# Sodium Bicarbonate



## stephpeds (Mar 7, 2009)

When on my food exclusion/inclusion diet the leaflet said to have Sodium Bicarbonate if you have a reaction to a food you introduce.I tried this after I had the worst reaction to eggs and although it doesn't take the pain away it takes the edge off.I asked the dietican why this was and she didn't know - she didn't know much about anything if i'm honest.Does anyone know if taking 5mg of this several times a week is dangerous? I don't know much about it but my stomach has been playing up alot lately so I have been using it quite often and just hope i'm not causing any long term damage!Many Thanks!


----------



## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Why not just look it up on the web?


----------



## allyjellybelly (Aug 16, 2005)

Two things - the Sodium part is salt, and the bicarbonate neutralises acids.Salt is a natural antihistamine. You need to be drinking plenty of pure water - if your body becomes dehydrated at cellular level then histamine response will be heightened. Water will also help your gut digest food more efficiently and may actually stop the reactions.Without enough water the body can't make enough stomach acid, it can't make enough bicarb to neutralise the acid and it can't get the food through the gut properly. We are 78% water. Not tea, coffee, squash, juice, coke or alcohol - all of which are very dehydrating.Rehydrating is not an overnight thing - it needs to be done gradually by drinking the recommended 8 glasses of water a day (a glass or two more if you are a large person and less if you are petite).After my digestion collapsed I had issues with a lot of foods, particularly carbs, but also eggs, meat and nuts. Gradually, after removing all grains, starches, sugar and dairy from my diet, things improved - the egg intolerance went first after a few weeks, then meat, then nuts, and now I can eat most things although I still eat low-carb because I have realised the damage that our high-carb, high-sugar Western diet is insidiously doing to everyone.The diet worked because it removed all the foods that needed plenty of water for digestion. I wish I had realised that my digestion had collapsed because I was so dehydrated (my urine was OK - this was cellular dehydration, not immediate dehydration) - I would have started the water and salt protocol much earlier. The collapse was the culmination of 10 years of IBS and the beginning of me learning to finally understand what was wrong with my body and what to do about it.You may well find that if you drink more water, the egg (and any other intolerance/gut) issue will eventually go away, but you may also find that putting a pinch of salt on your tongue before drinking the water also helps - the body needs salt for proper water distribution. You need good quality unrefined sea or rock salt (without additives) though for the minerals and trace elements - not the rubbish table or iodised processed and refined stuff.The pure salt may even work better than the SB - make sure you don't take any more than about a quarter teaspoon a day though, especially if you are getting salt from other foods, particularly processed (which will only contain the rubbish stuff anyway). The problem with the SB is that although it may go straight through the stomach into the intestines when it is empty, if there is still food in the stomach then it could start neutralising the acid whilst it is still digesting - and the food digestion will then be compromised. That could effectively cause other issues. The pancreas injects bicarb into the duodenum to neutralise the stomach acid as it leaves the stomach, but you don't really want it in the stomach whilst it is still digesting.Normal salt does not do that - it is the bicarb aspect that is the neutraliser, so that is another reason to try ordinary salt rather than SB.By the way, the water is best drunk up to an hour before eating food and not before a couple of hours after so that doesn't compromise digestion either!


----------



## stephpeds (Mar 7, 2009)

BQ - it was too complicated to understand on the web otherwise I would not waste people's time on here.Kathleen - WOW thanks for the great answer! I will try it with the salt instead of the SB. I was abit worried with the SB as it says prolonged use can cause ... then a list of lots of stomach related issues! Thanks for your help







.


----------



## BQ (May 22, 2000)

Just so you know you should be thanking Allyjellybelly not Kathleen.Here.. sorry if this is too complicated.. but the Mayo is usually fairly easy to understand.http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/drug-info...TION=proper-use


----------



## stephpeds (Mar 7, 2009)

Sorry allyjellybelly I was reading two posts at the same time. Many Thanks for your answer, it is very helpful!


----------



## clareuk (Feb 7, 2006)

I think that is the same as Bicarbonate of soda in the UK? All I know is that is what I use to clean my tea flask that I sometimes use. If you get a build up of tea stains I always put a couple t-spoons in and leave overnight and it has a nice scum on the top in the morning. So I wouldn't personally use it, if it can clean those stains off my flask. I would imagine that it would do the same to my stomach? but I do use it when cooking green vegetables so that they keep their colour. That is only a tiny pinch, but I'm not sure what having it everyday would do though.


----------



## allyjellybelly (Aug 16, 2005)

That's ok Steph - I'm used to being mistaken for other people!


----------



## ElectricEric (Jun 12, 2016)

I have acid reflux disease. Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda) is the best ant acid. Alka Seltzer and Zantac could cause internal bleeding.I drink a pound of baking soda a month. I had asthma. Asthma is a side effect of acid reflux disease. Inflamation is caused by stomach acid.I never felt better in my life.


----------

