What’s Up with Bicarbonate of Soda (Baking Soda)?

By Dr. Mark Sircus

Sodium bicarbonate, or bicarbonate of soda is making the news and is making further headway into the world of medicine. There is even a song written about sodium bicarbonate, and how it can save a person’s life when they have cancer.

Vince Richards wrote a song after visiting his mom in Spain during her treatment for non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) – a cancer that starts in the lymph nodes and lymphatic system. The song is about the support Valerie’s family and friends offered during an appalling time. And now that the 70-year-old is clear of cancer, it’s also about her incredible recovery. Diagnosed in the summer of 2010, Valerie’s situation was bleak.

Valerie had chemotherapy but Vince and his sister started looking around for anything else that might help. They both came across stories of people who had taken bicarbonate of soda and followed diets rich with high alkaline vegetables.

The idea is that cancer cells enjoy an acidic environment and baking soda and some foods may raise pH to more alkaline levels. Valerie took the bicarbonate of soda each day with maple syrup. “All I can say is the doctors were extremely surprised at how quickly it had cleared up.”

Now my book Sodium Bicarbonate is available in hardcopy as well as in eBook forms.

Science knows that bicarbonate-induced extracellular alkalization leads to significant improvements in the therapeutic effectiveness of certain chemo agents[1]. A number of studies have shown that the extracellular pH in cancers is typically lower than that in normal tissue and that an acidic pH promotes invasive tumor growth in primary and metastatic cancers.[2] The external pH of solid tumors is acidic[3] as a consequence of increased metabolism of glucose and poor perfusion.[4] Acid pH has been shown to stimulate tumor cell invasion and metastasis in vitro and in cells before tail vein injection in vivo.[5]

The extracellular pH (pHe) of many solid tumors is acidic as a result of glycolytic metabolism and poor perfusion. Acidity promotes invasion and enhances metastatic potential. Tumor acidity can be buffered by systemic administration of an alkaline agent such as sodium bicarbonate. Tumor-bearing mice maintained on sodium bicarbonate drinking water exhibit fewer metastases and survive longer than untreated controls. We predict this effect is due to inhibition of tumor invasion.

Sodium Bicarbonate (NaHCO3), commonly called baking soda or bicarbonate of soda, is a natural substance used in the human body within the bloodstream to regulate pH as a counterbalance to acid build up, which is critical to life. It affects the pH of cells and tissues, balances cell voltage, and increases CO2, which helps with oxygenation.

Sodium Bicarbonate is one of the most flexible medicinals in terms of methods and modes of administration. It can be injected in emergency room situations, taken orally, nebulized, used transdermally as a lotion or paste, put in enemas and in larger quantities in therapeutic baths. Just dissolve it in water or when treating cancer it can also be mixed with Blackstrap Molasses, maple syrup, or a good honey as well as with lemon or mix with citric acid for use in baths or when making your own bath bombs.

Sodium bicarbonate cancer treatment focuses on delivering natural chemotherapy in a way that effectively kills cancer cells while dramatically reducing the brutal side effects and costs experienced with standard chemotherapy treatments. Robert J. Gillies and his colleagues have demonstrated that pre-treatment of mice with sodium bicarbonate results in the alkalinization of the area around tumors.6

There is no question that plasma bicarbonate concentrations are shown to increase after oral ingestion. The most important effect of bicarbonate ingestion is the change in acid-base balance as well as blood pH and bicarbonate concentration in biological fluids. In Europe, spa-goers drink bicarbonate-rich water to heal ulcers, colitis and other gastric disorders. Ingesting bicarbonate by way of bathing stimulates circulation, possibly benefiting those with high blood pressure and moderate atherosclerosis.

The pH is a chemical rating system used to measure acidity in a solution. In the human body, pH balance is disturbed by mainly poor diet and, when left unchecked, high levels of acid in the body can lead to most degenerative diseases. Keeping the body’s pH levels balanced can be done by improving diet, consuming more fruit and vegetables including dark leafy greens, but it can also be achieved with the ingestion of sodium bicarbonate used to kick start the process toward more alkalinity. Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), is a natural antacid and an inexpensive, yet very effective, way of balancing pH levels in the body.

For years I have been receiving testimonies about sodium bicarbonate and another one I just foundwhile researching this article was about basal skin cancer.

“My mother had the basal cell removed surgically twice more before she finally let me try the baking soda treatment. I modified the concoction by using coconut oil instead of water, as raw organic coconut oil helps in the regeneration of skin cells. I mixed one part baking soda and one part coconut oil (a teaspoon of each) in a shot glass and stirred it up until it became a malleable paste, which is what I applied to the affected area. The results were truly astonishing.

Looking back at the start of this whole experience, I realize that I was just as skeptical as most people with regards to a successful treatment that costs only a few dollars, not to mention one that is sitting in my kitchen pantry! I completely understand why a simple solution like baking soda and coconut oil would be cast aside in favor of a more ‘sophisticated’ treatment.”

[1] Enhancement of chemotherapy by manipulation of tumour pH.

Raghunand N1, He X, van Sluis R, Mahoney B, Baggett B, Taylor CW, Paine-Murrieta G, Roe D, Bhujwalla ZM, Gillies RJ. Br J Cancer. 1999 Jun;80(7):1005-11 –http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10362108

[2] The potential role of systemic buffers in reducing intratumoral extracellular pH and acid-mediated invasion.;Silva AS  et al; Cancer Res.2009 Mar 15; 69(6):2677-84. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-08-2394; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19276380

[3] Imaging pH and metastasis. NMR Biomed. 2011 Jul;24(6):582-91. doi: 10.1002/nbm.1644. Epub 2011 Mar 8.

[4] Bicarbonate Increases Tumor pH and Inhibits Spontaneous Metastases; Ian F. Robey, et al; Cancer Res. Mar 15, 2009; 69(6): 2260–2268.;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2834485/

[5] Ibid.

[6] Reduction of metastasis using a non-volatile buffer;Ibrahim Hashim A et al; ;Clin Exp Metastasis; 2011 Dec 28(8):841-9. doi: 10.1007/s10585-011-9415-7. Epub 2011 Aug 23;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21861189

7 Investigating mechanisms of alkalinization for reducing primary breast tumor invasionBiomed Res Int. 2013;2013:485196. doi: 10.1155/2013/485196. Epub 2013 Jul 10.

NOTE: This article is originally published at this website:

http://drsircus.com/medicine/sodium-bicarbonate-baking-soda/whats-bicarbonate-soda-baking-soda