The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Acid Reflux
Posted by James (Houston, TX) on 01/18/2008
★★★★★
Hi I have occasional acid refulx and my wife has it severe at times. DO NOT TAKE ACV for Acid Reflux! It just doesn't make any sense. Acid Reflux is an Acid - you neutralize Acids with Bases (Alkaline).
pH less than 7 = Acidic, pH > 7 = Basic (Alkaline). Vinegar pH = 3ish
An antacid is any substance, generally a base, which counteracts stomach acidity. In other words, antacids are stomach acid neutralizers. I truly believe that adding an ACID to your stomach to reduce Stomach Acid is the wrong approach. You should add a BASE like baking soda. Rolaids & Tums are both Calcium Carbonate. Alka-Seltzer is Soduim BiCarbonate. Baking Soda = Sodium BiCarbonate. In the duodenum, gastric acid is neutralized by sodium bicarbonate. So Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) is used internally by the body to naturally regulate stomach Acid. The equation is HCl NaHCO3 → NaCl H2CO3. HCL = HydroChloric (Stomach) acid
NaHC03 = Baking Soda.
Just add a little bit of baking soda to some water, swirl it around, and drink it. Within a few minutes you will belch. The belch is the gas released when the baking soda neutralizes your stomach acid (or if its crept into your throat it will neutralize it there). You will feel much better immediately. Baking Soda is completely safe.
'Why would you ever want to add an acid (vinegar) to another acid (HCL) with the hopes of reducing acid? That doesn't make any sense.
Vinegar is acetic acid (CH3COOH). Some of these recipies recommend you add Baking Soda to ACV. When vinegar is added to sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), it produces a volatile mixture of carbonic acid rapidly decomposing into water and carbon dioxide bubbles, making the reaction "fizz". It is exemplified as the typical acid-base reaction in school science experiments. The salt that is formed is sodium acetate. Basically, this little experiment proves that its better to just take baking soda. The Vinegar is the acid and the Baking Soda is the base. The Baking Soda neutralizes the acid. Its the same way in your stomach, just add the Baking Soda and it will neutralize the acid. All you need is about a teaspoon of baking soda in an ounce or two of water. Problem solved immediately.
Good luck and I hope this helps.
Canker Sores
Posted by Shawna (Eugene, Oregon) on 01/25/2008
★★★★★
Out of the blue 4 days ago I got a canker sore that was 1.5 inches large on the side of my tongue. It was excruciating! Last night before bed I tried putting a baking soda paste on it and I woke up this morning and it's almost gone! I am so glad I found this website!!
Canker Sores
Posted by Tania (Mercier, Quebec, Canada) on 03/10/2008
★★★★★
Baking soda cured my canker sore within 24 hours. I had major pain on the side of my tongue to find a canker sore it was so sore I couldn't hardly swallow. I took 1tsp of baking soda and 1 tsp of water and kept it in my mouth as long as possible. I did this 3 times within an hour went to bed and did the same the next morning by dinner time the canker sore was gone! Thank you for this site its a great help.
Skin
Posted by Ttecha (Montego Bay, Jamaica) on 02/01/2008
★★★★★
Hi, I read the caveat that Baking Soda can deplete vitamins in the body. Recently, I started using it to clean my face instead of using soap. I use about 1 tablespoon full mixed and apply it directly to my wet face twice per day. Is this safe? I have combination skin but no matter what I used, my face would become very dry and tight after cleansing. Then I would have to moisturize which makes my skin very very oily afterwards. The baking soda seems to be helping with this problem. Thanks!
Bladder Pain
Posted by Elizabeth (Memphis, TN) on 02/08/2008
★★★★★
I have chronic bladder problems (Interstitial Cystitis) and am always looking for something to make it better. I drank 1/2 tsp of baking soda in some water during the worst possible bladder pain ever. In 15 minutes the pain was gone. I feel that the baking soda made the urine less acidic and that let my bladder be less irritated. Anyway, baking soda did what hundreds of dollars of meds could not do--make me feel better! Elizabeth
Baking Soda and Benzene
Posted by Methuselah (Los Angeles) on 08/09/2006
...For sodium bicarbonate, I use the regular Arm & Hammer baking soda that you can find in any grocery store. I contacted them also, and they told me that they do not add anything to their baking soda although they do not have any chemical analysis of the soda ash (a mined mineral deposit) from which they make their baking soda by adding carbon dioxide in a solution--i.e., no additives or stabilizers. I hope that this information answers your question. Please let me know if you need more information. Have a great week and keep up the good work. Also thanks for all the help.
Baking Soda and Benzene
Posted by Nathan (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) on 02/12/2008
★★★★★
I read Dr. Hulda Clark's book, "The Cure For All Diseases." In it she mentions that most brands of baking soda are tainted with benzene. I know you can buy better baking soda in a health food store, but that's not an option where I live. Is it safe to mix ACV with carbonated mineral water instead? The ACV they sell here is pretty acidic, so I need something to buffer it.
EC: Excerpted from an email we received in 2006:
Bee Stings
Posted by Mare (Auckland, New Zealand) on 02/21/2008
★★★★★
My daughters were playing outside in the garden and one after the other, they both started screaming, crying and running toward the house. I couldn't understand what had happened but they both had similar red marks on their skin. I assumed they had been bitten by spiders as there was no obvious sting. I quickly applied a thick paste of Baking Soda and water and within minutes both girls were calm and happy. Praise God for Baking Soda!!
Broad Benefits
Posted by Jessyka (Memphis, TN, USA) on 02/21/2008
★★★★★
I had the horrid nail fungus many years ago and took Lamasil to clear it up. When my father failed to do the same, the fungus returned years later, both pinky toenails now fully infected. Without the money for the medicine and the will to again risk its side-effects, I lived with it. 11 days ago, I adopted a baking soda regimine for other reasons (cancer preventative). Today, my right pinky nail simply fell off when I was drying after my morning shower. Beneath, a new nail - a perfect nail - was found growing in. Nothing else in my diet or lifestyle has changed other than the baking soda addition to my routine. Most Americans' lifestyles and diets leave our bodies too acidic for good health. Baking soda balances the bodies Ph, creating a more alkaline system. I mix 1 teaspoon in a glass of water at bedtime. Ideally, it's recommended taken in the morning with no food or drink for 1 hour before or after; however, as I'm hypoglycemic, I have to have my Coca-Cola (others have coffee) first thing each morning, so I don't drop dead.
Regardless, I've noticed a number of improvements since adopting the baking soda routine (which is terribly easy to do - quick and simple). I'm sleeping better, my skin is clearing up, and, lo and behold, my toenail fungus is obviously dead... in eleven days!!! [Insert delighted giggle here] I couldn't believe it when I discovered the old infected nail barely holding on and falling away with the first touch and a shiny new healthy nail beneath (even if it is small yet). Now, I'm watching the still-infected nail on the left, and yes, it's got a line of "disconnection" appearing. I recommend giving the baking soda a try and do so for more reasons than defeated nail fungus. Go ahead, google "baking soda" and see how much you discover. In some European country (think it was Italy or Germany), a doctor is actually curing cancer with baking soda therapy, even in serious cases where changing the bodies Ph to one more alkaline is making all other treatments (as chemo) doubly effective. Cancer cells cannot thrive or spread in an alkaline environment. And consider this - it's in your kitchen. You cook with it. You eat it. It's non-toxic, has no ill side-effects, costs almost nothing, and even whitens teeth. I can't say everyone will have the astounding all-around results I have so quickly encountered, but I'd have to encourage them to give it a shot. It's too easy to implement not to try. That's one teaspoon baking soda stirred into one glass of water, once a day, preferably in the morning (but it doesn't seem to matter), with no food or drink for an hour before or after. Good luck.
Acne
Posted by Missy (Thief River Falls, MN) on 02/25/2008
★★★★★
I have been using baking soda in the mornings with my face wash for over 6 months now and I have been acne free since. I am 35 and was still experiencing mild acne with more breakouts around my menstrual cycle. I don't even experience a single pimple around that time of the month! It's truly amazing to me! I started using Hydrogen Peroxide after I washed my face and shortly after I added the baking soda, so I thought it was the combo, but I started to get lazy and stopped using the peroxide, and didn't get any flare ups so now I know it was just the baking soda doing the work!
Hair
Posted by Kerry (Launceston, Tasmania ....Australia) on 03/03/2008
★★★★★
Baking soda or Bicarb which it is called here...is fantastic to wash hair with I use 1/4 cup of bicarb mixed with a cup of warm water in the shower and just tip onto my hair and rub for just a couple of seconds...then rinse...its amazing when it dries its like ive used shampoo... soft and bouncy if hair is a tad dry at times...iI just add a very small amount of organic conditioner to the ends ..and yes I use organic cold pressed coconut oil for a monthly deep condition...
Bacterial Infections
Posted by Eric (San Antonio, Texas) on 03/15/2008
★★★★★
i gave a kidney in 2005 and the skin dehisced. the intestine protrudes and after 2 years i started having focused pain in that area i could feel it doctors can't even tell me for now. well the pain expanded from that part of the colon towards the sigmoid area and boy does that pain gyrate. so get this friend of mine sez i'm the key to a new prespective. his curiousity erked him. i became a guinea pig. through his studies he determined baking soda helps the digestive tract but to what extent. thats where i came in. my pain so chronic for the last three consecutive months. he sez take it it accordingly and see what happens. well i did and in 15 minutes all my pain was going away in 1 hour all gone. but that determined that i have an infection. now he sez if i get myself on a regime i can eradicate the vermin in due time and get back to normal. i tell you this much. bacteria can really screw you up bad. hit me up if you wanna know how im doing in the future.
Heartburn
Posted by Rebecca (Annaheim, VA) on 03/16/2008
★★★★★
Every time I get heartburn I always put a teaspoon of baking soda in about 3 ounces of warm water and chug it down. Gets rid of it every time. My grandmother taught me this.
Alkalizing pH
Posted by Anna (East Lansing, US) on 03/19/2008
★★★★★
Regarding the recommendation by Ted to consume sodium bicarbonate in order to increase the body's pH...I can't (off the top of my head) quote exact solubility constants, but free carbonate anions are likely to bind with aqueous calcium cations in the blood, forcing the body to "steal" calcium from bone in order to maintain its delicate ion balance. Perhaps this is why consumption of soda pop (which is carbonated) is associated with bone loss. People assume it is the acid in the pop, but the electrochemical potential of a redox reaction in which solid calcium donates electrons to oxygen in the presence of hydronium cations to yield water and aqueous calcium cations will be at MOST on the order of 10^-6 V, and that would be for EXTREMELY acidic blood (pH 6).
