The Importance of Monitoring Mouth pH

We’ve mentioned the importance of measuring pH often in this blog, but you may have noticed that we usually recommend you test the pH level of your urine. This is because it is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to get an impression of your body’s pH. This impression gives us an idea of whether or not we need to improve our pH levels. Regulating body pH is vital to health and you will find a variety of sources in journals, libraries and online that stress this fact. Our point in all of this is not to spend time telling you how important our body pH is to your health, but to show how to take the mysteries and secrets out of the whole process of determining your pH health. We have shown you how to measure pH for yourselves using pH strips or litmus paper and we have discussed many ways to change pH levels, depending on your current state.

Looking back at previous posts, we noticed a conspicuous lack of coverage regarding the pH of your saliva. Though this is the measurement that most people are aware of that utilize pH strips, we have intentionally omitted discussing saliva pH, because it is a limited tool. It merely measures the status of the mouth (and the mouth alone) at the time of the test. High acid levels in the mouth can be an indicator that there is trouble with the digestion, because we continuously swallow our saliva. If our mouth is high acid it likely possesses too much bacteria, and swallowing this, it is scientifically reported, can even affect heart health. A mouth with more bacteria also runs a greater risk of becoming infected if cut. I personally measure my saliva pH every night to be sure that it is balanced around 7.0. I don’t want an acid mouth, as this can eat up enamel in the teeth and cause your mouth to taste bad (and probably doesn’t help your breath).

There’s a simple solution that has kept my mouth pH perfect for the past decade. I gargle about 7 times a day. Anytime I wake up during sleep and go to the bathroom I gargle. I wake up in the morning I gargle. I gargle at different opportunities and times when I am at home. I gargle after dinner. It’s important that you use a mouthwash that contains Xylitol. I learned a long time ago that clinical studies have shown incorporating Xylitol into your daily oral health routine can lead to improvement. I am a firm believer in the legitimacy of this claim as I’ve used a Xylitol-containing mouthwash called Spry for a very long time and have not been disappointed (I also find that it isn’t as harsh as other mouthwashes which makes it ideal for multiple daily uses). My pH has remained at perfect balanced levels for many years and I believe this is true because of using Xylitol in my mouthwash.

I suggest that rather than spending a lot of money on products to improve the pH levels in the mouth, you simply try Spry or a similar product and then use the pH strips to measure your pH levels in the mouth.

An added benefit of gargling is the removal of bad tastes from the mouth that occur after sleeping and a temporary improvement in breath freshness.

Note: Gargling more often when you begin to feel signs of sickness can kill bacteria in the mouth (lowering the burden on the immune system) and may lead to improved recovery time.