Does varying the ingestion duration of sodium citrate influence blood alkalosis and gastrointestinal symptoms?

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Objectives: To compare blood alkalosis, gastrointestinal symptoms and indicators of strong ion difference after ingestion of 500 mg.kg-1 BM sodium citrate over four different durations. Methods: Sixteen healthy and active participants ingested 500 mg.kg-1 BM sodium citrate in gelatine capsules over a 15, 30, 45 or 60 min period using a randomized cross-over experimental design. Gastrointestinal symptoms questionnaires and venous blood samples were collected before ingestion, immediately post-ingestion, and every 30 min for 480 min post-ingestion. Blood samples were analysed for blood pH, [HCO3-], [Na+], [Cl-] and plasma [citrate]. Linear mixed models were used to estimate the effect of the ingestion protocols. Results: For all treatments, blood [HCO3-] was significantly above baseline for the entire 480 min post-ingestion period, and peak occurred 180 min post-ingestion. Blood [HCO3-] and blood pH were significantly above baseline and not significantly below the peak between 150-270 min post-ingestion. Furthermore, blood pH and [HCO3-] were significantly lower for the 60 min ingestion duration when compared to the other treatments. Gastrointestinal symptoms were minor for all treatments; the mean total session symptoms ratings (all times summed together) were between 9.8 and 11.6 from a maximum possible rating of 720. Conclusion: Based on the findings of this investigation, sodium citrate should be ingested over a duration of less than 60 min (15, 30 or 45 min), and completed 150-270 min before exercise.

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