REFILE: Baking soda may improve swimming speed

Tag : alkali meter

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Supplements containing sodiumbicarbonate -- better known as baking soda -- may help competitiveswimmers cut through the water a little faster, a small studysuggests.
British researchers found that when they gave nine swimmers asodium bicarbonate supplement about one hour before a 200-meterswim, the athletes were able to shave some time off their usualperformance.
The findings, published in the International Journal of SportsMedicine, offer evidence to support what some elite athletes arealready doing.
"It is not uncommon for top-level swimmers to take sodiumbicarbonate prior to competition," Dr. Jonathan P. Folland, thesenior researcher on the study, told Reuters Health.
Sodium bicarbonate naturally reduces acids and is an ingredient insome antacids used to treat heartburn and indigestion.
The reasoning behind its use in sports is that, during short burstsof intense exercise, the muscles can begin to produce large amountsof lactic acid, which then contributes to fatigue. Sodiumbicarbonate acts as a "buffer" against these acids.
"Essentially sodium bicarbonate is an alkali that increases the pHof the blood," explained Folland, of Loughborough University in theUK. "This seems to reduce and offset the acidity produced in themuscles during intense exercise."
For the current study, Folland and his colleagues tested ninecompetitive swimmers' performance times under three conditions:normal supplement-free conditions; 60 to 90 minutes after takingsodium bicarbonate capsules; and 60 to 90 minutes after takingcalcium carbonate capsules, which served as a placebo.
Overall, the researchers found, eight of the nine swimmers loggedtheir fastest times after taking the sodium bicarbonate supplement.
On average, the swimmers shaved 1.5 seconds off of theirperformance time, Folland's team found. While that might seeminsignificant, the researchers point out, it is actuallysubstantial at the elite level.
They note that at the Athens Olympics, the top four finishers inthe men's 200-meter freestyle were separated by 1.4 seconds.
The downside of sodium bicarbonate is its potential for sideeffects, especially at high doses. These include gastrointestinalwoes like cramps, nausea and diarrhea.
SOURCE: International Journal of Sports Medicine, June 2008.