Coffee & Tea
March 1, 2023

Does Adding Baking Soda in Coffee Help For Weight Loss?

A lot of people are really trying to change their diet to shed a good amount of pounds. But adding baking soda to coffee for weight loss is one big scam. Coffee can already help you lose weight and baking soda can be life-threatening when consumed in huge quantities. Yikes!

Joana Regulacion
Table of Contents:

A lot of people are really trying to change their diet to shed a good amount of pounds. Since coffee is part of our daily diet, the attraction to different coffee for weight loss is obvious. Now, people are trying out the baking soda in coffee for weight loss —but is it safe?

There is no scientific evidence that baking soda can help you lose weight and it can be dangerous when you consume a lot of it.

Does adding baking soda to coffee help you lose weight?

No, definitely not. Baking soda won’t be helping you lose weight. Not even when added in coffee.

There are numerous potentially dangerous side effects of ingesting large amounts of baking soda. Wether you consume it alone or in combination with water, it can be deadly.

A lot of us wants to lose weight —and fast! This could be the reason why most of us jump on every new weight loss trend.

❌Misconception #1:❌

When you combine baking soda with water, apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice, it can be particularly effective at helping you in lose excess body fat.

I’m not sure when it started, but there is little scientific evidence to support the baking soda on the coffee trend. This is the same for apple cider vinegar and lemon. They aren’t likely to be effective for weight loss.

❌Misconception #2:❌

Baking soda is said to have alkalizing effects on the body, which are thought to promote or prevent weight gain.

Straight away, you need to know this theory has been debunked numerous times.

But where is this coming from? 🤔

✅Fact:✅

An alkaline diet combined with some exercise is what will help you lose weight quickly.

Baking soda has an alkaline pH which it changes the pH level when it reacts with an acid. As a result, it can quickly soothe an upset stomach or mask a bad odor. So, this should make sense right?

Alkaline foods aid in the maintenance of a healthy PH level in the body. As a result, this diet encourages people to eat more fruits, vegetables, seeds, and legumes like lentils, tofu, and less processed food and aerated beverages.

But that’s the thing about alkalizing —it’s about choosing a diet.

❌Misconception #3:❌

Baking soda will help you lose weight by flushing out fat and toxins.

Baking soda has natural diuretic properties. Yes, this is going to be effective in flushing out all the toxins present in the urinary tract.

But like other diuretics, the weight loss effects of baking soda will be temporary —because it’s not fat at all but just water weight. You’re just peeing the weight out and gaining it back again after drinking whatever.

And it’s not like you can just pee yourself into losing all those extra pounds. Does the temporary weight loss justify the scary side effects? I don’t think so.

What does baking powder do to your coffee?

And since we're already talking about alkalinizing, it’s important to know the actual effect of baking soda on your coffee.

Now don’t get this confused with baking powder. Baking powder is a dry chemical leavening agent. It is made of a mixture of carbonate or bicarbonate and a weak acid. 

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Now that is all cleared out, let’s go back to baking soda.

✅Fact:✅

Baking soda aids in the neutralization of some of the naturally occurring acids in coffee. A quarter teaspoon of baking soda in a pot of coffee can soften the harsh flavor.

This can be a form of salvation for that cheap coffee you have in your cupboard and debating whether to throw it out. 🗑️ It could make that batch of coffee easier to digest.

Is it safe to add baking soda to coffee?

No, it’s definitely not safe to add baking soda to your coffee regularly. Especially in large amounts.

So what is baking soda?

Soda ash, also known as sodium carbonate, is used to make baking soda. Soda ash can be produced in one of two ways:

  1. By passing carbon dioxide and ammonia through a concentrated solution of sodium chloride also known as table salt.
  2. It is mined from trona deposits.

Yikes! The sound of “ammonia” alone is giving me the creeps.

But it’s not all bad, as long as you remember to use tiny amounts of baking soda at a time.

As little as a 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda in a pot of coffee is enough to smooth the harsh flavor and acidity. Even bakers use the same amount for every 1 cup of flour in a recipe.

See? Just a teeny tiny bit. 🤏

✅Fact:✅

Baking soda toxicity can manifest itself in a variety of ways. The most common symptoms are nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. 

It can be bad to the point that 1-5% of patients experience neurologic symptoms. This can include lethargy, drowsiness, nystagmus, seizures, weakness, and, in rare cases, coma.

How coffee actually helps with weight loss

In truth, just plain black coffee is enough to help you lose weight. That’s it.

To understand more, let’s go through some of the facts about coffee.

✅Fact:✅

Coffee helps your body to form fewer fat cells, resulting in fewer calories in the body.

So caffeine has what we call chlorogenic acid. It is an antioxidant found in black coffee that aids in weight loss. This is because Chlorogenic acid slows the body's production of glucose after meals.

Chlorogenic acid and related compounds are anti-diabetic, DNA-protective, and neuroprotective. Just remember though, mixing cream and tons of sugar is going to negate these benefits.

BLACK.COFFEE.ONLY.

✅Fact:✅

Black coffee can aid in weight loss because it contains very few calories.

There are very few calories in black coffee. Well, at least if you take it without cream, milk, or sugar. This makes black coffee a pretty ideal drink to include in your journey to weight loss.

Did you know that you gain weight if you consume more calories than you burn? 

A pound (0.45 kilogram) of fat equals 3,500 calories of energy. In addition, each 8-ounce cup of black coffee contains less than 5 calories.

You lose weight when you eat fewer calories every day. And you can burn more calories with more time at the gym.

✅Fact:✅

Coffee helps increase your metabolic rate and makes it easier for you to burn fat. 

Black coffee has been shown to increase a person's basal metabolic rate (BMR). This is because it contains a lot of caffeine which is a neuro stimulant.

BMR is the rate at which a person burns calories while at rest. So even if you’re not going on a run today, you can still burn some.

The effect of caffeine in coffee may be different for each of our metabolic activities. To clarify, you and I probably metabolize food and beverages differently.

Since coffee is such a gem for losing weight, people have been creating other concoctions with it. This includes lemon coffee and enzyme coffee.

❌Misconception #4:❌

Enzyme coffee contains enzymes that help break down fat cells.

Enzyme coffee can work for weight loss but it is no better than drinking regular coffee.

“Enzyme” is a broad term for a protein that accelerates chemical reactions in the body. Digestive enzymes, in particular, aid in the breakdown of food into smaller components that the body can absorb more easily and quickly.

Enzyme coffee won’t be giving you any special results. Just the same results regular black coffee would —and black coffee costs considerably less.

Scam: Adding baking soda to coffee for weight loss

Who doesn’t want to be fit and healthy? With the right diet, we can easily achieve this —definitely! 

No matter what other people tell you, don’t make a habit of adding baking soda to your coffee. Don’t even think of drinking it every day if you don’t want serious health risks.

Adding baking soda in coffee for weight loss is a big scam. Coffee can already help you out in that department single-handedly.

About the author
Joana Regulacion
Joana is an engaging content writer and dynamic virtual assistant. ✍️ She helps business owners and entrepreneurs deliver a clear message to everyone and attract and engage the perfect audience. She is a proud wife, mom, and animal lover.‍ She believes that her love for learning new things is her key to writing engaging content.

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