On looking through my logs as to how people are finding our blog, it seems lots of people want to know how to do a pH test. It only dawned on me that I have only really covered this in one place out of the entire blog and main energiseforlife.com site!
So, to give you a good, definative guide to testing the pH of your saliva and urine:
Testing your pH with Saliva or Urine
It is good practice to either test 1 hour before or 2 hours after eating. If testing your saliva, it is a good idea to try to fill your mouth with saliva and then swallow. This helps remove any acidic bacteria that might be lurking. Do not try to wash your mouth out with anything else as this will simply record the alkalinity of the water/liquid you have just used.
For testing urine, let some urine flow before testing as this will give more of an average reading.
It is also a good idea to test 2-3 times in a day in order to get an average, as first thing in the morning the body has retained fluids over a long period of time and it will engage in different processes to remove acid wastes from the body throughout the day (depending on activity and diet).
Why the Differences and Fluctuations?
The reason that there is such a difference between your urine and saliva readings is that a) your mouth is more likely to contain acidic bacteria throughout the day (if you brush your teeth it will show a very high alkaline reading due to the toothpaste so there is not much of a way around this) and b) because your urine is more of a reflection of the processes the body is undertaking to remove acid from the body.
Both of these are therefore subject to fluctuations. I would recommend taking the average of several readings to gain a bigger picture of your progress rather than concentrating on each reading in isolation.
A reading of anywhere between 6.75-7.0+ is excellent for saliva as the saliva tends to be slightly more acidic. For the urine, a slightly higher pH level of 7.5 upwards is great, but remember that due to the kidney’s processing of toxins throughout the day, the urine can give a more erratic reading.
To put all of this into perspective, someone who eats a typical Western diet would be more likely to have a saliva pH average of about 5.5-6.0. This may not seem too much lower, however it is important to remember that the pH scale is logarithmic - meaning each step is ten times the previous i.e. 4.5 is 10 times more acidic than 5.5 which is 100 times more acidic than 6.5 and so on.
Remember:
Testing the pH of your saliva or urine is only going to give you a general trend. Unfortunately, there is no way of determining the EXACT pH of the blood without undergoing a live blood analysis. However, they can give a good indication - so test, test, test and take the average and then follow this trend over time noticing the difference any changes in your diet can make.
I sincerely hope that this is helpful - please feel free to ask if you have any questions.
Further resources:
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Could you help me please, I have tested both my
ph levels for urine and saliva. Now my urine is
showing a ph level of 6.0 which is very acidic,
and my saliva is showing 9.0 which is very
alkaline. Which do I follow? I purchased this
test from a pool shop which tests water levels, I
was unable to find one for myself at a chemist.
Michelle, I am under the impression that urine ph level is the most important as the ph level of the saliva can varies the most. Think about what yer eating too, I think the recommendation is to eat about 70-80% of “base”:ic food.
Hi
I read on several websites that drinking water with lemon juice in it is alkalising when I test this with a ph stick it is very acidic
can someone explain is this lemon water alkalising or not?
regards
glen
glen, it is acid till it absorbs in your body then it akalizes.
My Ph Level averages at 5. What does that mean in terms of effects on my body?
My diet specialist put me on a diet to lower my pH from 7.4 which only served to raise it to 7.6. He quickly put my back on my regular meat and potatoes diet. I am insulin resistant and allergic to a lot of staple foods.
You can get the pH test strips from a health foods store or on the internet. My testing consistently showed extremely acid urine and 6.0 alkalinity for saliva, the opposite of what they should be as stated here and no relation to my blood pH. I’ve stopped using these testing strips as this method seems to have no value.
My diet specialist put me on a diet to lower my pH from 7.4 which only served to raise it to 7.6. He quickly put me back on my regular meat and potatoes diet. I am insulin resistant and allergic to a lot of staple foods.
You can get the pH test strips from a health foods store or on the internet. My testing consistently showed extremely acid urine and 6.0 alkalinity for saliva, the opposite of what they should be as stated here and no relation to my blood pH. I’ve stopped using these testing strips as this method seems to have no value.
I have been striving to keep my diet fairly alkaline lately but my urine always tests @ about 5.5. The health food store says there should be a “correction factor” because of the uric acid. Any comments?
I think that you have the ph levels backswards my friend.
The saliva is usually more alkaline, and the urine is usually more acidic, as it shows how well the body is doing at removing acids and retaining alkaline minerals such as calcium, magneseim, ect…..
Hi. everybody talks about the ph.and alkalinity of water but in some cases there not related. if you test the ph. of tap water and rain water, they are almost the same about 7.4 ph but the alkalinity is nowhere near similar 20ppm for rainwater, and 260ppm for tap water. so do not think that if you drink water with ahigh ph. its good for you.
hi, i just want 2 know if there’s a relatioship between the ph urine test and ph of ultres’s inviromental ph ;that mean if i test ph of my urine and i find it’s 7.5 that mean the ph for ultres is 7.5 also with my best wishes.
About how long does it take for your urine to become alkaline after you completely change diet (to about 70-80% alkaline foods)? I have done this for over a week now, and saliva is consistently a 7.2 and up now, but urine is still 5.5.
I am drinking kangen water, is it healthy for me?
Hi Mel
I don’t know too much about the Kangen brand to be honest. Can you give me more info?
Ross
Hi! I am a psychologist and also a distributor of Kangen water machines in the United States. The word Kangen means “return to origin” in Japanese and is a registered trademark of the Enagic company. Enagic is a Japanese company that manufactures and distributes Kangen water machines. These machines produce water that has pH values of 2.5 to 11.5 for cleaning and sterilizing and 5.5 to spray on skin and hair to normalize the pH of skin and hair (this is close to the normal pH of skin and hair) for beauty purposes and healing on the skin, and 7.0, 8.5, 9.0. and 9.5 for drinking and alkalizing the body. These machines are available (just recently started) in Australia (and many other parts of the world) and I can help you get more information about the machine and owning one, if you like. I have been drinking the water for over a year now, and the health benefits are marvelous. Higher energy, better elimination, cleaner healthier colon, better hydration levels in the body. In addition to the pH benefits, there are antioxidant properties of the water and the water molecules tend to group together as fewer molecules in one clump so to speak. This aids absorption of the water in the body. The cells can absorb the water better in smaller clumps. Although there are other machines that make ionized water, the Enagic machines are the finest. The quality of the Kangen water is the highest and the machines work faster and don’t overheat or demand a rest like some other brands when you use them. Some of the people I know produce 300 gallons or more of water from their machines a day, without any problems. Kangen has several models. I like mine, it even talks to me. It tells me what type of water it is producing and when to change the filter. This is a very helpful and fun part of the whole project.
I have always tried to improve my pH levels and have found that this is very easy with the water. Also you can vary the pH of the water you drink up or down to regulate your pH optimally. When I eat a lot of alkaline foods, I may drink water with a lower pH (7.0 or 8.5). When I splurge and eat something naughty at a party, I drink the 9.5, In this way my pH is easily adjusted. Just as a reference about pH, if you take one 8 ounce glass of soda pop (any type root beer, cola, etc.) and place it in a container it takes about 4 gallons (32 times as much volume) of 9.5 pH water to bring the pH of that soda pop liquid up to neutral (7.0 is neutral) This is highly acidic in the body and I wouldn’t even drink the stuff at a party. I don’t think you could drink 4 gallons of water the next day to try to neutralize that one 8 ounce glass of soda from the party. With that example in mind, you might understand how difficult it is to keep our bodies alkalized and how food alone might not do it, if we eat or drink anything acid forming at all. Kay
Of course, keep in mind “Kay” is also a multi-tiered salesperson for Kangen. Not saying it doesn’t work; it might be great. But, it is a pyramid, like Amway. The actual benefits of Kangen, and other pH waters, are debated.
Hey, I’ve tried ph strips for a couple days now. I continue to get readings of about 7.6 for my urine and my saliva. What does that mean?