My 6-day Adventure w/ Curry, Spinach & pH Strips

My 6-day adventure with curry, spinach & pH strips began when I walked into a Whole Foods Market and purchased a package of air-chilled chicken legs on sale. I made curried chicken that night, and whenever I make curried chicken, I go hard with the curry because I want CURRY chicken for 3 or 4 consecutive days.

I’m a soapmaker, and even though I don’t use pH balancing strips as often as when I began making soaps eleven years ago, I always have some on hand.  I now keep my strips in the bathroom medicine cabinet instead of my soaping room.

Was it a coincidence when 2 days later I watched a random video on YouTube about testing pH in bottled water, and saw that some tested at a 2 level? 

• “But I don't believe coincidences are chance events. I think they're the times we happen to see the mysterious pattern connecting everything.”― Jule Giittus, Saltwater Moons

•  “Behind every coincidence, every stroke of luck, and every miracle, there is inevitably a cold and calculating mind.” ― Ryohgo Narita, バッカーノ！1933 ＜下＞ THE SLASH 〜チノアメハ、ハレ〜 
  

I don’t know why I got up, walked to the bathroom and tested the ph of my urine. The result was an acidic level - 4!!

My mind raced. “My urine is extremely acidic? But how can this be? The last time I tested the pH of my urine using strips from that package was 2 years before, and the result was a level 8!  I clearly remember seeing a greenish / bluish color level on the chart. Was this brand of strips meant only to test soaps, not to test urine or food? But it worked 2 years ago . . . is the package too old now? I checked the expiration date on the package - it had expired 3 months earlier. What problems can an acidic urine cause in my body? It’s a sign of which disease?” I could not remember that.

The only thing I could remember was that a normal pH is around 7. I immediately tested my saliva, and it was alkaline - the result was 8-9.

I rushed back to my laptop and googled “diseases caused by a low pH in urine”. Shocked and dismayed at the results I next googled “how to increase pH balance in urine”. Food and water were in the top results. Apple cider vinegar, lots of water, lemon juice, green veggies.

Food and water! Ah-ha! Could the dollar-store Geyser bottled water I had been drinking for a little over a month have caused this low pH balance? I rushed to my strips again and tested the Geyser water. It was alkaline – level 8. I thankfully and quickly gulped down 2 full glasses of it. I added lemon juice to the bottled water and sipped it.

Over the next 2 days I purchased new pH strips, ate the last of the curried chicken, drank lemon juice and water. I sipped apple cider vinegar and water, and used up almost a foot of pH balance strips. But somehow the color of the strips remained unchanged. I will not mention how much I fretted.

Then in the middle of the 4th night, it dawned on me that the color of the test strips were looking very much like the curry on my plate. Hold up! Could it be possible that the color of the strips was reflecting the color of the food I ate? Could it be that simple? No way! I purchased a large bag of spinach at the supermarket and made a large container of spinach, banana, ginger root and almond milk smoothie. I sipped lemon juice and water, apple cider vinegar and water. That night I tested my urine again, and it was still acidic.

Day 5: I googled “can I change my pH”, and clicked on this 2009 article. It was a highly informative, highly technical / scientific article that debunked myths about ph balancing, acidic and alkaline diets. However, it was phrases such as “You can’t change your body’s pH, sir – if your pH changes, you’ll die,”  . . . ‘’Any significant change (below about 7 or over 7.7) means almost certain death. . .” and “. . .To compensate for this acidity, we leach calcium from our bones. If we continue to maintain a diet high in protein and “acid forming” foods, our bodies will shed calcium and we can end up with osteoporosis, and other chronic diseases. . .”  that became stuck in my mind.

But how can this be? 2 years earlier the result of my urine test was alkaline and now it is acidic – do I have a serious disease? Am I near death? Are my bones leaching calcium? How soon before osteoporosis set in? My heart pounded, my neck and back felt stiff as if the bones had fused into one. I looked up my doctor’s number in my phone and put it on speed-dial in preparation for calling next morning for an appointment. I swallowed an aspirin. Half an hour later I came across a video on youTube which mentioned that aspirin can lower the body’s ph balance. My eyes began to hurt from the light of my phone. I slept badly that night.

Day 6: I woke up late with a plan for making a spinach and banana smoothie and for calling the doctor’s office for an appointment. But first I pulled out the testing strips. And oh boy! Was I in for a surprise? I stood staring at the greenish color strip clenched between my trembling fingers. True, it was very pale, but greenish, anyhow. Later that night another strip showed a good and solid greenish-bluish color – 7 level.

 I’m not saying that it's possible to change the body’s ph balance, or that I'm in perfect health because the ph of my urine shows to be alkaline on a strip of paper. I’m just a lay-person feeling my way around the ph balance jungle filled with scary myths, ph strips, alternative health ideas, practices and treatments, and medications. However, I do say to you, maintain a well-balanced diet, research thoroughly, read carefully, keep a cool head, and visit your doctor regularly.

JennWilliams naturesdarling.com