What happens to what you eat - The Importance of pH Balance
The sight and smell of food stimulates water, or saliva in the mouth. Saliva contains an enzyme, called amylase, which mixes with the food that is chewed. The body is unable to make use of starch, but it can use certain sugars, even though both of these are carbohydrates. Amylase breaks down the starches into a sugar that the body can use. (More, and needed amylase is provided by the pancreas in the duodenum). Food is propelled in the esophagus by swallowing. The esophagus is a tube approximately nine inches long, which empties into the stomach. The stomach is a hollow, pouch-like structure that lies beneath the diaphragm, which is under the ribs on the left side of the abdomen. The stomach measures approximately six to eight inches in length by three to four inches in width. Many people think that most foods are digested in the stomach. This is not true, but digestion does begin here. The stomach's function is to churn food and break it into smaller particles. The normal stomach contains Hydrochloric Acid, Pepsin, Mucin and the Intrinsic Factor, which is necessary to absorb Vitamin B-12. The acid and pepsin initiate digestion and the mucin coats the wall of the stomach. Mucin and other factors protect the stomach wall from digestive action. Stomach acid has effects on meats, cheese, fish and other foods. It also helps pepsin to change proteins into amino acids. Very little of what is eaten is absorbed directly through the stomach wall - only certain minerals, water and alcohol. The stomach empties directly into the small intestine through the duodenum.   The duodenum is a segment of the small intestine, which extends several inches immediately beyond the stomach. Bile from the liver and enzymes from the pancreas, along with a physiologic buffer, are secreted as needed into the duodenum to mix with foods passing through the small intestine. These substances hydrolyze fats and split proteins and carbohydrates. Proteins are changed into amino acids and fats are broken down into glycerin and fatty acids. Starches and sugars now become glucose.
The small intestine of an adult is a muscular tube, which is approximately one-half an inch in diameter, but it is 20 to 22 feet long! It is lined with tiny, finger-like projections, called villi. The normal pH of the small intestine is pH 7.0 (neutral) to pH 9.0 (alkaline). Liver bile and pancreatin from the pancreas need this neutral-to-alkaline condition in order to work properly for you in the breakdown of fats and converting proteins to amino acids.
We do not absorb proteins in the form that we have eaten them. They have to be converted by enzymatic action into amino acids. In healthy patients, amino acids are absorbed into the bloodstream through the wall of the small intestine. There, they are transported to cells in every part of our bodies. The amino acids are the fundamental building blocks of life; therefore, it is equally as important for your doctor to know the pH of your small intestine as well as the pH of your stomach. Mal-absorption, stomach gas, belching, bloating, flatulence and irritable bowels can be dealt with much easier by your Doctor when he can monitor and record the pH levels of  your stomach.
Large numbers of people (more than 30%) over the age of 60 have very little or no hydrochloric acid in their stomachs. The presence of hydrochloric acid and pepsin in the stomach is essential to initiate digestion of foods that we eat. Stomach hyperacidity, delayed emptying time, with subsequent highly acid small intestines, appears to be more common than the lack of acid (hypo acidity) in all age groups.
Therefore, pH plays an all-important role in how we handle and process foods to the nourishment of our bodies. In addition, medications, which depend upon pH for release and absorption, have optimal effects within the alimentary tract under normal pH conditions. Virtually everything that we eat is properly converted and absorbed in the small intestine. Due to abnormal pH profiles in many patients, sustained-release medications may tend to *dump,* or release medicaments all at once, or, on the other hand, release very little. A normal, or near normal, pH alimentary canal profile is very beneficial for food processing and medicament delivery. The Heidelberg pH Capsule is used routinely by many of the major Pharmaceutical Manufactures, in Europe, Japan, Canada and the United States, as a "design tool" in the development and formulation of pH-dependent drug releases.
When the pH capsule is swallowed, it reaches the stomach in 2 to 3 seconds, the same time as a vitamin or antibiotic tablet or capsule. While in the stomach, the pH capsule will report exact pH information and it will show immediate changes to alkaline or acid "challenges". The Heidelberg pH capsule is truly a non-invasive telemetric pH-monitoring device.  

More about the Heidelberg pH Capsule System
This system was developed at the famous University of Heidelberg in the city of Heidelberg, Germany. All of the development of the Famous Heidelberg pH Capsule originated at the University of Heidelberg Hospital. The first publication included a 1,000 Patient Study emanating from the Department of Gastroenterology.
The Heidelberg pH Capsule is a microminiaturized radio transmitter, which was designed for swallowing. Well over a million capsules have been used to date. The pH capsule is activated, calibrated and then swallowed. The patient wears a medallion transceiver around his/her neck via a suspension strap. The transceiver picks up the telemetric pH data from the patient*s abdomen. It converts the information to digital data, and then, this information is transmitted to a computer interface module for signal processing. The computer interface module transfers this data to the dedicated Dell computer, where it is displayed on the monitor in graph form.
The pH capsule IS NOT "radioactive," so there is no reason for concern. The information that is received on the graph (or Gastrogram) is compared with your medical history. Doctor will then be able to complete and essential data in his/her diagnosis. Heidelberg pH capsules are used extensively throughout the World in   preventive and nutritional medical practices, and by dozens of major pharmaceutical manufacturers, world-wide. There have been over 140 published clinical studies some of which are published in the New England Journal of Medicine, and other well know medical publications.  Make an Appointment for this very important test.