The Perfect Timing For Sodium Bicarbonate Supplementation: Greater Possibilities With Probabilities
Oliveira, Luana F. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise: July 2020 - Volume 52 - Issue 7S - p 170
PURPOSE: To describe the reliability of blood bicarbonate pharmacokinetics to sodium bicarbonate (SB) supplementation and, based on those data, to estimate probabilities of SB ingestion timing before exercise using currently accepted thresholds.
METHODS: Thirteen males (age 27±5 y; body mass (BM) 77.4±10.5 kg; height 1.75±0.06 m) ingested 0.3 g·kg-1BM SB in capsules on 3 occasions (SB1, SB2 and SB3). Blood was obtained at baseline and every 10 min following SB ingestion for 3h, then every 20 min for a further hour to determine bicarbonate concentration. Time-to-peak (Tmax), absolute peak (Cmax), absolute peak change (ΔCmax) and area under the curve (AUC) were determined and analysed using mixed models, as was the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), coefficient of variation (CV) and typical error (TE). Individual variation in pharmacokinetic responses was assessed using a Bayesian simulation approach using multilevel models with random intercepts.
RESULTS: No significant differences between sessions were shown for blood bicarbonate regarding Cmax, ΔCmax or AUC (all p>0.05), although Tmax occurred significantly earlier in SB2 (127±36 min) than in SB1 (169±54 min, p=0.0088) and SB3 (159±42 min, p=0.05). ICC, CV and TE showed moderate to poor reliability for these variables. Bayesian modelling estimated that over 80% of individuals from the population experience elevated blood bicarbonate levels greater than +5 mmol·L-1 between 75-240 min after ingestion, and between 90-225 min for elevations greater than +6 mmol·L-1 (Table 1).
CONCLUSIONS: Assessing SB supplementation using discrete values showed only moderate reliability at the group level, and poor reliability at the individual level, while Tmax was not reproducible. However, when analysed as modelled curves, a 0.3 g·kg-1BM dose was shown to create a long-lasting window of ergogenic potential, which has practical utility for athletes and suggests that individually tailored timings are not required.