Type 1 and pH balance

vidareve

Newbie
Messages
4
Hi diabetic friends,
I'm a type 1 diabetic since 1980, reasonable well controlled. I'm exercising 7 days a week (as a diabetic should), and my GP says I'm the fittest of her patients!

I'm reading this book 'The pH Miracle For Diabetes' by Robert O. Young and his wife, and I'm wondering if anybody with Type 1 has tried this out?

The principles that he describes in the book seems interesting enough.
Although the lifestyle with limited used of most foods (like meat, any sweets, milk, coffee, tea etc) to stabilize the pH balance between acids and alkalines in your stomach, seems pretty drastic.

I also understand that the possibility of getting rid of the use of insulin, is probably a bit restricted, but I'm willing to try it just to test this out.

Unfortunately doctors and scientists seems not to work on solving the diabetes problem (or cancer or any other diseases, but to always create different new medicines that you have to take every day (insulin, high blood pressure tablets, cholesterol tablets etc), so the farmaceutical companies around can earn their money every day. I'm not against companies earning money, but they seem to overdo it a bit.

So my question is does anyone have any experience with 'the pH balance' way of living, is it worthwhile trying out or not?
 

phoenix

Expert
Messages
5,671
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Sorry, I understand that you perhaps feel that you want to look away from traditional medicine
but , I think should stick to your present form of control, as it seems to be working.
You've got the book so there's certainly no harm in reading it but a quick google found this brief report on quackwatch about Dr O. Young credentials (this in itself lacks evidence but should perhaps sound warning bells!). It also links to an article debunking the acid/alkaline theory
[url=http://www.ncahf.org/digest05/05-14.html#young]http://www.ncahf.org/digest05/05-14.html#young[/url]
Actually I think someone didi mention this type of diet fairly recently but I think like you they were asking if anyone had tried it.
 

goji

Well-Known Member
Messages
251
Hi Vidareve

Sorry haven't heard of the PH diet. I've read quite a few articles though saying there's nothing in the ph approach (for other health stuff though admittedly not seen any for diabetes).

If you're going on an exclusion diet specifically for diabetes why not try Dr Bernstein's? Lots of people have a lot of success with his approach. While they don't get off insulin with Dr B, some people find they reduce their insulin by a fair amount, thereby lowering the risk/frequency of hypos.
http://www.diabetes-normalsugars.com/

Goji x

ps. Congratulations on your hard work at exercising - you have more willpower than I do!! :D
 

witan

Well-Known Member
Messages
99
pH levels are critical to almost all chemical and bio-chemical reactions which is why the body controls it's pH levels so closely. If this goes wrong you'll be seriously ill and probably die.

Blood pH is controlled between 6.8 and 7.2 and is most easilly varied within this range by breathing rate, lung capacity or inhaling noxious gases. This is why blood pH is almost always reported with Oxygen and Carbon dioxide levels (Blood gases). I spent too many years servicing blood gas instruments in hospital labs :)

Stomach pH is incredibly acidic - can't remember the exact pH but think its around 2pH - it also has a vey high buffering capacity - which means you can add big volumes of alkaline products without any effect on its pH level.

So there is not much chance anything you ingest will have any affect at all on your blood pH.

The only area that caught my interest was the pH of the intestines where much of the absorbtion of nutrients takes place but there is no way ingested minerals could affect this - but what about all those pro-biotic yoghurts that claim to have some impact down at this level. These cultures apparently survive the stomach and can influence the environment of the intestines and so what is absorbed or excreted.

Probably cheaper and safer than any drugs from a snake-oil vendor.
 

jopar

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,222
Vidareve

If your understanding of this diet is that it will stop your need for insulin to treat your T1 diabetes, I sorry that this will not happen...

All it can do is reduce the amount of insulin that you need to deal with reduced load of carbhydrates that you are having....
 

hanadr

Expert
Messages
8,157
Dislikes
soaps on telly and people talking about the characters as if they were real.
Oh dear!
Who wasn't listening in GCSE science lessons?
Different regions of the alimentary canal are "buffered" at individual pHs. Buffering keeps the pH very close to a set point. It takes a huge amount of anything to unset the point. The stomach is VERY acidic about pH 2. that's nearly battery acid. It's why vomit burns your throat and Bulimia dissolves your tooth enamel
The first part of the small intestine is nearly neutral and the later part is alkaline. the different conditions in the different regions aid some digesive enzymes and disable others, so separate digestive processes take place in each region.
With that kind of buffering going on, nothing you eat is going to make a lot of difference unless there's something seriously wrong.
 

vidareve

Newbie
Messages
4
Hi guys,
and thank you for all your different answers.


I didn't mean to say that you could get rid of your insulin, but with this kind of nutrition, maybe reduce it.
I appreciate that it's going to be very difficult, but I still want to try this out with the different
'tools' available right now like 'super green' drinks, pH-ion drops etc. to see if I can get my insulin
level down a bit.
I take insulin normally with every meal plus a back up insulin in the evening. I eat 6 meals a day
(small portions), and then I need to test the blood sugar all the time to decide how much insulin
to take each time. You kind of get fed up with all the stuff you have to do.
But the alternative I'm discussing here is probably not much better, because you can't really eat many acid substances, so no coffee or tea, meat, sweets, bread or milk, alcohol etc. What's the purpose of life with then, not very enjoyable? :oops:

I've decided to try it out for a month, just to see what's happening, but I'm not ready yet, because
I need all substances like supplements etc. before I can start. :D
 

jopar

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,222
vidareve

I can understand where you coming, sadly which ever method one decides to use to aid good control, we actually will only know if this is working if we test our BG's and constantly monitor...

with what you saying and what you seem to want to achieve, I do ponder whether getting Dr Bernstien book dealing with diabetic control would actaully provide you with what you are looking for, it has similarites but even though I personally myself feel that it is too restrictive due to restrictions of some carb based foods, would perhaps give you a better selction than the pH balance one, and still achieve a mimium amount of insulin that you hope for.