• Flu: Influenza(*1)
• RV: Rhinovirus(*2)
• RSV: Respiratory Syncytial Virus(*3)

Acidic Saliva Is Bad For Your Teeth

Teeth are an important part of human development. Cutting and grinding food so it can be swallowed for digestion. Enamel of teeth is harder even than bone. Stays intact as long as it’s kept out of acid.

Digestive juices in the stomach are acid but kept separate by anatomy. Saliva keeps the mouth alkaline. As long as enamel is intact, teeth stay strong.

Most food and drink brings in acid. Some from fruits and vegetables and some from digestion of sugar and starch. Bicarbonate secreted by the salivary glands buffers acid in the mouth, nose and throat. Saliva can neutralize acid and wash everything into the stomach.

SARS-CoV-2 Requires Acid To Infect Cells (*4)

Virus particles in the air coming into the mouth, nose, and throat are folded into envelopes that protect them. The envelopes have spikes that attach to receptors on epithelial cells. Just staying attached at neutral and alkaline conditions. Not fusing with cell membranes or entering into cells.

Any acid saliva conditions that persist for an hour or so cause the virus particles to fuse with cell membranes. Viruses gradually enter the cell and combine with cell molecules to begin replicating and transmitting.

Protection From Infection

Saliva is mostly water. With some proteins, electrolytes, and other chemicals like cholesterol and uric acid. There’s also cells and antibodies that provide protection against toxins and dangerous organisms.

An important part of saliva is millions of bacteria in every drop. Good bacteria are absolutely essential for strong teeth. Feeding on proteins from the salivary glands as well as sugars, fats and fiber from food that’s eaten. These bacteria grow and produce substances that have much greater effect than what’s secreted by saliva glands alone.

Acid-base balance in the mouth, nose and throat is determined by actions of good bacteria growing in acinar cells and saliva. These alkalizing bacteria are essential for good nutrition and healthy teeth. Acidifying bacteria destroy the enamel of teeth and ulcerate soft tissue. Most dangerous of all, they produce more acid than saliva can neutralize.

What’s consumed in food and drink starts the balancing. Excess amounts of sugar and starch encourage the growth of acid-producing bacteria. When sugar and starch are decreased, alkalizing bacteria increase in growth and function.

An oral rinse of baking soda in water for even a minute greatly increases alkalinity of saliva. Enough to increase growth and function of alkalizing bacteria. Even after spitting out the baking soda without swallowing. Effects of that brief rinse increase the growth of alkalizing bacteria for several hours. Enough to prevent acidifying saliva overnight. 

Nitrate Reducing Bacteria

Dietary nitrate in green leafy vegetables is converted to nitrite and secreted in saliva. The nitrite is important for cardiovascular function and muscle metabolism. The concentrations of nitrate and nitrite in saliva affect alkalinity of saliva flowing into the stomach.

Conditions That Increase Risk Of Infection

• Older age is the most common risk factor for infection and risk of serious illness. About 81% of deaths from the disease have been in people age 65 and older.
• High blood pressure, diabetes, overweight and obesity increase risk for infection and serious illness.
  
• Chronic medical diseases including lung, cardiovascular, kidney, liver and brain are common risk factors for infection.
• Less common conditions that increase risk of illness are cancer, autoimmune disease, organ transplantation and mental health conditions.

Most of the conditions that increase risk of infection cause acid saliva and increased acidity of urine. Treatment that alkalizes saliva and urine also improves medical conditions associated with increased risk of COVID-19.

Acid Saliva Indicates Danger Of Infection

Doesn’t signal that cells are already infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus. There’s still time to reduce that danger. Plus, time to reduce danger from other respiratory virus infections.

Vaccination does not prevent infection. It forms antibodies that reduces illness from infection after cells have already been invaded. Same thing with antibodies formed during recovery from a previous infection.

Protection from infection prevents breakthrough of respiratory viruses after vaccination. Also prevents recurrence of illness after recovery from previous infection. Furthermore, protection from infection extends to variants of the original wild-type strain. Including any variants that appear and spread in the future.

Let’s See If We Can Help You

We’ll send supplies for testing to the first 50 people who request our help.

When you send us results of your testing for 5-7 days, we’ll analyze risks those data indicate. We’ll call and help you maintain health and reduce risks from infection. 

[Disclaimer: It’s important to consult with your Primary Care Physician to ensure accuracy and alignment with your individual medical condition and treatment.]

REFERENCES

1. Chang D-K and Cheng S-F. pH-dependence of intermediate steps of membrane fusion induced by the influenza fusion peptide. Biochem J 2006; 396: 557-563 https://doi.org/10.1042/BJ20051920

2. Panjwani A, Strauss M, Gold S, et al. Capsid Protein VP4 of Human Rhinovirus Induces Membrane Permeability by the Formation of a Size-Selective Multimeric Pore. PLoS Pathog 2014; 10(8): e1004294. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1004294

3. Hu M, Bogoyevitch MA, Jans DA. Impact of respiratory syncytial virus infection on host functions: implications for antiviral strategies. Physiol Rev100; 100: 1527–1594. https://doi.org/10.1152/physrev.00030.2019

4. Kreutzberger AJB, Sanyal A, Saminathan A, Kirchhausen T. SARS-CoV-2 requires acidic pH to infect cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci 2022; 119 (38): e2209514119 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2209514119