Are all health problems caused or worsened by acidity, toxin accumulation, malabsorption and circulation problems?

The short answer is yes.

In my 28 years as a clinical nutritionist, I’ve examined thousands of tests measuring pH (the body’s acid-base balance), circulation and lactic acid in patients suffering from a range of problems, from skin conditions, hair loss and hormonal problems to cancer, GI, heart and neurological diseases and weight loss. I can say with full confidence that all these health issues—and all others I’ve managed naturally over the years—have the following features in common: 

I’m talking about pH of the blood, not the urine or saliva, as those levels don’t represent what’s going on in the body (a common misconception among health providers and some patients). The solution to this problem is to thoroughly test and fix whatever is causing the pH-balancing organs—such as the lungs, kidneys and liver, the gastrointestinal tract and the cardiovascular and lymphatic systems—to "spit out" too many acid products. There is no quick fix for pH imbalance, because it’s almost always caused by several organs being out of balance. All disease is associated with pH imbalance, which results from organ miscommunication due to nutritional issues, toxins, genetics and other factors.

The body produces excess lactic acid (a toxin) when red blood cells and other types of cells don’t manage oxygen appropriately. That’s a big problem, since all cells require oxygen. This is why I use mild hyperbaric therapy for some patients.

High lactic acid levels can be the normal result of exercise. But if they still are high four or more hours later, the red blood cells aren’t working properly, and fixing the problem requires careful examination to determine why. The cause could be any number of inflammatory or autoimmune diseases, a general lack of fitness and conditioning, or (if there are also low blood pH and nitric oxide levels) something more complicated. All disease is marked by the accumulation of lactic acid, which results in cellular decay, decreasing blood pH and increasing inflammation.

This is the case in 85 percent of the patients I see. The body produces this gas from the cells that form blood vessel walls. We need ideal nitric oxide levels so that our blood vessels can dilate properly, causing the oxygen in red blood cells to reach all our organs, delivering nutrients and removing toxins. In my experience, all disease involves problems with nitric oxide.

In other words, the body isn’t properly extracting nutrition from foods. There are several types of absorptive diseases, including leaky gut (which also can have other causes) and immune antibodies attacking the stomach and/or small intestine. Malabsorption can be caused or worsened by pH imbalance, low or absent nitric oxide and high lactic acid levels. I detect and fix all causes of malabsorption.

Each patient may need a unique fix for health problems that, under the surface, can involve varying degrees of perturbations in pH, lactic acid, nitric oxide and malabsorption. Once I discover the extent of imbalance, I target natural treatments exactly to the patient’s needs. When one link in the biological chain is off—pH, lactic acid, nitric oxide and/or malabsorption—everything suffers.

I start with detailed BloodDetective questionnaires, a thorough consultation with my patient to clarify questions and concerns, and then BloodDetective testing. Finally, I compare the patient’s test results not just to those of average men or women of the same age, but also to those of super-healthy people, because this sort of BloodDetective Analysis can reveal hidden problems that even the best doctors can miss when viewing a patient’s lab tests. The answers—in terms of clarification, discoveries and natural solutions—are usually uncovered in two weeks, from start to finish. 

Michael Wald, a doctor of chiropractic and board-certified nutritionist, hosts “Ask the BloodDetective” online at PRN.fm. He is the author of The Anti-Aging Encyclopedia, Frankenfoods and several other books on health. He is supervisor of longevity at his offices in Mount Kisco and Katonah. For more info, contact him at 914.552.1442 or [email protected], or visit IntMedNY.com.