Category: Wellness Tips

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Mouth Breathing

Mouth Breathing

You have two air passageways to your lungs, through the nose and the mouth. Healthy people use both their nose and their mouth to breathe. Breathing through the mouth ONLY becomes necessary when you have nasal congestion due to allergies or a cold and when you are exercising strenuously it can help get oxygen to your muscles faster. Breathing through your mouth all the time or even just when sleeping can lead to health problems.

Nasal breathing has been well documented to providing various benefits. The nose is equipped with a complex filtering mechanism which purifies the air we breathe before it enters the lungs. Breathing through the nose during expiration helps maintain lung volumes and so may indirectly determine arterial oxygenation.

Many of us are habitual mouth breathers, either in our daily life or when we are physically active or stressed out. For most of us, this habit began in childhood and not only diminishes our energy but also undermines our health and well-being.

Side Effects of Mouth Breathing

ADD/ADHD in Children: When tired children tend to overcompensate and speed up. For this reason, sleep deprivation is sometimes confused with ADHD in children. Children may also be moody, emotionally explosive, and/or aggressive as a result of sleepiness. Children with sleep problems were more likely to be inattentive, hyperactive, impulsive, and display oppositional behaviors.

Anxiety/Panic Attacks: Mouth breathing from the upper chest triggers the sympathetic nervous system, accelerating the heart rate and increasing blood pressure, stimulating our fight or flight response, hence the link with anxiety symptoms. If you’re prone to catching every bug going, often have a sore neck and shoulders, feel tired all the time, tend to have nasal congestion or suffer from anxiety and panic attacks, breathing from the upper chest and through the mouth could be the cause.

Asthma: insufficient carbon dioxide in our blood leads to the symptoms of asthma, various other breathing disorders, and even angina, as the body struggles to maintain the correct balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide. In order to keep the right balance in someone whose carbon dioxide level is too low the body automatically tries to increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood by constricting the airways, swelling tissues, secreting mucus, and so on, thus making it more difficult to quickly inhale and exhale large volumes of air.

Cancer Formation: mouth breathing leads to the oxygen and carbon dioxide imbalance in the body which leads to oxidation. Cellular oxidation is the cellular damage that leads to cancer. It is caused by the imbalance of oxygen in the system for cellular use and causes damage to cells during cellular reproduction. These damaged cells reproduce into tumors or cancer.

Enamel Erosion: breathing through your mouth cause over drying of teeth, thus weakening the tooth enamel. Our saliva cleans and protects tooth enamel. If your mouth is always open the saliva evaporates.

Facial Deformities: children who mouth breathe develop crooked teeth, facial deformities, gum disease, bad breath, and poor growth. Over time, children whose mouth breathing goes untreated may suffer from abnormal facial and dental development, such as long, narrow faces and mouths, gummy smiles, gingivitis and crooked teeth. The poor sleeping habits that result from mouth breathing can adversely affect growth and academic performance. Many of these children are misdiagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and hyperactivity.

Gum Disease: mouth breathing over dries the mouth and causes damage to gum tissues, leading to gingivitis. Our saliva cleans and protects gum tissue. If your mouth is always open the saliva evaporates.

Headaches: many mouth breathers have chronic headaches, shoulder and neck pain, and chronic fatigue. The imbalance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood causes the flight or fight response in the body which over time stresses the muscles and joints especially of he neck and shoulders, leading to tension headaches. It also causes over secretion of adrenal hormones which then causes adrenal fatigue, which leads to headaches and chronic fatigue.

Hyperventilation: breathing excessively fast for the actual conditions in which we find ourselves. When we breathe through our mouth we usually inhale and exhale air quickly in large volumes, this can lead to hyperventilation. It is important to recognize that it is the amount of carbon dioxide in our blood that generally regulates our breathing. If we release carbon dioxide too quickly, the arteries and vessels carrying blood to our cells constrict and the oxygen in our blood is unable to reach the cells in sufficient quantity. This includes the carotid arteries, which carry blood (and oxygen) to the brain. The lack of sufficient oxygen going to the cells of the brain can turn on our sympathetic nervous system, our “fight or flight” response, and make us tense, anxious, irritable, and depressed.

Low Immunity: Mouth breathing makes us vulnerable to viruses and infections since the nose is essentially a sterilizing unit for anything airborne. It also means the tiny cilia, that are meant to clear away mucus, stop working properly, leading to a feeling of being “snotty” all the time.

Sleep Apnea: mouth breathing causes interruptions in breathing during sleep and dries out the tissues causing inflammation and mucous production that also interferes with breathing, especially at night while lying down.

Tooth Decay: mouth breathing dries the saliva in the mouth causing a decrease in pH (more acidic) in the mouth allowing for bacterial growth, plaque formation, and tooth decay.

How to Stop Mouth Breathing

Now it is not easy, but it is so worth it to train yourself to use your nose as it has evolved to be used. You will feel more energized every day, have fewer colds and allergies, and will get more oxygen in and carbon dioxide out. You will also reduce your risk of developing cancer by simply getting a better balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood.

So what is the perfect breath?

It should come from the lower chest and abdomen. An adult at rest ought to have a rate of about 10 to 14 breaths a minute, and exhalation should be longer than inhalation and finish with a short pause. Most importantly, breathing should be through the nose rather than the mouth.

One of the most important reasons for nasal breathing, is due to the production of nitric oxide (NO). NO exists in the human breath, but little is known about its site of origin or enzyme source. Most NO in normal human breath derives locally from the nose where it can reach high levels during breath-holding.

This molecule, produced in mammalian cells by specific enzymes and is believed to play a vital role in many biological events including regulation of blood flow, platelet function, immunity, and neurotransmission. Although this gas is produced in minute amounts, when it is inhaled through the nose into the lungs, it will follow the airstream to the lower airways and the lungs where it aides in increasing arterial oxygen tension; hence enhancing the lungs capacity to absorb oxygen. Nitric Oxide also plays an important role in reducing high blood pressure, maintaining homeostasis, immune defense and neurotransmission.

A SIMPLE PRACTICE

Here’s a simple, beneficial practice you can try. Over the next few days or weeks, see if you can observe and sense your breathing several times a day in the middle of your activities. Notice whether or not you are breathing through your mouth. Also notice how often you hold your breath. For some of you, mouth breathing or breath holding may be a frequent activity. For others, it may occur mainly in physically, emotionally, or mentally stressful situations. When you notice yourself breathing through your mouth or holding your breath, remind yourself to breathe through your nose and to stop holding your breath.

Simple Steps to Try

1. Practice: Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. What has probably stopped you from breathing correctly is not your lack of knowledge about breathing techniques. It’s more likely that you just need to be aware and to practice.

2. Clearing any nose blockage: It may seem obvious, but many people breathe through the mouth because their nose is blocked. By blowing your nose or using a nasal wash, you can clear your nasal passage of obstructions.

3. Stress Reduction: When people are stressed, their breathing is more rushed. You are more likely to use your mouth to take deep breaths during stressful situations. You may need to see a doctor or change your environment but reducing stress will help improve the way you breathe.

4. The right pillows: If you struggle with mouth breathing when you are sleeping, try changing the height of your head. Prop your head up with an extra pillow or use a thicker pillow.

5. Exercise: By exercising regularly with a regimen of a daily walk or run, you will increase your need for deep breaths; and your nose will naturally take the breathing away from your mouth.

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Beeswax

Beeswax (cera alba) is a natural wax produced by honeybees of the genus Apis. The wax is formed into scales by eight wax-producing glands in the abdominal segments of worker bees, which discard it in or at the hive. The hive workers collect and use it to form cells for honey storage and larval and pupal protection within the beehive. Chemically, beeswax consists mainly of esters of fatty acids and various long-chain alcohols.

You will find Raw & Unfiltered Colorado Beeswax (from haefelihoney.com) in Mother Jai’s Lip Balm.

Bees consume about eight times as much honey and fly 150,000 miles to create one pound of beeswax. The mixing of pollen oils into honeycomb wax turns the white wax into a yellow or brown color.

Beeswax is the only naturally occurring wax.  Vegetable waxes must be rendered from fruit or leaves like bayberries or candelilla leaves.  Other waxes like soy wax or paraffin are produced by a toxic chemical process.

Beeswax has been used since prehistory as the first plastic, as a lubricant and waterproofing agent, in lost wax casting of metals and glass, as a polish for wood and leather, for making candles, as an ingredient in cosmetics and as an artistic medium in encaustic painting. Beeswax is edible, having similar negligible toxicity to plant waxes, and is approved for food use in most countries and in the European Union under the E number E901.

Evidence has been found of prehistoric dentistry dating back to the Neolithic times reporting a 6,500-year-old human mandible from Slovenia whose left canine crown shows the traces of a filling with beeswax. While we don’t know all the facts, it’s thought that if the filling was done when the person was still alive, the intervention was likely aimed to relieve tooth sensitivity derived from either exposed dentine and/or the pain resulting from chewing on a cracked tooth.

Purified and bleached beeswax is used in the production of food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. The three main types of beeswax products are yellow, white, and beeswax absolute. Yellow beeswax is the crude product obtained from the honeycomb, white beeswax is bleached or filtered yellow beeswax, and beeswax absolute is yellow beeswax treated with alcohol. In food preparation, it is used as a coating for cheese; by sealing out the air, protection is given against spoilage (mold growth).

Beeswax may also be used as a food additive E901, in small quantities acting as a glazing agent, which serves to prevent water loss, or used to provide surface protection for some fruits. Soft gelatin capsules and tablet coatings may also use E901. Beeswax is also a common ingredient of natural chewing gum. The wax monoesters in beeswax are poorly hydrolyzed in the guts of humans and other mammals, so they have insignificant nutritional value. Some birds, such as honeyguides, can digest beeswax. Beeswax is the main diet of wax moth larvae.

Beeswax Benefits & Uses

Clears Acne: Beeswax is one of the most well-known home remedies for acne. It has strong antiseptic, healing and anti-inflammatory properties, making it effective in the treatment of acne, in particular because it contains vitamin A. It’s also an excellent skin softener and emollient that helps maintain a smooth skin texture after acne elimination. The combination of skin care applications, a healthy diet and daily exercise is the best way to control and prevent acne.

Dermatitis, Psoriasis and Eczema: Beeswax is a great choice for many skin conditions. A honey, beeswax and olive oil mixture is useful in the treatment of diaper dermatitis, psoriasis and eczema.

Heals Dry, Cracked Lips: The natural moisturizers in beeswax make it the perfect lip balm. If you suffer from cracked or chapped lips, topical applications of beeswax and a few other ingredients can provide some much-needed relief. It’s easy to make your own lip balm by combining it with coconut oil, honey, vitamin E oil, and your favorite essential oils, such as orange, peppermint, lavender or lemon.

Moisturizes Skin: Beeswax is an amazing way to moisturize the skin and is commonly found in skin care products and cosmetics. It can help protect and repair rough, dry or chapped skin because it has the ability to lock in moisture. This wax has rich vitamin A content and emollient properties, which soften and rehydrate the skin as well as aiding in the healthy development of cellular reconstruction. Another benefit to its use is that because it is noncomedogenic, it won’t clog pores.

Reduces Stretch Marks: collagen is a major extracellular matrix component that’s very important in wound healing. Since beeswax contains vitamin A, which is helpful in collagen production, it can greatly benefit the reduction of stretch marks. By combining beeswax, royal jelly, shea or cocoa butter, grapeseed oil, and coconut oil, you have a natural remedy for preventing and treating stretch marks while helping improve collagen levels simultaneously.

Relieves Pain and Is Anti-Inflammatory: As medicine, beeswax has been studied in the use of relieving pain and inflammation and has mild anti-swelling effects. A 2014 study published in the Korean Journal of Internal Medicine reports that it was used to helped relieve inflammation caused by osteoarthritis.

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Avoiding Toothpaste

What’s in Your Toothpaste?

When it comes to toothpaste, buyer beware. It is not regulated by the FDA because it is considered a cosmetic product. Even though it goes in your mouth! Companies do not have to list all of the ingredients in their products, nor are they required to register their manufacturing facilities with the government or report “adverse events,” making it difficult for regulators to spot potential problems. Essentially, the cosmetics industry regulates itself.

Toothpowder

Toothpowder

All-natural Charcoal Toothpowder for cleaning the whole mouth and whitening teeth naturally.

$8.00
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The Cornucopia Institute is chartered as a tax-exempt public charity focusing on research and education. Cornucopia aims to empower organic producers, consumers, and wholesale buyers to make discerning marketplace decisions protecting the credibility of the organic food and farming movement and the value it delivers to society. They have provided some great information on personal hygiene products.

Is it time to reduce chemicals in your environment? Removing these products from your home is a huge step. Don’t believe me? Read your labels and see what you are ingesting multiple times a day.

The Cornucopia Institute’s research on toothpaste uncovered some interesting information:

  • When potentially toxic chemical ingredients are present in toothpaste and mouthwash, they are likely to pass directly and quickly into the bloodstream, even if the toothpaste is not swallowed. This is because the membrane lining of the mouth (oral mucosa) has an absorption efficiency of more than 90%, according to the Physician’s Desk reference Handbook.
  • A label containing the word “natural” does not necessarily mean a toothpaste is free of potentially harmful ingredients.
  • Some prominent “natural” brands are manufactured by companies that primarily sell mass-marketed brands. For example, Tom’s of Maine is owned by Colgate-Palmolive, the company that also makes Colgate toothpaste.
  • Toothpastes sold in Europe have different, safer formulations than the same products, made by the same companies sold in the U.S., to accommodate stricter EU cosmetics laws.
  • The American Dental Association is heavily subsidized by the cosmetic industry, creating a conflict of interest. Its seal does not guarantee the safety of toothpastes, or other oral products, or the quality of the ingredients in these products.
  • The drive to maximize profit margins focuses investment in advertising and packaging, rather than safe and high-quality ingredients.
  • Many ingredients in toothpastes are synthetics derived from petroleum or from heavily processed and synthesized natural ingredients, which, in their final formulation, are not remotely related to the natural parent compound (e.g. coconut oil), and some may become potentially toxic.
  • Toothpaste ingredient labels are often unintelligible, with difficult to pronounce ingredients that only a cosmetics chemist might decipher and understand.
  • Some toothpastes may contain contaminated ingredients. In addition, toxic compounds may be formed by the interaction of ingredients under certain conditions or may be released slowly over time.
  • The average American will use about 20 gallons of toothpaste over his or her lifetime.
  • Children are at greater risk of exposure, because they tend to ingest more toothpaste than adults; in addition, their exposure, will be greater than adults’ in terms of amount of toothpaste used per body weight.
  • Toothpastes specifically targeted to children often contain artificial colors (food dyes), which have been linked to hyperactivity and related behavioral problems in children. Some of which also pose a risk of cancer and allergic reactions.

TYPICAL TOOTHPASTE INGREDIENTS

  • Mild abrasives to remove debris and residual surface stains. Examples include calcium carbonate, dehydrated silica gels, hydrated aluminum oxides, magnesium carbonate, phosphate salts, and silicates.
  • Fluoride to strengthen tooth enamel and remineralize tooth decay. All ADA-accepted toothpastes contain fluoride.
  • Humectants to prevent water loss in the toothpaste. Examples include glycerol, propylene glycol, and sorbitol.
  • Flavoring agents, such as saccharin, sorbitol, and other sweeteners, to provide taste. Flavoring agents do not promote tooth decay. (No ADA-Accepted toothpaste contains sugar or any other ingredient that would promote tooth decay.)
  • Thickening agents or binders to stabilize the toothpaste formula. They include mineral colloids, natural gums, seaweed colloids [e.g. carrageenan], or synthetic cellulose.
  • Detergents to create foaming action, including sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium lauroyl sarcosinate.
  • Some toothpastes contain ingredients such as potassium nitrate or strontium chloride to help reduce tooth sensitivity; stannous fluoride and triclosan to help reduce gingivitis; pyrophosphates, triclosan, and zinc citrate to help reduce a buildup of hardened plaque; modified silica abrasives or enzymes to help whiten teeth by physically removing surface stains; and some additional ingredients, such as triclosan, to help reduce bad breath.

LIST OF COLOR ADDITIVES, PIGMENTS AND COLORANTS CURRENTLY USED IN SOME TOOTHPASTES – These are mainly found in mass-marketed toothpastes, such as Crest, Colgate, Aquafresh, Arm & Hammer, etc.:

  • FD&C Blue 1 (also known as Blue 1)
  • FD&C Blue 1 Aluminum Lake (also known as Blue 1 Aluminum Lake or Blue 1 Lake)
  • FD&C Red 40 (also known as Red 40)
  • FD&C Red 40 Aluminum Lake (also known as Red 40 Aluminum Lake or Red 40 Lake)
  • FD&C Red 33
  • D&C Red 33 (also known as Red 33)
  • D&C Red 30 (also known as Red 30)
  • D&C Red 30 Lake Aluminum (also known as Red 30 Aluminum Lake or Red 30 Lake)
  • FD&C Yellow 5 (also known as D&C Yellow 5 or Yellow 5)
  • FD&C Yellow 5 Aluminum Lake (also known as D&C Yellow 5 Aluminum Lake, Yellow 5 Aluminum Lake or Yellow 5 Lake)
  • FD&C Yellow 6 Aluminum Lake (also known as Yellow 6 Aluminum Lake or yellow 6 Lake)
  • D&C Yellow 10 (also known as Yellow 10)
  • D&C Yellow 10 Aluminum Lake (also known as Yellow 10 Aluminum Lake or Yellow 10 Lake)
  • FD&C Green 3 (also known as Green 3)
  • titanium dioxide
  • zinc oxide
  • iron oxides

So, after reading all of those, do you still want to put toothpaste in your mouth, in your children’s mouths?

I certainly don’t! That’s why I make Mother Jai’s Charcoal Toothpowder. It’s all natural, deeply cleansing, antibacterial, and healing to teeth, gums, cheeks and tongue. And it can be swallowed without calling the poison control center!

Toothpowder

Toothpowder

All-natural Charcoal Toothpowder for cleaning the whole mouth and whitening teeth naturally.

$8.00
Shop now

Mother Jai’s Charcoal Toothpowder is Simply made with:

  • activated charcoal (extremely adsorptive [electrical absorption], provides gentle abrasion to tooth surface, and deeply cleansing between teeth)
  • shavegrass or horsetail fern (full of natural, plant based silica to reharden enamel on teeth and strengthen roots and tooth canals)
  • arrowroot powder (antibacterial and healing to tissues, used by natives to kill bacteria in arrow wounds)
  • Baking soda or sodium bicarbonate (acid reducing to help prevent acids from feeding bacteria forming on teeth and causing plaque formation and tooth decay)
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Wellness Education

Wellness Education with Jennifer

What is Wellness Education? A world of knowledge in your hands!

A series of classes developed by Jennifer, Mother Jai, Lawson. They are typically held in Assisted and Independent Living Communities. They cover the basics of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellness; herbal remedies and aromatherapy; self-care and alternative therapies. Jennifer provides lots of information on ways to develop your personal wellness.

Jennifer has compiled information from multiple reputable sources and put it together for ease of use. These books include the information discussed during classes. There are three books so far. Each covering different aspects of personal wellness.

Learn more about Wellness Education here.

Three Books Full of Information

Herbal Remedies – 300 pages of info on common herbs, flowers, and spices. Including their uses, benefits, side effects, and interactions. Recipes for preparation, storage and use are also included.

Skin, Hair & Nails – over 100 pages of everything you need to know to take care of your skin and all of its conditions. Plus information on caring for your hair and nails.

Wellness Education – over 400 pages of health and wellness from head to toe. Including alternative therapies, fitness, anatomy and physiology, and self-care. Instructions and full color images are included.

Learn more about Wellness Education here.

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Better Balance

Balance is defined as an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady.

Sway is the horizontal movement of the center of gravity even when a person is standing still.

Maintaining balance requires coordination of input from multiple sensory systems including:

  • Vestibular system: sense organs in the ears that regulate equilibrium; directional information as it relates to head position
  • Somatosensory system: information from skin and joints (pressure and vibratory senses); spatial position and movement relative to the support surface; movement and position of different body parts relative to each other
  • Visual system: Reference to verticality of body and head motion; spatial location relative to objects

Aging and Balance Impairment

  • Decline in flexibility and fluid viscosity within the vestibular system reduces its ability to regulate equilibrium.
  • Decline in flexibility and nerve conduction in joints leads to reduction in mechanical stability.
  • Decline in muscle and connective tissue or ligament strength can lead to functional instability
  • Decline in balance is the strongest predictor of falls and one in three people 65 and over will fall each year.

Balance Test

This test is designed to determine the basic balance of an individual.

  • Begin by standing straight behind a chair with eyes open and weight even between feet.
  • Resting your hands on the back of the chair, continuing to stand up straight, close your eyes.
  • If you sway with your eyes closed it likely means that you are off balance.

Ways to Support Balance

  • Exercise regularly. It is important that the exercises focus on increasing leg strength and improving balance, and that you get more challenging over time. Tai Chi programs are especially good.
  • Ask your doctor or pharmacist to review your medicines—both prescription and over-the counter—to identify medicines that may cause side effects or interactions such as dizziness or drowsiness.
  • Have your eyes checked by an eye doctor at least once a year and update your eyeglasses to maximize your vision.  Consider getting a pair with single vision distance lenses for some activities such as walking outside.
  • Make your homes safer by reducing tripping hazards, adding grab bars inside and outside the tub or shower and next to the toilet, adding railings on both sides of stairways, and improving the lighting in their homes.
  • Get adequate calcium and vitamin D—from food and/or from supplements.
  • Do weight bearing exercise. Mild weight-bearing exercise, like walking or climbing stairs, helps slow bone loss from osteoporosis and increase muscle strength.
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Beyond Better Balance

The other benefits of multi-component exercise programs include:

  • Faster reaction time. This can help you keep yourself upright if you start to fall by putting out an arm quickly to grab something stable.
  • Improved coordination. This can directly help prevent falls but can also help you roll rather than crash as you go down.
  • More muscle. Stronger and larger muscles can buffer the impact of a fall, providing some protection to bones and joints.
  • Stronger bones. Resistance exercises strengthen bones, and stronger bones are more resistant to fractures.
  • Better brain function. Regular exercise helps maintain brain function with age. Clearer thinking may help you avoid situations that increase fall risk.

Seated Balance Techniques

Building balance while remaining safely seated. These practices are accomplished while sitting with your back straight, feet flat on the floor, and chin parallel to the floor. These exercises help to improve stomach and back strength, reducing back pain and improving balance.

Seated Abdominal Strengthening

  • Sitting up straight, feet flat on the floor, hands resting on knees.
  • Breathing in slowly through the nose; slowly raise arms up to shoulder height, palms facing down, keeping back straight.
  • Hold arms at shoulder level while holding breath for count of two.
  • Breathing out slowly through the mouth; slowly lower arms back down, palms on knees while keeping your back straight.
  • Pause while holding your breath for a count of 2 and repeat the process at least 5 times.

Seated Side Strengthening

  • Sitting up straight, feet flat on the floor, hands resting on knees.
  • Breathing in slowly through the nose; slowly raise left arm up over the head and arch to the right.
  • Hold arm above head while holding breath for count of two.
  • Breathing out slowly through the mouth; slowly lower arm back down, palm to knee while returning your to back straight.
  • Pause while holding your breath for a count of 2 and repeat the process with the right arm and repeat both sides at least 5 times.

Seated Twist

  • Sitting up straight, feet flat on the floor, hands resting on knees.
  • Breathing in slowly through the nose; slowly turn to the left with both hands resting on the left arm of the chair, sitting up straight while twisting, head turned and eyes looking left.
  • Pause while holding your breath for a count of 2.
  • Repeat the process with the right arm with head turned right and repeat both sides at least 5 times.

Seated Reach

  • Sitting up straight, feet flat on the floor, hands resting on knees.
  • Breathing in slowly through the nose; slowly reach across your chest with your left arm, keeping your right arm down with palm resting on knee, sitting up straight while twisting, resting left elbow on right armrest while facing forward, eyes looking straight.
  • Pause while holding your breath for a count of 2.
  • Repeat the process with the right arm on left armrest with eyes looking straight ahead and repeat both sides at least 5 times, breathing and twisting.
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Baking Soda

Baking Soda (Sodium bicarbonate)

You can find Baking Soda in Mother Jai’s Toothpowder and Mudd Mask.

The baking soda chemical formula aka the sodium bicarbonate formula is NaHCO3. This baking soda formula represents its composition of of sodium ions and bicarbonate ions. It’s a substance known for its alkalizing effects thanks to a baking soda ph of 9.

In its most natural form sodium bicarbonate is also known as nahcolite, a mineral that is found in various locations around the world. It is commercially mined in areas of California, Colorado, Botswana and Kenya. There are also large deposits in Mexico, Uganda, Turkey and Mexico.

Baking soda, also known as bicarbonate of soda (or sodium bicarbonate), can do some major things. Its superpowers come from a two-letter term: pH. That stands for “potential (or power) of hydrogen” to make something either an acid or a base (alkaline). Baking soda is an alkaline substance. When it mixes with an acid, it alters the pH level. That’s why it can quickly soothe an upset stomach or cover a bad smell.

Throughout history, it has been used as a rising agent when baking. It’s 100 percent sodium bicarbonate; so, when mixed with acid, it makes bubbles and gives off a carbon dioxide gas, causing the dough to rise. Baking powder and soda are similar yet different since baking powder is made up of sodium bicarbonate and one or multiple acid salts.

Using Baking Soda

Air Freshening: commercial air fresheners don’t eliminate odors they mask them with chemical compounds that mask or cover up odors. Baking soda is a safe alternative that interacts with odor molecules and breaks them up, neutralizing them. Make your own air freshener – you need: A small jar, 1/3 cup baking soda, 10–15 drops of your favorite essential oils, piece of cloth or paper, string or ribbon. Add the baking soda and essential oils to the jar. Cover it with the cloth or paper, and then secure it in place with the string. When the scent starts to fade, give the jar a shake.

Antifungal & Antibacterial: Baking soda has been shown to kill off bacteria including Streptococcus mutans, which is a type of bacteria associated with tooth decay. It is also effective against various fungal groups including yeasts, dermatophytes and molds that cause skin and nail infections in humans.

Bathroom Cleaner: Baking soda comes in handy because it whitens and disinfects many bathroom surfaces. Make a paste using baking soda and a bit of water. Using a sponge or a cloth, rub the mixture thoroughly onto the surface you want to clean. Wipe down the surface 15–20 minutes later with a damp cloth.

Bug Bites & Stings: it isn’t good for everyday use on your skin, it can soothe the redness, itching, and stinging that are signs of a mild reaction to an insect bite. You can also make your own paste of one-part baking soda to three parts water. This also works for poison ivy and rashes. ½ cup in the bathtub and soak for 20 minutes, rinse off before getting out.

Chemotherapy Support: research does show that it can help some cancer treatments work better. Some chemotherapy drugs need alkaline conditions. Others become more toxic in an acid environment. Mouth and throat changes are common chemo side effects. If this happens to you, rinse your mouth three times daily with a mixture of 1 cup warm water, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/8 teaspoon salt, followed by a rinse with plain water.

Deodorizing: When you add baking soda and change the pH balance, the odors in your fridge or your carpet come into a neutral state. Bad smells come from either strong acids (think sour milk) or bases (like spoiled fish). Sprinkle it everywhere to reduce odors. Mix with coconut oil and arrowroot powder for an all-natural deodorant.

Food Cleansing: Many people worry about pesticides on foods. Pesticides are used to prevent crops from damage by insects, germs, rodents and weeds. Interestingly, recent research has found that soaking fruits and veggies in a baking soda wash is the most effective way to remove pesticides without peeling them. One study found that soaking fruit in a solution of baking soda and water for 12–15 minutes removed nearly all of the pesticides.

Heartburn & Indigestion: Add 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda to a glass of water to zap acid in your stomach. Don’t take baking soda within 2 hours of other medications. When the baking soda lowers stomach acid, it can slow the rate at which your body absorbs some medicines and change the way others work. Don’t give it to a child under 6 unless your pediatrician tells you to.

Inflammation: most inflammation in the body is caused by an acidic environment. Using baking soda can help balance pH of the blood thus reducing the pH of the body, which in turn reduces water retention (edema) related to the body’s response to an acidic environment. The less water retained by the body to protect itself from acids, the less swelling and inflammation and associated pain there is.

Kidney Disease: A daily dose of sodium bicarbonate can help people whose kidneys can no longer remove enough acid from their blood. It helps balance the pH in the blood, reducing the acid content of the body and creating an alkaline environment. Sodium bicarbonate helps in decreasing stone formation and removing of material that causes the kidney stones.

Kitchen Scrub: plain baking soda and essential oils if desired on a cloth or sponge, gently scrubs surfaces without scratching and while disinfecting.

Mouth Care: tooth decay is caused by acid loving bacteria that live and excrete plaque on teeth and gums. The pH balancing effects of baking soda help prevent bacterial growth by reducing the acids in the mouth. All it takes is ½ teaspoon in 8oz water to make a great, breath freshening, mouth rinse.

Silver Polish: Baking soda is a handy alternative to commercial silver polishes. For this you will need: An aluminum baking pan or a baking dish lined with aluminum foil, 1 cup of boiling water, 1 tablespoon of baking soda, 1/2 cup of white vinegar, add the baking soda to the aluminum baking pan and slowly, pour in the vinegar. Next, pour in the boiling water and then place the silver in the baking pan. Almost immediately, the tarnish should begin to disappear, and you can remove most silverware from the pan within thirty seconds. However, heavily tarnished silverware may need to sit in the mixture for up to a minute.

Skin Care: baking soda is a great exfoliator for face, feet and joints; it helps by reducing acids in skin and balancing pH of the surface, and gently removing dead skin that can clog pores and cause wrinkles. Overuse can cause alkalization of the skin. The skin needs to remain slightly acidic to be strong and healthy. Skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, toenail fungus, ring worm, body odor and allergic reactions are all caused by bacteria and/or an acidic environment. Both of which are eradicated by using baking soda internally and/or externally.

Cautions

Milk-alkali syndrome: Excess consumption of sodium bicarbonate may cause health ailments such as milk-alkali syndrome. An overdose of baking soda may also cause vomiting, diarrhea, muscle weakness and spasms. Care must be taken while consuming products that contain baking soda. It is advisable to consult your health specialist if you have blood pressure related ailments, kidney disease, are pregnant or breastfeeding as they may have side effects on consumption.

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