The circulatory system is comprised of both the cardiovascular and lymphatic systems. They work in unison with each other. One of their conjunctive functions is the elimination of acidic waste and toxins.
The cardiovascular system is comprised of the heart, blood vessels, and blood (around 5 liters). This system is responsible for transporting blood, along with oxygen and nutrients, through the blood vessels, to different parts of the body. It is also obligated to eliminate toxins and acidic waste through the body’s elimination channels. Basically, the circulatory system acts like a traffic enforcer, allowing vehicles in good condition to circulate, while trying to clear the road of those that are destructive to the environment and don’t follow a proper flow.
The lymphatic system (the other part of the circulatory system), is comprised of different organs and hundreds of nodes or glands. The lymph fluid is mostly made of water and contains white blood cells that travel through lymph vessels. There are almost as many lymph vessels as there are blood vessels in the body. The lymphatic system is responsible for regulating system immunity, breaking down fats from the intestines, absorbing excess fluids from the tissues, and eliminating and pre-filtering acidic waste and other toxic debris. The acidic waste and other toxins are processed through various lymph node sites before entering back into the cardiovascular system. Essentially, the lymphatic system acts like the criminal justice system, taking out all the individuals that are injurious to the environment, and sometimes rehabilitating them and putting them back into society.
The lymph fluid flows best in a slightly alkaline environment like the blood, ideally 7.35 – 7.45. When the body tissues are overly acidic and dehydrated, the lymph fluid starts to dry up and forms tears in the tissues, hindering its flow, as well as blood flow. The lymph vessels do not pump like the heart, the lymph flows from the feet up to the neck, requiring movement to flow. Without sufficient exercise and activity, the lymph fluid’s influx is much slower. As toxic acid waste builds up, resulting from poor diet and lack of movement, pH drops, and lymph fluid becomes thicker, clogging the system, and making elimination of waste much less efficient. Instead of the ideal 7.4, the average Westerner has a lymph pH of around 6.2, which means at least 10 times less oxygen available to the cells! Altered pH levels and limited cellular oxygenation makes the lymph a perfect breeding ground for pathogenic microorganisms and disease. Eventually this unfiltered waste can be dumped back into the bloodstream, compromising immune function, overwhelming the liver and kidneys, while DRAMATICALLY increasing the risk for infection and cancers. As this vicious cycle persists, chronic disease is almost inevitable, and premature death can result.
The heart happens to be one of the MOST alkaline organs in the body under normal circumstances. The circulatory system particularly needs to keep pH fluids in a tight range. Since the blood needs to remain within that specific range (7.35-7.45) for survival, excess acidic waste that is not discarded by one of the body’s detoxification systems gets stored mainly in fatty tissues in order to prevent heart attack, stroke or death. However, this protective mechanism doesn’t hold up forever.
There are MANY factors that can negatively impact the circulatory system:
Sedentary lifestyles, emotional and environmental toxic stress, coupled with diets high in meat, sugar, starch, and grains (especially refined, processed, and conventional), continue to raise blood acid levels, consistently storing acids in body tissues. Insufficient omega-3’s along with the high consumption of omega 6 fats from vegetable oils, grains, and grain fed animals increases the production of arachidonic acid, which initiates a pro-inflammatory response.
Be AWARE that the refined GMO vegetable oils found in most processed and packed foods are already oxidized and rancid before you consume them! Additionally, high acid forming animal protein diets (especially in the absence of alkaline forming vegetables), elevate homocysteine levels, produce damaging free radicals, oxidize blood lipids, and ignite inflammatory damage, especially in the arteries.
As excessive dietary acids continue to be stored in the tissues, it becomes far more difficult for the body to clear muscle generated lactic acid waste, even from everyday normal activities. Being that the heart constitutes a great deal of muscle, the arterial walls paralleling the muscle can become irritated, inflamed, damaged, and scarred as excess acids settle in the muscle tissue.
When acid waste builds in this organ, the heartbeat is altered, blood oxygenation is lowered, oxidation increases, and the heart tissue begins to degenerate. It may take years before the excess acidity and inflammation induces severe damage. In time, however, accumulated acids have the potential to produce sharp acidic crystals that can damage the interior walls of veins, cause clots, or tear arterial walls, resulting in arteriosclerosis.
Here is brief explanation of how the blockage can happen; Oxidized LDL, excess blood sugar, homocysteine, and acids can cause lesions and inflammation to form in the arterial lining. Cholesterol then lines the arteries with fat to mend the damage. The cholesterol is not the problem, but your best friend at this point, preventing the arteries from tearing and saving your life. However, as this condition progresses, calcium, more cholesterol, dead cells, and other toxins cause plaque to build, narrowing the passage where the blood flows through. Eventually a piece of plaque can break free from the artery causing blood clots, blocking blood flow to vital organs, and resulting in a stroke or heart attack.
The cardiac output measures the amount of blood being pumped by the heart, which maintains proper blood pressure levels needed to supply blood and oxygen to the organs. The functioning of the cardiovascular system, as with all body systems, is closely interrelated with the body’s pH levels. Changes in pH directly affect a person’s cardiac output as well as other circulatory processes.
Research has identified the effects of alkalizing and acidifying substances in the circulatory system.
A study published in the Clinical Journal of Investigation found that infusing human subjects with an alkalizing substance was accompanied by a significant increase in cardiac output and muscle blood flow, and a decrease in the resistance of all peripheral blood vessels. Conversely, substances that acidify the body’s fluids have a damaging effect on the heart and vascular system. (1)
Another study published by the British Medical Journal concluded that a foreign agent causing a highly acidic pH may have been a contributing factor in fatal cardiac failure. (2)
Studies published in Seminars in Cancer Biology found that lymphocytes or white blood cells in the lymphatic system and their functions were noticeably inhibited at reduced pH levels, negatively impacting the immune system, and providing the perfect environment for tumor progression. (3)
In yet another study review ‘The effects of extracellular pH on immune function’ conducted by the Department of Biological Sciences in Dublin Ireland, authors found that low pH was toxic to lymphocytes or white blood cells. (4)
FOR FURTHER STUDIES ON CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH AND PH
As you age, you tend to think you are just getting old and out of shape. The damage caused by low oxygen-pH levels prevents you from functioning the way you normally would. The progressive degeneration or oxidation of the body by low oxygen-pH levels and inflammation from an acid forming diet and lifestyle decreases mitochondrial (cellular-energy) function, negatively impacting the heart muscle over time. For years your conventional doctor may tell you your heart is fine, until one day your whole world changes. You may begin to experience increasing fatigue, limited activity, shortness of breath, edema, and lung congestion, all warning signs of heart disease.
Almost 6 million Americans in the US experience heart failure, with 50% dying within 5 years, but it doesn’t have to be that way! Congestive heart failure generally happens over time, weakening your heart muscle gradually, limiting the amount of oxygen-nutrient rich blood to the body’s tissues. The heart may have been damaged by a heart attack, chronic hypertension, infection, drugs, or toxins.
Once you know you are living with congestive heart failure, you should understand that oxygen, which increases cellular energy, is the key to protecting your weakened heart muscle and to strengthening it. In order to increase oxygen levels in the blood and tissues, attempting to reverse the damage, you must elevate pH levels through proper diet, lifestyle, and supplementation practices.
As we see, when pH levels become too acidic it can have drastic consequences for the circulatory system and overall health. Research reveals just how important maintaining a slightly alkaline fluid pH is for the heart and thus the rest of the organ systems. Remember, when the blood and lymph are too acidic there will be less oxygen and nutrients supplied to the heart muscle.
1- Richardson, D. W., Wasserman, A. J., & Patterson Jr, J. L. (1961). General and regional circulatory responses to change in blood pH and carbon dioxide tension. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 40(1), 31
2- Parke, T. J., Stevens, J. E., Rice, A. S., Greenaway, C. L., Bray, R. J., Smith, P. J., … & Verghese, C. (1992). Metabolic acidosis and fatal myocardial failure after propofol infusion in children: five case reports. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 305(6854), 613.
3- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1044579X17300366 -Seminars in Cancer Biology study
4- https://jlb.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1189/jlb.69.4.522 the effects of extracellular pH on immune function study review
http://www.liferesearchuniversal.com/lymph_ph.html
http://heartfailuresolutions.com/34/oxygen/low-oxygen-levels-how-low-is-too-low-and-should-you-worry
https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fs_heart_failure.htm