You’ve probably seen the TikToks. Or maybe your grandmother told you about it years ago. Someone stands in a kitchen, stirs a spoonful of white powder into a glass, and gulps it down like it’s a miracle cure for everything from cancer to a bad case of the "blahs." We are talking about the baking soda in water drink. It’s cheap. It’s sitting in your pantry right now. But honestly? Most of the advice floating around the internet about this stuff is either dangerously vague or just plain wrong.
Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. That's it. It’s a chemical compound with the formula $NaHCO_3$. When you toss it into water, it doesn't just sit there; it dissociates into sodium ($Na^+$) and bicarbonate ($HCO_3^-$) ions. This process creates an alkaline solution. People drink it because they want to "balance their pH," but your body is way more complicated than a swimming pool. Your blood pH is tightly regulated between 7.35 and 7.45. If it moves much outside that range, you aren't just "unbalanced"—you are in a medical emergency.
The Heartburn Fix That Actually Works
The most common reason people reach for a baking soda in water drink is acid reflux. It makes sense. Sodium bicarbonate is an antacid. It’s the active ingredient in many over-the-counter meds like Alka-Seltzer. When that $HCO_3^-$ hits your stomach acid (hydrochloric acid), they react to form water, salt, and carbon dioxide.
That’s why you burp.
It’s a chemical reaction happening right in your gut. This can provide almost instant relief for occasional heartburn. If you’ve eaten too many spicy wings and feel the fire rising, half a teaspoon in four ounces of water can be a lifesaver. But here’s the thing: it’s a band-aid. It doesn't fix why you have reflux. If you do this every day, you might experience "rebound acid secretion." Your stomach realizes the acid is gone and starts pumping out even more to compensate. It’s a vicious cycle.
Performance and Muscles: The Athlete’s Secret?
If you hang out in serious bodybuilding or sprinting circles, you’ve heard of "soda loading." This isn't about Coca-Cola. It’s about using a baking soda in water drink to buffer lactic acid.
When you sprint or lift heavy, your muscles produce hydrogen ions. This makes the environment inside the muscle acidic. That "burn" you feel? That’s the acidity. By drinking sodium bicarbonate about 60 to 90 minutes before a high-intensity workout, you increase the bicarbonate levels in your blood. This acts as a buffer, pulling the acid out of the muscle cells more efficiently.
Studies, including research published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, show that this can actually improve performance in short-duration, high-intensity sprints. We are talking about a 1% to 2% edge. For an Olympian, that’s huge. For the average person at Planet Fitness? It might just give you a massive stomach ache.
The dosage for athletes is specific. Usually, it's around 0.3 grams per kilogram of body weight. For a 180-pound person, that’s roughly 24 grams—about 4 to 5 teaspoons.
That is a lot of salt.
The Kidney Connection
This is where the science gets really interesting and a bit more serious. Nephrologists—kidney doctors—sometimes prescribe sodium bicarbonate to patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD).
When kidneys fail, they struggle to remove acid from the body. This leads to a condition called metabolic acidosis. A study led by Dr. Magdi Yaqoob and published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology found that a daily dose of sodium bicarbonate could significantly slow the decline of kidney function in some patients.
But please, don't try to treat kidney disease yourself. This is a medical intervention. Taking too much baking soda in water drink when your kidneys are already struggling can lead to fluid retention and high blood pressure because of the massive sodium load.
📖 Related: Helping a Friend with an Eating Disorder: What Actually Works (And What Backfires)
Why You Should Be Careful (The Scary Stuff)
Sodium bicarbonate sounds harmless because it’s used for cookies. It isn't.
If you drink too much, you can end up with metabolic alkalosis. This is the opposite of being "too acidic." Your blood becomes too alkaline. Symptoms include muscle twitching, hand tremors, and even heart arrhythmias.
Then there’s the sodium. One teaspoon of baking soda contains about 1,260 milligrams of sodium. The American Heart Association recommends no more than 2,300 mg for the entire day. One glass of this stuff puts you over halfway there. If you have high blood pressure or heart failure, this "natural remedy" could land you in the ER.
There are also rare but documented cases of gastric rupture. This happens when someone drinks a lot of baking soda after a massive, heavy meal. The chemical reaction produces so much gas so quickly that the stomach, already distended by food, literally tears. It’s rare. It’s horrific. It’s a reason to never take baking soda on an overly full stomach.
The Myth of "Alkalizing the Body"
Let’s talk about the "Alkaline Diet." The idea is that by drinking a baking soda in water drink, you can change your body’s pH to prevent cancer or disease.
This is largely a misunderstanding of biology.
Your stomach is meant to be acidic (pH 1.5 to 3.5) to digest food and kill bacteria. Your blood stays at a steady pH because your lungs and kidneys are constantly working to keep it there. You cannot significantly change your blood pH by what you eat or drink. If you did, you’d be very sick. While an alkaline environment in a petri dish might slow cancer cells, your body isn't a petri dish. Proponents of this often confuse urine pH with blood pH. Yes, drinking baking soda will make your pee more alkaline. It does not mean your entire "internal terrain" has shifted.
Practical Steps and Safety
If you still want to try it, do it right. Don't just eyeball it.
How to use it for occasional indigestion:
- Dissolve 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in 4 to 8 ounces of water.
- Stir until it is completely clear. No clumps.
- Sip it slowly. Do not chug it.
- Do not take it if you are "full to bursting" from a meal.
When to avoid it entirely:
- If you are on a sodium-restricted diet.
- If you have edema (swelling) or liver disease.
- If you are taking medications that might interact with antacids, like certain antibiotics or iron supplements.
- If you are pregnant, unless your doctor specifically says it's okay for your heartburn.
What to watch out for:
If you feel nauseous, get a pounding headache, or notice your ankles are swelling up like balloons, stop. Honestly, for most people, there are better ways to handle health goals. For reflux, maybe look at your caffeine or spicy food intake. For athletic performance, focus on sleep and creatine first.
The baking soda in water drink is a tool. It's an old-school, effective tool for specific things, but it’s not a daily supplement. It's medicine. Treat it with that level of respect.
Actionable Next Steps:
Check your baking soda box for an expiration date; old powder loses its potency for both baking and pH buffering. If you’re using it for heartburn more than twice a week, schedule an appointment with a gastroenterologist to rule out GERD or a hiatal hernia. For those looking at athletic benefits, test a small dose (1/8 teaspoon) on a non-race day to see how your stomach handles the gas before committing to a full performance dose.