Sodium Bicarbonate—A Potent Ergogenic Aid?

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Food and Nutrition Sciences, 2010, 1, 1-4

doi:10.4236/fns.2010.11001 Published Online July 2010 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/fns)

Copyright © 2010 SciRes. FNS

1

Sodium Bicarbonate—A Potent Ergogenic Aid?

Jose Shelton1, Gideon V. Praveen Kumar²

1Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia; 2School of Biosciences and Technology, VIT University, Vellore, India.

Email: {josenoel2008, gideonpraveenkumar}@gmail.com

Received May 30th, 2010; revised July 4th, 2010; accepted July 7th, 2010.

ABSTRACT

This report aims to look at the role of Sodium bicarbonate as a potent Ergogenic aid and its role in improving the per-

formance of athletes. It includes the mechanism of action of sodium bicarbonate during high-intensity exercise. The

report also shows the various types of athletes who can be benefited from sodium bicarbonate loading, evidences for

improvement in performance, conflicting evidences, recommended dosages and side-effects for bicarbonate loading.

Keywords: Sodium Bicarbonate, Ergogenic Aid, High-Intensity Exercise, Anaerobic Glycolytic System

1. Introduction

An ergogenic aid is defined as any substance, food,

chemical, or training method that helps the body work

harder and perform better. Ergogenic aids are any

external influences that can positively affect physical or

mental performance [1]. These include mechanical aids,

pharmacological aids, physiological aids, nutritional aids,

and psychological aids. Athletes at all levels of competi-

tions are constantly striving for a means to obtain a lead-

ing edge over their opponents and many of them use er-

gogenic aids to improve their energy and performance [2].

Ergogenic aids may directly influence the physiological

capacity of a particular body system thereby improving

performance, remove psychological constraints which

impact performance, and increase the speed of recovery

from training and competition [3].

The term Ergogenic means “to produce work”. Nutri-

tional ergogenic aids are dietary manipulations that can

increase physical power or energy production, enhance

mental strength, or provide a mechanical edge and there-

by improve sport performance [4]. Dietary manipulations

encompass 3 major efforts: alteration of food choices,

addition of macronutrients for specific uses in sports and

exercise, addition of micronutrients for specific uses in

sports and exercise [3].

2. Energy System for High-Intensity

Exercise

Of the 3 primary energy pathways, the anaerobic glyco-

lytic system provides fuel sources, primarily carbohy-

drates, for high-intensity exercises (exercises lasting be-

tween 20 seconds up to about 90 seconds). Anaerobic

glycolysis provides the primary fuel source for exercise

of near-maximal intensity lasting longer than about 30

seconds. High-intensity exercises (anaerobic work) in-

volve the breakdown of carbohydrates (muscle glycogen).

As the glycogen stores are rapidly depleted, there is a

resulting increase in hydrogen ion (H+) concentrations

and lactic acid in both the muscle and blood. It is this

increase in H+ concentration (drop in pH) that causes a

progressive increase in the acidity of the muscle cells

(intracellular environment). The increase in H+ produces,

among other reactions, an inhibition of calcium release

from the sarcoplasmic reticulum and an inhibition of the

interaction between actin and myosin [5]. The drop in pH

as a result of lactic acid accumulation is thought to in-

hibit the resynthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) as

well as inhibit muscle contraction. This in turn results in

muscular fatigue defined as a decrease in force produc-

tion in the presence of increased perception of effort and

an inability to maintain high exercise intensities [6,7].

3. Sodium Bicarbonate

Sodium bicarbonate or sodium hydrogen carbonate is the

chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. Sodium

bicarbonate is a white solid that is crystalline but often

appears as a fine powder. It has a slight alkaline taste

resembling that of washing soda (sodium carbonate). It is

a component of the mineral natron and is found dissolved

in many mineral springs. The natural mineral form is

known as nahcolite. It is also produced artificially. Since

it has long been known and is widely used, the salt has

many related names such as baking soda, bread soda,

cooking soda, bicarbonate of soda. Colloquially, its name

is shortened to sodium bicarb.

Sodium Bicarbonate – A Potential Ergonomic Aid?

Copyright © 2010 SciRes. FNS

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4. Role of Sodium Bicarbonate during

High-Intensity Exercise

During high-intensity exercise, muscles keep up with the

demand for energy by converting some carbohydrate to

lactic acid. A build-up of acid inside the muscle cells is

one of the factors responsible for fatigue. This system’s

total capacity is limited by the progressive increase in

acidity within the muscles caused by the accumulation of

lactate and H+ ions. Increased acidity ultimately inhibits

energy transfer and the ability of the muscles to contract,

leading to a decrease in exercise performance. Reducing

the build-up of acid should reduce fatigue and allow the

athlete to go faster or further. The body’s defences against

an increase in acidity are the bicarbonate “buffers”,

which help to neutralize the acid produced by intense

exercise. The natural bicarbonate supply, part of the

body’s buffering system, provides a rapid first line of

defence against this increased acidity.

5. Acting Mechanism

Sodium bicarbonate is an alkalising agent and therefore

reduces the acidity of the blood (known as a buffering

action). By buffering acidity in the blood, bicarbonate

may be able to draw more of the acid produced within

the muscle cells out into the blood and thus reduce the

level of acidity within the muscle cells themselves. This

in turn could delay the onset of fatigue [8]. Studies [9,10]

have confirmed that increased extracellular pH and

higher bicarbonate raise the H+ and lactic acid efflux

from active muscles. This is due to an increase in the

activity of the Lactic acid/H+ co-transporter, which be-

comes more active as the intracellular/extracellular H+

gradient increases, during contraction as well as during

recovery. It has been suggested that this mechanism

causes a decrease in muscular fatigue, delaying the de-

crease in pH level and leading to a greater contractile

capacity of the muscular tissue involved by means of

enhanced muscle glycolytic ATP production. It has been

proven that all of these metabolic perturbations imply a

shift in muscle metabolism toward anaerobic energy

production, which is especially advantageous during

high-intensity exercise [5].

Taking a sufficient quantity of sodium bicarbonate

(baking soda) before high-intensity event makes the

muscles and blood less acidic during the event and can

enhance physical performance [11].

6. Athletes Benefiting from Sodium

Bicarbonate Loading

Athletes have been practising “soda loading” or “bicar-

bonate loading” for over 70 years in an attempt to delay

the onset of muscular fatigue during prolonged anaerobic

exercise. The specific athletes who might stand to benefit

from bicarb supplementation are those who typically

compete in events that last between 1 and 7 minutes, i.e.

400 m - 1500 m running, 100 m - 400 m swimming,

sprint cycling, kayaking, rowing and canoeing events at

intensities that fall between 80 and 125% of peak maxi-

mal oxygen uptake, and many team sports with their re-

peated nature of high intensity exercise. All these events

stress the anaerobic glycolysis system significantly and

produce a lot of acidity. Sports that are dependent on

repeated anaerobic bursts may also benefit from bicar-

bonate loading [6,8].

7. Evidences for Improvement in

Performance

A study done by McNaughton et al. [9], among moder-

ately trained female athletes, showed significant im-

provement in both work and power output, during high

intensity exercise of 60 second duration. The ingestion of

sodium bicarbonate in the experimental trial had the de-

sired effect of raising blood bicarbonate levels by 60%

above the resting bicarbonate value.

According to Stellingwerff [12], a meta-analysis of 29

studies on the performance effects of sodium bicarbonate,

featuring predominately untrained individuals, found that

bicarbonate supplementation resulted in a performance

effect that was 0.44 standard deviations better than in the

control trial. An improvement of 0.44 of the standard

deviation would bring the 2006 average men’s 800m

Golden League time of 1:46.36 down to 1:45.52, which

is a worthwhile improvement. In summary, most data

suggest that the ingestion of 0.3 g/kg body weight of so-

dium bicarbonate administered in solution approximately

1-2 hours before exercise offers a small, but significant,

effect on middle-distance race performance.

In one study [7] designed to simulate athletic competi-

tion, trained non-elite middle-distance runners performed

a simulated 800 m race. In the alkalotic condition, they

ran almost 3 s faster than in the placebo or control trials.

Another report by Maughn et al. [13] indicated similar

improvements (3-4 s) over a distance of 1500 m in run-

ners who completed simulated races in about 4 min 15s.

Although these effects on performance might appear

small, they are of considerable significance to the athlete,

for whom an improvement of even a fraction of a second

in these events is considered to be a major achievement.

In a study by VanMontfoort et al. [10], ingestion of so-

dium bicarbonate was found to increase the sprint per-

formance in elite male athletes compared to citrate, lac-

tate and chloride ingestion.

Studies by McNaughton et al. [14] have also found

that sodium bicarbonate can be used as an ergogenic aid

to offset the fatigue process in high-intensity, competi-

tive cycle ergometry of 1 hour duration.

Sodium Bicarbonate – A Potential Ergonomic Aid?

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8. Conflicting Evidence

However, even though many of the studies have shown

that sodium bicarbonate administration modifies the

blood acid-base balance, its effects on performance are

not always positive [5]. For instance, no improvements

have been registered following 90 seconds of maximal

cycle exercise by untrained men [15].

No differences were found between the experimental

or placebo trials in female cyclists pedalling at 95% VO2

max [9]. This suggested that bicarbonate buffering does

not improve performance in female athletes during re-

peated bouts of high intensity exercise.

The reasons for the conflicting effects are not alto-

gether clear, but are at least in part due to variations in

the intensity and duration of the exercise tests used, the

nature of the exercise task, the dosage of bicarbonate

administered and the time delay between bicarbonate

administration and the beginning of the exercise test (i.e.

the amount of metabolic alkalosis induced). Performance

has been monitored over exercise durations ranging from

a few seconds to more than 1 hour, and during continu-

ous, incremental and intermittent dynamic exercise as

well as during sustained isometric contractions [13].

There is no clear pattern of exercise duration between

those studies where a positive effect was observed and

those where no effect was seen. In most studies, a dose of

0.3 g of sodium bicarbonate/kg of body weight has been

used to induce alkalosis, and this has usually been ad-

ministered orally in solution or in capsule form. Such a

dose has usually resulted in an increase of 4-5 mmol.L-1

in the plasma buffer base 2-3 hours after administration,

although the time-course of changes in acid-base status

was not carefully followed in most of these studies [16].

Those studies in which high-intensity and short-term

exercises (less than 2 minutes) were used, and in which

the doses of sodium bicarbonate given were lower than

0.3 g/kg body weight, did not generally produce an en-

hancement of performance, which might be due to the use

of an insufficient dose or due to the short duration of the

effort [5]. Therefore, it has been suggested that exercises

lasting less than 1 minute may not be of sufficient duration

for the glycolytic metabolism to activate completely, in

that the capacity of the intracellular buffer is exceeded and

a positive gradient between the intracellular and extracel-

lular medium is established. The main reason for the lack

in performance improvement may consequently be due

more to the exercise duration than to the doses used.

9. Recommended Dosage

Many studies indicate an effective dose of 300mg of

sodium bicarbonate per kg body weight taken 1-2 hours

prior to short-term maximal, high intensity performance

lasting 60 sec shows 30% improvement in performance

[6,11]. Sodium bicarbonate appears to be safe when

taken in the recommended dose of 140mg/pound of body

weight. For a 150 pound athlete this translates to a dose

of 5 teaspoons of baking soda that provides 21,000mg or

21g of bicarbonate. Safety should not be confused with

side effects. Baking soda should be consumed with

plenty of water, (eg. a litre or more), when taken 1 or 2

hours prior to exercise [4].

10. Side Effects

There are of course potential problems of severe alkalo-

sis associated with the use of increased doses of bicarbo-

nate. Additionally side effects like vomiting, gastrointes-

tinal discomfort, bloating, and diarrhea may occur parti-

cularly if sufficient water is not taken with sodium

bicarbonate. Vomiting and diarrhea are frequently report-

ed as a result of ingestion of even relatively small doses

of bicarbonate, and this may limit any attempt to improve

athletic performance by this method, certainly among

those individuals susceptible to gastrointestinal problems.

There have been reports of athletes using this interven-

tion, which is not prohibited by the rules of the sport,

being unable to compete because of the severity of these

symptoms. Although unpleasant and to some extent

debilitating, these effects are not serious and there are no

long term adverse consequences [17].

11. Acute vs Chronic Loading

Given that some individuals exhibit urgent gastrointesti-

nal distress with bicarbonate, such as vomiting and diar-

rhoea, it is important for athletes to experiment with bi-

carbonate in training that features daily consecutive races,

since much of the gastrointestinal distress seems to occur

after a race (semi-finals), which could limit performance

in any subsequent race (finals) [12].

Studies [18,19] have shown more favourable gastroin-

testinal tolerance effects after chronic multiday bicar-

bonate supplementation as compared to acute pre-exer-

cise single-dose administration. Performance in high-

intensity exercise may be enhanced for a full 2 days after

cessation of chronic bicarbonate supplementation which

might alleviate many of the severe gastrointestinal side-

effects found with acute bicarbonate loading.

Not withstanding these results, more research is need-

ed to show performance efficacy for chronic bicarbonate

ingestion protocols in elite athletes, and to better eluci-

date the dosing and time-course effects between the ces-

sation of dosing and exercise performance testing.

12. Conclusions

In conclusion, there are sufficient data to suggest that

sodium bicarbonate can be used as a nutritional ergogenic

aid or dietary supplement for improving performance in

short term, high intensity exercise, provided it is taken in

the recommended dosage of 300 mg (0.3g)/kilogram

Sodium Bicarbonate – A Potential Ergonomic Aid?

Copyright © 2010 SciRes. FNS

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body weight. Continued use of bicarbonate may help

athletes become less susceptible to the side effects and

may give even larger improvements in performance.

13. Further Research

Since the time elapsed from the ingestion of bicarbonate

to the beginning of exercise (time of absorption) varies

considerably, until further research can clarify the time

course and cessation of dosing that that can lead to per-

formance enhancement, the individual athlete is advised

to experiment in training to judge their own case. The

athlete needs to discover not only the potential for per-

formance improvement, but also the likelihood of un-

wanted side-effects. Further research is also needed to

find out the longest duration of endurance exercise that

benefits from the use of sodium bicarbonate.

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