You probably have a bright orange box of Arm & Hammer sitting in the back of your pantry right now. It's been there since you made those muffins three months ago. Most people treat sodium bicarbonate as a humble leavening agent or a way to keep the fridge from smelling like leftover onions. But lately, the internet is obsessed with it. You've likely seen the TikToks or the health blogs claiming it’s a miracle cure-all. People are stirring it into water for everything from athletic performance to kidney health. Honestly, some of it is legit science. A lot of it? Not so much. Understanding the benefits of drinking baking soda requires cutting through the influencers and looking at what happens when that alkaline powder actually hits your stomach acid.
It’s chemistry, basically. Baking soda is alkaline. Your body, specifically your blood, is tightly regulated to stay slightly alkaline, while your stomach is a vat of acid. When you drink it, you are performing a DIY chemical reaction. It’s cheap, it’s accessible, and it actually has some heavy-hitting clinical backing for specific conditions. But if you do it wrong, you’re just giving yourself a stomach ache—or worse.
Why Your Stomach Loves (and Hates) Sodium Bicarbonate
The most immediate and well-known use for drinking baking soda is neutralizing acid. When you have heartburn, that's gastric acid creeping up into your esophagus where it doesn't belong. It burns. Sodium bicarbonate reacts with that hydrochloric acid to create salt, water, and carbon dioxide.
That "burp" you get after drinking a teaspoon of baking soda in water? That’s the carbon dioxide escaping. It’s instant relief for many. Doctors have suggested this for decades as a home remedy for occasional indigestion. However, there is a catch. If you do this too often, your body might freak out. It’s called "acid rebound." Your stomach notices the acid is gone and starts pumping out even more to compensate. It's a vicious cycle. Plus, the high sodium content is a real concern if you’re watching your blood pressure. You’re essentially drinking a salt bomb.
Chronic use can also mask bigger problems. If you're reaching for the orange box every night, you might have GERD or a hiatal hernia that needs a doctor, not a pantry staple. It’s a band-aid. A very effective, 50-cent band-aid, but a band-aid nonetheless.
The Benefits of Drinking Baking Soda for Athletes
This is where the science gets really cool. If you’re into CrossFit, sprinting, or high-intensity interval training (HIIT), you’ve probably heard of "soda loading." It sounds fake. It sounds like something a high school track coach made up in 1985. But the International Olympic Committee actually listed sodium bicarbonate as one of the few dietary supplements with a high level of evidence for improving performance.
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When you exercise at a high intensity, your muscles produce hydrogen ions. This drops the pH in your muscle tissue, making it more acidic. That "burn" you feel? That’s the acidity. It shuts down your muscles' ability to contract. By drinking baking soda about 60 to 90 minutes before a workout, you increase the bicarbonate levels in your blood. This acts as a buffer. It literally pulls the acid out of the muscle cells faster, allowing you to push for an extra 20 or 30 seconds.
Does it actually make you faster?
- Sprinting: Studies show significant improvements in the final "kick" of a 400m to 800m race.
- Rowing: Elite rowers often use it to shave seconds off their 2,000-meter times.
- Weightlifting: It helps with high-rep sets where the burn usually stops you before your strength does.
But—and this is a huge but—the "disaster pants" factor is real. Sodium bicarbonate is notorious for causing GI distress. We’re talking bloating, cramping, and urgent trips to the bathroom. Many athletes find that the performance gain isn't worth the risk of an accident mid-race. To avoid this, some people try "delayed-release" capsules or very specific dosing protocols based on body weight, usually around 0.3 grams per kilogram of body mass.
Kidney Health and the pH Balance Myth
We need to talk about the "alkalize your body" trend. You’ll hear people say that drinking baking soda prevents cancer or "detoxes" your blood by making you less acidic. Honestly? Your body already has a world-class system for this. Your lungs and kidneys regulate your blood pH so precisely that if it moved more than a tiny fraction, you’d be in the ICU. You cannot change your blood pH by drinking a glass of baking soda water.
However, for people with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), the story changes. The kidneys are responsible for removing acid from the body. When they fail, the body becomes too acidic—a condition called metabolic acidosis. There is legitimate clinical research, including a well-known study published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, showing that daily sodium bicarbonate supplementation can slow the progression of kidney decline.
In these cases, patients aren't just "trying a health hack." They are under strict medical supervision. For a healthy person, "alkalizing" isn't really a thing. Your pee might become more alkaline, but your internal environment stays the same because your body is smart.
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Autoimmune Response and Inflammation
There was a fascinating study from Augusta University a few years ago that made waves in the medical community. Researchers found that drinking a baking soda solution might signal to the "mesothelial cells" on our organs that the body isn't under attack. Essentially, it told the immune system to chill out.
The study, published in the Journal of Immunology, suggested that this could shift the population of immune cells in the spleen from "pro-inflammatory" to "anti-inflammatory." This has massive implications for people with autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. While the study was small and more human trials are needed, it points to a future where something as simple as sodium bicarbonate could be used to manage chronic inflammation. It’s not a cure, but it’s a provocative look at how basic chemistry influences complex biology.
The Dark Side: When Drinking Baking Soda Goes Wrong
It's not all rainbows and performance gains. There are legitimate dangers. Most people don't realize that you can actually overdose on baking soda. It's called milk-alkali syndrome, and it's rare but dangerous. It happens when you take too much calcium (like Tums) and too much bicarbonate.
There are also documented cases of "gastric rupture." This is terrifying and extremely rare, but it happens. If you drink baking soda on an extremely full stomach after a massive meal, the rapid production of CO2 gas can cause the stomach to literally tear. This is why you should always dissolve it in at least 4-8 ounces of water and never take it when you’re "stuffed" to the point of discomfort.
Risks to Keep in Mind:
- Electrolyte Imbalance: It can tank your potassium levels, which affects your heart rhythm.
- High Sodium: A single teaspoon has about 1,200mg of sodium. That’s more than half the daily recommended limit for some people.
- Medication Interference: Because it changes stomach acidity, it can stop your body from absorbing other meds properly.
How to Do It Safely (If You Must)
If you’re going to experiment with the benefits of drinking baking soda, don't just wing it. Precision matters here.
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For occasional heartburn, the standard dose is 1/2 teaspoon dissolved in a full glass of water. Don't do this for more than two weeks straight. If you're an athlete looking for that performance edge, you need to test it during training first. Never try it for the first time on race day unless you want a very unpleasant surprise.
Talk to a doctor if you are on a low-sodium diet or if you have any history of kidney issues. It seems like a "harmless" home remedy, but it is an active chemical compound that interacts with your physiology in significant ways.
Practical Steps for Implementation
- Check the Label: Make sure you are using Baking Soda (sodium bicarbonate) and NOT Baking Powder. Baking powder contains other acids like cream of tartar and won't work the same way.
- Timing is Everything: If using for exercise, aim for 60-90 minutes before your session. If using for heartburn, take it at the onset of symptoms, but not immediately after a massive feast.
- Dissolve Completely: Don't leave clumps. Stir until the water is clear to ensure the reaction starts in the glass, not just in your esophagus.
- Monitor Your Body: If you feel twitchy, nauseous, or develop a headache, stop immediately. These are signs of electrolyte shifts.
- Quality over Quantity: Start with a very small dose (1/4 teaspoon) to see how your stomach reacts before moving up to a full teaspoon.
Baking soda is a tool. Like any tool, it can be used to build (like buffering your muscles during a sprint) or it can cause damage if used recklessly. It is one of the cheapest, most effective health interventions we have for specific issues, provided we respect the chemistry behind it.
Actionable Insight: If you’re curious about the athletic benefits, try a "test dose" of 1/8 teaspoon in water on a non-workout day. Notice how your digestion feels over the next three hours. If you tolerate it well, you can gradually increase to the recommended athletic dose (0.2g-0.3g per kg of body weight) before your next high-intensity session, ensuring you drink plenty of plain water alongside it to manage the sodium load.