In the land of pretend doctoring – also known as TikTok – drinking a glass of water with a spoonful of baking soda stirred through it can prevent, treat and even cure cancer.

This is one of those tricky cases where a smidgeon of science is blown up into an outrageous and completely bogus claim.

And worse, millions of people have viewed these claims. Presumably some of them have cancer and are desperate enough to try anything.  

This is just a part of the trouble caused by a trendy drink called ‘baking soda water’.

Influencers are pushing the idea ‘baking soda water’ makes you thin. There is no evidence for this.

It’s said to increase your endurance during exercise. There is a smidgeon of truth to it.

In a very small study of very fit cyclists, their ability to go flat out was extended for a short period of time.

It’s not likely to help you in the gym. And could in fact hurt you, depending on dose, and other factors.

One of the problems with health trends taken from the internet is young people tend to think more is better.

Large doses of baking soda are dangerous. Think about it. This is a substance that gives off carbon dioxide when triggered by an acidic catalyst.

Swallow a lot of it, especially on a full stomach, and you risk a gastric rupture.

Where did the cancer claim come from?

This came from the idea that cancer cells thrive in an acidic environment. Baking soda is an alkaline, which means it neutralises acid.

There were experiments, going back some years, that baking soda might enhance cancer immunotherapy. It was a simple answer to a sort of simple problem.

The acidic cancer-friendly environment enabled the cancer cells to be resistant to treatment. When the acid was neutralised by the alkaline in baking soda, the chemotherapy was able to do the job of killing the cancer cells.

That’s the basics.

In 2018, US researchers discovered the mechanism that had allowed cancer cells to evade drug therapies in the first place.

They found that the acidic environment tipped the cancer cells into dormancy. They just sat there, protected, and waited for the treatment to end. Then they continued their nasty work.

When cancer-riddled mice were given water laced with baking soda, the tumours went away.

We are a long way from seeing this occur in humans.

Influencers have taken this concept and bull-horned the news that a glass of ‘baking soda water’ protects against and treats cancer.

Bottom line: There is no research whatsoever that suggests baking soda on its own is protection or a cure for cancer.

What is baking soda good for?

Baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, is an old-school cooking ingredient that helps cakes and bread.

It also makes an OK home-made mouthwash and toothpaste. You’re most likely using it to dampening the smell of onions and last-night’s curry in the fridge.

When combined with lemon juice or vinegar, it makes a cheap and handy kitchen cleaner. It works well on those surfaces you’re endlessly spraying with expensive cleaners that promise 99 per cent of bacteria is killed.  

Many store-bought deodorants use baking soda as an active ingredient. 

If you confine your relationship with baking soda to cleaning, washing and cooking, it’s doing some good. More importantly, it’s not doing any harm.

Where the trouble starts

Many of the treatments for acid reflux, obtainable over the counter, contain sodium bicarbonate.

The active ingredient in seltzers (such as Alka-Seltzer) is sodium bicarbonate.

Harvard Public Health advises that sodium bicarbonate antacids “are less powerful than other antacids and contain a lot of sodium”.

Do not take them “if you are on a salt-restricted diet or have heart failure, high blood pressure, or kidney problems”.

That advice stands for ingesting baking soda, the raw ingredient.

It should not be taken by pregnant women and children, or people with heart problems.

In too large a dose, baking soda is poisonous. This is due to the powder’s high sodium content. If the body absorbs the sodium, it can cause dehydration seizures, kidney failure, and slow and shallow breathing.