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, definitive 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 kidneys 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.
Want to Test Your pH?
We’ve developed what we believe to be the very best pH test strips on the market. Having been in the alkaline diet world for over six years now we’ve tried a LOT of different tests, and we truly believe that these are the most accurate:
The Energise for Life pH Test Strips
About Ross Bridgeford
Ross is known as THE Alkaline Diet Expert...especially when it comes to implementation and making the alkaline diet REAL in your life. He has been living, learning, teaching, coaching and loving the alkaline lifestyle since 2004 and has written over 600 articles, alkaline recipes, videos and guides on how to live alkaline and stay alkaline for life. Ross loves life in Brisbane, Australia (although is a proud Englishman) and is healthily-obsessed with nutrition, fitness and Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
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Note: This blog is only my opinion. It is not medical advice or diagnosis. Only opinions based upon our own personal experiences or information detailed in medical/academic journals or other publications is cited. WE DO NOT OFFER MEDICAL ADVICE or prescribe any treatments. Please consult with a medical professional before making any diet or nutrition changes. Refer to our full disclaimer for more information.
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Are limes as equally alkaline and health giving as lemons? Only I prefer the taste. There’s a lot of information about lemons but limes are never mentioned
I have universal ph indicator paper. it says it will turn
green if it is alkaline.
Am I using the correct strips?
If not, where can I get the correct ones to test the ph
of my urine?
I have never done this before. Got some saliva strips from my herbalist quite a few months ago to try and forgot what she said about using them. I got up this morning and ate a whole bunch of tomatoes. Waited 30 min and tested my saliva and it is 7.0. Does this mean tomatoes are okay for me? Wish my herbalist was open but she is closed over the holidays. Thanks for any help from anyone out there.
Hi Ross,
I have the same problem as Micheele… The Ph of my urine and my saliva are very much different. I think I will follow the Ph of my urine though, because you say that saliva will vary the most.
I’m using strips from my pharmacy and they normally work fine I think.
Should I try a different brand first to see what the results are?
Thanks in advance for the advice
Miranda
can someone pls give me a number to find kagen water in brisbane australia? as there are products who claim to sell ‘similar’ to kagen water, what actually is the difference?
Hi, I have a query which I am hoping you can help me with.
I suffer from acid reflux and indigestion and I did a saliva test this morning before I had anything to eat and the reading showed 7.5 which is more towards alkaline but my urine sample was very acidic, around 5.5.
I am wondering which test would be most reliable – Urine or saliva?
Many thanks!
I have tested both my ph levels for urine and saliva. My urine is
showing acidic and saliva is showing alkaline. Which do I follow?
How often during a day should you test? My gym has got Kangen water (alkaline water) I want to see if it actually makes a difference. I know in the evenings when I’m generally hydrated will affect the pH of the urine reading and in the morning when I’m dehydrated will also affect it to make it presumably more acidic so what is the best time to test to get an average reading?
I would like to comment that Vitamin D is so important to balancing urinary ph that everything else pales in significance. Also urinary ph needs to be acidic (6.5-7.0, NOT greater) to avoid UTI’s and yeast infections — it is the NORMAL STATE and opposite of the ph of the blood. Some groups balance urinary ph using Vitamin D alone.
Hi Anthony,
May I ask where you go this info?
I would like to see it myself, not that Idon’t trust you.
Thanks
I don’t know if my body is acidic but I have sensitive skin and I feel better when I digest alcalines. I’ve seen a doctor on that and there was nothing to do really. Would those tests and turnesol papers help me on that? I don’t think my problem is with the ph level of my blood.
Could bad ph cause erectile dysfunction?
If we have bad pH or acidic body, the red blood cells would not be able to function properly thus it would start to form biological bacteria and yeast. Since the male genital depends on blood function to erect, it would have an effect on this if you have a bad pH level.
Hello,
Do i need to wait a few mins after dipping the pH strip into the saliva for a more accurate reading?
And what do you do if it doesnt match a colour clearly?
Thanks.
Hello
I would like to know if sleeping problems (insomnia) could have anything to do with alkalinity and if it can by fixed by that. I have experienced severe sleeplessness for the past 3 years. I am in my menopause but am not on hormones since they all worsen the insomnia. Recently I also started having problems with constipation.
I had the same problem with sleeping. I started drinking lemon juice and water and I have slept fine ever since. No more night waking!
the salival strips can also be used analy leave up the anus for approx 45 secs then rinse and read. Hard to get used to but it works perfectly as the liquid factor of urine or saliva does not mess up the reading.
I have some strips that say ‘saliva only’. Why can’t they be used on urine?
My heart palpitations (A topic beats or irregular beats) was solved by lots of magnesium. That was diagnosed by a Chinese Naturapath. Western cardiologists couldn’t figure it out… they said “structurally your heart is fine”. Chelated Magnesium works best. Start off with at least a couple of grams a day.
Hi Ross
I’ve just used my first Ph testing strip to test my saliva this morning and am wondering, does it change colour the longer you leave it? I was convinced that at first (after 15 seconds) it showed around 6.75 / 7.0 but then, when I looked at it again a few minutes later, it looked more like 6.0! Also, sorry if this is a daft question, but do you leave the strip in the saliva for 15 seconds, or just “dunk” it and then wait?
Thanks
Jo
Hello Jo,
There might be a factor on the change on the results. You have probably drank something before you made the test and that it picked up the liquid’s alkalinity and by putting it there for a few minutes it might have already gotten your saliva’s pH.
Where in Manila can I find ph test strips please? Am from the US and I had bad prostate cancer, gleason score was 9 and 10 is as bad as it gets. Went on baking soda and molasses for 15 days and keep my alkeline at 8.0 or more for 15 days. PSA droped from 12.5 to 2.9 in just a few days. But want to keep track of my alkeline so I need to get some ph strips here in Manila. Do u have any ideas? Thank you for your time.
Rodger
The comments and advertising on this web site have a lot of opinion and very little science. I have not seen the most important chemical action even mentioned: THE BUFFER SYSTEM. Your body’s buffer system adjusts the acidity/alkalinity of food in your intestine, so that by the time the “slush”, i.e. digested food, reaches your blood, it is alkaline. If it were not for the buffer system, you would die in a hurry after drinking, for example, a glass of orange juice.
Afraid of drinking acidic pop? No problem. The buffer system takes care of that.
Sour food is the food of choice even with children. . . . no problem. God created buffer systems for a purpose. It’s hard to imagine any life system evolving without a buffer sysyem there right now. Which came first, the buffer system or the organism that could not even develop without it? Set your pre-conceived opinions aside for a while and study the scientifc evidence. That will save you a lot of tension and money.
plz i’ve been living in a very nervous state(unwanted heart beats/palpitations) 4 a very long time and i do not know what the cause is. can u help me find a very effective solution to this mess.
Believe it or not but there’s a very simple way to test the ph of your blood without much hassle. Diabetic people use it daily. It’s a pen like tool that punctures their fingertips so they can take a blood sample to measure blood sugar levels. It’s called a lancing device.
If you search for “lancing device” on ebay you can find some for a very reasonable price.
Can someone tell me after how many seconds is ideal to read the result of the PH tester? Thanks
I would like to know about healthy ph level of blood, urine and saliva
Hi there
I have been trying to download a copy of your ebook on alkaline water but there seems to be a problem. It takes ages and then just bombs out. Could you possibly email me a copy please?
Many thanks
Claire
“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.”
Epal: Since many of the toxins being removed by the liver and kidneys from the body are acidic, your urine-pH being fully /alkaline/ for multiple readings would mean something is likely very wrong with your respiratory system.
Salival pH is ideally leaning toward alkaline (6.75 to 7.5), whereas urine can fluctuate healthily anywhere between 6.5 to 8. It sounds like there are a lot of toxins still being kicked out by your system. Have you tried measuring at different times throughout the day, and seeing what foods affect you differently?
What is the significance of a saliva reading being one reading and the urine being another? ie: saliva rating a 6 and urine a 4.5? Should they or should they not be the same?
Also, what is the significance of ‘sweat burning’?
Kind Thanks
thank you . will you tell me if any relation between pH of drinking water and blood pH .
Hi Tarek
Indeed I do. Here is a blog post all about it: http://www.energiseforlife.com/wordpress/2009/09/17/how-to-make-your-water-alkaline/
Athena, not sure where you are based, but we sell pH Strips here at energise: click on the link for ‘Shop’ above.
Ross
Hey I just wanted to know where I can buy some test strips locally to test my ph levels. My husband and I have two boys and want to try for a girl but someone told me I should start checking my ph levels and if they are too acidic it can have an impact on the outcome of the gender of the baby! in the past 3 generations their family has only given birth to 3 girls so I want to break the cycle if possible!
Thanks for your time;
Athena
pH does affect the gender outcome of the baby but not the pH of the body as a whole. It is the pH of the secretion when orgasm is reached by the woman. This pH has the tendency to predominately “kill off” or “slow down” the Y sperm, thus stacking the cards against it so to speak. The way to get around it is for the woman to NOT attain orgasm during the intercourse that leads to conception. As my father used to say: “just wake her up and have sex with her and forget about anything else (as in foreplay, orgasm for her, etc.).” I wish I can put it more delicately but you get the meaning. My father has 9 children, a girl followed by 8 boys with the initials JJ (for the girl) followed by AJ all the way down to HJ. I have 3 children, 2 girls followed by a boy, initialed D and J for the 2 girls (DJ being my initial) followed by A. We decided not to continue with the alphabet. Try it. It works.
CORRECTION:
When I wrote: “This pH has the tendency to predominately “kill off” or “slow down” the Y sperm, thus stacking the cards against it so to speak. ” I meant “This pH has the tendency to predominately “kill off” or “slow down” one or the other of the X or the Y sperm, thus stacking the cards against it so to speak. “
I have read many columns regarding pH balance diet in which I tried to research because my father has a prostate cancer. Miraculouly, I’ve found this pH health balancing to let cancer cells to die at level pH 7.35 to 4.0. I’m looking for the litmus paper or pH strips from where in Manila I could buy. Please help me to find the address of the store and to buy also the alkaline water.
For your prompt reply.
Thank you.
Egay
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?
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.
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
hi i have been curious about the kangen water. i am in australia, brisbane and cant find it anywhere but found products ‘similar’ this is confusing so it seemed u know what you were talking about so could you please give me a number of a few to ring please? would be greatly appreciated! thankyou, natalie
Hi Mel
I don’t know too much about the Kangen brand to be honest. Can you give me more info?
Ross
I am drinking kangen water, is it healthy for me?
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.
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.
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.
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…..
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?
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.
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 Ph Level averages at 5. What does that mean in terms of effects on my body?
glen, it is acid till it absorbs in your body then it akalizes.
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
To Glen,
Lemons (and oranges and grapefruit) are acidic as they are, but when ingested they have an alkalizing effect. In fact, lemons are one of the most alkaline fruits you can eat. The other is watermelon.
MV
Thanks MV
The only slight distinction I would make is this:
Lemons, limes etc are alkaliSING – not just alkaline. Strictly speaking they are acid, but alkalising.
Awesome that you replied though – thanks a mil
Ross
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.
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.