Could this explain why Recuperation works?

[Guest guest]

Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health e-Zine January 21, 2007

Baking Soda May Help Exercisers

Sodium bicarbonate, commonly known as baking soda, is used as

a medication to neutralize stomach acid in ulcer patients and as a

home remedy for stomach distress. Now researchers in Greece have

shown that it may neutralize the acid in muscles during intense

exercise and helps athletes to exercise longer (Medicine & Science in

Sports & Exercise, October 2006).

If you run or cycle as hard as you can, you start to breathe

hard, and suddenly your leg muscles start to burn because your

muscles have become acidic. Its the burning in your muscles that

forces you to slow down. Muscles get the

energy to move your body from the food that you eat.

Carbohydrates are broken down step by step in a chain of reactions to

release energy for your muscles. Each step requires oxygen. If you

have enough oxygen, the carbohydrates are eventually broken down to

carbon dioxide and water that you can blow off from your lungs.

However, if you cant get all the oxygen that you need, the series of

reactions stops and lactic acid accumulates in your muscles and

spills over into your bloodstream. The acidity in muscles caused by

the accumulation of lactic acid is what makes your muscles burn.

When acid is exposed to an alkaline or base, it combines with

it to neutralize the acid and form water. What would happen when an

athlete takes the base, sodium bicarbonate, before he competes? He

would be able to exercise longer if the bicarbonate got into the

muscle and neutralized the burning caused by the acid. The authors

of this study showed that higher doses of sodium bicarbonate were

more effective in preventing burning.

This exercise aid is still experimental, so we will have to wait for

further research to see if it really works.