When these liquids are acidic, are they by nature taking electrons away causing oxidation and formation of free radicals?
Dr. Young: When we ingest any acidic food or drink, our body immediately reacts to neutralize or buffer the acid. For example, let’s say you drink a glass of orange juice. But before drinking the orange juice you test the pH of your saliva. After drinking the orange juice you test your saliva pH again. You would think that drinking orange juice, which has a pH between 2.5 to 3 and is highly acidic, would actually cause the pH of your saliva to go down. But it does not. The saliva pH goes up higher then when you first tested the pH. The pH of the saliva should test out over 8. What is happening is the salivary glands are releasing sodium bicarbonate to buffer the acids of the orange juice. This is why the saliva pH goes up. If the saliva pH does not go up this indicates that your alkaline reserves are deficient. All forms of sugar are acidic to the body. Even fruit sugars are acidic. When the body is trying to neutralize an acid, it has to secrete an alkaline buffer to do so. When you i
