Health Homework (4) Buy Test Strips for Urine pH and Ketones

Everybody thinks their diet is awesome until they actually test it objectively.

"Knowing is not enough; we must apply.

Willing is not enough; we must do."*

*attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Bruce Lee, and Leonardo da Vinci—if you can provide the exact original source, please leave it below in the comments

Everybody thinks their diet is awesome until they actually test it objectively.

1. Are you consuming enough fruits/vegetables/alkali to offset the metabolic acids produced inside your body?

2. Is your carbohydrate intake low enough to promote ketogenesis (as a surrogate marker for anti-inflammation, anti-oxidation, and autophagy)?

You can and probably should (at least occasionally) measure your urine pH and ketones with test strips that you can buy online or at your local (integrative) pharmacy.

This is a series of articles/videos on the dietary protein component of my 5-part PaleoMediterranean Diet:

1. Part 1—VIDEO: Overview, history, and 1-hour conference presentation (video, linked here and below)

2. Part 2—VIDEO: The eight (8) major considerations in the conversation on dietary protein

3. Part 3: Dietary Protein, Spanish sardines, cheese, pesto, and coffee

4. Part 4: Low-protein diet causes losses of body cell mass, bone density, muscle function, and immune response

5. Part 5—VIDEO: Cheese and other common milk-based foods such as kefir and yogurt

6. Part 6 VIDEO—pH alkalinization problems with Ketogenic and High-Protein Diets

In 2004 while I was constructing a lecture for post-graduate continuing medical education, I found the landmark publication by Proudfoot and colleagues, “Position Paper on Urine Alkalinization” printed in Journal of Toxicology: Clinical Toxicology in March of 2004.

This was no mere perspective or casual review article—this official position paper was subjected to detailed peer review by an international group of clinical toxicologists chosen by the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology (AACT) and the European Association of Poisons Centres and Clinical Toxicologists (EAPCCT), and the final publication was approved by the boards of the two societies. In sum,…

See this video (relocated in 2026) for the details

Here's why I changed my perspective on the topic of acid-base balance