Yield: 1 glass (8 fl oz)

Can Baking Soda Make Heartburn Worse? What to Know

A sourced look at when baking soda in water can backfire: fast CO2 gas, a big dose on a full stomach, the sodium in mg, and what no open source confirms about acid rebound.

Prep Time2 minutes

Total Time2 minutes

Ingredients

• 8 fl oz (240 mL) water, 240 mL; still water, not carbonated; MedlinePlus minimum is 4 oz (120 mL)
• 1/4 tsp (1.15 g) food-grade, aluminum-free baking soda, 1.15 g; level measure, not heaped; baking powder is a different product

Instructions

1. Wait until well after the meal. MedlinePlus says to take it 1 to 2 hours after meals. Poison Control ties its stomach-rupture cases to a large meal or alcohol binging, so a full stomach is the setup to avoid.
2. Level the soda. Fill a 1/4 teaspoon (1.15 g) with food-grade, aluminum-free baking soda and sweep the top flat with a knife. Don't heap it.
3. Pour the water first. Pour 8 fl oz (240 mL) of water into a clear glass. Never go below 4 fl oz (120 mL), the MedlinePlus minimum for dissolving the powder.
4. Stir until fully dissolved. Add the soda and stir until the water is clear and no grains sit on the bottom.
5. Sip, don't gulp. Drink the glass in sips rather than as a shot. Mix one fresh glass at a time, since we found no sourced shelf life for the mixed drink.

Notes

The 8 fl oz glass with 1/4 tsp is our recipe choice, half the dose Healthline gives (1/2 tsp in a 4 fl oz / 120 mL glass). MedlinePlus sets the minimum water at 4 fl oz (120 mL). Our glass isn't a medical rule.

Sodium is our calculation: USDA FoodData Central lists 27,400 mg of sodium per 100 g of baking soda and a teaspoon is 4.6 g, so 1/4 tsp is about 315 mg, about 14% of 2,300 mg.

Nutrition values are estimates calculated from typical USDA FoodData Central values, not measured. The glass is water and baking soda only, so everything except sodium is zero. Nothing here was made, tasted or measured by us.