If you have been wondering about the Alkaline Diet

Thank you for this.  I totally agree.  I am on an anti-cancer diet, but I have never considered measuring my pH as a way to gauge my success, because I know that your body will pretty much do whatever it takes to keep everything at a neutral level.  

Thank you for posting this!

Thank you. I was recently forced to buy an alkaline sort of glass container that will change the ph of the water to alkaline.  I didnt used it yet because I know how our body works.

I have a science background as well, an Honours Degree in Animal Biology.  I tended towards believing what you wrote above, based on my understanding of the buffer system that regulates ph.  Then I read this.  Without commenting on the "Alkaline diet" concept, I do however have a more open mind about the concept of ph and cancer. 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21155627

Manipulating tumor acidification as a cancer treatment strategy.

McCarty MF, Whitaker J.

Source

Oasis of Hope Hospital and Whitaker Wellness Institute. markfmcarty@gmail.com

Abstract

Manipulation of the extracellular and/or intracellular pH of tumors may have considerable potential in cancer therapy. The extracellular space of most tumors is mildly acidic, owing to exuberant production of lactic acid. Aerobic glycolysis - attributable largely to chronic activation of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) - as well as tumor hypoxia, are chiefly responsible for this phenomenon. Tumor acidity tends to correlate with cancer aggressiveness; in part, this reflects the ability of HIF-1 to promote invasiveness and angiogenesis. But there is growing evidence that extracellular acidity per se boosts the invasiveness and metastatic capacity of cancer cells; moreover, this acidity renders cancer cells relatively resistant to the high proportion of chemotherapeutic drugs that are mildly basic, and may impede immune rejection of tumors. Thus, practical strategies for raising the extracellular pH of tumors may have therapeutic utility. In rodents, oral administration of sodium bicarbonate can raise the extracellular pH of tumors, an effect associated with inhibition of metastasis and improved responsiveness to certain cytotoxic agents; clinical application of this strategy appears feasible. As an alternative approach, drugs that inhibit proton pumps in cancer cells may alleviate extracellular tumor acidity while lowering the intracellular pH of cancer cells; reduction of intracellular pH slows proliferation and promotes apoptosis in various cancer cell lines. Well-tolerated doses of the proton pump inhibitor esomeprazole have markedly impeded tumor growth and prolonged survival in nude mice implanted with a human melanoma. Finally, it may prove feasible to exploit the aerobic glycolysis of cancers in hyperacidification therapies; intense intracellular acidification of cancer cells achieved by induced hyperglycemia, concurrent administration of proton pump inhibitor drugs, and possibly dinitrophenol, may have the potential to kill cancer cells directly, or to potentiate their responsiveness to adjunctive measures. A similar strategy, but without proton pump inhibition, could be employed to maximize extracellular tumor acidity, enabling tumor-selective release of cytotoxic drugs encased in pH-sensitive nanoparticles.

Some more recent work on the proton pump inhibition idea:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19876915

Well, here's my take.  What you eat (or don't eat) can make your body's environment more or less friendly to cancer cell growth.  Foods that are considered "acidic,"  such as meat, dairy, and sugar, are often cancer-promoters - they induce inflammation, promote the growth of IGF-1 and N-kappa B.  Foods that are considered alkaline, such as vegetables, fruits, omega 3 oils, often reduce inflammation, inhibit IGF-1 and N-kappa B and promote anti-angiogenisis.  So the whole alkaline diet idea has some merit in that it can help you create an environment that is less friendly to cancer.  But saying that you can test your pH is silly, since your body will attempt to keep it neutral regardless of what you are eating.  

Now.  I just want to clarify that I don't believe that diet alone can cure cancer or that any one thing you eat can cause it to grow.  If a healthy diet alone prevented cancer, I would not have it, but some of my super-unhealthy friends would.  However, after all I have read, I think there is a lot of value in an "anti-cancer" diet and I am happy to stay on it.   I must assume that there are a few cancer cells bouncing around in my body after treatment, so my goal is to make life hard for them so that they experience apoptosis or, at the very least, never find a place to call home.  

thank you for the information, very helpful.  sweetbean, very well said....

Hi - I realize the basis for the thread is about the sales of products that possibly can raise pH.  Cesium chloride.  LIPH drops into water.  Diatemateous earth. These definitely should not be presented as a cure for cancer.  But to me, they can be helpers as needed.

Maybe they will not work to raise pH.  The body does control its own, definitely, and all are individuals.  

But the fact for me, my pH in both urrine and saliva, tested several times each day for several days at a time...... I was in the low range, around 4.5 when the cancer was active.  Frankly, the test strips were very yellow.  Right after the surgery, the pH was 7ish, very dark blues and greens.  Then went low again and remains so, though not lemon yellow.

I am learning to use the Chinese medicine values for my foods, resulting in a more alkaline food plan which benefits me at this time.  

But it is all about balance.

http://www.shen-nong.com/eng/lifestyles/food_property_food_tcm.html

Perhaps you will find this article interesting.  It is easy to read, why I like this one best.

How ya doin'?

It's a great thread.  I really appreciate someone taking the time to explain something I've been scratching my head over for ages. 

Since the NIH are donating a grant of $2 million to investigate this, it seems to be a viable theory. And this quote from the article "Drinking baking soda has been proven to reduce or eliminate the spread of breast cancer to the lungs, brain and bone, but too much of it can damage normal organs.",  is that a misunderstanding on the part of the article's author?

Maybe the misunderstanding is that it's the tumour pH that's changed, not the blood pH, but then how could it damage normal organs? 

Thanks, but don't get into trouble at work!  No hurry.

It was my first link about the grant.  So they are interpreting a study or quoting one of the researchers maybe.

Ya know, I've been thinking ... Shelley and Timothy need to work together - for real!!!  You both have an incredible knowledge (and maybe passion) for these topics!! 

Just for an incredible amount of laughs .... you both should read OMG They Found a Cure for Stupid (if you haven't already).  Start from page one ... if you don't shoot coffee/soda/tea/water all over your computer screen by page 10, I'll drink Baking Soda (LOL).

Unravelling any one of these ideas, like diet and ph is extremely complex.  I wish I worked in the field.  I should have continued on with my studies in Biology and gotten into research.  Instead, I went to law school and now that's my vocation.

 One of the considerations in quantifying acids and bases and ph is not only their molarity (a measure of quantity) but the strength of an acid or base (a measure of its tendency to dissociate into H+ or 0H- ).  Someone mentioned aspirin in another thread.  Aspirin is indeed an acid, but it is a relatively weak acid.

I do what you might call solicitor's work.  The stuff that doesn't take you to court (although every once in a while I do go to court, if its something that interests me and I really believe in it).  So, lots of paperwork.  Real estate, corporate, wills and estates, that kind of stuff.