Yet another medical use for baking soda: thwarting autoimmune disease

Autoimmune diseases are often poorly understood and even more difficult to treat. When afflicted with an autoimmune disease, an excessive immune response against a perceived threat causes inflammation that can damage organ systems throughout the body. Researchers at the Medical College of Georgia have found evidence that drinking a daily solution of baking soda in water can reduce this immune response by changing how the spleen interacts with mesothelial cells. These are the cells that line our organs and can produce either an inflammatory or anti-inflammatory immune response. The researchers found that baking soda shifts the landscape throughout the body to an anti-inflammatory setting. According to the Jagwire's health news release (see below for link), the baking soda acts as a "trigger for the stomach to make more acid to digest the next meal and for little-studied mesothelial cells sitting on the spleen to tell the fist-sized organ that there’s no need to mount a protective immune response."

Previous clinical trials have shown that drinking baking soda can slow kidney disease and reduce blood acidity. Baking soda has a long history of providing health benefits: It is used for dental health, to treat heartburn (it's the main ingredient in Alka Seltzer), and when mixed with water and salt it can soothe mouth ulcers. This new research suggests that with further study, baking soda may also prove to be a very cheap and safe way to treat inflammatory diseases.

Here is a list of traditional Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs); these are used not only to relieve pain but also to reduce muscle and joint stiffness and inflammation. Click the drug name to read patient reviews for those using it for inflammation.

NSAIDs used for inflammation

More reading on this topic:
1. Augusta University's Jagwire News April 25 2018:"Drinking baking soda could be an inexpensive, safe way to combat autoimmune disease" Jagwire News release
2. Baking Soda Combats Autoimmune Disease, According to Scientists" by Carly Fraser, June 7, 2018. An overview of the study, examples of autoimmune diseases, precautions about using baking soda (including high salt content), and a recommended ratio of water to baking soda for a basic solution that you can drink every day.
3. Sarah C. Ray, Babak Baban, et. al. Oral NaHCO3 Activates a Splenic Anti-Inflammatory Pathway: Evidence That Cholinergic Signals Are Transmitted via Mesothelial Cells. Journal of Immunology May 15, 2018, 200 (10) 3568-3586; DOI: http://www.jimmunol.org/content/200/10/3568
4. National Library of Medicine's Medline Plus web site information page on baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) as a medication. Check out what you need to know about its use as an antacid used to relieve heartburn and acid indigestion. Sometimes, doctors may prescribe sodium bicarbonate to make your blood or urine less acidic in certain conditions. https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a682001.html