PH of body.. conflicting information please help!

[kristenann]

basically, today i took PH of my saliva and urine..
urine at 8! so very alkaline
saliva at 6.5.
opinions on this?
my cm last month hoovered no higher then 5 / 5.5 so acidic basically! i am very worried that this is a big part of why im not conceiving -_-
if i tell you my current eating habits please tell me where i am going wrong and what i can do to help myself!

basically for 1/2 month breakfast ill have cornflakes with sugar, OR butter on toast OR rice pudding (so random i know) i tend to do 14 days of cornflakes, then do 14 of either toast and butter or rice pudding.

lunch, not sure can even call it that tbh.. 2 jaffa cake biscuits and a cup of tea

mains, so.. i am one who will usually buy cheap processed crap tbh.. chicken burgers, frozen chicken steaks, or ill cook roast style meals usually with chicken or turkey but with veg etc. sometimes sausages, sausage rolls.. ill typically always have with 1/2 tin baked beans and chips or potato waffles. on roast days ill have potatoes, yorkshire pudding, gravy, veg.
Dessert 5 days a week icecream with waffers 2 days/weekends will be 2 "treat" desserts usually sickly sweet chocolatey stuff

My drink i drink all day is diet lemonade, mainly because low calories. other wise id drink full fat/sugar Fanta all day, which i try to avoid bar twice a month.

the daily 1 glass (250ml) juice i have is..
from af - day 13 ish ill have cranberry juice, last cycle had 37.5% rda vit c this is usually concentrate i go for instead of pure cranberries
13 - 20 (around time ovulate) grapefruit juice for cm purposes didnt tell me vit c % on carton but had 7 pink grapefruits squeesed in it
after ovulation i have 8 days of pineapple juice, 1 pineapple squeesed in
then for final 4 before af i have orange juice, 95% rda vit c and something like 12 oranges squeesed in

Any advice and opinions on what i am doing? food wise what could help my cm be less acidic? opinions on how and when i am drinking the juice? should i stop drinking one and drink more of the other for getting less acidic cm? thanks for any hints and tips. at a bit of a loss

 

[Sunflower1]

I don't really know about this, but I think to make your body more alkaline you need to eat lots of fresh vegetables, cut the sugar and the processed food. Also I would avoid aspartame and artificial sweeteners that is in 'diet' stuff. Maybe instead of all the fruit juice, which actually has tons of sugar in, you could try just eating fruit - like oranges, grapefruit, etc. Fruit juice is still sugar even though it is natural fruit sugar. Apple cidar vinegar is good for making body more alkaline - you can make salad dressing with it. I'd get off the lemonade and drink water with a squeeze of lemon instead as it's purer.

What vegetables are you eating? It doesn't look like there is a lot.


Also fertility diets recommend wholegrain food. I'd get a book on eating for fertility.


You are having a very carb heavy breakfast - you could try a boiled egg with toast. Eggs are very nutritious.

You need to eat a proper lunch - 2 jaffa cakes and tea will be stressful for your body. There's zero protein and zero vegetables and again it's sugar and carbs.

I would try and go higher nutrient food generally. So instead of chips and waffles, can you use lentils or beans and make a vegetable dish? Your diet sounds quite low nutrient and carb heavy.

Have you had a blood test? I'd get your iron levels checked as that's very important with fertility.

Are you taking a prenatal supplement?

Also make sure you drink some plain water too.


Just some ideas.

 

[IVW]

Ditto what Sunflower said

Ttc or not i will always poke my ore in on peoples diets, only when they ask though and give my advice / recommendations where i see it fit.....

Three good balanced meals a day and water - this should be a set way of life imo

Everything in moderation and get in as many food groups as you can, but just be aware of how much of each one you should be having - basically dont excess on any of them.

I think what i have said above is a good basis, otherwise i would just go on and on and on oh and dont forget to exercise

 

[1sttimer]

Hey kristenann, there are loads of good changes you can make here - it's hard to know what to do when no one tells you but if you do a google search on fertility diet it's pretty similar everywhere you look and as sunflower said...you basically need a source of protein in every meal and snack (so chicken, fish, beans, seeds, lentils/pulses, nuts, eggs) you should also be drinking at least 1.5l of water a day - cut the fruit juices right down, it sounds like you are drinking way too much concentrate...which is effectively just sugar.

Sugar is your biggest enemy here - white carbohydrates in short basically transfer in your system to glucose aka sugar because they are quick release energy sources...so at present with all the white carbs you are eating you are on a constant sugar high which doesn't allow your body to function as it should from any direction but especially fertility. As awful as it sounds that means cutting right back on anything stodgy - chips, white bread, waffles, Yorkshire puddings, white pasta etc and switch to brown rice, sweet potatoes, rice pasta etc.

You also need good omega 3 fats, these are quite essential for fertility but can be taken in tablet form. Plus you need a good fertility supplement and to eat some greens for folate intake. To get good fats and not bad fats, avoid processed food as sunflower said and use instead coconut oil and olive oil

It can sound overwhelming but small gradual changes make all the difference! And anything you do now will see results to your egg quality/fertility in 3 months time x

 

[kristenann]

Thanks for replies. im not massive keen on eggs tho :/ i only really eat eggs in a quiche haha.. this is something i have as a main meal as well.
I agree my lunch choice in particular is poor. would cheese sandwich work better and be alkaline?

vegetables i have are broccoli, peas, carrots typically with roast.. i dont really like fruit either :/ theres no way i can eat grapefruit pure, nor oranges, nor cranberry.. i can eat an apple okayish..
oh i should add i do have strawberries once a week, lol i know this isnt a lot of times a week but i do literally have entire pallet.
do tomotoes work as a alkaline food? i could try cheese and tomato sandwich for lunch..

oh, i am also really fussy on my drinks :/ i cant stand plain water and squeese of lemon, yuk! literally the lemonade i have has the tiniest hint of lemon!

i havent had any sort of blood test done so cant comment, fortified iron in my breakfast cereal tho :/ haha.. i take folic acid 400mg and 15mg of zinc as a supplement. ive never really showed any signs of being anemic, the only thing that has ever been flagged up as low with me was b12/folic, but i take 400mg and have for a long time even prior to ttc..

i know my diet sounds poor, and i do try to change up my mains so they arent always the way i have written them here..

 

[kristenann]

also , please note i have 1 glass of juice a day, 250ml glass. the only concentrate juice i have is cranberry the rest i try to make pure as possible - actively look for it.

would porridge work as a breakfast? would this work better then cereal? i am considering doing half cereal, half porridge?

i do have fish atleast once a week.

 

[Sunflower1]

Porridge for breakfast sounds good. A cheese sandwich for lunch is okay but wouldn't say it's mega high on nutrients. What about tuna sandwich or a chicken salad with a brown roll? You need good quality protein (meat/fish/beans) and preferably some vegetables. A chicken sandwich on good brown bread with lettuce and tomatos would work. But I'd vary it each day. Fresh tomatos would be good but green veg is important for more alkaline body. You need enough fibre too.


Maybe try and have an apple a day. Do you like nuts? Again with the lemonade, if it's diet then the artifical sweeteners could be affecting your fertility. You want as much natural food as possible as it's less stress on your body.



If you can have fish more than once a week it's good as the omegas are important for fertiity.


Do you like brown rice?

 

[kristenann]

thanks
i have been trying to read up on what makes body alkaline..
it seems porridge could work/help,
it also seems orange juice, pineapple juice, grapefruit do work, cranberry juice tho apparently makes body more acidic.. does this seem right?

im ganna start having a apple a day for sure. might cut cranberry juice out opinions? i do really want to keep juice in as i really like it - like i said i usually look for one that is not concentrated anyway and says has this many oranges in etc..

also, im thinking go brown bread instead of white?

im ganna do another ph test in a bit.. haha.. just to see, ill test CM, saliva and urine.. get DH to do a saliva one.. just to see!! update later. just trying to sort a healthier diet for us both.

I know i definitely am not the best at getting my 5 a day and never have been :/ i can try to make some changes that i can live with

 

[Sunflower1]

Brown bread is good. One thing about if your body is quite acidic, you will crave food that makes it acidic and it might be quite hard to change to more alkaline stuff. We tend to get addicted to sugar and white carbs. Your taste buds are used to all this too. Don't know about the cranberry juice.


Good luck.

 

[1sttimer]

Sunflowers totally right with the cheese sandwich - diary isn't ideal. Granary bread is a good one too because it has seeds in it which are little power houses when it comes to fertility. It doesn't sound like if its just one glass of juice that it's a huge issue and like you say it has to be manageable so you do what works for you - I think I (and possibly sunflower too!?) have just had a LOT of experience with the fertility dieting so maybe know a little too much lol! People need to do as much or as little as they can manage.

Porridge is a great one - (but with water as opposed to milk, it tastes no different) and if you add raspberries/strawberries/ blueberries or some kind of fruit and something like a chopped or ground nut (almonds/hazelnuts/flaxseeds) and you've started the day already brilliantly (You can also add protein powder to porridge!) x

 

[Sunflower1]

Yeah, I'm a complete health nut. Definitely do it at a pace that is sustainable.

 

[kristenann]

Thanks guys ill have a good go at changing some of my habits.