Bicarbonated Energy

An explanation of the remarkable endurance displayed by German and Japanese runners in the 1936 Olympic Games (TIME, Aug. 17) was offered last week. Some observers at the Games guessed that the contestants took cocaine. Better informed observers guessed at benzedrine, a non-narcotic stimulant (TIME, Sept. 14) which reputable Dr. Morris Henry Nathanson of Los Angeles last fortnight, in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggested would be an excellent aid to crammers, sprinters and others who need a sudden burst of energy. Last week's news from Berlin showed that the Olympic phenomena, at least in the case of the Germans, may have been due to nothing more subtle or deleterious than bicarbonate of soda.

Before the Berlin Medical Society, Professor Helmut Dennig asserted that doses of this common kitchen chemical increased physical capacity and endurance between 30% and 100%. A runner "was able to run at full tilt for 42 minutes instead of 20, as formerly. A bicycle racer maintained a sprint for 15.9 minutes, whereas 10.9 minutes had been his maximum."

Physiology involved depends on the acid-alkaline condition of the body. Exertion causes the oxidation (burning) of blood sugar in the muscles. Product of that combustion is lactic acid which ordinarily changes into carbon dioxide and is exhaled. During intense effort too much lactic acid is produced in a short time to be eliminated (as oxidized gas) through the lungs. This causes trouble unless the blood contains enough alkaline substances to neutralize the acid. Oranges, grapefruit and lemons alkalinize the blood in a natural way. So do certain mineral waters. But none, according to Berlin's Professor Dennig, can compare with baking soda in simplicity of dosage or directness of effect. The dose he gives was not stated in last week's dispatches to the U. S. Trainers of U. S. athletes seldom dose their men with baking soda. When they do they give from one teaspoonful to one tablespoonful. This they do two or three hours before the contest, because they agree with the Germans that "alkalinization should be produced suddenly." They also agree that no man should be kept in such an over-alkalinized state for more than four days at a time. Reason : his teeth and bones will lose their calcium, become soft. A favorite preventive: pot cheese.

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