This week in the HSI Forum

If you've heard about balancing pH levels and would like to find out more, an HSI Forum thread titled "Does anyone know how to balance your PH?" is a good place to start. The pH scale measures acidity. For optimal health, our bodies should be neither too acidic, nor too "basic" - the absence of acidity. From that simple idea you'll find plenty of theories about how best to measure pH (primarily through saliva and urine tests), how to read the results of those tests, what the ideal pH reading should be, and how to achieve the right balance. After an HSI member named Cindy posed the original question about how to strike a balance, another member, Lynda, offered this straightforward dietary advice: "Eat a lot of raw vegetables and if not diabetic, fruit. Limit cooked produce and meat. That's what I've read." Calcium supplements are typically used to balance pH, and a member named Tod tells about his experience on a farm where lime (calcium oxide) was used in the fields to improve crop yields. He says he uses calcium every day and it's helped him greatly. However, another member, Paula says that more than a year of coral calcium supplements have not budged her pH level. I expect this thread will bring additional comments about calcium supplements in the coming days, but in the meantime a member named Rene has entered a sort of digest of various pH research material she's found to be helpful, and I'm sure others will as well. Other health topics being discussed on the HSI Forum this week: Two threads address the issue of fluoride in our public water supplies. In one, titled "Help Stop Water Fluoridation," a member named Deb asks for sources of information she can use to discourage her city council from fluoridating the water. Want to know how to get your vegetables REALLY clean (and free of pesticides and herbicides)? Check the thread titled, "Cleaning Vegetables." A member named Mariet asks for info about "Chronic Sinus Infections" to help her son who has both allergy and sinus problems. Several very useful suggestions from other members with similar problems are posted. To add your own comments, or to find out more about these and other health issues, log on to our web site at www.hsibaltimore.com.