Sodium Bicarbonate and Diabetes

Doctors have known since World War I that sodium bicarbonate can help diabetic patients to live longer. Modern medicine has already established that sodium bicarbonate helps slow chronic kidney disease; A Natural Cure, a website devoted to finding natural cures for serious diseases, says that the same properties that allow it to affect the kidneys should help retard medical problems associated with diabetes.

What Is Diabetes?

• Diabetes is a metabolic disorder in which the body fails to process glucose properly. Diabetes can be caused either by a lack of sufficient insulin production or an improper response to insulin in cells. Cells convert glucose to energy in order to perform vital functions; the diabetic patient therefore develops serious illnesses as a result of diabetes if it is not treated properly.

Diabetes and Sodium Bicarbonate in World War I

• According to the Medical Front, a website showcasing medical knowledge during World War I, doctors were aware of diabetes as far back as this war. Although they did not have successful means of treating diabetes, they knew that a low carbohydrate diet helped reduce symptoms. During this time period, sodium bicarbonate was administered intravenously to diabetes patients who had slipped into a coma, often with positive results.

Sodium Bicarbonate and Kidney Disease

• The Defeat Diabetes Foundation says that a 2009 study demonstrated that sodium bicarbonate had a positive effect on kidney disease. The study showed that only 9% of patients who were administered sodium bicarbonate experienced rapid progression of the disease, as compared to 45% of patients in a control group.

  Chronic kidney disease occurs because of metabolic acidosis similar to that found in many diabetic patients. Thus, A Natural Cure theorizes that regular doses of sodium bicarbonate could slow complications from diabetes or even prevent the onset of the disease.

Liver Acidity and Diabetes

• A Natural Cure suggests that liver acidity contributes to the onset of diabetes. The site quotes Lynda Frascetto, a research scientist from the University of California, who says that the human body is "overwhelmed with cellular waste." The theory is that excess acidity prevents the liver from removing waste from the body. The excess waste affects the pancreas, which then does not produce insulin in an appropriate manner.

  Since excess acidity is a problem, A Natural Cure suggests neutralizing the acid with a base such as sodium bicarbonate to prevent the onset of diabetes and other serious diseases.

How to Take Sodium Bicarbonate

• Sodium bicarbonate can be administered intravenously. It can also be taken orally. It is a common ingredients in many baked foods although A Natural Cure does not address whether eating such foods is an effective means of preventing diabetes and complications resulting from diabetes.