Baking soda has numerous medicinal uses and benefits. From acting as a natural deodorant, alleviating heartburn and indigestion, to whitening the teeth, baking soda has a range of applications.
But could baking soda get even better? Science says so. Now, researchers have discovered that baking soda combats autoimmune disease, a debilitating condition that characterizes over 100 different diseases.
What is Autoimmune Disease?
An autoimmune disease is a condition in which your immune system mistakenly attacks your body. As a result, the body isn’t able to protect itself from foreign invaders, which increases vulnerability to infections.
Instead of producing antibodies to an unknown trigger (to fight infections), the immune system starts attacking the body’s own tissues.
Examples of autoimmune disease include (1):
– Rheumatoid arthritis
– Lupus
– Inflammatory bowel disease (Chron’s disease and ulcerative colitis)
– Multiple sclerosis (MS)
– Type 1 diabetes
– Guillain-Barre syndrome
– Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy
– Psoriasis
– Graves’ disease
– Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
– Vasculitis
The list doesn’t end there – as mentioned above, there are over 100 different autoimmune conditions.
Autoimmune Disease and Inflammation
The connection between autoimmune disease and chronic inflammation are tightly interwoven. Someone can have chronic inflammation without autoimmunity, but autoimmune conditions almost always have some sort of chronic inflammatory input.
Chronic inflammation happens when there is a trigger that initiates the inflammatory response, but that response remains chronic (instead of temporary). With autoimmune conditions, the body’s white blood cells produce a specific antibody to target a particular tissue or enzyme within a tissue of the body. So when someone is suffering from autoimmunity, tissue damage results as a direct effect of the inflammatory process (instead of indirect with just plain chronic inflammation and no immunity).
Baking Soda and Inflammation
A recent study conducted at the Medical College of Georgia claims that baking soda can reduce and remove inflammation caused by autoimmune diseases. The best part? Baking soda is widely available for anyone to use, and it’s cheap as dirt.
The 2018 study, published in The Journal of Immunology, included a sample of rats and healthy medical students. When the participants and animals consumed baking soda mixed with water, they discovered two major things (2):
– Greater stomach acid production (which increases stomach acid for your next meal)
– Prevented the spleen (a major part of our immune system) from mistaking foods that would normally trigger inflammation
But what’s happening here at a molecular level? According to the study, sodium bicarbonate interacts with the mesothelial cells found in the spleen, which increases acetylcholine (a neurotransmitter) activity. As a result, an anti-inflammatory signal is sent to your body to help lessen the immune response.
Renal physiologist, and study co-author, Dr. Paul O’Connor, thinks “the cholinergic (acetylcholine) signals that we know mediate this anti-inflammatory response aren’t coming directly from the vagal nerve innervating the spleen, but from the mesothelial cells that form these connections to the spleen (3).”
After making some physiological observations between both participants and animals, O’Connor and his teams’ hypothesis was confirmed. In a press release for Jagwire News in Augusta, Georgia, Toni Baker writes:
“In the spleen, as well as the blood and kidneys, they found after drinking water with baking soda for two weeks, the population of immune cells called macrophages, shifted from primarily those that promote inflammation, called M1, to those that reduce it, called M2. Macrophages, perhaps best known for their ability to consume garbage in the body like debris from injured or dead cells, are early arrivers to a call for an immune response (4).”
Baking Soda Combats Autoimmune Disease
So what does all of this information have to do with inflammatory autoimmune conditions? While this is the first study of its kind, O’Connor is hopeful. He thinks “this helps explain the cholinergic (acetylcholine) anti-inflammatory response that people have been studying for a long time (5).”
Given that autoimmune conditions are largely inflammatory, baking soda could be a simple, cost-effective means to help out those who are suffering. And while the participants of the study were healthy, it could still prove beneficial in the bodies of those with chronic inflammation.
“You are not really turning anything off or on, you are just pushing it toward one side by giving an anti-inflammatory stimulus,” O’Connor says, in this case, away from harmful inflammation. “It’s potentially a really safe way to treat inflammatory disease (6).”
While the exact ratios of sodium bicarbonate to water have not been made available to the public, you still might want to try it out if you’re dealing with chronic inflammation or have an autoimmune disease.
To make a basic baking soda and water mixture, simply dissolve 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in two cups of water, and drink every day. Keeping your baking soda intake to only 1/2 a teaspoon is recommended so that your sodium intake doesn’t get too high.
Precautions Regarding Baking Soda
Because of the high sodium concentration, baking soda should be kept to a minimum if you have high blood pressure, or if you’ve been instructed to keep your sodium intake low.
Taking baking soda can also result in minor symptoms such as:
– Nausea
– Bloating
– Gassiness
Baking soda can also interact with medications like (7):
– Acetazolamide
– Aspirin
– Other salicylate
– Corticosteroids
– Memantine
– Medications with coatings to protect the stomach.
Baking soda can also decrease certain medications’ effectiveness, such as:
– Ampicillin
– Atazanavir
– Azole antifungals
– Iron supplements
– Pazopanib
– Sucralfate
Also, don’t mistake baking soda for baking powder (they’re two very different things!).
If there’s a concern regarding sodium levels, how about potassium bicarbonate as an alternative? Still pretty available and only a bit more expensive…. but worth it if it’s an acceptable and effective alternative.
I use a potassium bicarbonate solution spray on shrubs to manage powdery mildew…. baking soda works also, but is somewhat less effective and doesn’t last quite as long.
Hey Roy – I’m not sure about potassium bicarbonate, but it would be interesting to see if any studies have been done on that!
Increases stomach acid? Thats strange i thought it lowered stomach acid?
You would think, right? Baking soda does neutralize stomach acid, but the stomach’s preferred state is acidic, and for good reason (the food we eat comes with all sorts of bacteria on it, which the acid in our stomach destroys so that we don’t get sick). I suppose the neutralization of the acid in turn creates more acid after the fact to get the stomach back to its normal pH, hence assisting with digestion.
Can I mix the baking soda and water with a lemonade mix to make it more palatable without decreasing the effectiveness? Thanks so much.
Lemon is acidic, and would buffer the base of the baking soda. Do not mix with lemon or other acidic foods/vinegars.
I have a question..I read your article about drinking baking soda and it helping autoimmune disorders. I have a 7 year old daughter who could benefit from this. Should there be a lesser amount of baking g soda drank by a child? And if so what might the recommendations dosage be? How often? Thank you
Hey Rachel. The data is a bit conflicting. Some medical professionals say don’t give to children under 7 years of age. But your child is 7. Honestly, I would probably inquire with a doctor.
How much baking soda and water is used to drink?
I mention in the article: “To make a basic baking soda and water mixture, simply dissolve 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in two cups of water, and drink every day. Keeping your baking soda intake to only 1/2 a teaspoon is recommended so that your sodium intake doesn’t get too high.”