Can One Teaspoon of Baking Soda in Water Increase the Salt Level in My Blood?

by Lynn Jenkins
(UK)

QUESTION:

Can one teaspoon of bicarbonated soda in water increase the salt level in my blood?

ANSWER:

Hi Lynn. Thank you for your question regarding baking soda and salt levels in the blood.

If you are taking one teaspoon of baking soda per day then, yes, theoretically, your blood salt level can go up. This usually happens over a period of several days or even weeks.

Your blood salt level will only increase, however, if you are getting too much sodium or too little from your diet. The USDA minimum daily requirement for sodium is between 1,100 mg's and 3,300 mg's. One teaspoon of baking soda contains approximately 821-980 mg's of sodium (normal table salt contains 2,350 mg's!).

So having one teaspoon (and more) of baking soda per day is certainly okay as long as the rest of your diet is low in salt. And this is the big one because most peoples diets are exceedingly high in salt. In fact, the average adult consumes around 10,000 mg's of salt per day.

Way too much!

The problem is salt is added to just about every processed and packaged food and this is mainly where our excess sodium intake comes from.

So the short answer is that yes bicarb of soda can increase salt levels in the blood. This is why it's wise for anyone who decides to take baking soda for cancer or kidney disease also go on a low sodium diet as well.


Hope this helps you Lynn.


All the best,

Regards,

Troy (Admin)