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Amount of sodium in sodium citrate
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I have found a source for bulk sodium citrate powder. Does anybody know how much sodium is in sodium citrate? For example I know 1 tsp of sodium chloride (table salt) has approximately 2000-2200mg of Sodium depending on source quoted. But I have been unable to find the same information for sodium citrate? Any ideas appreciated
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Re: Amount of sodium in sodium citrate [drrafe] [ In reply to ]
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drrafe wrote:
I have found a source for bulk sodium citrate powder. Does anybody know how much sodium is in sodium citrate? For example I know 1 tsp of sodium chloride (table salt) has approximately 2000-2200mg of Sodium depending on source quoted. But I have been unable to find the same information for sodium citrate? Any ideas appreciated

depending on if you are getting mono, di, or tri sodium citrate. Sodium is 23g/mol

citric acid is 192g/mol, citrate is 191g/mol (one fewer hydrogen). So if you are getting mono sodium citrate, sodium makes up 23/(191+23)=10.7% of the powder by mass.
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Re: Amount of sodium in sodium citrate [echappist] [ In reply to ]
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echappist wrote:
drrafe wrote:
I have found a source for bulk sodium citrate powder. Does anybody know how much sodium is in sodium citrate? For example I know 1 tsp of sodium chloride (table salt) has approximately 2000-2200mg of Sodium depending on source quoted. But I have been unable to find the same information for sodium citrate? Any ideas appreciated


depending on if you are getting mono, di, or tri sodium citrate. Sodium is 23g/mol

citric acid is 192g/mol, citrate is 191g/mol (one fewer hydrogen). So if you are getting mono sodium citrate, sodium makes up 23/(191+23)=10.7% of the powder by mass.

Ya, even if you get trisodium citrate, the % sodium (Na) = 26.7% Na. Regular table salt (NaCl) is about 39.3% Na so, if you want max Na, then just use regular table salt. Or is there something special about the citrate that you're interested in???

Also, using 1 cup = 8 oz = 48 teaspoons and 1 lb = 16 oz = 453.6 grams, 1 teaspoon of table salt has about 4.72 grams weight and 1.86 grams or 1860 mg Na at the calculated 39.3% ratio.

Echappist: Not to quibble but my references say citrate = C6H5O7 which ==> 1 Mole = 6*12 + 5*1 + 7*16 = 189 versus your 191. My references indicate that citric acid is C6H8O7 with 3 H+ ions, rather than just one.


"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."
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Re: Amount of sodium in sodium citrate [ericmulk] [ In reply to ]
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If either of you two very helpful chemistry folks are still available, or anyone who could answer a similar question re sodium citrate, it would be most helpful to me.
How much bicarbonate is produced from say 1 g of NaCitrate (or whatever qty you want to choose & I’ll extrapolate)?

The issue is that I have a high protein diet (few plants) & need to be on guard against an acid issue. Currently I get bicarbonate by adding some baking soda (NaHCO3) to my drinking water. I have been told that half teaspoon of baking soda has 2g (2,000mg) bicarbonate. I would like to know how much bicarbonate say 1 g of NaCitrate has?
Here is some info on my product; my chemistry days are too distant & I’d rather not guess. Thank you.
Tri Sodium Citrate Dihydrate
Formula: C6H5Na3O7 .2H2O
Molecular weight: 294.11

CAS Number: 6132-04-3
EINECS No.: 200-675-3
E-Number: E-331
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Re: Amount of sodium in sodium citrate [Paul K.] [ In reply to ]
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Paul K. wrote:
If either of you two very helpful chemistry folks are still available, or anyone who could answer a similar question re sodium citrate, it would be most helpful to me.
How much bicarbonate is produced from say 1 g of NaCitrate (or whatever qty you want to choose & I’ll extrapolate)?

The issue is that I have a high protein diet (few plants) & need to be on guard against an acid issue. Currently I get bicarbonate by adding some baking soda (NaHCO3) to my drinking water. I have been told that half teaspoon of baking soda has 2g (2,000mg) bicarbonate. I would like to know how much bicarbonate say 1 g of NaCitrate has?
Here is some info on my product; my chemistry days are too distant & I’d rather not guess. Thank you.
Tri Sodium Citrate Dihydrate
Formula: C6H5Na3O7 .2H2O
Molecular weight: 294.11

CAS Number: 6132-04-3
EINECS No.: 200-675-3
E-Number: E-331
well for that sodium citrate it is23.45%sodium

Not sure why you think bicarbonate is associated with this ingredient, it liberates citrate a very different molecule. So biochemistry is involved here. Bicarbonate is a buffer and the product of the dissolution of carbon dioxide in acqueous solutions. Citrate tends to be hyped due to adding an acid taste rather than a salty taste and because citric acid is part of Krebs cycle (also called the citric acid cycle), whether this citrate actually gets used in that energy cycle is another question... There is some indication that bicarbonate loading can affect performance but I think the jury is still out on that (listen to a recent youtube interview between Dr S. Seiler and Nils van der Poel they talk about bicarbonate in the latter half.

If your question is how much of the sodium citrate is citrate then the answer is 64.3% the rest is water and sodium. Not sure if this is the answer to your question.
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Re: Amount of sodium in sodium citrate [s5100e] [ In reply to ]
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Thank you for your help.

Not sure why you think bicarbonate is associated with this ingredient, it liberates citrate a very different molecule. So biochemistry is involved here.
Oh, I thought some how bicarbonate was formed in the body as a result of ingesting NaCitrate. Reason for my thinking that is because discussions dealing with pH & buffering mention these 2 products (NaCitrate & NaHCO3) & I knew bicarbonate is what had the affect on pH/ buffering in the NaHCO3 product. Sounds like you are saying it is the citrate released in NaCitrate that has the similar affect as the HCO3 released in NaHCO3.

Bicarbonate is a buffer and the product of the dissolution of carbon dioxide in acqueous solutions. Citrate tends to be hyped due to adding an acid taste rather than a salty taste and because citric acid is part of Krebs cycle (also called the citric acid cycle), whether this citrate actually gets used in that energy cycle is another question... There is some indication that bicarbonate loading can affect performance but I think the jury is still out on that (listen to a recent youtube interview between Dr S. Seiler and Nils van der Poel they talk about bicarbonate in the latter half.
All very helpful, thanks. I'm only considering NaCitrate as an alternative to my current baking soda (added to my drinking water all day long, so small frequent doses, rather than “pre-loading” with a larger dose at once as some try in athletics). Baking soda is simple & cheaper, so why not stick with baking soda? Because the citrate could be helpful to me for reasons related to kidney stones.
I came up with all these questions after reading The Mineral Fix by DiNicolantonio, James; Land, Siim. And their book Win, which some on this forum may enjoy ( I have zero affiliation with the authors etc).

Reading this article, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3021445/, it states:
“… 0.3 g kg-1 body weight…” Of both baking soda and NaCitrate ,
so the weight of each product is the same? 0.3g per kg of body weight ? That sounds odd (but I'm not a biochemist).

Baking soda box reads
1/8th Tsp is 0.6g
so a ½ Tsp weighs 0.24g is 240mg ( I take ½ Tsp baking soda per day)

Someone weighing 130 lb is 59kg x 0.3= 18g of baking soda, this cannot be correct (based on me guessing, based on me taking about ½ Tsp/day of baking soda to get enough bicarbonate to do the trick)? Of course correct me anywhere I’m off, that’s why I'm asking.
So their “0.3 g kg-1 body weight” must be 0.3g per person? Which is 300mg, that is sounding better, closer to 240mg in a ½ Tsp?

If your question is how much of the sodium citrate is citrate then the answer is 64.3% the rest is water and sodium. Not sure if this is the answer to your question.
Yes, that is my question. And really I'm after how much NaCitrate will have about the same effect on pH/buffering as my current ½ Tsp/day of baking soda. I'm now taking baking soda, and I want to change to NaCitrate (or add NaCitrate). If I add NaCitrate and still take the baking soda, I assume I reduce the baking soda, don’t want to be silly/overdo trying to counter an acid concern. Obviously taking only 1 product seems best, hence my question “how much NaCitrate will have about the same effect on pH/buffering as my current ½ Tsp/day of baking soda”. Thank you once again.
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Re: Amount of sodium in sodium citrate [Paul K.] [ In reply to ]
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Paul K. wrote:
If either of you two very helpful chemistry folks are still available, or anyone who could answer a similar question re sodium citrate, it would be most helpful to me.
How much bicarbonate is produced from say 1 g of NaCitrate (or whatever qty you want to choose & I’ll extrapolate)?


Paul K. wrote:

And really I'm after how much NaCitrate will have about the same effect on pH/buffering as my current ½ Tsp/day of baking soda. I'm now taking baking soda, and I want to change to NaCitrate (or add NaCitrate). If I add NaCitrate and still take the baking soda, I assume I reduce the baking soda, don’t want to be silly/overdo trying to counter an acid concern. Obviously taking only 1 product seems best, hence my question “how much NaCitrate will have about the same effect on pH/buffering as my current ½ Tsp/day of baking soda”. Thank you once again.


This is a very complicated question, and one which I am not qualified to answer. If I were a betting man, I'd guess someone wrote a master's or doctoral dissertation on just this question (effect of various non-bicarbonate weak conjugate base on maintenance of biological equilibria).

In the simplest terms, buffer solutions are topics covered in general chemistry and physical chemistry (both undergrad level courses, and furthermore classes in which I performed well), and I can give you an answer on what I would do if I need a laboratory buffer when I'm out of bicarbonate but have some citrate on hand, and assuming that the identity of the anion doesn't matter (which is to say, I care only about buffering ability but not effects these anions might have). If that were the case, I'd opine that pKa of carbonic acid is awfully close to that of (H-citrate)^(2-), and that in a pinch in the context of a controlled chemical experiment, those two anions should perform similarly (and under various assumptions, such as the experiment doesn't involve any metallic cations that could be easily chelated by citrate).


However, the assumption above represents such a simplified system and can not begin to emulate the complexity of biological equilibria. For one, the identity of the anion matters, for there are special enzymes used in the overall biological pH equilibria, where the special enzymes recognize bicarbonate but not citrate. As such, the anions aren't just mere interchangeable spectators.

If I were to guess, I'd say you are looking for someone with specialist knowledge (which is to say, someone who has written on or extensively studied those aforementioned dissertations) and not just any chemist to address your question. Even then, given how this is directly related to personal application (as oppose to a scientific inquiry), I doubt anyone other than a medical professional with advanced training on biological equilibria could provide a solid answer.
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Re: Amount of sodium in sodium citrate [echappist] [ In reply to ]
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echappist wrote:
Paul K. wrote:
If either of you two very helpful chemistry folks are still available, or anyone who could answer a similar question re sodium citrate, it would be most helpful to me.
How much bicarbonate is produced from say 1 g of NaCitrate (or whatever qty you want to choose & I’ll extrapolate)?


Paul K. wrote:

And really I'm after how much NaCitrate will have about the same effect on pH/buffering as my current ½ Tsp/day of baking soda. I'm now taking baking soda, and I want to change to NaCitrate (or add NaCitrate). If I add NaCitrate and still take the baking soda, I assume I reduce the baking soda, don’t want to be silly/overdo trying to counter an acid concern. Obviously taking only 1 product seems best, hence my question “how much NaCitrate will have about the same effect on pH/buffering as my current ½ Tsp/day of baking soda”. Thank you once again.


This is a very complicated question, and one which I am not qualified to answer. If I were a betting man, I'd guess someone wrote a master's or doctoral dissertation on just this question (effect of various non-bicarbonate weak conjugate base on maintenance of biological equilibria).

In the simplest terms, buffer solutions are topics covered in general chemistry and physical chemistry (both undergrad level courses, and furthermore classes in which I performed well), and I can give you an answer on what I would do if I need a laboratory buffer when I'm out of bicarbonate but have some citrate on hand, and assuming that the identity of the anion doesn't matter (which is to say, I care only about buffering ability but not effects these anions might have). If that were the case, I'd opine that pKa of carbonic acid is awfully close to that of (H-citrate)^(2-), and that in a pinch in the context of a controlled chemical experiment, those two anions should perform similarly (and under various assumptions, such as the experiment doesn't involve any metallic cations that could be easily chelated by citrate).


However, the assumption above represents such a simplified system and can not begin to emulate the complexity of biological equilibria. For one, the identity of the anion matters, for there are special enzymes used in the overall biological pH equilibria, where the special enzymes recognize bicarbonate but not citrate. As such, the anions aren't just mere interchangeable spectators.

If I were to guess, I'd say you are looking for someone with specialist knowledge (which is to say, someone who has written on or extensively studied those aforementioned dissertations) and not just any chemist to address your question. Even then, given how this is directly related to personal application (as oppose to a scientific inquiry), I doubt anyone other than a medical professional with advanced training on biological equilibria could provide a solid answer.
^^^
what echappist said. on the chemistry/ biochemistry/ physiological side.

I also do product development for sports drink for some of the major players in that space. Often sodium citrate is used because instead of tasting salty it tastes more sour and compliments fruit flavours. Sodium bicarbonate is rarely used because for the most part in a beverage the flavours are fruity and well that means acids so you are talking about baking powder vs baking soda, the former contains citric acid the latter does not. Also when you combine citric acid and sodium bicarbonate you cause carbon dioxide to be liberated which is good if you are making dough rise not so much if it is in your stomach... of course the moment you swallow sodium bicarbonate solution it hits your stomach which is full of hydrochloric acid, which again liberates carbon dioxide and is not all that pleasant. So as a sodium source it is questionable and as a buffer for you physiology it is questionable...

short answer "This is a very complicated question"
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Re: Amount of sodium in sodium citrate [drrafe] [ In reply to ]
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470-700mg per tsp, depending on product, from what I've seen.

Here's a discussion with images from 3 products with variable sodium citrate per tsp.

Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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Re: Amount of sodium in sodium citrate [ericmulk] [ In reply to ]
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ericmulk wrote:
Ya, even if you get trisodium citrate, the % sodium (Na) = 26.7% Na. Regular table salt (NaCl) is about 39.3% Na so, if you want max Na, then just use regular table salt. Or is there something special about the citrate that you're interested in???
Sodium citrate has lower molecule number per liter for the same number of sodium ions in solution, when compared to NaCl. Lower osmolarity. Probably only meaningful at very high sodium intake rates. (ie. .>1000mg/hr during exercise)

Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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📱 Check out our app → Saturday: Pro Fuel & Hydration, a performance nutrition coach in your pocket.
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Re: Amount of sodium in sodium citrate [DrAlexHarrison] [ In reply to ]
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Thank you to everyone who replied. It definitely helped me, even though as you state it's a complex issue so we are talking generalities which is good enough for me. Baking soda has the issue of more potential GI upset, NaCitrate has the benefit of maybe less GI upset & the benefit of sour taste which is more pleasant. Both are pretty cheap. And I don’t feel so ignorant.

Hopefully final questions. I will be taking about 2-3g/day of NaCitrate now, no more baking soda.
1- I assume it works just as well consumed all day long in small frequent doses by mixing it in my drinking water, rather than say 3-5 quarter-teaspoons portions? I.e. having it mixed in solution doesn't alter the affect I'm after (pH/buffering to counter a high protein diet/acid issue)? The only other thing I will add to the water aside from NaCitrate would be salt.
2- Similar question re adding things to my drinking water ( also inspired by reading the same books I mentioned above). The authors mention the benefits of mineral waters mostly for their Mg & Ca content. Is mineral water something that can be homemade/replicated by adding some pulverized CaCitrate or CaCarbonate tabs into my salty drinking water (I add salt to my drinking water), and some MgCitarte or some other Mg tabs? Or is not that simple for chemistry reasons? For sure they may not completely dissolve in a 24 hour period or the coatings of the tabs may not either. Thank you for considering all my questions.
Last edited by: Paul K.: Jun 4, 22 6:20
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Re: Amount of sodium in sodium citrate [DrAlexHarrison] [ In reply to ]
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Dr., you recommend the "Pure" brand of Sodium Citrate or I saw that link somewhere. Do you know what the sodium content is at one teaspoon?
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Re: Amount of sodium in sodium citrate [lonniecdams] [ In reply to ]
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lonniecdams wrote:
Dr., you recommend the "Pure" brand of Sodium Citrate or I saw that link somewhere. Do you know what the sodium content is at one teaspoon?
I have recommended that brand only because it was cheapest on amazon in 2018 when I first purchased it, and I saved the link in TextExpander :)

There are half a dozen other brands that will work and have more explicit labeling.

Based on a recent email exchange with Pure, I believe it's somewhere between 1000-1200mg per tsp for their brand, though we're still waiting on a straight answer from them. If they don't provide a straight answer, I'll be switching brands.
Other brands range from 940-1400, from what I've seen.

I've also been petitioned by bulksupplements.com to partner with them and offer folks a discount on their sodium citrate (and all their other supps). I'm considering it carefully because my company neutrality is something I value, and think that my readers have valued that too.

Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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📱 Check out our app → Saturday: Pro Fuel & Hydration, a performance nutrition coach in your pocket.
Join us on YouTube → Saturday Morning | Ride & Run Faster and our growing Saturday User Hub
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Re: Amount of sodium in sodium citrate [Paul K.] [ In reply to ]
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Paul K. wrote:
Thank you to everyone who replied. It definitely helped me, even though as you state it's a complex issue so we are talking generalities which is good enough for me. Baking soda has the issue of more potential GI upset, NaCitrate has the benefit of maybe less GI upset & the benefit of sour taste which is more pleasant. Both are pretty cheap. And I don’t feel so ignorant.
Just saw this response for the first time.

Paul K. wrote:
Hopefully final questions. I will be taking about 2-3g/day of NaCitrate now, no more baking soda.
1- I assume it works just as well consumed all day long in small frequent doses by mixing it in my drinking water, rather than say 3-5 quarter-teaspoons portions?
As a sodium source, yes, it does.

Paul K. wrote:
I.e. having it mixed in solution doesn't alter the affect I'm after (pH/buffering to counter a high protein diet/acid issue)?
I've not investigated the basicity of sodium citrate but doubt that it is as basic as sodium bicarb, or it would be just as hostile on your GI. The reason bicarb is hostile to the GI primarily is its basicity, NOT osmolarity differences between bicarb and citrate.

Paul K. wrote:
The only other thing I will add to the water aside from NaCitrate would be salt.
If you're looking for more sodium, great!

Paul K. wrote:
2- Similar question re adding things to my drinking water ( also inspired by reading the same books I mentioned above). The authors mention the benefits of mineral waters mostly for their Mg & Ca content. Is mineral water something that can be homemade/replicated by adding some pulverized CaCitrate or CaCarbonate tabs into my salty drinking water (I add salt to my drinking water), and some MgCitarte or some other Mg tabs?
Yep. FYI mag citrate is a laxative. :)

Paul K. wrote:
Or is not that simple for chemistry reasons? For sure they may not completely dissolve in a 24 hour period or the coatings of the tabs may not either. Thank you for considering all my questions.
The reason I was petitioned by bulksupplements to partner with them (I have not) is because they noticed that my links were driving traffic to their website. Magnesium Citrate is one of those links. I frequently recommend it for stool softening. But if you want magnesium in water, that's the easiest way to get it there. Consider yourself warned.

Full disclosure: I don't drink mineral water and have never recommended it to anyone. Reason: don't see the benefit. Haven't investigated fully because it falls in the category (in my mind) of one of those things I'll investigate deeply only to yet again confirm my suspicion that it is useless or no net benefit. The ability of the supplement market to outstrip my "quash the nonsense" attempts, is substantial!

Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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📱 Check out our app → Saturday: Pro Fuel & Hydration, a performance nutrition coach in your pocket.
Join us on YouTube → Saturday Morning | Ride & Run Faster and our growing Saturday User Hub
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Re: Amount of sodium in sodium citrate [DrAlexHarrison] [ In reply to ]
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Thank you very much for your help.
The Mg Citrate doesn't seem to have any laxative affect on me, and I have other forms of Mg as well (malate, and lysinate-glycate chelate). I too have never purchased a mineral water. I simply became interested in it because of the aforementioned book. I specifically wanted to get a little more calcium and magnesium than I was getting based on a test I had, and was coincidentally reading two of his books at the same time; the case he made about the differences in absorption of certain minerals in mineral water versus supplements versus in foods was interesting & relevant to me.

As far as I can tell he has no commercial interests in the two mineral waters he recommends, but I haven't asked. He is a cardiovascular research scientist and has a doctorate in pharmacy.
His book seems to be well-cited; someone with your expertise I believe could quite easily determine if his concepts on mineral water are bunk or indeed have some legitimate points. I don't see anyone out there bashing him that he giving bad advice etc. Admittedly, his book The Mineral fFx, goes into quite a bit of detail about quite a bit of minerals many of which simply are not in need of tweaking for someone in good health, but I understand his position where if he leaves something out, even though it's a trace mineral, he would feel negligent or like he was doing a half a job, he has to cover all the bases. His discussions about mineral Waters are in chapters 4, 5, and 6 predominantly.
Your efforts towards quashing the nonsense is appreciated.
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Re: Amount of sodium in sodium citrate [DrAlexHarrison] [ In reply to ]
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Somewhat tangential -- I've been following your recommendation of adding sodium citrate to drinks. This Pure brand, and others on Amazon -- do you know if these products are considered food, thus regulated by FDA, or fall more in the wild, wild west of supplements with very little regulation? I'm very conscious of possible contamination, particularly as some salt supplements have been found to be tainted with ostarine and/or other SARMs. Any thoughts on the risk of using sodium citrate and other products you've mentioned or how to best protect oneself from possible contaminations, as it doesn't appear that any of these products are NSF or Informed Sport certified?
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Re: Amount of sodium in sodium citrate [adnama] [ In reply to ]
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I've been surprised by the links to unknown "brands" on Amazon, too. It's costly to produce most niche chemical with high purity. I certainly wouldn't trust some 3rd world lowest-bidder factory with my health, especially when it comes to supplements in the US, where they get zero scrutiny. Not talking about the substances Safe Sport checks for, but byproducts and contaminants in general.

Is there a reputable sodium citrate source? Something along the lines of Creapure which is made by AlzChem in Germany, Ajipure made by Ajinomoto in Japan, etc.
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Re: Amount of sodium in sodium citrate [adnama] [ In reply to ]
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I don't know if regulated by FDA. That's an interesting question and I'd be curious to know the purity myself. But I have no health concerns.

I have zero concerns of WADA/USADA related tainting of the supplements I've ever recommended.

My concern level for health-related tainting of the things I've ever mentioned is also quite low. Reason: it pays to be reasonably pure and not making your customers sick. Negative public reviews are intensely damaging to sales.

Full disclosure, every product I ever mention is less of a recommendation, and more of a "here's a handy link to something I use but there are probably other equally good options out there, because its truly nothing fancy." I'm not blind to the fact that people will still take the links I provide as direct recommendations and endorsements. But just for your personal knowledge (and other readers reading this thread), I just use TextExpander and save links to products in my account so that I can easily hotkey them out to you all.
If there IS a product I'd promote, it's TextExpander! They deserve more customers and I'll give that my 100% rubber seal of approval. That's a direct recommendation. :) (no affiliation)

Here's an email I wrote to an Olympic athlete, which I've disseminated previously here and elsewhere on the internet:

TLDR: Optimum Nutrition, Amazon Solimo Brand, Dymatize, and most other big name brands who primarily deal with protein supplements [edit to add: and most other super simple baking ingredients] are all perfectly safe and I'll stake my career on it.


First, WADA and the NCAA are frequently sued by athletes who claim that they were banned because of a "tainted supplement" that had some PED in it that wasn't on the label. It's almost never the case in doping cases. It's just a last-ditch effort for the athlete to regain eligibility for competition. I was called as a potential expert witness and provided written testimony as such for an athlete who was banned from sport when he tested positive for an illegal stimulant. He sued the banning organization (WADA) and the supplement manufacturer. He was using a bleeding edge stimulant supplement from a company that also made an almost identical stimulant supplement that did have a PED on the label. The supplement company probably just failed to thoroughly clean things before batches... or more nefariously, intentionally put the PED in the non-labeled-as-such supplement because the PED made the suppleement work better (ie. was a stronger stimulant, and stimulants work!)


This causes WADA, USADA, and NCAA to cover themselves liability wise by insane over-inflation of data regarding the likelihood of banned substances in all supplements.


They use claims like "XX% of all supplements contain something not included on the label according to this independent lab." Then go on to say "don't take risks with any supplements because they might have banned substances in them. You're liable for anything you put in your body." Then they'll cite a case where so-and-so high-profile athlete claimed that X supp had Y banned substance in it as further corroboration of their claim that you're likely to get popped for PED use because of any random protein powder.


What they're not telling you is that the double-digit percentage of supplements that contain a substance not on the label almost NEVER contain a banned substance in them. Sure they might contain some other product in them, but it's not a banned substance. It's like some sugar compound, or filler ingredient that is both harmless, and not a PED. The tiny minority of obscure supplements that DO contain a real PED in them often do list it on the ingredients, or the company clearly specializes in manufacture of mostly bleeding edge stimulant or anabolic-type supplements.


I know of no single case of someone legitimately taking a protein powder or creatine supplement and tested positive for a banned substance as a result. I've poured over the list, and in all cases, it turns out the athlete was lying, or omitted a sketchier supplement that they were also taking. It's always the stimulants from sketchy companies or the supposed anabolics from sketchy companies that get implicated.


How am I so confident in this? If there were even one percent as many supplements with PEDs in them as reported by WADA/USADA/NCAA, there would literally be hundreds or thousands of lawsuits every single year by athletes suing supplement companies and the testing agencies. These lawsuits are not numbered by the hundreds. Not even close.


Second, supplement companies are strongly incentivized to not have PEDs in their basic supplements because their market share would vanish overnight when a lawsuit happened, AND PEDs are expensive... so if you're a sketchy supplement company, it pays to make sure that the PEDs you're purchasing or manufacturing are getting mixed in the right containers because if they're not, you're wasting huge money!


So, go on amazon and get whatever protein [edit to add: or salt or sugar] you like!

Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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📱 Check out our app → Saturday: Pro Fuel & Hydration, a performance nutrition coach in your pocket.
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Re: Amount of sodium in sodium citrate [BigBoyND] [ In reply to ]
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BigBoyND wrote:
Is there a reputable sodium citrate source? Something along the lines of Creapure which is made by AlzChem in Germany, Ajipure made by Ajinomoto in Japan, etc.

These are good questions and concerns. Admittedly, I have not considered them at great length. Here's my first take thoughts:

I have no idea because I have not looked.

Sodium citrate is widely used in making liquified/velvety cheese, and I consider it a simple enough ingredient to manufacture, that I'll happily buy it from whoever will send it to me. (kind of like table salt)

Baking soda + citric acid + water. Combine, stir, boil water off → sodium citrate.



If you're messing up making sodium citrate as a product manufacturer, you're going to be out of business rather quickly because you're bad enough to be making big mistakes elsewhere. And your cheese might be nasty.

Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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📱 Check out our app → Saturday: Pro Fuel & Hydration, a performance nutrition coach in your pocket.
Join us on YouTube → Saturday Morning | Ride & Run Faster and our growing Saturday User Hub
Last edited by: DrAlexHarrison: Jul 18, 22 8:28
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Re: Amount of sodium in sodium citrate [DrAlexHarrison] [ In reply to ]
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DrAlexHarrison wrote:
lonniecdams wrote:
Dr., you recommend the "Pure" brand of Sodium Citrate or I saw that link somewhere. Do you know what the sodium content is at one teaspoon?

I have recommended that brand only because it was cheapest on amazon in 2018 when I first purchased it, and I saved the link in TextExpander :)

There are half a dozen other brands that will work and have more explicit labeling.

Based on a recent email exchange with Pure, I believe it's somewhere between 1000-1200mg per tsp for their brand, though we're still waiting on a straight answer from them. If they don't provide a straight answer, I'll be switching brands.
Other brands range from 940-1400, from what I've seen.

I've also been petitioned by bulksupplements.com to partner with them and offer folks a discount on their sodium citrate (and all their other supps). I'm considering it carefully because my company neutrality is something I value, and think that my readers have valued that too.

Alex just double checking. ~1000mg per teaspoon or tablespoon?

I thought I read somewhere it was per tablespoon.

Thanks!
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Re: Amount of sodium in sodium citrate [Yeeper] [ In reply to ]
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Teaspoon.

I have heard it was written Tbsp somewhere (by me) but I either changed it in the past and have since forgotten or it's still out there and I can't find it.

Definitely TEAspoon.

Dr. Alex Harrison | Founder & CEO | Sport Physiology & Performance PhD
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