Baking Soda for Kidney Health

Sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda, already has a slew of uses: It’s good for baking and cleaning, as well as an acid indigestion aid and sunburn treatment, plus more.

A new use for baking soda may have been found. Researchers revealed that it could slow the decline of kidney function in some patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD). The study will be published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).

Research participants: 134 patients with advanced CKD and low bicarbonate levels (metabolic acidosis)

Experiment: One group of CKD patients took a small daily dose of sodium bicarbonate in tablet form, in addition to usual treatment.

Results:

• The rate of decline in kidney function was reduced by about two-thirds compared to patients who didn’t take baking soda.
• Researchers noted that the rate of decline in kidney function of patients taking sodium bicarbonate was similar to normal age-related decline.
• Just 9% of patients taking sodium bicarbonate experienced rapid progression of kidney disease, compared with 45% of the group not taking it.
• Sodium bicarbonate also appears to make patients less likely to develop end-stage renal disease.
• Sodium levels went up in patients taking baking soda, but that didn’t lead to increased blood pressure.

“This cheap and simple strategy also improves patients’ nutritional status, and has the potential of translating into significant economic, quality of life, and clinical outcome benefits,” said researcher Magdi Yaqoob, MD, from Royal London Hospital.

This was the first randomized controlled study of its kind, and the researchers pointed out some limitations of their study. There was no placebo  group, plus researchers knew which patients were receiving baking soda. Yaqoob says that the results will need validation in a multicenter study.

(Baking soda image via flickr.)