The best things in life, as they say, are free — or, in this case, nearly free.
The supplement market rakes in billions of dollars every year, and continues to grow, as Americans get sicker and trust in the mainstream medical establishment has fallen to an all-time low post-COVID.
Anyway, there’s a heavy emphasis in the nootropics sphere on exotic supplements — obscure herbs from the Amazon or wherever that are going to revolutionize the world once word gets out.
Related: Little-known Southeast Asian Herb Boosts Testosterone Naturally
A lot of these products are expensive. Some work better than others, but separating the wheat from the chaff, as it were, is difficult, especially since exotic supplements, by their nature, generally have limited research to back up the claims of their purveyors.
However, one of the most effective supplements for athletic performance, which you might just have in your pantry right now, sodium bicarbonate, commonly known as baking soda, is also possibly the cheapest and among the best-studied.
(ARM & HAMMER Baking Soda is currently retailing on Walmart.com for $1.02/pound.)
The most common test to assess exercise capacity in interval training (repeated bouts of intense exercise punctuated by periods of rest) is the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery (IR) test.
In the study below, researchers administered the Yo-Yo test to several subjects either supplemented with baking soda (SBC) or not (CON), had them perform high-intensity intermittent exercise, and evaluated their respective output.
Via Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (emphasis added):
Thirteen men aged 23 ± 1 year* (height: 180 ± 2 cm, weight: 78 ± 3 kg; VO2max: 61.3 ± 3.3 mlO2 · kg−1 · min−1; means ± SEM) performed the Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 2 (Yo-Yo IR2) on two separate occasions in randomized order with (SBC) [sodium bicarbonate] and without (CON) prior intake of sodium bicarbonate (0.4 g · kg−1 body weight)….
Yo-Yo IR2 performance was 14 % higher (P = 0.04) in SBC than in CON (735 ± 61 vs 646 ± 46 m, respectively)…
In the present study, we observed that prior intake of sodium bicarbonate in capsular form using a protocol with gradual intake enhanced high-intensity intermittent exercise performance in young trained males. The performance improvement after sodium bicarbonate ingestion was accompanied by an elevated blood alkalosis and concentration of bicarbonate. In addition, blood lactate concentrations at exhaustion and peak values** reached during the experimental protocol were higher, while the rating of perceived exertion was lower during intense exercise after sodium bicarbonate supplementation.
*It might be reasonable to assume the benefit would be even more drastic for older individuals or those in poorer physical health, as this test was conducted on 23-year-olds already in optimal or near-optimal physical condition since they are trained athletes.
**Typically, higher blood lactate concentrations indicate greater anaerobic energy production and/or greater tolerance of metabolic stress induced by exercise.
Obviously, the study was somewhat limited, with only thirteen participants, so that should be factored into the equation in terms of assessing its validity. (That said, they did use a control group.)
In any case, in 2021, the same journal published a major clinical literature review looking at dozens of studies, concluding that baking soda, in fact, enhances performance across a range of sports.
Via Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (2021) (emphasis added):
Supplementation with sodium bicarbonate (doses from 0.2 to 0.5 g/kg) improves performance in muscular endurance activities, various combat sports, including boxing, judo, karate, taekwondo, and wrestling, and in high-intensity cycling, running, swimming, and rowing…
Long-term use of sodium bicarbonate (e.g., before every exercise training session) may enhance training adaptations, such as increased time to fatigue and power output…
Combining sodium bicarbonate with creatine* or beta-alanine may produce additive effects on exercise performance.
*Creatine is another severely underrated and almost as cheap ergogenic supplement that also has benefits for cognition and should probably be a staple in anyone’s daily routine.
A word of caution on baking soda supplementation
Because baking soda is essentially salt with a fancier molecular structure than the table variety, it can be potentially dangerous for people with significant hypertension (high blood pressure) or kidney dysfunction, and they should proceed with caution.
Related: ‘Lab-Grown’ Meat Increases Blood Pressure, Inflammation, Depression: Study
As a rule of thumb, as I’m not a sanctioned medical authority of any kind (not that the sanctioned ones have proven themselves generally great at their jobs anyway), take anything I have to offer medical-wise with a big grain of salt — or baking soda.
