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Unless You Balance Acidity Your Muscles May Become
Tense
by Frank Murray,
Sports Nutrition
Your muscles are designed to work well only
in a narrow range of almost zero acidity, according to Michael Colgan, PhD, in
Optimum Sports Nutrition. Arterial blood works best with no acid at all.
Acidity is measured by the concentration of hydrogen ions (pH). A pH of 7.0 is
neutral, midway between very acidic (pH of 1) and very alkaline (pH of 14), he
explained.
"The pH skill is water arithmetic, like
the skill of earthquakes," Coleman said. "So small changes in the
numbers mean large differences in acidic E or alkaline 80. A pH of 6 is Ten
times more acidic than a pH of 7. At rest, muscle pH is about 6.9, while
arterial blood is about 7.4."
As you begin to exercise, he continued, the
increased use of muscle glycogen for energy produces lactic acid and pyruvic
acid, to substances which contain a lot of hydrogen ions (H+), which drive
muscle and blood pH down into the acid zone. (Incidentally, pH is derived from
the French pouvoir hydrogene, meaning hydrogen power.)
Colgan goes on to say that the harder you
exercise, the quicker you "go acid." When muscle pH drops below 6.5,
the acidity disrupts all sorts of links in the energy chain. For example, the
enzyme phosphofructokinase is the rate limiting step in muscle use of glycogen.
Below pH 6.5, it stops working altogether. And, he says, acidity also reduces
muscle power directly by inhibiting the contractile action of muscle fibers.
"So," Colgan added, "The
first thing that a successful ergogenic supplement has to do is reduce the
accumulation of acidity in exercising muscle. You can put all sorts of other
chemicals into the bloodstream, but, unless you reduce acidity during exercise,
your muscles will tie up."
Another inhibitor of exercise, Colgan said,
happening simultaneously with the accumulation of acid, is the accumulation of ammonia;
anaerobic and endurance exercise produces a lot of it. Ammonia is toxic to
cells, it reduces the formation of glycogen, and it inhibits the energy cycle.
He adds that, although we still do not know
how much ammonia contributes to fatigue, we do know that the higher your blood
ammonia, the poorer your performance.
Immediately after marathon races, triathlons
or other endurance events, some athletes have very low blood phosphate levels,
Colgan said. Even athletes with high resting phosphate levels show marked
reductions after endurance exercise.
"How does this loss of phosphate damage
performance?" Colgan asked. "First, there is a loss of acid
buffering. Phosphate is a major alkaline buffer of muscle. Second, to make new
muscle glycogen, your body has to use pyridoxal phosphate, a mix of phosphate
and vitamin B6."
Since many people, including athletes, do not consume enough alkaline rich foods, such as fruits, nuts and vegetables, but instead rely heavily on acid forming foods, such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs, pasta, etc., they may be at risk for an acidic condition in their body fluids.
The solution is to drink ionized water! The AQUATONIC can be set for different
levels of alkalinity. Alkaline water will make muscles recover much faster than
conventional tap, bottled, purified, distilled, or reverse-osmosis water!
web site is not intended as medical advice. Rather they are meant
to demonstrate that aging can be slowed and even reversed and that Great Health
achieved when the most fundamental nutritional needs of the human body are met.
Always consult a medical doctor or other medical professional when you consider
it necessary.