Effects of serial and acute enteric-coated sodium bicarbonate supplementation on anaerobic performance, physiological profile, and metabolomics in healthy young men
Open accessAbstract
Background: Previous studies have reported that sodium bicarbonate ingestion may enhance high-intensity exercise performance and cause severe gastrointestinal distress. However, enteric-coated sodium bicarbonate may reduce gastrointestinal symptoms of sodium bicarbonate after oral administration. This remains to be confirmed. This study aimed to verify the effects of serial and acute enteric-coated sodium bicarbonate supplementation on anaerobic performance, physiological profile, and metabolomics in healthy young men. Methods: Healthy young males (n = 12) ingested 0.2 g/kg body mass of enteric-coated sodium bicarbonate (ES) in serial enteric-coated sodium bicarbonate (SES, continuous ES supplementation for 5 days) and acute enteric-coated sodium bicarbonate (AES, acute ES supplementation before exercise) or a placebo (PL) in a randomized crossover design. After each supplement protocol, the participants completed four Wingate anaerobic tests (WAT). The first three Wingate tests (testing anaerobic capacity) were performed with a 5-min passive recovery between each. After the third Wingate test, participants were required to complete a 50-min recovery followed by a fourth WAT test (testing the recovery of anaerobic capacity after 50-min intervals). Blood lactate (BLA), heart rate (HR), and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were measured in all conditions during the test, as was the subjective gastrointestinal–symptoms assessment questionnaire (GSAQ). Mean power (MP) and peak power (PP) were recorded after four WATs. Urine samples were collected before the test and 50 min after the 3rd WAT. Results: Serial enteric-coated sodium bicarbonate supplementation improved anaerobic capacity in the third bout of WATs, as observed based on an increase in mean power (SES vs. PL (613 ± 57 vs. 542 ± 64 W), P = 0.024) and peak power (SES vs. PL (1,071 ± 149 vs. 905 ± 150 W), P = 0.016). Acute ES supplementation did not affect anaerobic capacity. The occurrence of gastrointestinal symptoms after enteric-coated sodium bicarbonate supplementation was minimal and no difference compared to placebo in the current study. In particular, serial enteric-coated sodium bicarbonate supplementation had no gastrointestinal side effects before the test. The AES and SES groups had a trivial effect on blood lactate compared to the PLA group. There was no significant difference in HR and RPE among the three groups. Based on targeted metabolomics analysis, the 50 min after the third WAT, the levels of lactate (P < 0.001), L-Malic acid (P < 0.05), and oxaloacetate (P < 0.05) were significantly higher in the SES group than in the PL group. Compared with the AES group, the levels of lactate and fumarate in the SES group were significantly increased (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Our study indicates that serial enteric-coated sodium bicarbonate supplementation positively improves anaerobic performance among healthy young men. However, acute ingestion of enteric-coated sodium bicarbonate did not improve anaerobic exercise performance. Either with serial or acute supplementation doses, enteric-coated sodium bicarbonate produced fewer gastrointestinal symptoms and no difference compared to placebo, especially with no gastrointestinal side effects after serial supplementation. Serial and acute supplementation of enteric-coated sodium bicarbonate might tend to promote lactate clearance. Furthermore, serial enteric-coated sodium bicarbonate ingestion may cause changes in the metabolism of lactate, L-Malic acid, oxaloacetate, and fumarate 50 min after exercise, which presumably may promote the tricarboxylic acid cycle and lactate clearance.
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Acute sodium bicarbonate doses in the acute-versus-chronic studies ranged from 0.2 g/kg (Zhou, Fan, Kong, et al. 2022; Aktitiz et al. 2024) to 0.3 g/kg (Driller et al. 2012; Carr et al. 2012; Joyce et al. 2012).
“Acute doses ranged from 0.2 g/kg (Zhou, Fan, Kong, et al. 2022; Aktitiz et al. 2024) to 0.3 g/kg (Driller et al. 2012; Carr et al. 2012; Joyce et al. 2012).”
From Gastrointestinal Symptoms Associated With Sodium Bicarbonate Supplementation Protocols: A Systematic Review (2026) · cites this paper as Zhou, Fan, Kong, et al. 2022
All other acute-versus-chronic studies solely used total counts of symptoms and their severity scores (Driller et al. 2012; Carr et al. 2012; Zhou, Fan, Kong, et al. 2022; Aktitiz et al. 2024).
“Otherwise, all other studies solely used total counts of symptoms and their severity scores (Driller et al. 2012; Carr et al. 2012; Zhou, Fan, Kong, et al. 2022; Aktitiz et al. 2024).”
From Gastrointestinal Symptoms Associated With Sodium Bicarbonate Supplementation Protocols: A Systematic Review (2026) · cites this paper as Zhou, Fan, Kong, et al. 2022
Two of five acute-versus-chronic investigations only quantified GIS on the day of exercise testing despite employing chronic supplementation (Carr et al. 2012; Zhou, Fan, Kong, et al. 2022).
“Two of five investigations only quantified GIS on the day of exercise testing despite employing chronic supplementation (Carr et al. 2012; Zhou, Fan, Kong, et al. 2022).”
From Gastrointestinal Symptoms Associated With Sodium Bicarbonate Supplementation Protocols: A Systematic Review (2026) · cites this paper as Zhou, Fan, Kong, et al. 2022
Three out of five acute-versus-chronic studies used a 10-point scale to determine severity of GIS (Driller et al. 2012; Carr et al. 2012; Zhou, Fan, Kong, et al. 2022), while one used an 11-point scale (Aktitiz et al. 2024) and another a five-point scale (Joyce et al. 2012).
“Three out of five studies used a 10‐point scale to determine severity of GIS (Driller et al. 2012; Carr et al. 2012; Zhou, Fan, Kong, et al. 2022), while one used an 11‐point scale (Aktitiz et al. 2024) and another a five‐point scale (Joyce et al. 2012).”
From Gastrointestinal Symptoms Associated With Sodium Bicarbonate Supplementation Protocols: A Systematic Review (2026) · cites this paper as Zhou, Fan, Kong, et al. 2022
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فخرالدين, ا., & رافع, أ. (2023) · Journal of Physical Education · doi:10.37359/jope.v35(3)2023.1611
- Authors
- Zhou, N., Fan, Y., Kong, X., Wang, X., Wang, J., & Wu, H.
- Affiliations
- Capital University of Physical Education and Sports (CN)
- General Administration of Sport of China (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Wu, Hao
- Venue
- Frontiers in Nutrition
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2022-08-16
- Volume
- 9
- Pages
- 931671-931671
- ISSN
- 2296-861X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9424542
- OpenAlex
- W4291824722
- Cited by
- 3
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2023: 2
- FWCI
- 0.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Nutrition (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFF0300603)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Orthopedics and Sports Medicine › Sports Performance and Training
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Muscle metabolism and nutrition
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
- Keywords
- sodium bicarbonate supplementation, anaerobic capacity, high-intensity exercise, gastrointestinal symptoms, blood lactate, metabolomics, urinary metabolites, post-exercise recovery, Wingate test, peak power, heart rate, rating of perceived exertion, young men, exercise performance enhancement, acid-base balance
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