Author: Dr. Michael Cutler

The reason krill oil is more effective than other marine oils is the amount of omega-3 fatty acids, phospholipids and extremely potent antioxidants. It’s the unique combination of these essential ingredients that provide the greatest health benefits.

Krill oil has been shown to outperform fish oil supplements when it comes to lowering your bad low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. Patients who took 1 to 1.5 grams of krill oil a day—compared to three times the dose of fish oil—showed a significantly greater decrease in bad cholesterol than the fish oil patients.

In an Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) test, krill oil was shown to contain 300 times the amount of vitamin A and E, plus 48 times the antioxidant power of standard omega-3 fish oils.

Omega fatty acids are essential for your diet—and should be supplemented since your body doesn’t produce them on its own. These fatty acids are the best source to help prevent blood clotting, lower blood pressure and relive inflammation.

Krill oil contains a healthy balance of omega-3 fatty acid and omega-6 fatty acid—which helps fight infection. These two fatty acids need each other and work together to prevent other inflammation-related ailments like heart disease, arthritis and diabetes.

Phospholipids are fats that help keep your cells functioning by providing a protective membrane around each cell to block out toxins and disease-forming free radicals. The fats found in krill oil most closely resemble the phospholipids found in your brain that are responsible for maintaining the brain chemical that controls your memory, muscle function, mood, sleep patterns and organs like your heart.

Results from laboratory tests show that krill oil contains a powerful cocktail of antioxidants, which are not only beneficial for your continued health, but also sustain the shelf life of the oil.

Krill oil provides you with an ample supply of vitamins A, E and D, plus minerals such as potassium, sodium and zinc. And it also contains large amounts of the B-complex choline.

However, the most powerful antioxidant in krill oil is astaxanthin. This nutrient is responsible for fighting free radicals within the body and protecting the blood-brain barrier—which means it protects the eye, brain and central nervous system from free radical damage.

Krill Oil for Your Aching Joints
If you suffer from creaking, cracking joints… stiff hands and fingers… lingering back pain… or sore swollen legs due to recurrent inflammation, then krill oil may be the miracle you have been searching for.

In a double-blind study, 45 patients with rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis were administered 300 mg of krill oil. After only seven days, inflammation was reduced by 19 percent, pain was reduced 24 percent, stiffness was reduced by 21 percent and immobility was reduced by 16 percent.

How does this all-natural pain reliever work so well? It’s the combination of the trio of anti-inflammatory ingredients—omega fatty acids, phospholipids and numerous powerful antioxidants.

Ease Your Symptoms of Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
In a randomized, double-blind study, researchers in Montreal studied the effects of krill oil on PMS, and patients reported a significant improvement in all 10 physical and mental symptoms examined and measured. The findings show that krill oil can help:

• Ease abdominal pain and uterine cramps
• Relive nausea, bloating and fatigue.
• Alleviate headaches as well as joint and body aches.
• Lessen PMS-related breast tenderness.
• Improve erratic mood swings and food cravings.
• Prevent PMS-related feelings of anxiety, depression and stress.

In fact, the women who consumed krill oil during the study period reported that they consumed fewer dangerous over-the-counter pain relievers to help with their PMS symptoms.

Reduce Your Chances of Heart Disease
High total cholesterol and high “bad” LDL cholesterol can be major risk factors for heart disease or a fatal heart disaster.

In a clinical study conducted by Canadian researchers from the University of Montreal, the findings show that Neptune krill oil significantly reduced several risk factors for high cholesterol.

In fact, the results showed a:

• Reduction in total cholesterol by 13 percent
• Decrease in bad LDL cholesterol by 32 percent
• Deduction in triglycerides by 11 percent
• Increase in good high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol by 44 percent

For much-needed relief from joint pain and PMS symptoms, plus reduced LDL cholesterol levels, I recommend nature’s amazing anti-inflammatory and antioxidant remedy—krill oil. Once you see and feel the results you might never look for standard fish oil supplements again.

—By Michael Cutler, M.D.

As newborn babies, we are full of alkaline reserves and our metabolism moves smoothly and cleanly. When we die, we rapidly turn to acid waste. Alkalinity is health, longevity, and quality of life. Acidity, in simple terms, and in the minds of natural health practitioners, means sickness and death. When I see a patient with chronic symptoms of arthritis, diabetes, emphysema, arteriosclerosis, or cancer, I know their tissues and metabolism are running acidic. Regardless of the particular symptoms, all of these conditions originate with an increase in the amount of acid in the body tissues, which translates into impaired cellular metabolism, enzyme function, and energy production within the cells.

Tissue acidity has a long list of harmful effects upon the body if not neutralized or eliminated. For example, the body’s ability to absorb minerals and other nutrients decreases significantly in acid conditions. Additionally, the enzymatic processes that control the repair mechanisms for damaged DNAand other critical structures become weakened. And the liver cannot detoxify heavy metals from the body when an acid pH predominates. Clearly, cancer cells proliferate wildly in acid conditions. Acid tissue pH causes fatigue that leads to depression and stress.

What is pH?

The pH or “potential of Hydrogen” is a measure of the relative acidity or alkalinity of a solution. Because it usually takes a full hour lecture to explain pH in detail, I will first give the technical overview of pH and then follow with a simple explanation of it. The pH of a solution is expressed as a “negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration in a solution.” In other words, in a solution with a pH of 7.0 (such as pure distilled water) there are 10 billion hydrogen ions per cubic decimeter. More simply put, the term pH is a symbol for the amount of acidity or alkalinity of a solution. A pH of 7.0 is a perfectly neutral pH; from 0 to 7.0 indicates acidity; and from 7.0 to 14.0 indicates alkalinity. Another way to think of it is that fluids become more acidic the farther below 7.0 they become (like stomach acid at approximately the pH of 2.0) and more alkaline the farther above 7.0 they become. And just for clarity, here are some pH values for various items before they enter the body:

• orange juice is 3.0

• tomato juice is 4.0

• milk is 6.8

• neutral is 7.0

• baking soda is 9.0

• milk of magnesia is 10.7

• household bleach is 12.5

Physiologic pH

There have literally been volumes written about the pH of the body. The physiologic pH is the acidalkaline level of any given area of the body that allows for optimal function. For example, the blood of a healthy human is at physiologic pH (optimum) which is 7.36 to 7.40. Yet the urine has its physiologic pH ranging between 6.0 and 6.4 when it is dumping acid and at 6.8 to 7.0 when the body is happily alkaline and there is little acid to dump. Saliva is another measurable fluid “compartment” of the body that reflects the lymphatic system and ranges from 6.4 to 7.2 optimally, depending on what else is going on in the body (illness, stress, dehydration, etc.).

The human body is constantly struggling to maintain a healthy alkaline pH level. Why? Since the natural metabolic byproduct of cellular energy production and utilization of nutrients within the cells is generally acid as will be explained, there must be sufficient buffering (neutralizing) effects to keep from moving toward more and more acid.

The Typical American Diet

Many people are not successful and live every day in an acid state. When our digestive system metabolizes foods, acids are produced. The body has natural ways of eliminating excess acid including the lungs, kidneys, intestinal tract, and skin. These systems can become overworked if you consume too many acid-producing foods. If this excess acid is not counteracted by consuming the right amounts of alkaline foods, the excess acid becomes overwhelming for your body to handle naturally and you may begin to experience headaches, illness, colds, allergies, viruses, and diseases. All this dysfunction in the body is the sign that the body is trying to balance the sensitive pH level inside itself.

How Do You Know if You’re Acidic?

You can get a useful trend of your acid-alkaline balance by using pH test strips or litmus paper which you can purchase at most pharmacies. In clinical practice, patients use litmus paper to periodically test their own saliva or urine. Over time, their pH values tend to be more alkaline (toward optimum) as they overcome disease and institute alkaline lifestyle habits.

Does it really correlate with health and is it really useful? This question is often asked by the patient or doctor unfamiliar with the concept of tissue acidity. In fact, you will find that this concept has no meaning to a physician trained only in conventional medicine. But for those skilled in natural therapy and who address the underlying cause of disease, body pH is definitely important.

If you’re like most people who regularly eat animal meats, fried foods, processed foods, refined sugars, pasteurized dairy products, or other acid-producing foods, then most likely you’re acidic. The list below of alkaline-forming and acid-forming foods is revealing— especially if you realize your foods are mostly from the acid forming category.

Acid-Forming Foods:

Alcohol beverages Barley Breads and cakes Canned fruits and veggies Cereals (dried) Chocolate Cigarettes Coffee Cooked grains (except millet and quinoa) Corn, dried Cornstarch Dairy products Drugs Eggs Foods cooked with oils Fruits, especially glazed or sulfured Ketchup Legumes and lentils Meat: Fish, foul, shellfish Mustard Nuts, seeds, beans Oatmeal

Pasta (refined grains) Pepper, black Popcorn Processed foods Sal Crackers Soft drinks Soy beans, fresh Soy products (refined soy, not miso, tempeh, tofu, edamame) Sugar, white and processed Sweeteners, artificial (Splenda, Equal,Aspartame, etc.) Tea, black and green Tomatoes Vegetables, overcooked Vinegar, distilled Vitamin C (synthetic in pills) Wheat Also remember that stress, anger, discontent, and any other negative emotions contribute to acid-formation in body tissues.

 

Testing Your pH

If you choose to test saliva, wait two hours after eating. Spit into a spoon and dip a pH test strip in your saliva. Read the results immediately by matching the color of the pH strip to the color chart for the correct indication of your pH level. An optimal reading is 7.2 which reflects that you have effectively alkalinized your tissues.

When testing urine use any void other than the first one in the morning. Fill a small cup with urine and dip the pH strip in the urine. Read the results immediately by matching the color of the pH strip to the color chart for the correct indication of your pH level. A reading of 6.4 to 6.8 is a favorable reading; more acidic (in the 5.5 to 6.4 range) usually means you are dumping excessive acids but that your kidneys are working hard to do so. Above 7.0 for urine could either mean that you are well alkalinized or that you have stirred some ammonia to help fight an infection of some sort. Urine pH fluctuates more with your diet and daily activities.

If your test results are acidic, then consider what you could do for yourself by increasing your intake of alkaline foods while reducing the acid foods you eat. You may also wish to supplement with alkalinized buffering minerals, such as Ultimate pH Balance™. Ultimate pH Balance™ is a tasteless supplement that you can add to your water (4 drops per 8 oz. of water) to increase the alkalinity of your drinking water which is carried throughout the body.

You really are not the same person that you were last year. The body replaces the lining of the stomach about every five days, the skin in about a month, the liver about every six weeks, and the red blood cells circulate for about 120 days before being replaced by new cells. The new body that you are building today is affected predominately by the foods you eat. And if you eat predominately acidic forming foods, the long-term acidic environment at the cellular level that is created will have a real and damaging effect. If cells cannot function properly, your body cannot function properly. On the other hand, a healthy alkaline diet creates an environment that is conducive to cellular health.

Alkaline Foods and How to Get Started

When discussing foods, you must understand that there is a huge difference between “acidic foods” and “acid-forming foods.” A good example is citrus fruits, which are truly acidic foods because they contain citric acid—until they enter the body. So just because lemons are acidic, that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy them! In fact, a few drops of lemon juice in your water can be a “pHenomenal” alkaline booster.

How does it work? During the process of digestion, foods change their chemistry. Energy is derived from foods by oxidation similar to the burning of fuel in a stove. And as in a stove, there is always an ash or residue. The residue that occurs in the human body as a result of the burning of foods is termed as “ash” and has a definite chemical reaction. Some foods leave an “acid ash” and are therefore known as “acid-forming foods.”

Other foods leave an “alkaline ash” and are therefore known as “alkaline-forming foods.” To clarify this point, please remember that the acid and alkaline reaction described above occurs AFTER digestion and assimilation, and these terms do not indicate the chemistry of the foods BEFORE digestion. Therefore, do not assume that all acid foods are acid forming, and vice versa.

After reading the extensive food list earlier you might ask, “So what is a person to do—to eat only alkaline-forming foods, and eliminate all the acid forming foods altogether?” No, you can eat tomatoes and acid-forming fruits and vegetables as long as you balance them with other foods. You don’t have to give up your favorite foods to get your body in a healthy balance.

It turns out that our goal is to find an “alkaline balance,” which can be accomplished by eating predominately alkaline foods along with minimal acidic foods. This, of course, takes some serious consideration of how to prepare foods, how to shop, how to combine foods to achieve this alkaline balance, and how to keep from getting “alkaline burnout.” This term alkaline burnout refers to the enthusiastic beginner who starts eating vegetarian only to become disillusioned when former food cravings come back with a vengeance.

Alkaline-Forming Foods:
All fresh and raw fruits, vegetables, and sprouts Alfalfa sprouts Apple cider vinegar Apples Apricots Avocados Bananas Barley Beans, green Beets and greens Berries Blackberries Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Cantaloupe Carrots Cauliflower Celery Cherries Collard greens Cucumbers Dates Dulse Figs Fresh corn Fresh, raw juice Goat whey Grapefruits Grapes Herbal teas Honey, raw Kale Kelp Leaf lettuce	Leeche nuts Lemons Lima beans Limes Mangos Maple syrup Melons Millet* Molasses* Mushrooms Mustard greens Okra Onions Oranges Parsley Parsnips Peaches Pears Peas, green Peppers Pineapple Plums and prunes Potatoes* Quinoa* Radishes Raisins Raspberries Raw, cold-pressed organic olive and flax seed oils Rhubarb Sauerkraut Spinach Squash Turnip Greens Watercress Yams
Remember that feelings of appreciation, happiness, and peace are alkaline-forming for the body. *When doing an internal cleanse, these foods will significantly slow the cleanse process. Also note: All foods become acidic when sugar is added.

The 80/20 Rule

As mentioned, most chronic diseases and many aches and pains are associated with acidosis. A good rule to follow is the 80/20 rule, where you eat 80% alkaline forming foods and 20% acid-forming foods. The easier way is to read over the list but don’t memorize or follow it in detail. Because what do you notice about the list? Can you see some patterns?

The Simple Pattern to Follow

Notice that in the acidic foods list you find nearly all meats, processed foods, refined flours, pasteurized dairy, extracted oils, cooked grains, chemicalized beverages, vegetables, and fruits that have been altered in some way (except a few), sweets, and drugs. Also note that whenever we cook, boil, process, freeze, or otherwise alter foods they become acid-forming in the body. The main exceptions to foods on the acid forming list not being a “whole food” are certain nuts, seeds, and starchy vegetables. This is why when you look over the alkaline foods list you will recognize foods that are high in fiber, enzymes, micronutrients, minerals, vitamins, and otherwise “live foods.”

Now it becomes easier to remember to eat 80% or more from the “live foods” list (alkaline-forming foods) and less than 20% from the dead (acid-forming foods).

Fast Foods and the Acid/Alkaline Balance

Of course, it’s best to avoid fast food altogether, but sometimes it is not possible. We get busy and end up on the run, trying to find some health options at the drive through. Well, if you balance some acid-forming foods with alkaline-forming foods and remember to balance all those later during the day with whole, natural foods, then it won’t be that bad.

You can even look for options such as a grilled chicken salad instead of the fried chicken sandwich, or just grab a vegetarian wrap instead of a burger. Most fast food chains these days offer smaller portions and healthier sides such as salads or fruit cups. Just watch out for added sugar and fats in the dressings.

For example, if you eat acids foods like:

• Burritos

• Hot dogs

• Chicken nuggets

• Hamburgers

• Tacos

• Biscuits

Then balance it with alkaline foods like:

• Baked potato

• Green/chef salad

• Hash browns

And instead of the sugar-loaded soft drink or sweet tea, ask for water with lemon, which will turn into an alkaline booster once in your system!

It’s no secret that your body is made up of about 70 percent water. Every one of your 100 trillion cells is filled with water. And every other chemical in your body—from the stomach acid you need to digest food… to the blood that carries oxygen and nutrients to the cells of all your organs—either contain water or are suspended in water.

Therefore, for you to be healthy, that water needs to have a healthy pH balance—even out into the tissues of the organs where metabolism actually occurs. The letters “pH” mean “potential of hydrogen” and simply measure how acidic or alkaline your body is on a logarithmic scale from 0 to 14.

Your body will work hard to keep your organ tissues in pH balance. You will achieve optimum health much easier when your organ tissues stay in a slightly alkaline environment—about 7.0 to 7.5 as measured by saliva.

Blood pH is very different, however. It remains in the 7.34 to 7.38 pH range normally. And urine is normally acidic at a pH of 6.2 to 6.8 upon your first morning bathroom visit. What some people don’t realize is that saliva is a fairly good reflection of tissue pH which can vary, while blood pH will be one of the very last things to change in a sick person.

Is an acidic pH balance behind YOUR symptoms? Take this simple test:

• Do you suffer from high blood pressure, a failing heart or other heart problems?
• Do your joints feel stiff, inflamed and painful or do you suffer from bone loss?
• Has a doctor told you that your blood sugar levels are too high or too low?
• Are you finding it more difficult to get a good night’s sleep?
• Do you suffer from constant fatigue or energy crashes after meals?
• Do you frequently endure cramping, constipation, heartburn or other digestive problems?
• Do you sometimes feel depressed, negative and cranky?
• Have you noticed that your ability to solve problems or to remember details is lacking?
• Do you sometimes suffer from shortness of breath or other lung problems?
• Do you experience pain, numbness or tingling in your hands, legs or feet?
• Is your skin or hair aging more rapidly than they should?
• Do you notice that your eyesight or hearing is fading at an alarming rate?
• Do you suffer from low sexual desire or performance problems?
• Do you contract infections more often with each passing year?

If you answered “yes” to one or more of these questions, there’s a good chance that you may be suffering from acid overload. By switching to a whole foods diet and avoiding processed and packaged foods, you can help your organs, tissues and cells stay in alkaline balance.

The simple rule to remember is the 80/20 rule. It’s beneficial for your diet to consist of 80 percent whole foods such as fruits, non-starchy vegetables, soy products, limited amounts of lean meats, whole grains and beans… and only 20 percent of acid-forming foods such as commercially processed pasta, fast food, frozen foods, crackers, cookies and most sugary cereals.

In addition to the best nutrition you can consume, the next step is to supplement with alkalizing minerals.

—By Michael Cutler, M.D.

When you’re born, you’re at the height of your health… and your pH levels are in a nearly perfect alkaline balance. But if you’re like most folks, you pay very little attention to balancing your body chemistry. Yet to be healthy, you must be in acid/alkaline pH balance—and slightly on the side of alkalinity. An infant is highly alkaline… an 80-year-old person is highly acid… and death is 100 percent acidity.

This critical balance between acidity and alkalinity is measured on a scale of 0 to 14 known as the pH—or “potential of hydrogen.” On this scale, 0 to 7.0 is acid, 7.0 is neutral and 7.0 to 14 is alkaline. If you’re a healthy person with perfectly balanced pH, you would have a reading of about 7.4 in your blood and about 7.25 in your tissues. However, most people fall in the acid range of 6.2 to 6.4.

Why? Take a look at the three main reasons why we are so far below the healthy alkaline range:

• Stress—If you’re alive and working in America, you’re swimming in stress. This is a big reason for an increase in acid production.
• Dehydration—Seven out of 10 of us are chronically dehydrated. This means we suffer from dehydration fatigue, sluggish metabolism and an urge to eat all the time. Our thirst mechanism lacks strength and is often mistaken for hunger.
• Poor Diet—As you age you become more acidic because you build up more acid waste due mainly to a diet poor in nutrition. Most people eat 80 percent acid foods and only 20 percent alkaline foods. However, you should reverse that in order to be healthy.

Foods such as beef, pork, pasta, hamburgers, hot dogs, frozen snack foods, crackers, cookies, rice and most sugar cereals are acid-forming and commercially processed. These are the foods that most Americans live on. Sugar and artificial sweeteners (except Stevia) are even bigger culprits. And soft drinks are the real dangers with a high acid pH level of 2.5!

And while we devour the health-robbing acid-based foods, we turn up our noses at the good guys—alkaline-forming foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans and other foods high in fiber. This is a way of life that spells disaster for our health.

Just as acid can ruin your car battery, this is what acid overload can do to your body:

• Eats away at the linings of your arteries and increases your chances of both brain and cardiovascular problems
• Erodes cartilage and causes inflamed joints
• Damages skin cells which contributes to premature wrinkling and other aging issues

But that’s not the only damage you face. Excess acid can cause blood sugar problems… high blood pressure… calcium-deprived bones… low energy… poor circulation… sexual problems… sleep problems… leg cramps… and a host of other issues.

In fact, in his popular book, Alkalize or Die, Theodore A. Baroody, M.A., D.C., N.D., Ph.D., shook the scientific world with the statement, “The countless names of illnesses do not really matter. What does matter is that they all come from the same root cause… TOO MUCH ACID IN THE BODY!”

However, by understanding the importance of the acid/alkaline balance in your body—and taking steps to reverse the acid dominance—you can halt your march toward poor health.

—By Michael Cutler, M.D.