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Urine pH

Alternative News:

• Alkaline-Forming Food Chart - Bone Health - betterbones.com - I was surprised to see apple cider vinegar on it.
• Low Calcium, Potassium Key Risk Factors for Kidney Stones - Medscape, 8/1/22 - "A higher calcium diet is associated with a higher urinary pH, and citrate confers an alkali load which helps protect against the formation of calcium oxalate stones. Foods that are high in potassium also contain more fluid, citrate, and phytate, which, again, have been reported to be protective against kidney stones" - See potassium citrate at Amazon.com.
• Over-the-counter alkali agents to raise urine pH and citrate excretion: a prospective crossover study in healthy adults - Urology 2022 Jul 14 - "In healthy participants without a history of kidney stones, LithoLyte® and KSPtabsTM are effective over-the-counter alkali supplements, with a similar side effect profile to prescription potassium citrate" - See LithoLyte® at Amazon.com and KSPtabsTM at Amazon.com. Related Study.
  • Potassium Citrate is Better in Reducing Salt and Increasing Urine pH than Oral Intake of Lemonade: A Cross-Over Study - Med Sci Monit. 2018 - "Potassium citrate supplementation improves pH of urine, decreases urine sodium level, and increases the risk of gastric discomfort and oropharyngeal discomfort. Potassium citrate binds with sodium in urine and decreases sodium level in urine, increases pH of urine, and ultimately reduces stone formation" - See potassium citrate at Amazon.com.
• The effect of supplementation with alkaline potassium salts on bone metabolism: a meta-analysis - Osteoporos Int. 2015 Jan 9 - "The objective of this study was, therefore, to conduct a meta-analysis to assess the effects of supplemental potassium bicarbonate (KHCO3) and potassium citrate (KCitr) on urinary calcium and acid excretion, markers of bone turnover and bone mineral density (BMD) and to compare their effects with that of potassium chloride (KCl) ... Urinary calcium excretion was lowered by intervention with both KHCO3 (P = 0.04) and KCitr (P = 0.01), as was net acid excretion (NAE) (P = 0.002 for KHCO3 and P = 0.0008 for KCitr). Both salts significantly lowered the bone resorption marker NTX (P < 0.00001). There was no effect on bone formation markers or BMD. KHCO3 and KCitr lowered calcium excretion to a greater extent than did KCl" - [Nutra USA] - Note:  I take 1100 mg of potassium citrate per day with food to raise my acidic urine PH closer to neutral.  You shouldn't take that much with being under the supervision of a doctor though.  See potassium citrate at Amazon.com.
• Urinary Alkalization - .cystinuria.com - "Human urine can have pH ranging from about 4 (acid) to about 8 (alkaline). When urine pH rises above 7, cystine becomes much more soluble, so achieving a urine pH of 7.5-8 for a good part of the day is desirable ... For most people adequate alkalization does not occur without taking in extra base. It comes in many preparations. Potassium (K) citrate is preferable to sodium citrate preparations because sodium may increase cystine excretion" - See potassium citrate at Amazon.com.
• The James Buchanan Brady Urological - Kidney stone - jhu.edu - "Citrate is a molecule that binds to calcium in the urine, preventing calcium from binding to oxalate or phosphate and forming a stone. If your potassium level is low or normal, your doctor may prescribe potassium citrate supplement. If you have high blood potassium levels, your doctor may prescribe a sodium citrate supplement, such as Bicitra or sodium bicarbonate ... There is some evidence that citrus juices, such as orange juice or lemonade may increase urinary citrate levels, so these fluids would be particularly good for patients with hypocitra"
• High-Protein Diets, Like the Popular Dr. Dukan Diet, Increase the Risk of Developing Kidney Disease in Rats, Study Suggests - Science Daily, 1/21/14 - "researchers studied 20 Wistar rats, divided into two groups of 10. The first group were fed a high-protein diet of commercial hydrolysed protein supplements with a 45% protein level. The control group were fed a normal protein diet. The experiment lasted 12 weeks, which is the equivalent of 9 years in human terms ... the rats on a high-protein diet lost up to 10% of their body weight over the 12 weeks with no improvement in their plasma lipid profile. Moreover, urinary citrate in these rats was 88% lower and urinary pH was 15% more acidic. In the animals fed a high-protein diet, kidney weight increased by 22%, glomerular area -- the network of capillaries that filter blood in the kidneys -- by 13%, and the mesangium -- a collagen structure surrounded by these capillaries -- by 32% ... Eating large amounts of fruit and vegetables reduces the risk of kidney stones forming -- probably due to their high potassium and magnesium content, which compensates for the acidity of the high-protein diet"
• Effects of potassium chloride and potassium bicarbonate in the diet on urinary pH and mineral excretion of adult cats - Br J Nutr. 2013 Nov 14:1-13 - "Low dietary K levels have been associated with increasing renal Ca excretion in humans, indicating a higher risk of calcium oxalate (CaOx) urolith formation. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate whether dietary K also affects the urine composition of cats ... Fasting urine pH increased with higher dietary K levels (P= 0.022), reaching values of 6.38 (1.00 % KCl) and 7.65 (1.00 % KHCO3) ... In conclusion, the dietary inclusion of KHCO3 instead of KCl as K source could be beneficial for the prevention of CaOx urolith formation in cats, since there is an association between a lower renal Ca excretion and a generally higher urine pH. The utilisation of K is distinctly influenced by the K salt, which may be especially practically relevant when using diets with low K levels" - Note:  I mentioned in the past about yogurt having a pH of about 4.3 and how that might effect urine pH and that potassium supplements might bring that closer to a neutral pH of 7.0.  This study seems to support it.
• Comparison between lemonade and potassium citrate and impact on urine pH and 24-hour urine parameters in patients with kidney stone formation - Urology. 2007 Jun;69(6):1013-6 - "Potassium citrate, but not lemonade, improved citrate levels and urinary ph to a significant degree"

Other News:

• Is alkaline water really better for you? - Washington Post, 8/28/19 - "Though enhanced water may have some minerals or other nutrients added to it, ionized or processed alkaline water that has been distilled or filtered via reverse osmosis may not contain any minerals, making it less nutritious; the World Health Organization advises against regularly consuming water that has low mineral content because it could negatively affect your digestive system and cause mineral loss. Naturally alkaline water or spring water are better choices because they typically contain minerals ... Alkaline water isn’t necessarily better. Instead, you should focus on consuming water that’s filtered and contains minerals and making sure you’re getting enough of it. According to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, healthy sedentary men need about 15.5 cups of fluid and women need 11.5 cups of fluid each day — and you get only about 20 percent of that from food"
• Population-based studies of relationships between dietary acidity load, insulin resistance and incident diabetes in Danes - Nutr J. 2018 Oct 6;17(1):91 - "It has been suggested that the acidity of the diet may be related to increased risk of type 2 diabetes. To investigate this hypothesis, we tested if the acidity of the diet, measured as the Potential Renal Acid Load (PRAL) score, was associated with incident diabetes and diabetes-related intermediary traits ... A high dietary acidity load is associated with a higher risk of diabetes among middle-aged Danes. Although adjustment for BMI attenuated the effect sizes the association remained significant. The increased risk of diabetes may be related to our finding that a high dietary acidity load associates with impaired insulin sensitivity"
• pH imbalance in brain cells may contribute to Alzheimer's disease - Science Daily, 8/2/18 - "one root of Alzheimer's disease may be a simple imbalance in acid-alkaline -- or pH -- chemistry inside endosomes, the nutrient and chemical cargo shuttles in cells ... the scientists gave drugs called histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors to pH-imbalanced mice cells engineered with a common Alzheimer's gene variant. The experiment successfully reversed the pH problem and improved the capacity for amyloid beta clearance ... mouse cell lines containing the Alzheimer's disease gene variant had more acidic endosomes (average of 5.37 pH) than cell lines without the gene variant (average of 6.21 pH)"
• Is Alkaline Water Really Better for You? - NYT, 4/27/18 - "Blood is tightly regulated at around pH 7.4, while the stomach, which secretes hydrochloric acid to digest proteins and kill food-borne pathogens, is very acidic, with a pH of 1.5 to 3.5. If you drink water that is slightly alkaline, Dr. Fenton said, the hydrochloric acid in the stomach quickly neutralizes it before it’s absorbed into the blood"
• The Influence of Urinary pH on Antibiotic Efficacy Against Bacterial Uropathogens - Urology. 2014 Sep;84(3):731.e1-7 - "Because human urine can substantially vary from acidic (pH 4.5) to alkaline (pH 8) conditions and can be easily clinically manipulated, it would be a great advantage to better understand the role of pH in antibiotic treatment of urinary tract infection ... The fluoroquinolones, co-trimoxazole, aminoglycosides, and macrolides all functioned optimally at alkaline pH, whereas the tetracyclines, nitrofurantoin, and many of the β-lactams tested exhibited their highest activity under more acidic conditions. Sulfamethoxazole, oxacillin, amoxicillin and clavulanic acid, vancomycin, imipenem, and clindamycin were largely unaffected by pH"
• Lowered extracellular pH is involved in the pathogenesis of skeletal muscle insulin resistance - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2014 Feb 3 - "Insulin resistance in the skeletal muscle is manifested by diminished insulin-stimulated glucose uptake and is a core factor in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), but the mechanism causing insulin resistance is still unknown ... Our present study suggests that lowered extracellular pH conditions may produce the pathogenesis of insulin resistance in skeletal muscle cells"
• Higher dietary acid load increases risk of diabetes, study says - Science Daily, 11/11/13 - "A western diet rich in animal products and other acidogenic foods can induce an acid load that is not compensated for by fruit and vegetables; this can cause chronic metabolic acidosis and lead to metabolic complications. Most importantly from a blood-sugar control perspective, increasing acidosis can reduce the ability of insulin to bind at appropriate receptors in the body, and reduce insulin sensitivity ... potential renal acid load (PRAL) ... In the overall population, those in the top 25% (quartile) for PRAL had a 56% increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared with the bottom quartile ... A diet rich in animal protein may favour net acid intake, while most fruits and vegetables form alkaline precursors that neutralise the acidity. Contrary to what is generally believed, most fruits such as peaches, apples, pears, bananas and even lemons and oranges actually reduce dietary acid load once the body has processed them" - Note:  Yogurt has a pH of 4.5 (7 is neutral).  I'm hoping that the seven potassium capsules I take per day will counter some of that.
• How to Correct High Acid pH With High Alkali Foods - .wikihow.com - "If your body's pH is highly acidic most of the time, you can increase your risk for a variety of diseases. A pH balance of 0 to 6 is acid, a pH balance of 7 is neutral, and a pH balance of 8 to 14 is alkaline ... your urine pH should be between 6.0 and 6.5 when you test in the morning, and between 6.5 and 7.0 when you test in the evening"
• The pH of soda pop - quittingsoda.com - "Pepsi - 2.530"
• pH - wikipedia.org - "Battery acid ... 1.0"