Posted by Larry Hoover on August 18, 2003, at 6:52:45
In reply to Re: By the way.. I'm slooowwww, posted by gabbix2 on August 16, 2003, at 19:29:25
> And today my excuse is Topamax ;)
>
> I'm confused. Okay, as I understood I was mistaken in that its not the sodium in baking soda that is the danger in using to potentiate dexedrine, but the alkalinization of the urine.
>
> So wouldn't taking anything that alkalinizes the system enough to potentiate the Dexedrine have the same dangerous effect, if the sodium is not the primary problem? Or does baking soda have more capability to alkalanize the urine?It's totally a dose issue. To potentiate the dexedrine, you want to alkalinize (neutralize) the stomach. That doesn't take a massive dose of sodium bicarbonate. If you take too much, you'll not only neutralize the stomach, you'll also affect blood chemistry, and simultaneously force the kidneys to start dumping bicarbonate. Your stomach will sense the neutralization effect, and just turn on the acid pumps, to restore the normal acidity in the stomach. Your blood pH is much more sensitive to disturbance (bicarbonate isn't a normal dietary component).
Sodium restriction is probably a good idea for some people, but the idea that it is good for everybody may be one of those over-generalization things. There was a recent study of heart patients, who had all had one heart attack already. Half were put on a sodium-restricted diet, and the other half were left alone. The sodium-restricted group were far more likely to have a fatal second heart attack than the other group. Blood pressure rises, for some people, when sodium intake increase, but not for all people. In a certain group, blood pressure actually decreases with sodium increase. For most people, there is (statistically) no effect at all.
> I'm not trying to be difficult I'm confused.
> Because I don't understand why avoiding the sodium is the issue when (as I gathered anyway) its not the sodium causing the alkalinization.If you're referring to my post, in which I said that sodium restriction is overblown as a risk factor, or some such, I hope I've explained myself better. If you feel like avoiding sodium, fine (you're getting lots, as it is), but there are alternatives, such as calcium salts.
LarP.S. You're not slow. When you hear new ideas that conflict with ideas you've already accepted, it takes a while to sort out which ideas you'll place your faith in. I'm sorry to add to the confusion.
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:250793
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030818/msgs/251785.html