Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) 101

You may think of baking soda as just some simple ingredient you find in your kitchen and sometimes use for baking. That’s only half of the story! In this article we are going to tell you all of the  interesting hidden magic that baking soda has to offer you as well as teach you how baking soda helps keep teeth white and breath fresh!

Baking soda, Sodium Bicarbonate NaHCO3 is a natural salt crystal that is alkaline in nature. It can be mined from the earth and purified or created in a lab. It’s alkaline nature is what makes it such a great tool in fighting bad odors, most bad odors are acidic in nature and are neutralized by sodium bicarbonate. Interestingly this is also what makes baking soda so good at fighting tooth damage, the bacteria in your mouth that eat sugars then excrete acidic waste, it is this waste that eventually eats away at the enamel of your tooth by dissolving the mineral composition of your teeth. When you brush your teeth with alkaline baking soda you neutralize the acidic waste left by the bacteria. Now we also need to note that creating an environment that is too alkaline can also strip your teeth of minerals, we do not recommend brushing your teeth with straight baking soda for this reason.

Baking Soda is also moderately abrasive, it can effectively remove plaque and left over food without damage to the teeth when used as part of a dentifrice. When used on it’s own, over long periods of time it can cause wear on the teeth this is why we do not recommend brushing with baking soda alone.

Baking Soda can help whiten teeth through it’s alkalinity and abrasive action. Many stains are cause by acidic food like coffee, wine, or soda. Baking Soda can neutralize and scrub off the stain with continued use.

Baking Soda’s alkaline and abrasive nature makes it useful for many purposes. It’s an effective laundry attentive to help whiten clothing and remove stains, it can unclog drains when combined with vinegar, you can even use it to wash your hair!

Here is a recipe for home made baking soda ‘shampoo’

1. 
   Mix 1 part baking soda with 3 to 4 parts water to form a paste, it’s a matter of personal hair how much water you mix in. If you hair is more oily you may want less water for a stronger mixture.
   
   
2. Wet your hair and massage the paste in. Let it sit for a few minutes, then rinse.
   
   3. Finish with an apple cider vinegar rinse to balance the ph of your hair and to add shine. Mix half water and half ACV. Don’t worry the smell won’t last. You can also add in essential oils if you’d like, rosemary, lavender and peppermint are great for hair, just make sure you don’t get peppermint in your eyes!

Photo by Kaboompics .com from Pexels

Photo by Daniel Xavier from Pexels

Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels