Again, I don't think "soda" is calcium carbonate, but I could be wrong.
As for it being ridiculed by science... well... In 1993, Louis Kervran earned an Ig Nobel Prize for having proven that chicken hens convert potassium into calcium via some cold fusion process. So far, no one has been able to disprove his work [OK, some scientists claim to have attempted to replicate the results and failed...], but instead of trying, most scientists simply ignore what is an uncomfortable truth.