Like A Race Horse, Your Blood pH is Critical To Health

According to sports nutrition researchers, muscles are designed to work well only in a narrow range of almost zero acidity. Arterial blood works best with no acid at all. So the pH of an animals (especially a race horse) blood is critical! The body has a secret balance that is not only designed to keep your horse healthy, but to make movement more comfortable and efficient. That balance is the acid/alkaline balance. Acidity and alkalinity is measured by a unit called pH.

The most important factor, other than injury that causes a horse to “train off” faster than anything else is a drop in its blood pH. In the early stages of pH disturbance, it can be hard to detect why a horse would start to lag. Sometimes a depletion of its natural alkaline reserves, injudicious training techniques; and other closely associated factors such as high grain diets, the prevailing climate and workload can also contribute to the acidic condition.
For example, at rest, in a healthy horse, muscle pH should be about 6.9. The normal pH of a horse’s blood is between 7.42 and 7.45, so you can see just how narrow the range is. Any reading below 7.40 is an indication of “acidosis”.

Research shows that as your horse begins to exercise, the muscles draw fuel to provide energy to move or stretch. The more time the muscles are out of “rest” the more acid they produce as they burn the fuel. So the harder a muscle has to work in a race, the quicker it will “go acid.”

When the muscle pH drops below 6.5, the muscles cannot fuel themselves properly, nor can they rid themselves of the rapid acidic buildup because the hydration cycle is interrupted. The ability of muscle to generate power and movement is then restricted. The blood flow and breathing are also dramatically affected.
To promote efficiency of movement in racing, in any movement or stretching exercise, there must be an intervention to alkalize and flush the system before, during and after exercise. The most efficient is alkaline, ionized water. Its alkalizing effect on the body reduces muscle fatigue, stiffness and pain.
A drop in the blood pH and the subsequent rise in acidity is called acidosis but it is really a depletion of the animals alkaline reserves. Equine athletes have a very delicate acid/alkali blood balance. To get optimum performance, demands that this balance be maintained within very narrow limits.

Lactic Acid build up in the muscles is produced when there is inadequate oxygen in the cells to support the current level of activity. It is formed when the muscle stores of glycogen are broken
down and used for energy creating this organic acidic buildup. If enough of this acidic waste is built up, it starts to diffuse rather quickly into the blood and affects the pH there.

By starting a proactive approach to build more alkaline reserves in an equine athlete, the lactic acid diffusing into the blood will be less and overall performance will be less affected. Cerra alkaline, ionized water is one of the most efficient ways to do this. The water is produced by  water pitcher with a specialty  filter which  transforms  regular tap water into  a refreshing sweet tasting water that is loaded with anti-oxidants, more hydrating  and alkaline.  Cerra alkaline, ionized water acts like an antioxidant, because it is super oxygenated, feeding the blood stream extra oxygen so the cells can work better. Scientific research also shows that an alkaline body reduces muscle fatigue and inefficiency.

It is six times more hydrating than regular water because the water is in smaller particle sizes, making them absorb faster and more easily. Because of this, it is also constantly detoxifying the body, making it faster, more efficient and comfortable for your horse to live in. Winners win more with an alkaline body.