I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to ask: How does the pH of the tissues affect the voltage of our cells and their functioning, and what does that have to do with oxygenation? I admit that my habit has been to view migraine and mineral balancing through the lens of body biochemistry, not biophysics. But it’s valuable to realize that chemical reactions affect our body’s electrical functioning, obviously, as nutritional minerals are conductive. This is especially true of the macronutrient electrolytes.
For today’s post, I will be referencing research and notes from the four books that have been helping to illuminate what body voltage, pH, and oxygenation have to do with our overall health and especially our tendency to be prone to migraine. These books are “Healing is Voltage” by Jerry Tennant, “Healing with Iodine” by Dr. Sircus, “Sodium Bicarbonate: Nature’s Unique First Aid Remedy” also by Sircus, and “Mastering Migraine” by Dr. Adam Harcourt.
But before diving into that, let’s look at a broader overview from Dr. Sircus on the more general implications of pH imbalances from his book “Sodium Bicarbonate”.
When tissues are too acidic or alkaline – but usually too acidic – the following downstream effect occur:
- “Enzymes that are constructive can become destructive.
- Microbes in the blood can change shape, mutate, or become pathogenic.
- Mineral assimilation can get thrown off.
- Organs of the body can become compromised, like your brain or your heart.
- Oxygen delivery to the cells suffers.”
The pH Scale, Acidic Tissues, and Utilization of Oxygen
The issue of pH is often dismissed as inconsequential because the body regulates the pH of the blood very closely. However, when we speak of maintaining this balance in the body we’re referencing the pH of the tissues (cells) and lymph more than the blood.
Two thirds of the body’s fluids are lymph, not blood. The lymphatic system deals with metabolic waste products which are primarily acidic. Lymphatic health largely determines the health of the cells, since lymphatic congestion and swelling in the interstitial spaces interferes with the capillaries’ ability to bring blood and nutrition to the cells.
The pH scale is a measure of “potential hydrogen” ions. The more hydrogen present, the more acidic and the lower the pH. The more oxygen present, the more alkaline and the higher the pH, the more electrons can be donated.
Dr. Tennant explains that the more acidic something is, the more electrons are “stolen”, creating free radicals. The more alkaline something is, the more it can act as an electron donor, ie, act as an antioxidant.
Acidic, free-radical electron stealers have a positive pole and at the atomic level spin left. Alkaline, antioxidant electron donors have a negative pole and spin right.
Acidic conditions are hypoxic conditions, and well-oxygenated tissues are those that are optimally balanced and not too alkaline or acidic. This is important not only because oxygen getting to cells is critical for the cell’s ability to produce ATP in the mitochondria — but also because it is oxygen that allows the removal of toxins out of the body.
Toxins are also acidifying, so a toxic, low-oxygen, acidic body will be one in which wastes accumulate, compromising the voltage and functioning of cells in a viscous feedback loop that further reinforces the body’s inability to detoxify, deepening the acidic condition while lowering tissue voltage and production of cellular energy (ATP).
Acidic tissues are also host to various pathogens including fungi implicated in some cancers. Cancerous tissues also produce their own acid, maintaining the environment that they prefer.
Cellular Voltage and Migraine
The “cortical spreading depression” associated with migraine is known to be directly caused by hypoxia, or low oxygen levels. I’ve known this for awhile.
What I didn’t see until now is the broader way that oxygen status is a direct measure of pH which in turn affects how electricity (voltage) flows in our bodies. This has implications for the functioning of ALL the cells in our bodies, because cells need very specific levels of voltage to work properly, and this is especially true in the case of neurons.
Because migraine is a chronic inflammatory condition affecting not just the brain, but all the major organs and tissues of the body, the best way to solve migraine (or any condition) is to take a whole systems approach that supports the smallest unit – the cell. And the cell – and the mitochondria within it – can’t function and produce energy without adequate oxygen (in other words, without proper pH and voltage).
Dr. Tennant notes that when oxygen is available, we make 38 molecules of ATP from one unit of fatty acids, but when oxygen is unavailable, we only make two. This is one reason people become chronically ill.
Dr. Adam Harcourt, in his book “Mastering Migraine”, confirms that low voltage is implicated in migraine. Note that when he speaks of mV, he is talking about the measurement of the membrane potential/gradient in the neurons, which is different than the voltage of the cells discussed further down by Dr. Tennant.
Dr. Harcourt says:
“Normally, a neuron has what’s called a ‘resting membrane potential’ of about -65 mV. This means that the neuron has a negative charge inside the cell. In order to ‘fire’ or send a signal, the neuron must reach a threshold of about -55 mV, which then initiates an action potential that allows the neuron to send signals to other cells. If a cell is not healthy and not producing enough proteins and energy to maintain its -65 mV level, it will slowly start to creep closer and closer to the -55 mV potential. This means that it takes less and less stimulation in order for it to fire off. It also means that it has less of an ability to maintain its firing potential and therefore fatigues more quickly. If this occurs to the areas that are affected by migraine, it becomes easier and easier to have a migraine. Many more stimuli become triggers, and the headaches become more frequent, more intense, and last longer. If you fail to identify and stimulate the correct areas of the brain, the spiral unfortunately continues. While many other areas are involved in modulating pain, ultimately the trigeminal nucleus is responsible for the agony that is associated with migraine. IF this area is unhealthy, it doesn’t take much stimulation at all in order for it to fire, and therefore send signals to the brain that cause the perception of intense pain. If you are able to stimulate this area, and other areas involved in modulating this process, you can bring their resting membrane potential further and further away from -55 mV, making the patient less and less likely to have migraines.“
It’s wonderful that Dr. Harcourt has developed assessments and exercises to strengthen those areas of the brain that have a weak resting membrane potential, but it also raises the question of how this membrane potential and the voltage could be supported by other means such as nutrition (especially electrolyte balance) and alkalizing the body, which he doesn’t focus on in his book.
Summary
If pH affects how well oxygen gets into cells and how well cells can maintain themselves and produce cellular energy and voltage, it is wise to consider how we may alkalize the tissues to improve our vitality and reduce the conditions under which migraine (and other disease conditions) arise. By shifting our attention from body chemistry to bio-electrics, we gain a broader and more relevant understanding of how to support the body on a whole systems levels without getting caught in the complexities of nutrient dynamics and individual enzyme pathways.
In part 2 of this post (shared exclusively with members on Patreon) I will dive even deeper and explore the issue of how much voltage is required to maintain different types of cells, how much is needed to repair them, how the body regulates pH, cellular conditions that affect voltage, environmental conditions that affect voltage, how food affects pH and voltage, and what the effects of different minerals are on body pH and voltage.
