Baking Soda. The Different use of Baking Soda:
Baking Soda aka Sodium bicarbonate which the natural form is nahcolite is a component of the mineral natron and is found dissolved in many mineral springs.
Nicolas Leblanc, a French chemist discovered how to manufacture sodium carbonate (soda ash) from the common salt.
The ancient Egyptians used natural deposits of natron as a cleansing agent like soap. In 1846, two New York bakers, John Dwight and Austin Church, established the first factory to develop baking soda from sodium carbonate and carbon Dioxide.
Baking soda is weakly alkaline, it helps regulate the pH, keeping a substance neither too acidic nor too alkaline. It acts to neutralize acids and break down proteins. This quality accounts for its usefulness as a tenderizer and a leaven.
Beyond that, baking soda has the ability to retard further changes in the pH balance, known as buffering. This dual capability of neutralizing and buffering allows baking soda to do things such as neutralize acidic odors (like in the refrigerator) as well as maintain neutral pH (like in your laundry water). It’s a simple reaction, but one that has far-reaching effects for a number of cleaning and deodorizing tasks.
It has various uses in cooking, not just baking. Adding a pinch to the soaking water of beans speeds the cooking process and helps reduce compounds that cause flatulence. It’s also an effective meat tenderizer, since it breaks down proteins.
Other non cooking use of baking soda include:
An open box of baking soda can help deodorize a refrigerator or room, it can be used also to freshen linens and carpets. Applied under the arms it can be used a s a deodorant.
You can use it as a body scrub and to soften the skin.
Added to bath water, baking soda soothes dry skin, sunburn and itching due to poison ivy or mosquito bites. It can also relieve from diaper rash and other skin irritations.
It’s a good cleansing ingredient in toothpastes and denture soaks. It can be used as a mouthwash to relieve canker sore.
You can unblock stuffy nose by adding a teaspoon of baking soda to your vaporizer.
it can improve the effectiveness of detergent. Added to the rinse cycle, it can neutralize odors.
Sodium bicarbonate is an effective antacid, but is not recommended because it’s so high in sodium: 1,250 milligrams per teaspoon, and it may cause acid rebound effect, in which case you end up with worse heartburn
