Dont buy into the hype of ACV "alkalinizing" your blood. It's a total crock of shit. I've been looking a lot online and tons of "natural health" experts have been making this claim. It is totally false. They claim because it is an acid, that your stomach doesnt digest it in the same manner and they claim your stomach will alkalinize it in order to digest it.
1. It just simply doesnt alter the pH of your body.
2. If it could, you would not want this because it would likely kill you.
I'll explain why. In order for absorption to occur in the stomach, the compound being ingested must ionize. To understand how this occurs, you must use the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation.
pH = pKa + log([A-]/[HA])
pH = stomach acid pH
pKa = acid constant for acetic acid aka vinegar
[A-] = base form (acetate)
[HA] = acid form (acetic acid)
The pH of your stomach is between 1-2. The acid constant for acetic acid is 4.76. The HA and A- we do not need values for, just a basic understanding of how ratios work.
So... lets do some math
2 = 4.76 + log([A-]/[HA]) then
-2.76 = log([A-]/[HA]) then
10^-2.76 = [A-]/[HA] or
0.00174 = [A-]/[HA]
That is all the math we need to see because now we have our ratio. As you can see, the ratio of the base over the acid is less than 1. This means that the vinegar primarily remains in its acidic form (HA:acetic acid). Otherwise, if the ratio were greater than 1, that would mean we have a larger expression of the base form (A-:acetate). Which means that it has ionized into its basic form and is able to absorbed by the stomach.
This disproves that your stomach magically alkalinizes the vinegar thus creating an alkalinizing effect throughout the body. I will admit that in your intestines, they have a pH of around 6 and you would see some ionization of the acetic acid to acetate and it would be absorbed in this part of the body.
However, consider the following: your blood pH is always at a constant between 7.35 and 7.45. A 0.1 shift beyond that range could put you in the ER or into an early grave. Just consider your size. I assume most everyone here falls into the weight range of between 150-250lbs. You are each consuming about 15-30ml of ACV daily. Based on the volume of your bodies and the volume of ACV being consumed, it is unlikely to cause any changes in blood pH. So even if by the most minuscule chance that something you consumed altered your blood pH, your body would automatically resolve that. Your body conducts its own acid-base homeostasis.
One of the ways your body does this is by breathing, by exhaling CO2. Here’s the chemistry of how carbon dioxide increases [H+] and therefore pH:
CO2 + H2O → H2CO3 → HCO3– + H+ → CO3– + 2 H+
So by hyperventilating, you are getting rid of CO2 from your body, thus causing alkalosis of the blood. By hypoventilating, you are doing the opposite, you are retaining CO2, causing acidosis. You body does this all the time. It's doing it right now. If your body senses a change in the pH of your blood, it will automatically try to correct any pH imbalance.
So this concludes the end of my biochemistry lesson. I just wanted to make it so you guys dont believe all the hype about ACV alkalinizing your blood. It's total bullshit. Even if it did alter your blood pH, you would not want that.
1. It just simply doesnt alter the pH of your body.
2. If it could, you would not want this because it would likely kill you.
I'll explain why. In order for absorption to occur in the stomach, the compound being ingested must ionize. To understand how this occurs, you must use the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation.
pH = pKa + log([A-]/[HA])
pH = stomach acid pH
pKa = acid constant for acetic acid aka vinegar
[A-] = base form (acetate)
[HA] = acid form (acetic acid)
The pH of your stomach is between 1-2. The acid constant for acetic acid is 4.76. The HA and A- we do not need values for, just a basic understanding of how ratios work.
So... lets do some math
2 = 4.76 + log([A-]/[HA]) then
-2.76 = log([A-]/[HA]) then
10^-2.76 = [A-]/[HA] or
0.00174 = [A-]/[HA]
That is all the math we need to see because now we have our ratio. As you can see, the ratio of the base over the acid is less than 1. This means that the vinegar primarily remains in its acidic form (HA:acetic acid). Otherwise, if the ratio were greater than 1, that would mean we have a larger expression of the base form (A-:acetate). Which means that it has ionized into its basic form and is able to absorbed by the stomach.
This disproves that your stomach magically alkalinizes the vinegar thus creating an alkalinizing effect throughout the body. I will admit that in your intestines, they have a pH of around 6 and you would see some ionization of the acetic acid to acetate and it would be absorbed in this part of the body.
However, consider the following: your blood pH is always at a constant between 7.35 and 7.45. A 0.1 shift beyond that range could put you in the ER or into an early grave. Just consider your size. I assume most everyone here falls into the weight range of between 150-250lbs. You are each consuming about 15-30ml of ACV daily. Based on the volume of your bodies and the volume of ACV being consumed, it is unlikely to cause any changes in blood pH. So even if by the most minuscule chance that something you consumed altered your blood pH, your body would automatically resolve that. Your body conducts its own acid-base homeostasis.
One of the ways your body does this is by breathing, by exhaling CO2. Here’s the chemistry of how carbon dioxide increases [H+] and therefore pH:
CO2 + H2O → H2CO3 → HCO3– + H+ → CO3– + 2 H+
So by hyperventilating, you are getting rid of CO2 from your body, thus causing alkalosis of the blood. By hypoventilating, you are doing the opposite, you are retaining CO2, causing acidosis. You body does this all the time. It's doing it right now. If your body senses a change in the pH of your blood, it will automatically try to correct any pH imbalance.
So this concludes the end of my biochemistry lesson. I just wanted to make it so you guys dont believe all the hype about ACV alkalinizing your blood. It's total bullshit. Even if it did alter your blood pH, you would not want that.