Baking Soda

Food · Pantry & Condiment · Food, Typed Supps

Not a food, an ingredient. It has no energy at all, but gram for gram it carries more sodium than salt.

Stage by stage

In the recipe (Reacts with acid): Bicarbonate meets an acid ingredient and releases carbon dioxide, which is what makes the batter rise.
Stomach (Neutralises acid): Swallowed, it neutralises gastric acid quickly but briefly, and can trigger rebound acid secretion.
Bloodstream (Sodium and bicarbonate absorbed): Both are absorbed completely; a level teaspoon carries roughly 1,260mg of sodium.
Working muscle (Extracellular buffering): Raised blood bicarbonate buffers hydrogen ions leaving muscle during efforts of one to seven minutes.

Time to effect

Minutes to hours: Neutralises stomach acid within minutes; blood bicarbonate peaks around 60 to 90 minutes after a loading dose.

Allergens

None of the fourteen major allergens. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.

Eating patterns

Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher, Keto, Gluten-free. Depends on the product: Low-FODMAP.

Satiety

Not scored: the satiety index is measured on 240 kcal servings, and nobody eats a 240 kcal serving of this. The question does not apply rather than the answer being unknown.

Cost band

Mid — roughly £5 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.

Key nutrients

Sodium
Bicarbonate

Nutrition per 100g

Calories: 0
Protein: 0g
Carbohydrate: 0g
of which sugars: 0g
Fat: 0g
of which saturated: 0g
Fibre: 0g
Sodium: 27360mg

Food vs. supplement

This is one of the few pantry items that is also a supplement. As a sports ergogenic it is taken at 0.2 to 0.3g per kilogram of body weight, far more than any culinary quantity, and gut upset at that dose is the usual limiting factor rather than any lack of effect.

Kitchen tip

Baking soda needs an acid in the recipe — buttermilk, yoghurt, treacle, natural cocoa. Baking powder brings its own. Substituting soda for powder requires roughly a quarter of the quantity plus an acid source; going the other way needs roughly triple.

Common myth

“Baking soda alkalises the body.” In reality: Blood pH is held between roughly 7.35 and 7.45 by the lungs and kidneys regardless of what is eaten. Bicarbonate raises the blood's buffering reserve briefly and alkalinises urine, then is excreted — which is a real effect, and not the one the alkaline-diet claim describes.

In the glossary

Absorption