Due to the importance of sustaining a pH level in the needed narrow range, the human body contains compensatory mechanisms. Also, many of the intermediates of biochemical reactions in the body become ionized at a neutral pH, which causes the utilization of these intermediates to be more difficult.Ī pH below 7.35 is an acidemia, and a pH above 7.45 is an alkalemia. Why this number? Why not a neutral number of 7.0 instead of a slightly alkaline 7.40? A pH at this level is ideal for many biological processes, one of the most important being the oxygenation of blood. In the absence of pathological states, the pH of the human body ranges between 7.35 to 7.45, with the average at 7.40. One of these is maintaining an acid-base balance. To maintain homeostasis, the human body employs many physiological adaptations.
