Learn more about Bicarbonate
4 min read
Updated: 24 November 2025
Bicarbonate is used for delicious bread and gingerbread ;) but it is also one of the supplements that has a well-proven performance-enhancing effect, especially when it comes to intense work at or above threshold. HOWEVER, digestive issues related to intake make athletes cautious with the supplement. So let’s go through why Bicarbonate can still be a supplement worth investing in.
Sodium bicarbonate, as it is technically called, is an alkali in the body. This means it works with pH regulation, specifically to increase blood pH when necessary. Other body parts like the kidneys and lungs (breathing) are also active and work more slowly and long-term to balance pH. However, the bicarbonate in the blood is what has the most immediate effect and is therefore of interest in athletic performance. When you perform physical activity, pH decreases, which means the environment in the muscles becomes more acidic; here, bicarbonate works to increase your pH again, allowing the muscles to continue working effectively.
The harder we work, the more hydrogen ions accumulate as muscle activity requires more oxygen than the body can supply – pH drops – power output decreases. The muscles try partly to save the situation by creating lactate (commonly known as lactic acid) as an alternative fuel to maintain power output. But by supplementing with extra bicarbonate, we can manage that little extra.
What does science say?
Research has investigated various aspects of bicarbonate dosing and performance. Everything from acute larger doses of 0.5 g/kg body weight to lower doses of 0.2 g/kg body weight over a longer period. Different performances have also been tested, from short 400m sprints to long cycling tests of over an hour. The research seems to agree that an increase of 5 mmol or more is needed. It may not sound like much and is not something you can measure yourself, but given the dose participants receive, it seems to be 0.2-0.3 g/kg body weight. A dose of 0.2 g/kg body weight results in an increase of over 5 mmol in most participants, but reaching 0.3 g/kg is preferred.
During these short-term high-intensity efforts when you are constantly at the threshold, the acute effect is the greatest. Improvements in 400, 800, 1500, and 3000 m running range between 1.2-2 percent, which corresponds to a few seconds. The measured improvement in 400m corresponded to, for example, 10m. A recent meta-analysis from 2011 compiled 59 studies that examined bicarbonate supplementation and performance. 38 of these studies were well-controlled and analyzed. They showed an average performance increase of 1.7% with an intake of 0.3 g/kg body weight (regardless of loading or acute). Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21923200
The increase isn’t enormous, but it is there, and if you can get nearly 2% extra from each interval session, it is truly invaluable. Being able to maximize the effect of the intervals and threshold sessions throughout basic training will mean that you enter the competition season with a higher capacity.
Side Effects
High effectiveness unfortunately often means that the side effects are significant, and this is also the case here. This is one of the reasons why bicarbonate has not gained traction in the endurance industry despite its performance-enhancing effects being awesome. The primary side effect is stomach upset, but milder effects such as bloating and a general "stomach ache" feeling are also common. When bicarbonate reaches the stomach, gases such as carbon dioxide and carbonic acid are created, which can lead to bloating, diarrhea, and stomach pain.
As the dose increases, so does the risk of side effects. Most people can tolerate 0.2g/kg body weight, which amounts to about 15g of bicarbonate in one dose. However, the performance-enhancing effect is higher and more guaranteed for most people if the dose is around 0.3g/kg body weight. But precisely at the dose that applies for enhancing performance, the side effects can also be quite noticeable for many, so it's a matter of balancing on a knife's edge here to benefit from bicarbonate.
Solutions to the Side Effects
A lot of research is being conducted on how we can work around these concerns. If we continue to assume that bicarbonate can easily be ingested orally, encapsulating the bicarbonate might be a solution. By encapsulating bicarbonate in acid-resistant special capsules that do not dissolve in the stomach, bicarbonate can pass through more easily without creating gases when reacting with stomach acid. Therefore, Umara has chosen to encapsulate its U Bicarbonate to avoid the taste ;) Timing is also important. Researchers have shown that ingestion 180 minutes, i.e. 3 hours before activity, results in fewer stomach issues than ingestion 1-2 hours before. The type of activity also affects this. On a bike, we seem to fare significantly better compared to running. If you’re doing intervals on a trainer, bicarbonate is probably safer than if you take it 2 hours before a threshold run workout.