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You might think that the baking soda lurking in the back of your cupboard is only useful for absorbing gross refrigerator odors, cleaning produce, or making baked goods.
But some would probably suggest you think again — because they’re adding it to their water and sharing online that they’ve found the ingredient improves their exercise performance, acid reflux, energy levels and more. But experts said whether the exercise is helpful for various conditions is nuanced because of limited and mixed research, risks and personal health.
“Baking soda is a really cool natural ingredient that can do a lot,” said Frances Largeman-Roth, registered dietitian and author of “The Everyday Snack Tray.”
“It can (also) neutralize odors and help you remove stains from your clothes,” Largeman-Roth said in an email.
However, just because baking soda is made from natural ingredients doesn’t mean it’s safe to consume without regulation, she added. The need for caution is because of the chemistry of baking soda and the body, and how the delicate interaction between the two is exactly what could help or harm.
Baking soda, formally known as sodium bicarbonate, is an alkaline substance made up of sodium, hydrogen, carbon and oxygen, said Grace Derocha, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The primary way that baking soda may be helpful for problems like acid reflux is by neutralizing acid.
On the pH scale of acidity and alkalinity, anything with a pH less than 7 is acidic, while 7 to 8 is neutral, and anything from 8 to 14 is alkaline or basic. The human body’s normal pH range, as measured by blood, is 7.35 to 7.45, Derocha said, but certain body parts and substances have their own pH — such as the stomach’s highly acidic pH 1.
Consuming too much baking soda, which has an alkaline pH of about 8.3, is when things can go haywire. Based on these studies, here’s what research and experts say about health effects, important risk factors, and other things you need to know.
When it comes to what baking soda consumption might improve, exercise endurance is one of the purposes most supported by research dating back to the 1980s—although some studies are small or have mixed results.
During exercise — especially the intense, anaerobic kind like sprinting or jumping rope — muscle metabolism produces hydrogen ions, said exercise physiologist Dr. Tamara Hew-Butler, associate professor of exercise and sport science at Wayne State University in Detroit, in an email. The breakdown of muscle glycogen, which produces energy, also leads to the production of lactate as well as hydrogen ions.
The ion accumulation “increases acidity … in the blood/muscle environment which limits exercise performance (ie, exercise ‘burn’),” added Hew-Butler. “Thus, (the benefit) of consuming baking soda before exercise is to reduce acidity in and around working muscles, which can improve performance during short and intense exercise.”
Some studies have shown that ingesting baking soda an hour or two before exercise can improve performance for up to 12 minutes of high-intensity activities such as cycling, running, rowing, boxing and karate, according to a major 2021 World Health Organization research review. sports education. But it’s possible for the effect on pH to last up to three hours, Hew-Butler said.
Participants who consumed baking soda in a strength training study were able to perform more repetitions with less muscle fatigue than the placebo group.
Baking soda can reduce stomach acid and ease reflux or indigestion, too — which isn’t surprising since the ingredient is part of antacids, a common treatment for the condition, Derocha said.
There has also been evidence to suggest that baking soda may also slow the progression of kidney disease.
In people with chronic kidney disease, the organs don’t work well enough to get rid of enough acid each day, leading to acidic blood, Dr. Paul O’Connor, professor of physiology at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. in Georgia.
“Clinically, what we’ve been doing is giving these people bicarbonate supplements to offset the acid load and help give the kidneys less acid to get rid of,” O’Connor said. “Being too (acidic) can cause bone and mineral loss and muscle wasting and some other tricky things.
A randomized controlled trial of 153 people who had hypertension and a high risk of worsening CKD is the latest evidence to support this. Consuming two daily servings of baking soda — in the form of four or five 650-milligram tablets — was associated with slower progression of kidney disease over five years, according to the study published Aug. 5 in The American Journal of Medicine. That result was compared to the group that had only received conventional medical care. However, baking soda supplementation was not associated with improvements in blood pressure or risk of cardiovascular disease.
These findings confirmed 15 or so other studies on the subject. A few have also suggested benefits for kidney stones. But several recent multisite clinical trials suggested otherwise, O’Connor said, and the jury is still out on why.
A 2018 study in both rats and humans found that baking soda reduced inflammation, Largeman-Roth said, which is a risk factor for a number of health problems, including heart disease, depression, Alzheimer’s disease and more. “However, the study only lasted (two) weeks, so we cannot assume that this treatment is safe over time,” she said.
But the findings are why the study authors suggested that inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis could potentially benefit from baking soda, Largeman-Roth said.
No matter what your situation, always check with your doctor to make sure a new health routine is right for you since everyone’s body is different, Derocha said. Lower stomach acid can cause some medications to take longer to work or affect how they work, Largeman-Roth said.
There are people for whom this instruction is important and baking soda supplements are not recommended at all, including children; those with cardiovascular disease, acidosis or alkalosis; and people who are pregnant, experts said.
This caution is due in part to the high sodium content, with 1 teaspoon containing more than 1,200 milligrams. The American Heart Association’s ideal daily amount of sodium is 1,500 milligrams per day for most adults, especially those with high blood pressure, and no more than 2,300 milligrams per day.
There are no general dosage recommendations, experts said. But for indigestion, you could try ¼ teaspoon mixed with a glass of water, Largeman-Roth said. Some people use a teaspoon, Derocha said, but working up to that may be better since some people experience diarrhea, gas, nausea or vomiting from taking too much. Drinking it after eating is best since you need your stomach acid to digest the food first, she added.
Bodybuilding studies have typically dosed between 0.2 and 0.5 grams of baking soda per kilogram of body weight—meaning that a person weighing about 59 kilograms, or 130 pounds, could use about a tablespoon of baking soda at a minimum. But in real life, many athletes can’t handle that much, Largeman-Roth said.
For kidney disease, the tablet dosage is adjusted by doctors based on the patient’s blood work, O’Connor said.
Overdoing it or drinking soda water long-term “can have disastrous consequences,” Largeman-Roth said, adding that people have ended up in the emergency room because they sent their bodies into metabolic alkalosis, meaning the body’s pH is greater than 7.45 . Alkalosis can damage the heart, reduce blood flow to the brain, cause mental confusion and reduce the flow of oxygen to body tissues, she added.
Your stomach may also start secreting excessive acid to counteract the baking soda it expects you to consume, O’Connor said.
“That’s why people with reflux usually get different drugs — proton pump inhibitors and things like that,” he added. “Having an acidic stomach is (also) good for preventing bugs from entering the digestive system.”
Some limit consumption to the morning because the drink disrupts their sleep, which is likely because sodium makes it harder for the heart to pump blood throughout the body, temporarily raising blood pressure, Derocha said. This effect explains why some people on blood pressure drugs take these drugs at night, which leads to less work for the heart and therefore better sleep.
Baking soda supplements aren’t the only way to reduce acid-induced health problems. In this recent study on baking soda, kidney disease and high blood pressure, adding more produce to one’s diet was the most beneficial — supporting the fact that for overall health, the basics are always the most important, experts said.
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