GLOSSARY

Decrease in Blood pH is movement toward higher hydrogen-ion activity, with cause and severity interpreted through blood gases and context.

Higher pH indicates lower hydrogen-ion activity and lower pH the reverse; the scale is not simply linear. Changes may be respiratory, metabolic or mixed, with compensation separating the underlying process from final pH. Intense exercise changes muscle and blood conditions, but a food's sour taste does not directly establish blood acidification. Interpret the specimen type and timing alongside the physiological or clinical question.

Bicarbonate is in reversible balance with carbonic acid and carbon dioxide and is a major extracellular buffer. Lung removal and renal regulation make this an open regulated system. Bicarbonate alone does not define every disorder; blood gases and clinical context may be needed. Sports bicarbonate protocols are a separate activity-specific topic with gastrointestinal limitations, not a daily prescription for all athletes or a general nutritional mineral target.

Buffers limit rapid hydrogen-ion changes; lungs regulate carbon dioxide removal and kidneys adjust acid excretion and bicarbonate. Acid-base balance does not mean making blood ever more alkaline. A urine-pH change after eating does not establish an equal blood change. An alkaline drink is not a simple means of deliberately resetting healthy athletes' blood pH, which is maintained within a physiological range.