Baking Soda: More than a Baking Ingredient - Essay Example

The semester The Fact Paper Baking Soda: More than a Baking Ingredient Baking soda is known to some people as a material that helps batter to rise (“Baking Soda Overdose”), but to others, it has far more uses (“Brushing Teeth with Baking Soda”; Fassa; Garvin). Baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, also known as bicarbonate of soda or soda ash, has been used for different functions since olden times. The Egyptians, for example, used baking soda as soap and made glass containers using soda ash in 3500 BC, while the early Romans used it to make medicine and bread (Mercola; “Soda Ash” 1-1). Baking soda is generally naturally occurring because it is mined from trona ore, although it can also be chemically made (“Soda Ash” 1-1; “What is Baking Soda?”). Baking soda is an alkali that can be applied on conditions or materials that need pH levels to be adjusted by decreasing the quantity of acid in it (Garvin). It has a gritty structure, and it gives off carbon dioxide when heated (“What is Baking Soda?”). Because of these properties, baking soda can serve numerous beauty, cleaning and health purposes (Fassa; Halvorson; Mercola). Baking soda can be used for beauty purposes. Baking soda can be put in one’s underarms to serve as a deodorant (Marvin). It does not stop sweating, but it can prevent the production of body odour (Marvin). Doctor Joseph Mercola recommends baking soda as a deodorant because it does not have harmful parabens and aluminium that are usually found in commercial deodorants. Apart from baking soda’s deodorizing effect, it can also exfoliate the skin. Doctor Mercola states that a “paste [can be] made from three parts of baking soda combined with 1 part water [and it] can be used as an exfoliator for your face and body. It’s natural, inexpensive and gentle enough to use every day.” Baking soda can exfoliate the skin gently and naturally, so it can be used as a facial and body scrub (Marvin). In addition, baking soda can be used as a teeth whitener. Doctor Mercola suggests that people can crush a ripe strawberry and mix it with half a teaspoon of baking soda, spread it on their teeth, and leave it on for five minutes. People should brush their teeth and rinse after (Mercola). He recommends for this to be done only once a week for teeth whitening because baking soda can corrode tooth enamel (Mercola). Wendy Michaels reports that Julia Roberts only uses baking soda as her toothpaste, and she has white teeth, which could be proof that baking soda can whiten and clean teeth. Furthermore, baking soda can make skin feel softer (Marvin). For those who want a baking soda soak or baking soda bath, they can use a cup of baking soda and mix it with their tub, and they can have soft skin afterwards (Marvin). Baking soda can also be used as shampoo. People can add a teaspoon of baking soda to their shampoo bottle to help eliminate build-up of chemicals from conditioners, mousses, and sprays and to better manage hair (Halvorson). Some people also use baking soda as shampoo, also called as no ‘poo method (Oxenreider). Tsh Oxenreider advises adding one tablespoon of baking soda to one cup of water and to use that as shampoo. She explains that shampoo products mostly have chemicals that actually dry scalp and hair, but baking soda will not because it is a naturally occurring substance that adjusts pH levels of hair and scalp (Oxenreider). These are some of the beauty uses of baking soda that people can try. Baking soda can also be used as a purifying and cleaning agent. Baking soda is often sold as an air purifier that can be used inside refrigerators, cars and other containers (Fassa). It can also deodorize many things, such as carpets and shoes (Fassa). Just sprinkle them on these objects, let it sit for fifteen minutes, and then remove it to minimize odour (Mercola). Baking soda can be sprinkled on slippers, boots, shoes, and socks to get rid of foul odour too (Marvin). Moreover, baking soda is a cleaning agent in the kitchen and bathroom. Baking soda can be scrubbed on plates, kitchen walls, and bathroom floors to clean them (Mercola). Baking soda can also be mixed with vinegar to unclog drains (Mercola). For things that are harder to wash, such as pots and pans, people can soak them in hot water and baking soda for fifteen minutes and then they can wipe away food from them (Mercola). Baking soda can further be used as a fabric softener and to make clothes whiter and brighter (Mercola). A cup of baking soda can be added to the laundry load for whiter and cleaner clothes (Mercola). Aside from these uses, baking soda can polish silver too. Baking soda can be added to hot water and a sheet of aluminium foil, and silver pieces can be soaked on them for cleaning (Mercola). Baking soda can stop minor fires too (Mercola). It can be sprinkled on small fires and stop it from spreading, such as small fires in the kitchen (Mercola). Baking soda can clean pets by adding it on their brush (Marvin). Finally, when baking soda is mixed with vinegar, it can be a cleanser for many household appliances (Mercola). These sources describe these cleaning properties of baking soda. The last to be discussed is the health uses of baking soda. Doctors vary on their positions on the specific health benefits of baking soda, although several of them, including people’s own experiences, attest to several health uses of baking soda (Mercola). In terms of health, baking soda can be used as toothpaste, as mentioned already. Apart from whitening teeth, it can clean teeth too (“Brushing Teeth with Baking Soda”). Julia Roberts attests that her grandfather uses baking soda as toothpaste and he has had one cavity only in his life (Michaels). While being a toothpaste, baking soda can also be used as an antacid, where it can treat heartburn and upset stomach (Garvin). Furthermore, there is a sodium bicarbonate injection that is used to replenish the body's electrolytes in cases of severe dehydration, aside from being used to treat drug overdoses and poisoning (Garvin). Baking soda can also bring back pH balance “when the body's systems have become too acidic, as in metabolic acidosis, which can happen in response to kidney disease, diabetes and other conditions” (Garvin). Sodium bicarbonate injections are likewise used to treat drug overdoses and poisoning. Doctor Mercola adds that baking soda can be used to relieve sunburn. He recommends using a cup of baking soda to lukewarm bathwater and then soaking in it to remedy sunburn (Mercola). He notes that it is better to let the skin air dry than towelling away the baking soda solution from the body because it can provide much relief (Mercola). The other health benefits of baking soda are discussed next. Baking soda is effective in treating insect bites. Instead of scratching insect bites, the following steps can be taken. People can mix enough baking soda and water needed to make paste and put that paste on insect bites to reduce itching and inflammation (Mercola). The same mixture can treat itchy rashes and itching from poison ivy (Mercola) and it can also relieve windburns and bee stings (Marvin). For babies with diaper rash, a baking soda bath (1 cup of baking soda in a tub) can relieve their rashes (Marvin). As a mouthwash, baking soda can do several more things. When half a teaspoon of baking soda is mixed with water, it can refresh the breath and relieve canker sores (Marvin). When stung by a jellyfish, baking soda can be put on the stung area to draw out the venom (Marvin). If people use vaporizers, they can reduce the stuffiness of their nose by adding a teaspoon of baking soda to their vaporizers (Marvin). To take care of tired feet, they can soak their feet in a basin where three tablespoons of baking soda are added to warm water (Halvorson). They can massage baking soda paste (three parts of baking soda to one part of water) on their feet to smoothen rough and hardened calluses and heels too (Halvorson). Thus, these sources state that baking soda has varied health uses. Baking soda can have many uses in people’s homes and lives. It might be seen only as something used for baking, but people can try its numerous other potential uses. Baking soda can be used to clean, purify, smoothen, and deodorize people, animals, and objects. It can also treat different kinds of illnesses or symptoms. Baking soda is not the perfect wonder product, but it can help people in more ways than one. Works Cited “Baking Soda Overdose.” Health Central, 19 Oct. 2009. Web. 14 Sept. 2013. “Brushing Teeth with Baking Soda.” MD Health.com, no date. Web. 14 Sept. 2013. Fassa, Paul. “Baking Soda Offers Many Miraculous and Mundane Uses.” Natural News, 30 June 2010. Web. 14 Sept. 2013. Garvin, Karen S. “Interesting Facts about Sodium Bicarbonate.” Live Strong.com, 16 August 2013. Web. 14 Sept. 2013. Halvorson, Christine. “Uses for Baking Soda: Health and Beauty.” Discovery, n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2013. Marvin. “75 Extraordinary Uses for Baking Soda.” Life Hackery, 22 July 2013. Web. 14 Sept. 2013. Mercola, Joseph. “Use This to Remove Splinters -- and to Address Many Other Health Needs.” Mercola.com, 27 Aug. 2012. Web. 14 Sept. 2013. Michaels, Wendy. “Julia Roberts' Beauty Secret? Baking Soda!” Limelife, 22 Aug. 2012. Web. 14 Sept. 2013. Oxenreider, Tsh. “How to Wash Your Hair Without Shampoo.” Simple Mom, 21 Sept. 2009. Web. 14 Sept. 2013. “Soda Ash.” General Chemical Industrial Products, n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2013. Veretto, Pat. “Simple Facts About Baking Soda.” Knoji Consumer Knowledge, n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2013. “What is Baking Soda? Baking Soda Ingredients.” Eco-Inspired Organics, no date. Web. 14 Sept. 2013. Read More