Calcium lactate, blood pH and repeated high-intensity exercise
What it found
In young men, low and high doses of calcium lactate caused small rises in blood pH and bicarbonate.
These changes were too small to improve repeated high-intensity exercise performance.
What they found
Studies in people
Blood bicarbonate rise
Both the high and low doses of calcium lactate led to slight but significant increases in blood bicarbonate, to 31.47 and 31.69 mmol per litre respectively. The placebo had no effect.
Blood pH rise
Both doses also led to slight but significant increases in blood pH, to 7.36 in each case. The placebo had no effect.
Exercise performance
Total work done, peak power and mean power output during the repeated high-intensity exercise were not affected by either dose of calcium lactate.
What the authors conclude
“low- and high-dose calcium lactate supplementation induced similar, yet very discrete, increases in blood pH and bicarbonate, which were not sufficiently large to improve repeated high-intensity performance.”
Also in their conclusions
- They conclude that low- and high-dose calcium lactate supplementation induced similar, yet very discrete, increases in blood pH and bicarbonate.
- They state that these increases "were not sufficiently large to improve repeated high-intensity performance."
How it was done
In Study A, 10 young, physically active men took high-dose calcium lactate (300 mg per kg of body mass), low-dose calcium lactate (150 mg per kg of body mass) or a placebo, in a crossover design, and had blood pH and bicarbonate measured at several times up to 240 minutes after taking it. In Study B, 12 young men took the same treatments and, 90 minutes later, did 3 bouts of the upper-body Wingate test, with blood pH and bicarbonate measured before and after.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- The study only included young, physically active men, so the results may not apply to other groups.
- The exercise test used only the upper body, so the findings may not apply to other types of exercise.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- University of São Paulo, Brazil
The paper
- Title
- The effects of two different doses of calcium lactate on blood pH, bicarbonate, and repeated high-intensity exercise performance
- Type
- Clinical trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Painelli Vde S, da Silva RP, de Oliveira OM, et al (2014). The effects of two different doses of calcium lactate on blood pH, bicarbonate, and repeated high-intensity exercise performance. International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism. doi:10.1123/ijsnem.2013-0191PubMed 24296517DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error