first lessons I learned in pathophysiology is that the body is a well oiled machine that above all else works to maintain homeostasis, which means a blood pH level of 7.4 among other things. Anything we consume will be tempered in the course of digestion and excretion to make sure we never stray too far from that 7.4. If our body could somehow be manipulated into becoming more alkaline and staying that way, our organ systems would begin to fail. That’s why people in end stage renal disease need dialysis, because their kidneys can no longer to their part to maintain homeostasis (a big part being maintaining pH 7.4).
Long story short, enjoy whole, healthy foods! Don’t go overboard on the processed stuff but don’t deny yourself a little treat, that’s what makes life sweet!
Okay, FWIW, when I eat well, with mostly vegetables, less fruit, and much less meat, my urine (I periodically test) is more neutral as it should be. When I eat like I used to (much less vegetables, e.g.), I had very acidic urine. So whatever the science behind acid-alkaline (and very confusing, as lemons, acidic, produce alkaline urine--???), when I eat well, my urine is more alkaline, so there is something going on with this. But perhaps as by-product of eating healthy. (Sorry to strict carnivores, but do think meat is not all that healthy from a number of standpoints, including the high level of cancer-associated methionine. I do eat meat, but sporadically.) Here's a methionine-cancer article from last year. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl... and here is list of high, medium, and low methionine foods (note, high is dominated by meats) texaschildrens.org/sites/de...
Hi, I’m 68 and was diagnosed 13 years ago and am on W and W. At the time it was suggested that I look into an alkaline diet, I bought The Acid Alkaline Diet by Christopher Vasey. I found this book hugely improved my energy levels. I used to come down in the morning and sit in a chair feeling very tired even though I had slept well. I now don’t sit down until lunch, breakfast is standing (not recommended). Ok, I know how people don’t agree with the idea of it, but all I can tell you is it has made a huge, huge difference to the way I feel. The big changes I made was cut out all alcohol for the first few years, I now have one glass of fizz at the weekend, gave up coffee, I drink herbal teas and about 2 litres of water. Masses of veg. No sweet foods. Not everything I eat is alkaline, it’s important to have a balanced diet. Ph testing strips are a good guide to see where you are going wrong. It may sound boring but I cannot emphasise the improvement in my energy levels. I know this is going to get shouted down, but I wanted you to know about my journey, all I can say it’s helped me enormously.
Thank you and have you tried radionics Scio treatment. I have been told it is essential
No I’ve not tried radionics sci-fi treatment. I know that that acid/alkaline diet is not scientifically proven but I would highly recommend trying it, even if it’s just for say 3 months. I teach Pilates and therefore have always been very aware of my body I have never been overweight. I have always been careful about what I eat, I was veggie for a long time. I eat chicken, occasional beef, lots of eggs and masses of veg and nuts. I highly recommend reading Christopher Vasey’s book. As I say not scientifically proven but made enormous difference to the way I am able to live my life. I wish you all the best.
This Radionics Scio?
Radionics is a pseudoscience based on the notion that diseases can be diagnosed and treated by tuning in on radio-like frequencies allegedly emitted by disease-causing agents and diseased organs.
Hi G-F-T,
I've said many times that a very common reaction to our cancer diagnosis is a re-examination of our diet, which can lead to us eating a healthier diet, as you have done. ("Masses of veg. No sweet foods.") It's recognised that an alkaline diet can be healthier than the typical Western diet, as it encourages the consumption of vegetables, legumes, fruits and nuts in place of processed and junk foods with their added sugar, etc. What's at issue here is the poster 1234098's question about the claim that "cancer can not spread or let say it can not breath in alkaline conditions".
Per a few points from the pros and cons points on this diet from: news-medical.net/health/Alk...
-Some people find they have more energy, experience fewer gut problems and lose weight. However, this could be a result of cutting back on processed and junk foods rather than being linked to reduced acidity.
- The claims about how this diet works have not been supported by any reliable scientific evidence.
- Proponents of this diet advise limiting meat, dairy and eggs, all of which are beneficial to health and contain important proteins and nutrients. (You also noted "it's important to have a balanced diet")
- The human body strictly regulates its own pH, which is one of the main roles of the kidneys. Many experts therefore do not believe it can be altered by diet.
Your body does adjust pH by changing your urine pH along with what you breathe out and sweat.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center maintains an excellent database on the medicinal use of herbs, with particular focus on cancer claims. Per, with my emphasis:
mskcc.org/news/truth-behind... the alkaline diet is one of the three natural cures
Dr. Yeung is manager of the About Herbs database, created and maintained by MSK’s Integrative Medicine Service...
Here, Dr. Yeung explains the hype and the scientific evidence surrounding three highly publicized but unproven therapies: cannabis oil, Laetrile, and a pH-manipulation (also known as alkaline) diet.
The verdict: “There is no evidence that changing your diet to alter pH levels affects cancer growth,” Dr. Yeung says. “The actual science has been misinterpreted. Changing the pH in your saliva doesn’t mean your blood pH changes. Some patients try using chemicals to modify their blood pH, but that can be extremely dangerous.”
Neil
Thanks CLL and Sepsis, I'm now holed up at home and a little afraid to go out and about! Plus, how you can have an infection and not know?
Watch and Wait
One year on from FCR - and I feel great
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