Potential Of Hydrogen (pH)
The
Simple Definition
pH is a logarithmic measure of hydrogen ion concentration, originally
defined by Danish biochemist Søren Peter Lauritz Sørensen
in 1909,
pH = -log[H+]
where log is a base-10 logarithm and [H+] is the concentration of hydrogen ions in moles per liter of solution. According to the Compact Oxford English Dictionary, the "p" stands for the German word for "power", potenz, so pH is an abbreviation for "power of hydrogen".
The pH scale was defined because the enormous range of hydrogen ion concentrations found in aqueous solutions make using H+ molarity awkward. For example, in a typical acid-base titration, [H+] may vary from about 0.01 M to 0.0000000000001 M. It is easier to write "the pH varies from 2 to 13".
The hydrogen ion concentration in pure water around room temperature is about 1.0 × 10-7 M. A pH of 7 is considered "neutral", because the concentration of hydrogen ions is exactly equal to the concentration of hydroxide (OH-) ions produced by dissociation of the water. Increasing the concentration of hydrogen ions above 1.0 × 10-7 M produces a solution with a pH of less than 7, and the solution is considered "acidic". Decreasing the concentration below 1.0 × 10-7 M produces a solution with a pH above 7, and the solution is considered "alkaline" or "basic".
pH is often used to compare solution acidities. For example, a solution of pH 1 is said to be 10 times as acidic as a solution of pH 2, because the hydrogen ion concentration at pH 1 is ten times the hydrogen ion concentration at pH 2. This is correct as long as the solutions being compared both use the same solvent. You can't use pH to compare the acidities in different solvents because the neutral pH is different for each solvent. For example, the concentration of hydrogen ions in pure ethanol is about 1.58 × 10-10 M, so ethanol is neutral at pH 9.8. A solution with a pH of 8 would be considered acidic in ethanol, but basic in water!
What
does drinking high pH water do to our health?
Among
the people who question the validity of alkaline water, the biggest
question is, "What happens to the alkaline water once it reaches
the stomach, which is highly acidic?" People who have some knowledge
of the human body, including medical doctors, ask this question. Let
me answer that question once and for all to erase any doubts about
the health benefits of alkaline water.
In order to digest food and kill the kinds of bacteria and viruses that come with the food, the inside of our stomach is acidic. The stomach pH value is maintained at around 4. When we eat food and drink water, especially alkaline water, the pH value inside the stomach goes up. When this happens, there is a feedback mechanism in our stomach to detect this and commands the stomach wall to secrete more hydrochloric acid into the stomach to bring the pH value back to 4. So the stomach becomes acidic again. When we drink more alkaline water, more hydrochloric acid is secreted to maintain the stomach pH value. It seems like a losing battle.
However, when you understand how the stomach wall makes hydrochloric acid, your concerns will disappear. A pathologist friend of mine gave me the following explanation. There is no hydrochloric acid pouch in our body. If there were, it would burn a hole in our body. The cells in our stomach wall must produce it on an instantly-as-needed basis. The ingredients in the stomach cell that make hydrochloric acid (HCl) are carbon dioxide (CO2), water (H2O), and sodium chloride (NaCl) or potassium chloride (KCl).
NaCl
+ H2O + CO2 = HCl + NaHCO3, or
KCl + H2O + CO2 = HCl + KHCO3
As we can see, the byproduct of making hydrochloric acid is sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) or potassium bicarbonate (KHCO3), which goes into blood stream. These bicarbonates are the alkaline buffers that neutralize excess acids in the blood; they dissolve solid acid wastes into liquid form. As they neutralize the solid acidic wastes, extra carbon dioxide is released, which is discharged through the lungs. As our body gets old, these alkaline buffers get low; this phenomenon is called acidosis. This is a natural occurrence as our body accumulates more acidic waste products. There is, therefore, a relationship between the aging process and the accumulation of acids.
By looking at the pH value of the stomach alone, it seems that alkaline water never reaches the body. But when you look at the whole body, there is a net gain of alkalinity as we drink alkaline water. Our body cells are slightly alkaline. In order for them to produce acid, they must also produce alkaline, and vice versa; just as a water ionizer cannot produce alkaline water without producing acid water, since tap water is almost neutral.
When the stomach pH value gets higher than 4, the stomach knows what to do to lower it. However, if the pH value goes below 4, for any reason, the stomach doesn't know what to do. That's why we take Alka-Seltzer, which is alkaline, to relieve acidic stomach gas pain. In this case, hydrochloric acid is not produced by the stomach wall, therefore, no alkaline buffer is being added to the blood stream.
Let me give you another example of a body organ that produces acid in order to produce alkaline. After the food in the stomach is digested, it must come out to the small intestine. The food at this point is so acidic that it will damage the intestine wall. In order to avoid this problem, the pancreas makes alkaline juice (known as pancreatic juice). This juice is sodium bicarbonate, and is mixed with the acidic food coming out of the stomach. From the above formulae, in order to produce bicarbonates, the pancreas must make hydrochloric acid, which goes into our blood stream.
We experience sleepiness after a big meal (not during the meal or while the food is being digested in the stomach), when the digested food is coming out of the stomach; that's the time when hydrochloric acid goes into our blood. Hydrochloric acid is the main ingredient in antihistamines that causes drowsiness.
Alkaline or acid produced by the body must have an equal and opposite acid or alkaline produced by the body; therefore, there is no net gain. However, alkaline supplied from outside the body, like drinking alkaline water, results in a net gain of alkalinity in our body.
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How
do you measure pH?
The second, and much more economical method, is to use pH paper - or, as we sell in our shop, pH Stix. These pH test strips are made specifically to test saliva and urine, and are the most accurate and economical test strips on the market.
Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP)
What
exactly is ORP?
Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP) is a measurement (in mV) of the
tendency or the strength that indicates whether a solution is oxidizing
or reducing (= deoxidizing).
Any positive number indicates that the solution is oxidizing; the higher, the more oxidizing. The same theory applies on the negative side, just in the opposite direction; the lower, the more deoxidizing. And of course, any negative number indicates a reducing or deoxidizing tendency.
When chemists first used the term in the late 18th Century, the word "oxidation" meant, "to combine with oxygen." Back then, it was a pretty radical concept. Until about 200 years ago, folks were really confused about the nature of matter. It took some pretty brave chemists to prove, for example, that fire did not involve the release of some unknown, mysterious substance, but rather occurred when oxygen combined rapidly with the stuff being burned.
We can see examples of oxidation all the time in our daily lives. They occur at different speeds. When we see a piece of iron rusting, or a slice of apple turning brown, we are looking at examples of relatively slow oxidation. When we look at a fire, we are witnessing an example of rapid oxidation. We now know that oxidation involves an exchange of electrons between two atoms. The atom that loses an electron in the process is said to be "oxidized." The one that gains an electron is said to be "reduced." In picking up that extra electron, it loses the electrical energy that makes it "hungry" for more electrons.
We also know that matter can be changed, but not destroyed. You can alter its structure, and can increase or decrease the amount of energy it contains - but you can't eliminate the basis building blocks that make things what they are.
Chemicals like chlorine, bromine, and ozone are all oxidizers. It is their ability to oxidize - to "steal" electrons from other substances - that makes them good water sanitizers, because in altering the chemical makeup of unwanted plants and animals, they kill them. Then they "burn up" the remains, leaving a few harmless chemicals as the by-product.
Of course, in the process of oxidizing, all of these oxidizers are reduced - so they lose their ability to further oxidize things. They may combine with other substances in the water, or their electrical charge may simply be "used up." To make sure that the chemical process continues to the very end, you must have a high enough concentration of oxidizer in the water to do the whole job.
But how much is "enough?" That's where the term potential comes into play.
"Potential" is a word that refers to ability rather than action. We hear it all the time in sports. ("That rookie has a lot of potential - he hasn't done anything yet, but we know that he has the ability to produce.)
Potential energy is energy that is stored and ready to be put to work. It's not actually working, but we know that the energy is there if and when we need it. Another word for potential might be pressure. Blow up a balloon, and there is air pressure inside. As long as we keep the end tightly closed, the pressure remains as potential energy. Release the end, and the air inside rushes out, changing from potential (possible) energy to kinetic (in motion) energy.
In electrical terms, potential energy is measured in volts. Actual energy (current flow) is measured in amps. When you put a voltmeter across the leads of a battery, the reading you get is the difference in electrical pressure - the potential - between the two poles. This pressure represents the excess electrons present at one pole of the battery (caused, incidentally, by a chemical reaction within the battery) ready to flow to the opposite pole.
When we use the term potential in describing ORP, we are actually talking about electrical potential or voltage. We are reading the very tiny voltage generated when a metal is placed in water in the presence of oxidizing and reducing agents. These voltages give us an indication of the ability of the oxidizers in the water to keep it free from contaminants.
What
does oxidation or reduction mean to our health?
The
consumption of oxidized foods and beverages tend to affect unfavorably
the chemical characteristics of the body fluids. Many foods and beverages
are highly oxidized and devoid of electrons.
Likewise, the addition to one’s diet of negative hydrogen ions, which are found to be especially high in organically grown vegetables, tends to affect the body fluids in a favorable manner.
Naturally, the ORP value varies quite widely between the foods and beverages. Considering you want to avoid oxidizing your body internally as much as possible, it is important to make a constant effort to eat and drink of which ORP value is on the negative side. However, unfortunately, the majority of what we eat and drink have positive ORP values, often quite high.
Many of you might be disappointed to know that some of the worst (the most oxidizing) examples include alcohol beverages, soda, meat, which ironically represent the most popular.
Also, some interesting comparison can be made on the freshness of the food at different stages of the product cycle.
For example, a freshly squeezed orange juice shows an ORP of usually around -100mV while most of the packaged orange juice show as high as +200mV.
How do you measure ORP?
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An ORP probe is really a millivolt meter, measuring the voltage across a circuit formed by a reference electrode constructed of silver wire (in effect, the negative pole of the circuit), and a measuring electrode constructed of a platinum band (the positive pole), with the pool water in between. The reference electrode, usually made of silver, is surrounded by salt (electrolyte) solution that produces another tiny voltage. But the voltage produced by the reference electrode is constant and stable, so it forms a reference against which the voltage generated by the platinum measuring electrode and the oxidizers in the water may be compared. The difference in voltage between the two electrodes is what is actually measured by the meter. Modern ORP electrodes are almost always combination electrodes, that is both electrodes are housed in one body - so it appears that it is just one "probe." Incidentally, the meter circuitry itself must have very high impedance (resistance) in order to measure the very tiny voltages generated by the circuit. |
What
is the typical ORP value of drinking water from a Water Ionizer?
While the actual ORP varies depending on the source water,
it is generally anywhere between -200mV and -500mV. Anything below
-550mV is considered too strong for human body to take internally,
and therefore not recommended for drinking.
