by Joyce V Harrison

Created on: July 21, 2009   Last Updated: April 14, 2011

No antacid in your bottles of medication?  Drinking a glass of water with baking soda can give you relief.

Originally imported to the U.S. from England in the 1800s, baking soda has become a staple in American households for cooking and cleaning as well as for health and beauty. The U.S. is one of the largest producers and Wyoming is the state with the largest mineral source.

Inexpensive and non-toxic, baking soda has the ability to neutralize odors and act as a mild abrasive. Besides appearing in multiple categories of consumer products, the white crystalline alkali is also an ingredient in industrial, pharmaceutical, and health products.

Here are some ways you can use baking soda at home for personal health and beauty.

1. Antacid

The reason baking soda works to relieve heartburn, indigestion or sour stomach is that it produces gasses (fizzing action) when it comes into contact with acid. The package gives you directions on the correct mix, but there are warnings that you should not ingest when “your stomach is overly full to avoid possible injury to the stomach.” 

2. Oral Hygiene

Clean your dentures or retainers by soaking them in water and baking soda. Because bacteria that cause bad breath tend to thrive in acids that baking soda can neutralize, use a mixture to gargle. Or put a little baking soda on your toothbrush, with or without toothpaste, to help clean and freshen your mouth. 

3. Personal Odors

Use baking soda in a paste to wash your hands and remove garlic or onion odors. Smelly shoes or boots? Combine some cornstarch with baking soda and sprinkle inside. On your feet too. The cornstarch/baking soda mixture can also work as an underarm deodorant.

4. Rough Skin

A paste made with baking soda is an easy way to exfoliate. Remove dead skin by rubbing gently on your elbows, knees, feet, and anywhere you have callouses. You can even massage it on your face to improve your complexion. 

5. Burns and Bites

Baking soda helps with anything that’s itchy including prickly heat rash, mild sunburns, eczema, insect bites, and poison ivy. A baking soda bath can be soothing and so can a paste applied to the area.

6. Dandruff

If you enjoy swimming in a chlorinated pool or if you use styling products, the residue left in your hair can lead to dandruff. A small amount of baking soda added to your shampoo will provide anti-fungal benefits and remove those unwanted leave-behinds.

You should know that some uses of baking soda are considered dangerous. One example is the practice of what’s called soda loading. That’s when an athlete drinks baking soda and water with the intent of improving performance and endurance. Soda loading is said to actually diminish athletic ability.

If you want to know more about baking soda, you can find one Web site dedicated solely to this subject: Baking Soda Book.

Sources:

http://www.enotes.com/how-products-encyclopedia/baki ng-soda

http://www.bakingsodabook.co.uk

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