Sodium bicarbonate, also known as baking soda, is promoted
by some alternative practitioners as a cancer treatment. 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.
What is Baking Soda?
Baking soda is a white crystalline solid that appears as a
fine powder. It is also called cooking soda, bread soda and bicarbonate of
soda. Its chemical name is sodium bicarbonate or sodium hydrogen carbonate.
The Health Benefits of Baking Soda
The medical uses of baking soda all involves raising the pH
of the body by neutralizing acid. Therefore, sodium bicarbonate is used as an
antacid (to neutralize stomach acid and treat ulcer, heartburn and acid
indigestion) and to treat acidosis (raise the pH level of the blood when it is
close to 7.0).
Sodium bicarbonate can also be used as a topical antiseptic
agent to prevent blistering and scarring. Lastly, it is also used to reduce
itching caused by allergic skin reactions caused by plants such as poison ivy.
Because sodium bicarbonate neutralizes stomach acid, it can
be used to treat the overdose of acidic drugs such as aspirin and tricyclic
antidepressants. Because it supplies more sodium in the body, it is also used
to treat hyperkalemia (high blood levels of potassium).
However, excessive intake of baking soda can just as easily
cause high sodium levels in the body (hypernatremia) and hypertension. Other
conditions that can be caused by baking soda overload include metabolic
alkalosis, congestive heart failure and edema triggered by high blood levels of
sodium.
How Baking Soda Can Help “Cure” Cancer
Basically, malignant tumors represent masses of rapidly
growing cells. The rapid rate of growth experienced by these cells means that
cellular metabolism also proceeds at very high rates.
Therefore, cancer cells are using a lot more carbohydrates
and sugars to generate energy in the form of ATP (adenosine triphosphate).
However, some of the compounds formed from the energy
production include lactic acid and pyruvic acid. Under normal circumstances,
these compounds are cleared and utilized as soon as they are produced. But
cancer cells are experiencing metabolism at a much faster rate. Therefore, these organic acids accumulate in
the immediate environment of the tumor.
The high level of extracellular acidity around the tumor is
one of the chief driving force behind the metastasis of cancer tumors.
Basically, cancer cells need an acidic environment to grow
and spread rapidly.
Some cancer experts, therefore, believe that by buffering
the tumor microenvironment with an alkalizing compound, the pH of tumors can be
raised enough to starve them and stop their growth and spread.
Curiously, this rather simple solution to cancer has been
proven right.
What is even more remarkable is that there is no need to
cook up some fancy synthetic drug to lower the acidity in the immediate
environment of the tumor. A simple, commonly obtained compound like sodium
bicarbonate will do.
Obviously, it is desirable to deliver the sodium bicarbonate
as close to the tumor as possible since its pH-raising effect is needed in the
microenvironment of the tumor. Therefore, directly injecting sodium bicarbonate
in the tumor site is considered a better solution than oral administration.
However, oral sodium bicarbonate has been just safer and can be readily used at
home.
Clinical Evidence for the Efficacy of Baking Soda in
Cancer Therapy
Two Studies
A 2009 study published in the journal, Cancer Research, is
among the first to confirm that the alkalinizing effect of sodium bicarbonate
can indeed stop cancer.
By injecting sodium bicarbonate into a group of mice, the
authors of the study were able to determine how the growth and spread of cancer
tumors were effected by raising the pH of the organ affected by the cancer.
The study results showed that baking soda indeed raised the
pH and reduced spontaneous metastases in mice induced with breast cancer.
The researchers also determined that sodium bicarbonate
works by raising the pH outside cells and not within cells. This is an important
finding because it suggests that sodium bicarbonate does not interfere with
cellular metabolism even as it makes the microenvironment unconducive for tumor
growth.
Other findings from this study show that baking soda:
Reduced the involvement of the lymph node on the transport
of cancer cells
Does not lower the levels of circulating tumor cells
Reduced the involvement of the liver and, therefore, the
spread of tumor cells to other organs
Inhibit the colonization of other organs by circulating
tumor cells
The researchers noted that the injection of sodium
bicarbonate in other animal models for cancer showed that the compound can also
inhibit the spread of prostate cancer but not melanoma.
Building on these results, researchers are trying to
determine whether better results can be obtained by combining sodium carbonate
with cancer drugs.
In a 2011 study published in the journal, BMC Cancer, a
group of researchers investigated the effects of dichloroacetate and the
combination of dichloroacetate and a bicarbonate salt on a mouse model for
metastatic breast cancer.
Dichloroacetate is a selective cancer drug that works
similarly to sodium bicarbonate. It raises pH levels around cancer cells by
inhibiting the breakdown of sugars and the production of acidic intermediates
in these cells.
The study results showed that the combination of the
synthetic cancer drug, dichloroacetate, and the simple, proven household
remedy, oral bicarbonate, did not reduce metastasis or tumor size.
This study showed that sodium bicarbonate is not only a
safer, cheaper cancer remedy, it is more effective than dichloroacetate.
The Use of Baking Soda in Oncology
Even though most oncologists do not recommend sodium
bicarbonate for their patients, they actually use it for the same purposes in
chemotherapy. By combining this alkalinizing agent with chemotherapy drugs, it
protects the organs of the body from being destroyed by the poisonous effects
of those drugs.
Essentially, sodium bicarbonate raises the pH around these
vital organs and prevent the cancer from spreading there and chemotherapy drugs
from causing even greater destruction.
Dr. Mark Sircus, the Director of the International Medical
Veritas Association, detailed the link between cancer and pH as well as the use
of baking soda as an anticancer agent in his book, Sodium Bicarbonate – Rich
Man’s Poor Man’s Cancer Treatment.
Dr. Tullio Simoncini, an Italian oncologist, regularly
treats his cancer patients with baking soda. In his experience, oral,
intravenous and aerosol delivery of sodium bicarbonate are effective in
treatment of breast and prostate cancers as well as other types of cancer
except for brain cancer.
Although Dr. Simoncini believes oral sodium bicarbonate is
most appropriate for cancers affecting the digestive tract, other oncologists
and cancer patients such as Vernon have proven that oral sodium bicarbonate can
indeed effectively treat cancer affecting deep-seated organs.
Dr. Sircus also recommends oral administration of baking
soda. Many of his patients debate whether to mix it with maple syrup, molasses,
honey, water or any other beverage. Since normal cells are starved in cancer
patients, the oncologist recommends healthy energy sources such as honey, black
strap molasses and maple syrup.
Dr. Simoncini, on the other hand, gives glucose
intravenously along with sodium bicarbonate for the same purpose.
The Baking Soda Formula for Cancer
To make the baking soda natural cancer remedy at home, you
need maple syrup, molasses or honey to go along with the baking soda.
In Dr. Sircus’ book, he documented how one patient used
baking soda and blackstrap molasses to fight the prostate cancer that had
metastasized to his bones. On the first day, the patient mixed 1 teaspoon of
baking soda with 1 teaspoon of molasses in a cup of water.
He took this for another 3 days after which his saliva pH
read 7.0 and his urine pH read 7.5.
Encouraged by these results, the patient took the solution 2
times on day 5 instead of once daily. And from day 6 – 10, he took 2 teaspoons
each of baking soda and molasses twice daily.
By the 10th day, the patient’s pH had risen to 8.5 and the
only side effects experienced were headaches and night sweat (similar to cesium
therapy).
The next day, the patient had a bone scan and too other
medical tests. His results showed that his PSA (prostate-specific antigen, the
protein used to determine the severity of prostate enlargement and prostate
cancer) level was down from 22.3 at the point of diagnosis to 0.1.
Another baking soda formula recommends mixing 90 teaspoons
of maple syrup with 30 teaspoons of baking soda.
To do this, the maple syrup must be heated to become less
viscous. Then the baking syrup is added and stirred for 5 minutes until it is
fully dissolved.
This preparation should provide about 10-day worth of the
baking soda remedy. 5 – 7 teaspoons per day is the recommended dose for cancer
patients.
Care should be taken when using the baking soda remedy to
treat cancer. This is because sustaining a high pH level can itself cause
metabolic alkalosis and electrolyte imbalance. These can result in edema and
also affect the heart and blood pressure.
Ideally, you should consult a doctor before adopting the
baking soda solution. An oncologist with a knowledge of this cure would be most
helpful.
Sources –
http://drleonardcoldwell.com/2013/11/01/stage-4-cancer-gone-with-baking-soda-treatment/comment-page-1/
http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternativemedicine/herbsvitaminsandminerals/sodium-bicarbonate
http://www.progressivehealth.com/
http://phkillscancer.com/
http://www.naturalnews.com/027481_prostate_cancer_baking_soda.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19276390
