If your grandmother is anything like mine was, she would never dream of making biscuits without baking soda. And if you’re anything like me, you always keep a box on hand for cleaning and deodorizing without dangerous chemicals.
But an exciting new study serves as a good reminder that baking soda can do a lot more that help put dinner on the table, and keep that table clean. It may also have the power to help us heal.
According to the new study published in the Journal of Immunology, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) may be a natural remedy for arthritis.
Researchers say drinking baking soda dissolved in water every day could calm the kind of destructive inflammation that’s behind arthritis, and other autoimmune diseases.
And the simple, natural remedy appears to work in both animals AND humans.
When you have an autoimmune disease, your body misreads signals and thinks it’s under attack. It fights back, but in the process ends up actually attacking itself.
But that’s where the baking soda comes in.
The salt appears to send a signal to the mesothelial cells in your spleen that everything is fine and you’re not under attack. And as a result, your body dials back the immune system response that causes the inflammation and pain of arthritis.
When volunteers in the study drank the baking soda solution, there was a measurable change in the immune cells in their spleens. The number of inflammation triggering macrophages plummeted and the anti-inflammatory cells shot up.
In other words, drinking a half a teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in water daily could be a cheap and effective way to treat arthritis and other autoimmune conditions.
4 more baking soda solutions to common health problems
Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen how this simple but powerful salt could help keep us healthy. Following are four more baking soda benefits to consider.
1. Anti-aging:
All your life, your body has been processing acids. When you were younger, it was more efficient at the job. These days, it’s slowed down a little bit so those levels tend to climb.
But even if the buildup of acid in your body, blood and muscles hasn’t reached dangerous levels, according to a study out of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, it takes a toll. The acids contribute to the slow erosion of bone density and muscle mass that we see as we age.
But baking soda, which naturally reduces acid levels could help put the brakes on the aging process.
2. Kidney stones:
If you’ve ever experienced the agony of a kidney stone, you probably don’t need much encouragement to try a natural solution to prevent it from happening again. And according to experts, that natural solution could very well be sodium bicarbonate.
Kidney stones develop when the uric acid levels in your urine get so high that it crystalizes forming stones. But regularly drinking baking soda dissolved in a glass of water can help neutralize the uric acid. And that can both prevent new stones from forming and help dissolve existing ones too.
3. Heartburn:
This old fashioned solution for heartburn has stood the test of time for one reason alone. It works.
Simply fill a tall glass with cool water. Stir in up to a teaspoon of baking soda. Allow the solution to sit for a moment to let the cloudiness at the bottom clear. And drink it down.
While it isn’t the tastiest thing you’ll ever drink, if you suffer from frequent heartburn it could be the most soothing. The baking soda helps neutralize the acid in your belly providing quick relief without dangerous drug side effects.
4. Cancer:
That’s right, early research has found baking soda may even be able to help us battle the Big C. And while we still have a lot to learn, what we know already is plenty to get excited about.
Animal trials conducted at the University of Arizona found that baking soda appears to slow the growth and spread of cancer in some cases.
The chemical makeup of the outside of tumors is acidic. And this acidic outer layer promotes the growth and spread of the disease.
When researchers fed tumor-filled mice a baking soda solution, the pH levels of their tumors increased and the acidity levels plummeted. And as a result, the spread of the cancer slowed down significantly.
We don’t know exactly how tumors will react in humans yet. But experts are excited about the possibilities and more research is underway.
In the meantime, if you’re battling cancer yourself have a chat with your doctor about whether or not incorporating baking soda into your routine is worth trying. You’d be surprised by how many doctors are more open these days to including natural solutions into traditional treatment plans.
Old fashioned baking soda still belongs in your kitchen and cleaning closet. But it turns out it deserves a spot in your medicine cabinet too.
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