Baking soda is more than just a cake-raising ingredient – it’s well-known for being an effective natural remedy to many health problems. But what about drinking baking soda and water? This concoction has multiple health benefits, which we’ll be discussing in this video.
To make baking soda water, all you need is a half teaspoon of baking soda and a glass of water, which is about 200 millilitres. Mix both the ingredients and drink once a day. Make sure you’re using baking soda and not baking powder, as baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate, while baking powder has other ingredients added to it.
Stay tuned for the top 29 health benefits of drinking baking soda with water.
1. Balances pH
Baking soda’s remedial properties come from its alkaline nature. Due to diet, environment, and other factors, certain parts of the body can develop a pH imbalance. Consuming baking soda will help restore the natural pH where it is needed.
2. Treats acid reflux
Baking soda's alkaline nature means that it acts as an antacid and neutralizes stomach acid. As you will know if you suffer from acid reflux, antacids are a common remedy to use for treating the condition.
Drinking a glass of water mixed with a teaspoon of baking soda should be just as good when it comes to reducing your pain and other symptoms.
3. Soothes heartburn
Since heartburn is a symptom of acid reflux, it makes sense that baking soda can help soothe this too. Heartburn can happen for multiple reasons, not just acid reflux, and is caused by stomach acid moving up into the oesophagus.
Due to baking soda’s ability to neutralize acid, drinking baking soda relieves pain associated with heartburn.
4. Reduces inflammation
Many cases of inflammation are caused by a pH imbalance, which results in an acidic environment. Baking soda’s alkaline nature comes to the rescue once again for treating this problem. Drinking baking soda water may help to reduce inflammation.
5. Eases ulcer pain
Ulcer pain is caused by increased production of stomach acids. While baking soda can’t cure your ulcer, it can reduce the pain you may experience alongside it.
As ulcer pain is caused by the acidity of stomach acids, neutralizing the acid by drinking baking soda water should relieve the ulcer pain.
6. Helps treat cancer
Cancerous tumours tend to be acidic in nature. The pH balancing properties of baking soda increases the pH level of these tumours without affecting healthy tissue and blood. Without the acidic environment, cancer is less able to survive in the body. The balanced pH also gives nutritional and immune system support for those suffering from cancer.
7. Whitens teeth
Baking soda is a common ingredient in toothpaste thanks to its ability to remove plaque. Making a solution or paste by adding water to your baking soda can be good for dental health.
8. Improves workout ability
People experience fatigue and soreness in their muscles after working out because of the production of something called lactic acid. Baking soda can absorb this excess acid, reducing fatigue and soreness after a particularly difficult gym session.
9. Improves kidney function
When kidneys aren’t working at their optimal level, it can be hard for them to remove acidic waste from the body. Experts think that baking soda can buffer acid and balance pH levels, so it can help the kidneys remove unwanted acids in the body.
10. Reduces gas and bloating
When you mix baking soda with water, you may notice that some bubbling happens. This bubbling can help promote the release of extra gas in the body, which should help relieve any gas and bloating issues.
11. Boosts energy
Baking soda water can be drunk before a workout to increase energy. Not only does it absorb lactic acid – but it’s also thought to have properties that boost molecules in your body that release certain energy-providing hormones.
12. Prevents and treats urinary tract infections
Urinary tract infections can cause pain and interrupt your day-to-day life. As baking soda is an antiseptic, it helps clean out the urinary system, allowing it to function to its fullest.
Drinking baking soda water helps clean out every part of the system, from blood to the urinary tract to the bladder. Keeping these organs clean and purified helps to heal and prevent urinary tract infections.
13. Reduces cold and flu
A number of studies have shown that people who consume baking soda regularly seem to have a smaller chance of getting a cold or flu. Those same people seem to recover faster if they do get sick. It is generally believed the pH balancing properties of baking soda is the reason why it can help reduce cold and flu.
14. Treats infection
Baking soda is a great home ready for any kind of infection. It’s a natural antiseptic and can be used to treat and disinfect any wounds. As a drink, baking soda water should take care of any internal infection and prevent the occurrence of future infections.
15. Prevents gout
Gout is caused by an excess of uric acid in the blood, which crystallizes and can’t be flushed out of the system. Baking soda’s alkaline nature brings blood pH back up, which allows the blood to hold more uric acid without it crystallizing.
This makes it easier to flush the uric acid out of the body and prevents the formation of gout.
16. Reduces cholesterol
Experts think that baking soda can balance and cleanse out blood vessels. This helps with the reduction and prevention of LDL cholesterol, known as "bad cholesterol". To keep your blood vessels clean, try adding lemon to your baking soda water.
17. Treats sore throat
Baking soda can fight many infections, including sore throats. To use baking soda water to soothe a sore throat, mix baking soda and water and gargle it for 10 to 20 seconds. In this instance, don't swallow the mixture when you’re done.
18. Promotes detoxification
Drinking baking soda water can help our bodies remove any toxins at a quicker and more effective rate. It can promote the elimination of heavy metals and other toxic substances so that your body can operate optimally.
19. Increases testosterone
Baking soda is thought to work with certain molecules that release hormones, including one called cyclic adenosine monophosphate, which is in charge of releasing testosterone. A boost in natural testosterone levels can be useful when working out and can help you to build more muscle mass.
20. Treats arthritis
Arthritis is caused by the body being too acidic, which causes toxins to crystallize. Because baking soda can balance the body and help remove the toxic acid, it’s thought that it may be able to reduce the severity of arthritis symptoms, or even prevent the formation of arthritis entirely.
21. Prevents kidney stones
Kidney stones are formed by an ionic imbalance in the body, which causes urine to become too acid. This acid can eventually crystallize into kidney stones. Baking soda helps balance out both the pH and the ions, leading to less crystallization and more waste exiting the body.
22. Protects the tooth enamel
Acidic environments can cause the weakening of the tooth enamel. Drinking baking soda water can balance the pH in your mouth and prevent tooth decay.
Drinking or gargling baking soda water is most effective here, and you can even save money and use it in place of your standard mouth wash.
23. Promotes weight loss
As baking soda helps with detoxing, enhancing workout performance, and reducing bloating, it’s hardly a surprise that it can help with weight loss. Keep in mind that baking soda doesn’t actually affect your body fat or improve the way your body uses calories.
You should consume baking soda water alongside following a healthy lifestyle and eating well to see the best weight loss results.
24. Can help to help people to quit smoking
Evidence from several studies suggests that baking soda can help nicotine addicts to quit smoking. Many people on the internet have shared their own stories about how they noticed a significant decrease in their addiction after drinking baking soda.
It’s thought that the alkalinity of baking soda is what helps curb the cravings, so if you’re struggling to kick your nicotine addiction, try a glass of baking soda water.
25. Slows the progression of chronic kidney disease
With all the other benefits that baking soda has on the kidneys, it’s not hard to believe that it can help with chronic kidney disease too. Some studies show that drinking baking soda water can help slow the progression of chronic kidney disease.
Although there’s no evidence that it cures or prevents the disease, it may still be a good option for helping it calm down somewhat.
26. Good natural deodorant
Many people have heard of baking soda's deodorizing abilities. It’s a common ingredient for getting rid of refrigerator smells and for home-made deodorant.
When taken with water, it can also get rid of the odours in your breath. Just swill some baking soda and water around in your mouth for a minute for an instant breath-freshening hit.
27. Treats bronchitis
Bronchitis is formed by inflammation of the bronchioles in your lungs. As we already know, baking soda's alkaline properties reduce inflammation, and so drinking a glass of baking soda water should help relieve and prevent bronchitis symptoms.
28. Soothes itchy skin
If you have extra baking soda water after drinking it, why not try using on your skin? Baking soda water not only helps balance the pH inside your body but also on the outside.
Itchy skin is due to pH changes which are caused by external factors such as allergies, sunburn, and rashes. Use your extra baking soda water as a paste and put it on your itchy skin for instant relief.
29. May help with passing drug tests
Here’s a controversial benefit of baking soda! It has gained popularity over the past few years for its potential to help people to pass drug tests.
Apparently, drinking baking soda a few hours before a drug test will help the drug user to remove all the toxins from their body so that the drugs can’t be detected during the drug test. There is no scientific evidence to actually back this up, though.
Conclusion
Drinking baking soda with water can have numerous health benefits. If you’re looking for a simple way to maintain your overall health, or you’re looking to treat a specific condition, baking soda water is a low-cost, natural solution.
Just keep in mind that while baking soda is great for relieving pain, it doesn’t help cure the majority of problems. If you find that any of your symptoms persist, it may be wise to see a doctor or make some diet and lifestyle changes.