An old pantry staple is new again with people using it to improve physical health, ailments and more. But it has risks

You may think that the baking soda in the back of your cupboard is only useful for absorbing bad odors from the fridge, cleaning products or baking.

But some people may encourage you to think again – because they add it to their water and share online that they find the compound improves their exercise performance, acid reflux, energy levels and the rest. But experts say whether this method helps in different situations is unclear due to 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 “Everyday Snack Tray.”

“It can (also) reduce odor and help you remove dirt from your clothes,” Largeman-Roth said in an email.

However, just because baking soda is produced with natural ingredients does not mean it is safe to drink out of control, he added. The need for caution is due to the chemistry of baking soda and the body, and whether a careful interaction between the two can be helpful or harmful.

Baking soda, formally known as sodium bicarbonate, is an alkaline substance made of sodium, hydrogen, carbon and oxygen, said Grace Derocha, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The main way baking soda can help with issues like acid reflux is by reducing the acid.

On the pH scale of acidity and alkalinity, anything with a pH below 7 is acidic, while 7 to 8 is neutral and anything from 8 to 14 is alkaline , or basic. The normal pH range for the human body, as measured in blood, is 7.35 to 7.45, Derocha said, but certain body parts and substances have their own pH — such as the pH that contains too much stomach acid 1.

Using more baking soda, which has an alkaline pH of about 8.3, is where things can go wrong. Based on this science, here’s what research and experts say about the health effects, key risk factors and other things you need to know.

What the research does (and doesn’t show).

When it comes to what drinking more soda can improve, exercise endurance is one of the most research-backed projects, dating back to the 1980s — although other studies are small or they have different conclusions.

During exercise – especially the vigorous, anaerobic type such as sprinting or jumping rope – muscle metabolism produces hydrogen ions, said exercise expert Dr. Tamara Hew-Butler, assistant professor of exercise and sports science at Wayne State University in Detroit, via email. Then the breakdown of muscle glycogen that produces energy also results in the formation of lactate along with hydrogen ions.

The ion buildup “increases acidity … in the blood/muscle environment that inhibits exercise (ie, ‘exercise burn’),” Hew-Butler added. “Therefore, (the benefit of) drinking soda and more before exercise is to reduce acidity in and around working muscles, which can improve performance in short-term, high-intensity exercise.”

Some studies have shown that drinking soda an hour or two before exercise can improve performance during 12 minutes of vigorous activity such as cycling, running, rowing, boxing and karate. according to a major survey of 2021 research by the International Organization. of Sports Nutrition. But it’s possible for the effects on pH to last up to three hours, Hew-Butler said.

Participants who drank more soda in a strength training study were able to perform more reps with less muscle fatigue than the placebo group.

Baking soda can reduce stomach acid and relieve acid reflux or indigestion, too — which is not surprising since the ingredient is part of antacids, a common treatment for the condition, Derocha said.

There was also some evidence that soda and baking can reduce the development of kidney disease.

In people with chronic kidney disease, the body’s organs do not work well to remove enough acid each day, which causes the blood to be too acidic, said Dr. Paul O’Connor, professor of physiology at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. in Georgia.

“Medically, what we’ve been doing is giving these people a bicarbonate supplement to reduce the acid load and help give the kidneys less acid to get rid of it,” O’Connor said. “Being too acidic can cause bone and mineral loss and muscle waste and a number of other difficult things.”

A randomized controlled trial of 153 people with hypertension and high risk of worsening chronic kidney disease is the latest evidence to support this. Consuming two or more daily servings of soda — in the form of four or five 650-milligram tablets — was associated with a five-year delay in the progression of kidney disease, according to in a study published on August 5 in The American Journal of Medicine. The result was compared to a group that received only standard medical care. However, baking soda supplementation was not associated with an improvement in blood pressure or heart disease risk.

These studies have confirmed 15 or more other studies on this topic. A few also suggest benefits for kidney stones. But several recent clinical trials have suggested otherwise, O’Connor said, and the jury is still out on why.

A 2018 study in rats and humans found that baking soda reduced inflammation, Largeman-Roth said, which is a risk factor for various health problems including heart disease, depression, and Alzheimer’s disease. and others. “However, the study lasted (two) weeks, so we cannot assume that this treatment is safe over time,” he said.

But the findings are why the study authors suggested inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis may benefit from baking soda, said Largeman-Roth.

Risk management

Regardless of your condition, always talk to your doctor to make sure that a new lifestyle is right for you since everyone’s body is different, Derocha said. Low stomach acid can make some medications take longer to work or affect how well they work, Largeman-Roth said.

There are people for whom that discipline is important, and baking soda supplementation is not recommended at all, including children; people with heart problems, acidosis or alkalosis; and pregnant people, experts said.

This warning is partly due to the high level of sodium, as 1 teaspoon contains more than 1,200 milligrams. The American Heart Association’s recommended daily allowance 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 is no general recommendation, experts said. But for digestion, you can try ¼ teaspoon mixed with a glass of water, Largeman-Roth said. Some people use a teaspoon, Derocha said, but working up to that can be beneficial since others experience diarrhea, gas, nausea or vomiting from drinking too much. Drinking after a meal is best because you need your stomach acid to digest food first, he added.

Exercise training is usually limited in the range of 0.2 to 0.5 grams of baking soda per kilogram of body weight – meaning a person weighing 59 kilograms, or 130 pounds, he can use around a tablespoon of soda and more than the minimum. But in real life, most athletes can’t eat that much, Largeman-Roth said.

For kidney disease, tablet dosages are prescribed by doctors based on the patient’s blood work, O’Connor said.

Overdoing it or drinking baking soda for a long time “can have serious consequences,” Largeman-Roth said, adding that people have ended up in the emergency room because they have sent their bodies to metabolic alkalosis, which means that the pH of the body is more than 7.45. Alkalosis can damage the heart, reduce blood flow to the brain, cause mental confusion and reduce the flow of oxygen to the body’s cells, he added.

Your stomach may go into overdrive to prevent even more soda than you’re supposed to, O’Connor said.

“That’s why people with acid reflux often get different drugs — proton pump inhibitors and things like that,” he added. “Having an acidic stomach is (also) good for keeping germs out of the digestive system.”

Some people cut back on drinking until the morning because the drink interferes with their sleep, possibly because sodium makes the heart work harder to pump blood throughout the body, temporarily raising blood pressure. , Derocha said. This effect explains why some people with blood pressure medication take the medication at night, which leads to less work for their heart and thus better sleep.

Baking soda supplementation is not the only way to reduce acid-related health problems. In a recent study on the risk of soda, kidney disease and high blood pressure, adding more produce to a person’s diet was helpful – supporting the idea that for overall health, things like the foundation is always the most important, experts said.