Announcing the pH Challenge from HealthWise Coffee!

As you may know, HealthWise is roasted through a process that allows it to be low in acid, while still retaining many health benefits that other coffees don't posess in their roasting processes. Well, we want to prove it to you! Although HealthWise Coffee is low in acid, how does its acid content compare to other major brands? HealthWise Coffee is beginning the HealthWise Low Acid Challenge this week, which will compare the acid content of numerous brands of coffee, including other low-acid brands.

The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14, with 0 being the most acidic and 14 being the least acidic, or more alkaline. Pure water is around 7.0, and normal body pH hovers at slightly alkaline, around 7.4. When a person consumes a food or beverage either more acidic or basic than his or her body pH, the body must compensate and work to bring the pH back into check.

High acidity in foods and beverages is a major cause for discomfort and health problems among people today, and lowering the acid content of their diets is a great way to prevent those issues.

Coffee is typically a highly acidic beverage. Coffee beans themselves typically have a pH of about 5.0, and each brand of coffee has a different pH depending on the beans they choose and how they are roasted. Even when adding milk to coffee, an almost neutral product, it is difficult to balance out the acid content. For example, adding milk with a pH of 6.9 to a coffee with a pH of 5.0 on a 50/50 basis will yield a pH of 5.3....still very acidic.

The HealthWise Low Acid Challenge will run over the course of several weeks, and compare brands like Folgers, Maxwell House, Eight O'Clock Coffee, and Starbucks on acid content. Acid content will be measured using a pH meter in a six-ounce individual cup of each brand's freshly brewed coffee, using each brand's recommended amount of ground coffee. The pH testing device manufacturer claims a degree of accuracy of plus or minus .01 pH.

The water used in brewing coffee will affect pH outcomes. Whenever HealthWise is compared to other coffees, the same water source will be used.

First up for the challenge are: Hills Bros. 100% Colombian, Eight O'Clock 100% Colombian, Folgers Simply Smooth, and HealthWise 100% Colombian Supremo.

Using "Natural Spring Water" found in a grocery store:

Hills Bros. -- 5.01
Eight O'Clock -- 5.07

Folgers Simply Smooth -- 5.50

HealthWise -- 6.18

One key aspect to the pH scale is that it is logarithmic, and as a result, each whole pH value below 7 is ten times more acidic than the next higher number. So Hills Bros. at 5.01 is nearly twelve times more acidic than HealthWise (6.18 minus 5.01 = 1.17 x 10).

For more results, be sure to check upcoming newsletters and the HealthWise blog ( http://www.healthwisecoffee.com/blog/). Also, don't forget to follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/healthwisegc