128 Achieving pH Balance to Treat Specific Ailments
The relationship between highly traffi cked areas and astronomical
rates of asthma are a warning that families with asthmatic children
should avoid living in areas where there are major freeways and fre-
quent traffi c jams. When an acquaintance of mine, a teenage girl,
moved from the Bronx to the upper west side of Manhattan—some
would say from the frying pan into the fi re—her asthmatic attacks
became less threatening apparently because she had moved away from
Interstate 95. Since, however, air pollution is endemic in all parts of the
country, the only way you can breathe relatively pure air is to buy an
air cleaner, preferably with an ozone maker, which destroys harmful
bacteria and molds. (See Resources for where to fi nd an air cleaner.)
Toxicity inside the body as well as in the environment can cause
asthma. Acidic toxic gases enter the bloodstream from the colon and
are carried by the blood to the liver and kidneys for detoxifi cation. But
when these two detoxifying organs are already overburdened with tox-
ins, the latter are passed on to the lungs.
That acidic waste in the form of gas is a factor in all asthmatic lung
problems is confi rmed by the discovery of Dr. Benjamin Glaston, asso-
ciate professor of pediatric pulmonary medicine at the University of
Virginia. According to Dr. Glaston, an asthmatic’s breath is 1,000 times
more acidic than normal breath. Normal breath is slightly alkaline with
a pH of 7.4, the same pH as the blood, but when asthmatics are sick and
wheezing, their breath pH drops to 5—into the acidic range.Asthmatics and High Blood Sugar
For asthmatics who have low blood sugar, an attack becomes more
likely when blood sugar levels suddenly spike, thus eliciting a strong
insulin response that causes the blood sugar to take a sharp plunge.
Excessively high blood insulin levels grab the attention of the immune
system, which interprets these hyped-up insulin secretions as a fi ght-
or-fl ight reaction against disease-causing germs. The lungs’ immune
cells help mobilize the lungs against its “enemies”—normal particles
such as pollen, mites, or cat dander—by triggering the release of hista-
mine. Histamine causes blood to fl ow to the lung tissue just as it does
when there is an injury or infection. This infl ames the bronchial tubes
and alveoli (air sacs). When infl amed bronchial tubes become con-
stricted, an asthmatic attack occurs.