Discover 10 Unexpected Uses of Baking Soda You Might Not Know About

Baking soda, also known as sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), is a white, water-soluble powder with excellent moisture-absorbing properties. It's widely used in the food industry. Apart from its benefits for skincare and treating blackheads, baking soda is used as a substitute for toothpaste, with many toothpaste brands incorporating it into their formulas as a secret to whiter teeth. Therefore, you can effectively whiten your teeth at home using baking soda.

All you need to do is wet your toothbrush, dip it in baking soda, wet the powder, and brush your teeth as usual. Ensure the brush angle is suitable for cleaning both the gums and between teeth. Gently brush for 2 - 3 minutes, then rinse your mouth thoroughly with water. Repeat this process for about a week, and you'll notice the effectiveness of this teeth whitening method. Give it a try and feel the difference!

Baking soda is considered one of the most powerful exfoliating agents, capable of both mechanical and chemical exfoliation. Mechanically, the small particles of baking soda, when gently massaged onto the skin, help remove dead skin cells. Chemically, due to its mild alkalinity, baking soda helps neutralize the acidic oil layer on the skin's surface, making it easier to remove dirt, bacteria, and dead cells combined with this oil layer. However, since baking soda only has exfoliating properties and lacks antibacterial properties, it needs to be combined with other ingredients to maximize its effectiveness.

Typically, you would spend a lot of money to go to beauty salons for exfoliating dead skin cells, wouldn't you? You'll be pleasantly surprised to know that there's an extremely cheap yet safe and highly effective skincare product for exfoliating dead skin cells. Baking Soda is known as an effective and safe regular shower product. Just mix 3 tablespoons of Baking Soda with 1 tablespoon of ground oats and add 3 tablespoons of water. Use this mixture to gently massage your entire body in circular motions, then rinse off with warm water.

Baking soda is not only used as a mask to remove hair or effectively whiten teeth, but it can also protect and keep your hair smooth and healthy, resisting damage and harmful effects from the environment. Even though you use shampoo, do you still feel your hair is stiff and itchy because of dandruff? Simply mix a little Baking Soda with your shampoo to create a new solution that you can use as usual.

After use, you will immediately notice that your hair is cleaner, shinier, and softer than with regular daily shampooing. And especially, you won't feel itchy and uncomfortable because of dandruff anymore. Although Baking Soda is very safe and non-toxic, you should not overuse it as it can easily affect the scalp. Use it as a shampoo twice a week.

Baking soda appears in the recipes of many types of cakes, from sponge cakes, biscuits, pancakes, sponge cakes to banana cakes... In general, most cakes that need to rise can be applied. However, we also need to note that not all types of cakes can use this ingredient. For example, traditional Vietnamese-style bread should not use baking soda but instead should use a different specialized yeast.

If making acidic types of cakes as mentioned above, after making the dough, it should be baked as soon as possible. This way, the cake will rise more and be fluffier. Putting too much baking soda in the cake is not good because it will make the cake overly risen, just use the right amount in the recipe. When adding baking soda to the flour mixture, it's best to sift and mix evenly to avoid clumping, which can cause holes in the cake. It's important to distinguish between baking soda (leavening salt) and baking powder (leavening powder). Use baking powder only for types of cakes that don't use the method of beating egg whites but only beat butter or mix ingredients together, as it helps the cake rise more fluffy.

Baking soda has an alkaline pH, making it a common remedy for reducing symptoms of heartburn and acid reflux. By neutralizing excess stomach acid that can cause symptoms of reflux disease, baking soda can help minimize discomfort and frequency of heartburn. However, many researchers have recommended that baking soda is only a temporary solution for acid reflux. And it only works when acid reflux is in the early stages of the disease.

Using Baking Soda to treat heartburn and indigestion is one of the methods that many people use. Typically, you would mix half a teaspoon of Baking Soda with 2 cups of water and drink it 1 hour after eating to achieve the desired effect. If you're not familiar with this method, make a note of it for future reference. Baking soda can be used with other stomach remedies such as honey or flour. Using flour helps absorb excess stomach acid better and reduces the risk of stomach inflammation. Honey, with its antibacterial properties, can effectively reduce stomach ulcers.

Cancer is now considered one of the most frightening diseases in the world. There are many different types of cancer, and it spares no one. Cancer treatment costs are extremely high. But we don't know that there is a drug that can effectively support cancer treatment. That is Baking Soda. Baking Soda increases the pH of acidic tumors without affecting the pH balance of other cells in the body, so it is widely used in the treatment and prevention of cancer.

Drinking baking soda dissolved in water can make cells inside a tumor more active and help chemotherapy drugs easily kill them. As the tumor grows larger, it cuts off the blood supply to the cells inside, making them less efficient and elusive. However, baking soda can deceive them into functioning normally and become easier targets for chemotherapy drugs, often targeting active cells.

To combat blackheads or pimples, you don't need a plethora of cosmetics. Baking soda is a very familiar and effective option for you. Because of its antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties, this ingredient can help treat and reduce symptoms of acne and other types of pimples. Baking soda also has the ability to balance the skin's pH, helping to reduce the appearance of pimples on the skin.

You can mix 1 teaspoon of baking soda with a little water to make a paste, then apply it to the affected area for 1 to 2 minutes, rinse with cold water, and repeat this process once a day for 2 or 3 days, then reduce the frequency to 1 or 2 times a week. There are probably many girls who don't know this method, right? Because Baking Soda mainly only cleanses the skin, you should combine it with turmeric powder or aloe vera for the best results. Use it before going to bed.

Baking soda, also known as sodium bicarbonate, is a common ingredient in sports supplements. Some studies have shown that baking soda helps athletes maintain their peak performance, especially in endurance and sprint sports. In high-intensity exercise, muscle cells begin to produce lactic acid, which causes the burning sensation you feel during workouts.

Lactic acid also reduces the pH inside your cells, making your muscles feel fatigued. Baking soda has a high pH because it is alkaline, so it neutralizes lactic acid, delaying fatigue and allowing you to sustain peak performance for longer periods. For example, one study found that athletes who consumed baking soda-containing sports drinks lasted an average of 4.5 minutes longer in a moderate-intensity sport compared to those who did not.

Many wonder why baking soda can effectively treat dark spots and diminish scars so easily. It's because baking soda contains the main component sodium bicarbonate, which has the ability to gently exfoliate dead skin cells, thereby removing the blackened layers on the surface of the scar. Not only that, thanks to its inherent antibacterial properties, baking soda can promote cell regeneration, stimulate rapid development of new skin cells, effectively fade dark scars, and quickly restore the skin to its original condition.

Using baking soda with face wash is a method for those who want to treat scars on their face. For those who have a daily skincare routine, face wash is an essential step every evening. Instead of using baking soda alone as a separate step, why not integrate it and use it together with another product to save time while still achieving thorough results? Moreover, the antibacterial properties of baking soda also help deeply cleanse the pores, giving you healthier and brighter skin.