Can We Kill Cancer With Baking Soda? Some say, yes

Baking soda, sodium bicarbonate or NaHCO3 can do a lot more than freshen the refrigerator, neutralize pet odors, quiet sunburn pain and raise bread. The boxed white powder that has been marketed as a household product for decades also can kill cancer.

Safer than chemotherapy and radiation, which kills all cells (in addition to those linked to cancer) and could compromise organ function, baking soda is a nontoxic compound safe to use around animals, children and the kitchen.

“It is really very difficult for anyone to wrap their head around the idea that a substance as common as sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) can offer much more benefits than most of the pharmaceutical drugs that cost so much,” according to a story previously published on The Open Mind blog site. “There is however fascinating evidence that proves that sodium bicarbonate can indeed cure a lot of serious diseases, such as cancer and diabetes. Medical practitioners have also been advised to use it since it offers amazing benefits.”

There is some science behind the phenomenon. Baking soda possesses alkalinity and is salty in form. As a result, it can boost pH levels in the body. The tendency of our human physiology – emphasized by the modern American diet – is for our overall pH levels to decrease, causing an acidic effect that impedes cellular activity.

“The external pH of solid tumors is acidic as a consequence of increased metabolism of glucose and poor perfusion,” the American Association for Cancer Research reports in an abstract.

Authors of the abstract concluded that, by inhibiting acidity in tumors, incidences of metastases will be reduced.

“Here, we show that oral NaHCO3 selectively increased the pH of tumors and reduced the formation of spontaneous metastases in mouse models of metastatic breast cancer,” according to the abstract.

The American Cancer Society partially agrees.

“Sodium bicarbonate, also known as baking soda, is promoted by some alternative practitioners as a cancer treatment,” the agency’s Web site reads. “This treatment is based on the theory that cancer is caused by a form of yeast infection and that sodium bicarbonate can kill the yeast. This claim is not supported by science or clinical evidence and is contrary to widely-accepted basic facts of oncology and microbiology.”

Still, it acknowledges several doctors administer baking soda to cancer patients orally, intravenously and intra-arterially, as well as directly into the windpipe in cases of lung cancer.

Examiner.com takes the cancer-killing theory a step further by saying baking soda mixed with lemon is an even stronger cocktail.

“Lemon also has a strong antimicrobial effect in treating bacterial and fungal infections, and studies have been looking at cancer as a form of fungus,” reads a story titled “Baking soda and lemon proven 10,000 times more powerful than chemotherapy.” “The baking soda is thrown in to keep our bodies’ pH level alkaline.”

The following has been stated by the National Center for Biotechnology.

“Evaluation of the biological activity of citrus limonoids has indicated the potential of these compounds to improve human health as anticancer, cholesterol-lowering, and antiviral agents,” according to a story footnote. “This review chronicles the evolution of citrus limonoid research from defining their participation in citrus bitterness to their potential utilization as important contributors to improving human health and well-being.”

Furthermore, in 2020, a review was published in the National Library of Medicine by Doctors Mengyuan Yang, Xian Zhong, and Ying Yuan. This review described various studies which administered sodium bicarbonate in combination with anticancer therapies. The review also looked at data from studies involving the use of sodium bicarbonate as a stand alone therapy. Importantly, this review covered a study in which five percent sodium bicarbonate was added to other drugs and was then used in a procedure known as “TILA-TACE,” which stands for “targeting intratumor lactic acidosis” during “transarterial chemoembolization.” The research showed that one hundred percent of patients who received this modified procedure obtained complete, or at least partial, remission of their condition. As part of their overview of the research, these doctors found that:

“…we should pay attention to sodium bicarbonate, a low-cost and ordinary alkalescent antacid, as a novel cancer treatment strategy.”

The aforementioned review also addressed how sodium bicarbonate can be used in methods which treat cancer. The authors discussed this topic due to the fact that they believed that there were questions as to how an acidic microenvironment “…can not only promote carcinogenesis and development but also have a negative impact on various antitumor agents, such as weak-base chemotherapeutic drugs.” Due to this negative impact, the analyzed research included review of experiments which “…assessed whether sodium bicarbonate cooperates with traditional anticancer therapies.”

The aforementioned studies found that mice, which had been given human breast cancer, experienced a two to three fold increase “…in the efficacy of doxorubicin,” which is an anti-cancer drug. The research also showed, however, that the efficacy of other drugs were potentially reduced. As a result, the doctors stated that “…it is not wise to combine baking soda..” with weak acidic chemotherapeutics.

The National Library of Medicine review does note potential problems with simply orally administering baking soda as an auxiliary medication. This is due to the fact that the amount of baking soda an individual human would have to take in a day was found to be “…impractical for popularization.” The review did state that local application (such as injections) can be a “…great choice.” One of the reasons for this finding was that injections “…accurately target the tumor macroenvironment and are less likely to change the systemic pH.”

The review concludes with a common sense approach of finding that “the most direct method to conquer…acidity is neutralization.” In other words, the best way to beat a problem is to stop it at the source. The conclusions did state that the research shows that the use of sodium bicarbonate may very well increase the efficacy of cancer therapies. It must be stressed, however, that the review concluded by calling for large scale clinical trials to test this belief. It was also mentioned that this belief is a “hypothesis.”  

Healthline.com has also addressed this topic and reaches the simple conclusion that: 

“Baking soda can’t prevent cancer, and is not recommended for treating cancer. However, there is no harm to adding baking soda as an alkaline-promoting agent.”

Healthline does mention that other approaches can include following “a diet that focuses on alkaline-producing foods and avoid acid-producing foods.” In other words, Healthline mentions potentially changing the lifestyle choices which are leading to high acidic conditions in the first place.

Healthline goes on to suggest the same point we make in the note below. That point is to “discuss complementary or supplementary therapies with your doctor.” It must be remembered that any major medical decisions should be discussed with a physician.

Note: The intent of this article is to report new and topical news. The authors and publisher are NOT medical doctors and do not intend to dispense medical advice. All medical treatments, whether organic, alternative or pharmaceutical should be taken only under the strict supervision of a skilled physician. The authors and publisher do not independently evaluate or research the safety of treatments such as are discussed in this article and do not promote them except as prescribed by a trained medical physician.