Woman's Significant Health Improvements Using Baking Soda - [Sodium Bicarbonate]

[Wayne]

About 5-6 years ago, a poster who went by the username woofmom posted extensively on the ProHealth board on her experiences with baking soda. She no longer posts there, but left quite a legacy of sharing the things she learned and the improvements she experienced. Here's a link to a search query with the parameters of "Posts by Woofmom in Threads with Baking Soda in Title". One of her posts I just ran across succinctly describes many of the benefits she experienced from using it. Here's a Link to the following post:

I no longer get any type of headaches. My blood pressure and heart rate are now excellent. I no longer have to wear an odor control mask or respirator when I go to stores. The lump on the back of my neck is shrinking. I very seldom have any allergy type symptoms. I no longer have pain in my spleen area. My eyelids no longer swell. My red eyes are clearing up. My energy level is back to where it was 20 years ago. I wake up refreshed and alert. I no longer get shooting pains in different areas of my body. I can breathe much deeper. My excess fat is disappearing......

I asked the pharmacist where my BF gets his prescription meds if a weak solution of baking soda and water would hurt my eyes if I used it for an eyewash. He said not unless I dumped a whole box in my eyes. Unless I'm mistaken pharmacist are required to know about chemistry. Therefore when I need info, I ask him. Because I've eliminated most of the toxins from my brain I not only do my own research but I can understand what I read. Therefore I very seldom need to ask this pharmacist about anything. In fact, he sometimes asks me about some of the things I use. He has also suggested a few times that I go back to college and get a PhD. I tell him I'm not interested.

But we both agree that clearing poisons from the brain does wonders for mental and physical health. And we both agree that using things that are natural to the body is a lot safer than putting foreign substances in it. This man is a pharmacist and he told me that it is quite possible that I may never need prescription or over the counter meds again. He has watched me go from being bearly able to function to being vibrant, active, funny, personable, extremely intelligent, and happy. Apparently what I'm doing is working better than anything I could have ever imagined, baking soda and all.

 

[JBB]

Could it be she had sodium deficiency?

We are all different. I wonder, has anyone else tried large doses of baking soda and with what results?

 

[Wayne]

We are all different. I wonder, has anyone else tried large doses of baking soda and with what results?

Hi JBB, I don't think Woofmom took large amounts. As I recall from perusing some of her posts (from the above linked search query), she only takes it as necessary, perhaps 1/4 tsp every few days or so. She apparently finds it especially helpful after having been exposed to phenols. --- From her posts, I don't believe her improvements had to do with addressing a sodium deficiency, but rather with alkalizing the body, and neutralizing various kinds of toxins. If I run across more significant details, I'll post them here.

 

[leela]

I only just started taking Tri-Salts. It feels very friendly, but too early to see results. What I wonder about is the low-stomach-acid many of us PWME have, and whether one needs to pay attention to when one takes the alkalizer? Like away from meals, or only at night, or I dunno.

ETA: Just went to your excellent link, Wayne, and she does address this question.
First thing in AM on empty stomach, which is what I have been doing

 

[JBB]

Hi JBB, I don't think Woofmom took large amounts. As I recall from perusing some of her posts (from the above linked search query), she only takes it as necessary, perhaps 1/4 tsp every few days or so. She apparently finds it especially helpful after having been exposed to phenols. --- From her posts, I don't believe her improvements had to do with addressing a sodium deficiency, but rather with alkalizing the body, and neutralizing various kinds of toxins. If I run across more significant details, I'll post them here.

Thanks for the clarification Wayne. Very interesting, yes sounds like a logical explanation.

@leela Yes I think that is an important point you raised about stomach acid.

 

[barbc56]

While reading through some of her posts, I discovered that woofmom's health seriously deteriorated just a few months after her above post.

I hope she is doing well.

http://forums.prohealth.com/forums/index.php?threads/woofmom.197628/#post-1127716

http://forums.prohealth.com/forums/index.php?threads/woofmom-thinking-of-you.197106/#post-1123908http://forums.prohealth.com/forums/index.php?threads/woofmom-thinking-of-you.197106/#post-1123908

 

[leela]

I didn't read woofmom's posts, but I will mention that it is just as detrimental to go overly alkaline as it is to go overly acid.
The desired state is always balance.

I have been relentlessly acid for years (I think all the critters living in me keep it that way) so am feeling good about the TriSalts for now, in the hope that I can bring the PH to a more optimal level.

 

[Wayne]

I hope she is doing well.

From just perusing without reading all of her posts, it seems she had a history of aneurysms, and was having another experience with them. From the seemingly limited amount of baking soda she took, I doubt that she became overly alkaline to the point of causing these aneurysms. She had her surgery in Jan. '09, and I noticed she made a few posts in 2010. Never mentioned anything about her surgery, so I'm assuming she came out of the surgery OK. It sounded like she was doing so well before the aneurysms, that she quit going the the message board. I might PM her, and see if she gets it.

 

[leela]

It certainly sounded like she was being very reasonable in her dosing schedule.

 

[barbc56]

I don't think it was the baking soda but something else but I don't want to say more until I check something and that won't be untill tomorrow.

 

[barbc56]

@Wayne, do you belong to Pro Health? Anyone, else? Perhaps, someone over there would know.

 

[snowathlete]

I'm trying bicarb of soda at the moment, KDM suggested it for my ulcerative colitis. Too early to tell if it's working. In sensible doses, away from food, I don't think it's much of a risk. But I doubt it's a miracle cure for anything.

 

[Wayne]

Just thought I'd make a quick mention of one possibility as to why baking soda can be helpful for some people. When food arrives in the stomach, it's saturated with hydrochloric acid (HCL). As it enters the small intestine, the highly acidic food is then saturated with highly alkaline bile from the gall bladder to neutralize it. Here's a link to a thread I created which explains this in greater detail: --- Acid / Alkaline Burns --- Could They Cause Leaky Gut Syndrome; Other GI Issues ?

A health gall bladder should release over a quart of bile a day to neutralize the acids, and to release toxicity the liver has processed for elimination. Apparently, most people today have liver/gb stones and sludge that clogs up the works, and only allows about a cup of this highly alkalizing bile to be produced. Soooo, is it possible alkalizing baking soda is actually substituting for the lack of bile being produced by the average person? (I suspect there are other reasons as well).

Another quick mention: The inexpensive amino acids taurine and glycine are primarily responsible for keeping the bile thin and liquid. Too little allows the bile to coagulate and turn into liver/gb stones and sludge.

 

[leela]

Hmm. This is interesting, Wayne, as I have super-low levels of taurine.

 

[Wayne]

Hmm. This is interesting, Wayne, as I have super-low levels of taurine.

Hi Leela, I've been doing a fair amount of research recently on liver/gb issues, and am more and more convinced how important they are to address. Since taking a lot more apple cider vinegar, malic acid, taurine and glycine (and more) the past few weeks, my digestion has gradually (but significantly) improved. Without even really trying I've lost over ten pounds during this same time. Apparently, if fats aren't being digested properly because of a lack of bile, the body pushes them just outside the intestinal wall and stores the undigested fats as waste. Some think this is major reason for so much obesity, which seems like a plausible explanation as to why so many people have extra weight around their mid-section.

I used to only be able to eat relatively small amounts of fresh raw vegetables, otherwise I'd get a fair amount of GI distress. With my improved digestion, I'm now able to eat as much raw food as I want without any problems. So I've started blending rather high quantities of greens and sprouts into my daily green smoothie drink, which has been a big boost for my overall health. I've been doing some fairly mild anti-parasitic stuff as well, primarily benign and inexpensive diatomaceous earth (which is supposed to be especially good for bone and cartilage health).

One last interesting point on the liver/gb stuff. I've long read that as much as 80% of our immune system function takes place within our GI tract. Apparently, the part of the GI tract that comprises the largest part of this immune function is located at the area where the gallbladder releases bile to neutralize the acidic food from the stomach (duodenum area). I just ran across a tip yesterday on a YouTube video that if we ever feel a need to boost our immune system, stimulate in some manner the nerves in our upper back (between the shoulder blades) that supply nerve energy to the upper intestinal tract. Makes sense; perhaps I'll try stimulating it 12 hours a day and see if I recover from CFS!

 

[cigana]

Hip mentioned on this thread:

http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...sium-absorption-into-cells.26885/#post-410654

that bicarbonate helps get magnesium into cells.

 

[Wayne]

In the following video entitled, "How To Make Himalayan Salt Brine - And Why?", the narrator comments, beginning at the 3:30 minute mark, how pure salt (not commercial or even sea salt) is critical for many bodily functions. Around the 4:30 mark, he goes into a bit of detail how salt (sodium chloride), is so essential for the all important pH balance in our bodies. In this regard, it's essential for making adequate hydrochloric acid (HCL) in the stomach, and also essential for producing sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) in the duodenum, which along with bile, helps neutralize the acidic food content coming out of the stomach.

It makes me wonder if a high quality salt (such as Himalayan salt) with a LOT of trace minerals could help address some of the gut issues most pwCFS deal with. Also whether it could prove to be as effective as baking soda to help maintain proper pH balance, and other hormonal, neurological, etc. balances in our bodies. I can see where it might be even more effective, with many more more far reaching benefits, besides possibly being safer. --- Here's a related thread: --- Acid / Alkaline Burns --- Could They Cause Leaky Gut Syndrome; Other GI Issues ?

 

[Little Bluestem]

Won't too much salt do nasty things to the electrolyte balance in your blood and to your heart function?

 

[leela]

Won't too much salt do nasty things to the electrolyte balance in your blood and to your heart function?

Only if you take too much!

 

[MeSci]

I have been taking sodium bicarbonate (the scientific term for baking soda) for about 19 months as part of my gut-healing regime. I've been on 2 teaspoonfuls a day for a year or so. My health worsened when I reduced it and improved again when I upped it again, which could just be coincidence but I don't think so. I take it in water in 4 doses a day about an hour after meals. I think there are a few discussions about it in the leaky-gut forum.