The latest supplement boosting professional athletes to world record times is just as likely to be found being sprinkled into mixing bowls in the Great British Bake-Off tent.
Last month, American distance runner Grant Fisher set a new indoor 3,000m world record at an event in Boston, Massachusetts.
And while the 27-year-old was running on track designed for maximum traction and in hyper-modern carbon-plate running spikes that helped propel him along to a time of seven minutes, 22.91 seconds, he credited his record-breaking performance to his use of baking soda.
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“I think it makes an impact, and if that impact is one per cent, that would be massive,” Fisher told reporters. “It’s probably more like 0.1%, if there is one. And if it is just mental, then I’ll take that, too.”
Baking soda – or bicarbonate of soda, to give it its scientific term – is most commonly used as an ingredient in baking that acts as a rising agent, helping to fluff up your pancakes or make your Victoria sponge extra spongey.
It is also often employed as a cleaning chemical, mixed, for example, with vinegar or lemon juice to tackle stubborn carpet stains or blemishes on clothing.
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It's use in sport is nothing new, either. Usually referred to as bicarb, athletes have been experimenting with baking soda as a supplement for decades. But it's supposed performance benefits have always had to be weighed against its potential for causing stomach upset and loose bowels.
More recently, however, Swedish company Maurten have devised pill form of the substance that encases the bicarb in a hydrogel that allows it to pass through the stomach before being absorbed in the intestine, lowering the likelihood of nausea or diarrhoea.
The science behind the supplement explains that the bicarb counteracts the build-up of acid in muscles during intense endurance exercise, in theory allowing users to perform to a higher level for longer.
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Fisher only began using bicarb last November and is already extolling it's benefits. And the use of bicarb has become so prevalent that at the 2023 World Championships, two thirds of all medalists in races of between 800m and 10,000m were taking Maurten's product.
Whether it earns you a Paul Hollywood handshake or an Olympic gold medal, baking soda is the latest secret ingredient driving elite performance.
Topics: Athletics
Ryan Baldi