Some Benefits of Baking Soda Water

Baking soda. You may have put it in the back of your fridge months ago to help prevent odors or recently used it as an ingredient in a recipe.
However, creators on social media are generating millions of views with claims that drinking a small amount of baking soda mixed into a glass of water can provide a number of health benefits, including aiding with weight loss, improving exercise endurance, and reducing cancer risks.
While several claims like these are going viral on social media platforms, health experts are raising concerns that there’s little evidence to back them up, and others can pose health risks.

Healthline spoke with registered dietitians to help explain exactly what baking soda is, as well as how it can react in your body, and how to separate fact from fiction about social media most common reported health benefits that drinking it can provide.

What is baking soda?
“Baking soda is a powder made up of a compound called sodium bicarbonate, also known as bicarb,” Destini Moody, RD, CSSD, LD, a registered dietitian at Garage Gym Reviews, said. “For those chemistry folks out there, it’s a salt that is composed of sodium and bicarbonate ions.”
Chris Mohr, PhD, RD, a fitness and nutrition advisor at Fortune Recommends Health, explained that its traditional use is to make dough rise.
“It works by reacting with acids to create bubbles of carbon dioxide,” Mohr says. “Besides baking, it’s also used for cleaning, deodorizing, and even as an antacid.”

Baking soda can improve exercise endurance and performance
Some evidence suggests that baking soda may help some people boost endurance.
“Baking soda can help athletes by reducing acid buildup during intense exercise, which might improve performance,” Mohr said. “Its effectiveness varies from person to person, and too much can actually cause serious GI distress, so it’s important to consult with a qualified sports dietitian before considering it.”

Baking soda can help reduce indigestion
A 2022 reviewTrusted Source indicated that sodium bicarbonate might help relieve heartburn short term.
“Reflux is caused by your stomach acid splashing up into your esophagus,” Betz explained. “Taking baking soda would temporarily reduce acid levels in your stomach and help the symptoms of reflux.”
However, Mohr emphasized “temporarily.”

“It’s only a short-term fix and shouldn’t be used frequently and without consulting with a healthcare practitioner for dosing,” he said.
Baking soda can help with weight loss
Every dietitian who spoke with Healthline cautioned that there’s no data that supports this claim.
“There is no reliable research to support baking soda can help with weight loss,” Moody said. “The one mechanism in which this may be possible is taking baking soda in amounts that cause so much stomach upset that an individual no longer has an appetite.”
Which, Moody noted, is not only dangerous, but would still not result in sustainable weight loss.

Baking soda can help slow the progression of chronic kidney disease
Some research, including a 2021 reviewTrusted Source, suggests sodium bicarbonate might assist with slowing down chronic kidney disease progression.
Baking soda can help reduce your risk of cancer
A 2020 minireviewTrusted Source suggested that baking soda might have anticancer properties but called for a large-scale clinical trial.

Baking soda can help lower inflammation
The risks of drinking baking soda water
Experts Healthline spoke with say that risks of consuming too much baking soda, especially regularly, include:
• Bloating
• Vomiting
• Cramping
• Electrolyte imbalances
• Hypertension
• Nutrient absorption difficulties