Baking Soda for Autoimmune Disease?

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180425093745.htm

Interesting article regarding the use of inexpensive baking soda for autoimmune issues.

"A daily dose of baking soda may help reduce the destructive inflammation of autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, scientists say. They have some of the first evidence of how the cheap, over-the-counter antacid can encourage our spleen to promote instead an anti-inflammatory environment that could be therapeutic in the face of inflammatory disease scientists report."

I suppose we can wait for BigPharma to put it into a capsule. Then we can talk to our doctor about "Sodala".

Interesting. Baking soda is pretty useful stuff, indeed. We get it in the 13.5 lb bag at Costco and keep it in the laundry area.

Baking soda is also a great cure for getting the poop out of your system. A rounded spoonful in a large glass of water will usually have you in the throne room within 2hours.

Dr Marc Sircus also touts it for anti-cancer properties. Sircus seems to fall into the woo-woo category on many fronts. I get his weekly email update and it is occasionally an interesting read.

Whoa, very interesting! Thanks for sharing! I might actually give this a shot.

This is an interesting bit of info. Cheap, over the counter and couldn’t hurt to try. The missing link though is how much they gave.

I guess we shouldn’t make to much of this or they will be pulling it from grocery shelves.

Narrowminded wrote:The missing link though is how much they gave.

To examine the effects of NaHCO3 on acute changes in parasympathetic activity, 12 healthy participants (six men, six women, age 27 ± 2 y, body mass index [BMI] 25.3 ± 1.2 kg/m2) were provided 2 g of NaHCO3 dissolved in 250 ml of bottled water (treatment [TXT] group).

You're welcome.

For anyone who gets acid in the esophagus (laryngopharyngeal reflux, LPR, or silent reflux) without heartburn, baking soda seems to help. On a morning when I feel my throat is the slightest bit irritated, I take about 1/8th of a teaspoon of baking soda mixed with just enough water for one or two mouthfuls. I gargle the baking soda solution and then swallow. The goal is to use just enough BS to neutralize any acid that has made its way into the esophagus and yet have as little impact as possible on overall stomach acidity.

FYI, baking soda appears to lower blood pressure, not raise it as the sodium research might suggest, for some vulnerable people at least.

Thanks LB

I wonder how much of the benefits of daily baking soda have to do with yeast. Most people who are eating SAD have high levels of yeast in their bodies due to the insane amounts of carbs/sugar in their diets. Baking soda is a known home remedy for yeast infections (at least in women). I would like to know if in their testing they tried this on people on a different diets - SAD, vegetarian, paleo, etc and documented the starting and ending effects.

I have been doing a half teaspoon of of baking soda for the last week and had some noticeable improvements to my autoimmune/inflammation issues.

I have a couple known autoimmune diseases and lymphoma that is in remission along with recurring diverticulitis. I have had significant large intestine pain since the flare up of diverticulitis and neutropenia that landed me in the hospital for six days last fall. My GI doc was referring me to a surgeon to remove multiple parts of the large intestine to "fix" the problem.

Just a week of the baking soda has almost eliminated the pain. I feel better than I have in months. I was a little skeptical that it would do anything but figured there was no down side after talking about it with my oncologist. I really did not expect such a pronounced difference in short period of time but I will keep it up and monitor my symptoms. It would be funny if something that costs pennies weekly works better than treatments that run $12-18k per infusion or surgery. Keeping my fingers crossed!

That's awesome news V!

Great news V. Yes, something quite simple, yet so profound.

+1 to the above comments.
Baking soda for the win!

Amazing. May your improvements continue.

https://www.marksdailyapple.com/fitness-and-keto-benefits-of-baking-soda/

Take it in smaller doses throughout the day, rather than all at once. Big doses have a bigger chance of causing gastrointestinal distress. Smaller doses taken more frequently are better tolerated and, according to the literature, about as effective.

Take it away from meals. Reducing acidity can impair digestion.

You might take Chris Masterjohn’s advice and test your urine pH before taking a bunch of baking soda. Make sure you’re acidic enough to actually benefit from it.

Our bodies have ways of suppressing acidosis using the endogenous tools at their disposal, and baking soda is a helpful exogenous tool to take the load off the body.

I know the process is different, but I have received relief for my badly swollen arm and hand that I fractured 5 weeks ago, had surgery ten days ago. I thought it was probably just the normal healing process that accounted for the improvement, but one day I forgot to take it...hand swelled so badly I thought about going to the ER. Half a teaspoon of soda and in a few hours back to “normal “ swelling. N=1 here, but I’m a believer.

RE: MDA article. I find the reference to "gastrointestinal distress" to be humorous.

For those of you who are giving this a try, any thoughts on full or empty stomach? It is easiest to do in the morning, but I am a breakfast eater so food would either end up on top or else I'd drink after eating. I could do it later not around food if it mattered...

For those who have tried it and noticed a benefit, what is your timing relative to food?

Thanks!

I'd take it away from food. I reckon it could interfere with digestion.

Meant2Move wrote:For those of you who are giving this a try, any thoughts on full or empty stomach? It is easiest to do in the morning, but I am a breakfast eater so food would either end up on top or else I'd drink after eating.  I could do it later not around food if it mattered...

For those who have tried it and noticed a benefit, what is your timing relative to food?

Thanks!

I take it when I first get up. I have had no issues with eating shortly after drinking it. I only take half a teaspoon a day following the study in the OP. I am continuing to notice slow improvements in my autoimmune issues and quicker recovery from activity. So far I have not noticed any negatives from it. I had my quarterly blood work just before starting so it will be interesting to see if there is any change in any of my numbers.

Thanks Val. Good to know. (And I am sooooo glad you are getting some relief/benefit!)

Thanks too, RedComet - I appreciate your response.

I've done some of each (pre-eating, post-eating). I haven't noticed any digestive issues either way. So far, no dramatic benefits either, but it has been less than a week. My hope is for a bit less pain/inflammation in my hands.

Interesting article on baking soda and autoimmune diseases:
Most Necessary Effective Medicine on Earth

More articles from Dr Sircus on benefits of baking soda. One addresses effects with cancer: ( Warning: Sircus' stuff always has a heavy promotional content for a book or something else he's selling)
Dr Sircus on baking soda

Thanks, Rig. I took a look at the links. Everybody promotes something, but if there is a snippet here and there, it can be worth a read.

The Walrus wrote:I know the process is different, but I have received relief for my badly swollen arm and hand that I fractured 5 weeks ago, had surgery ten days ago.  I thought it was probably just the normal healing process that accounted for the improvement, but one day I forgot to take it...hand swelled so badly I thought about going to the ER.  Half a teaspoon of soda and in a few hours back to “normal “ swelling.  N=1 here, but I’m a believer.  

I haven't been following this page. Hearing this from you has me believing. I may try today. Thanks all.

I've been pretty consistent for a while now. Not sure if I can claim a benefit, but certainly hasn't been any harm so I'm staying the course for a while longer.