Drinking Baking Soda and Water Benefits, Ranked

Which claimed benefits of baking soda in water hold up? Sourced verdicts from heartburn to sports to kidney disease, what bicarbonate does in the body, and one measured glass with its sodium in mg.

The classic claim goes like this: a glass of baking soda and water cleanses you, turns your body alkaline and melts fat. Here's where it goes wrong. Only one of those has a label behind it, and it's the dullest one, occasional heartburn.

This page ranks each claimed benefit by what the sources say, explains what bicarbonate actually does in your body, and gives you one measured glass. It makes no health promise. For doses and risks in depth, see how much baking soda in water and baking soda side effects.

Drinking baking soda and water benefits, ranked by the evidence

The order below follows what a sourced page can say about a glass like ours. A claim can have real research and still not apply to 1.15 g of powder, so the last column says what that means for your kitchen.

Notice the pattern. The better the research, the further it sits from a spoonful in a glass.

The Food Science / Lab Kitchen Note: what does baking soda do for your body?

Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO3. Once it's swallowed it does three things, and only three.

It neutralizes some stomach acid. MedlinePlus lists it as an antacid for heartburn and acid indigestion.

It makes carbon dioxide. The reaction gives off gas, which is why the glass fizzes and why belching and bloating follow. The ISSN position stand ties the carbon dioxide formed in the stomach to belching and bloating.

It adds sodium. USDA FoodData Central lists baking soda at 27,360 mg of sodium per 100 g, which is 273.6 mg per gram, and weighs a teaspoon at 4.6 g. A 1/4 teaspoon is 1.15 g. That division is ours, not a USDA portion. The math: 1.15 g x 273.6 mg/g = about 315 mg. The FDA puts the Daily Value for sodium at less than 2,300 mg per day, so 315 mg is 13.7%, about 14%. A level 1/2 tsp (2.3 g) is about 629 mg, or 27.4%. A level teaspoon (4.6 g) is about 1,259 mg, or 54.7%.

The FDA also says Americans eat about 3,400 mg of sodium a day on average, and that uncontrolled high blood pressure can raise the risk of heart attack, heart failure, stroke, kidney disease and blindness. The glass adds to whatever else you ate that day. Our page on how much sodium is in baking soda water has the full spoon-by-spoon table.

Three doses compared from the data

This is a comparison of sourced and calculated numbers, not something we tried at home. Where we found no source for a figure, the cell says so.

The sports column is not the same thing as the first column. At 70 kg it's about 12 to 18 times our 1.15 g, and its sodium alone tops the daily limit. We don't recommend it, and we don't give a sports recipe. For the heartburn timing in more detail, see the best time to drink baking soda water.

Sports use: real research, a very different dose

The ISSN position stand (Grgic and 16 co-authors, Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2021) is a consensus statement drawing on about 120 primary studies and several meta-analyses. It names a single dose of at least 0.2 g/kg, with 0.3 g/kg as optimal, taken 60 to 180 minutes before exercise. The gain shows up mainly in efforts of about 30 seconds to 12 minutes.

It also lists the cost: bloating, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain are the most common side effects, and it says a portion of the effect seems placebo-driven. Healthline's fact-checked 2024 article adds the small print, a 2021 trial of 11 trained male cyclists and a 2021 review for high-intensity efforts up to 12 minutes. That's athletes, at sports doses, for short hard efforts. It says nothing about a morning glass.

Kidney acidosis: two trials, mixed answers

MedlinePlus describes metabolic acidosis as too much acid in the body fluids, which can happen when the kidneys can't remove enough acid. A health care provider makes the diagnosis, and in some cases sodium bicarbonate, "the chemical in baking soda," may be given to reduce the acidity of the blood. That's a diagnosed condition, not a reason to drink baking soda at home.

The first trial leaned positive. De Brito-Ashurst and colleagues (Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 2009) ran a single-center, open-label trial, so no placebo and no blinding, in 134 adults with stage 4-5 chronic kidney disease. They gave oral sodium bicarbonate averaging 1.82 g a day against standard care for 2 years. Creatinine clearance fell 1.88 versus 5.93 ml/min per 1.73 m2, rapid progression was 9% versus 45%, and end-stage kidney disease was 6.5% versus 33%. Worsening hypertension needing more treatment was 61% versus 48% (P = 0.17), and worsening edema was 39% versus 30%. The authors called for multicenter placebo-controlled confirmation.

The second trial was double-blind and didn't confirm it. BiCARB (BMC Medicine, 2020) enrolled 300 adults aged 60 or older with advanced chronic kidney disease, giving 1.5 to 3 g a day of sodium bicarbonate or placebo for up to 2 years. Physical function didn't improve (SPPB adjusted difference -0.4, 95% CI -0.9 to 0.1), nor did kidney function (eGFR difference 0.6, 95% CI -0.8 to 2.0). Six-minute walk distance was 33 m lower with bicarbonate, and adverse events were higher overall (457 versus 400), including gastrointestinal (45 versus 25) and cardiac (32 versus 19). The authors concluded it did not improve physical or renal function and increased adverse events. Together, the kidney evidence is mixed, and every participant had advanced kidney disease and was under medical care.

Common mistakes

Copying the first dose you find. Pages online don't all give the same dose for this drink. Work from MedlinePlus for the water minimum and from your own spoon for the powder.

A heaped spoon, or powder that isn't dissolved. USDA weighs a level teaspoon at 4.6 g, so a heaped one adds sodium fast. Level it with a knife, stir until the glass is clear, and expect fizz.

Turning it into a shot. Less water skips the dilution rule. Keep it at 4 oz (120 mL) or more, and don't take it on an overly full stomach.

Substitutes and swaps

Storage

Mix one glass and drink it. We found no sourced shelf life for the mixed drink, so we give no number of hours, and there's nothing to reheat.

Nutrition note

Values on the recipe card are estimates calculated from typical USDA FoodData Central values for baking soda, per glass of 8 fl oz with 1/4 tsp (1.15 g). Plain water adds none, so calories, carbohydrate, protein, fat, sugars and fiber are all zero. The only value above zero is sodium: about 315 mg, roughly 14% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value. This glass has no ingredient variant to choose, and the numbers are not measured.