There are a lot of studies which are focusing on the health benefits of baking soda. Baking soda is a chemical compound well known as sodium bicarbonate commonly used for baking and cooking. However, due to its ability to balance the level of acid in human body, baking soda is considered one of the chemical compounds with some essential benefits for human health. Furthermore, some studies also stated the interaction of sodium bicarbonate and acid compound could help killing bacteria and fungus as well, that is why some scientific studies are listing the health benefits of baking soda for candida.
What Is Candida?
Candida is one type of fungi commonly found in skin, oral organ and intestine. In normal level, candida will not cause any problems but some factors may cause the growth of candida becomes uncontrollably which lead to severe infection caused by fungi well known as candidiasis. The best way to prevent the over growth of candida is by maintaining the immunity system and the healthy bacteria commonly found in the gut will suppress the growth of candida inside the intestine. However, as mentioned above, there must be some factors that could weaken the immunity system or disrupt the number of healthy bacteria in the intestine so the growth of candida cannot be controlled.
Benefits of Baking Soda for Candida
There are a lot of discussions whether baking soda is effective to treat candida. Well, the number of people who have claimed that it is effective and natural is surprisingly high and even some scientific studies have stated that those claims were proved scientifically as well. To help you understanding more about the health benefits of baking soda for candida the list below will tell you in details.
- Baking Soda is Alkaline by Nature
One of the important facts about baking soda is it is alkaline by nature. So, if you want to treat specific health conditions caused by candida or other fungus and bacteria, consuming or using baking soda could be helpful to kill the fungus or bacteria because both fungus and bacteria cannot survive the condition with high level of alkaline. Moreover, there are a lot of health benefits of drinking alkaline water than just killing candida.
- Helps Balancing the pH Level
There are a lot of problems that could occur if your body has unbalance pH level. Candida is just one of the fungus that will find this condition beneficial but there are more fungus, bacteria and viruses that also find this condition good for them to grow and infect. Consuming baking soda could help balancing the pH level and the result is you could prevent all the conditions that occur because of the imbalance pH level.
- Baking Soda Could Act as Anti-Fungal Agent
As mentioned above, candida is fungi. It could be found in some parts of your body. You cannot eliminate or kill the bacteria completely because they will keep coming back. That is why the only way to make sure candida will not cause infection is by controlling the growth. Moreover, baking soda could work as great anti-fungal agent as well by dehydrating the fungus and killing them afterward.
- Treats Some Skin Conditions Caused by Candida
There are some skin conditions caused by candida. They could appear in the exposed skin or in unexposed skin especially for women, the unbalance pH level in their vagina could invite candida to grow and infect. Baking soda could be used internally by consuming them through foods or drink and also externally by applying it directly to the exposed area and if the area is unexposed like in the vagina, you could mix baking soda with water for bath.
- Promotes Healthy Gut
With increased popularity of probiotic drinks you must be familiar with the term ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bacteria. The ‘good’ bacteria could help promoting the healthy gut by killing the ‘bad’ bacteria. Actually, baking soda contains some active compound that could act as probiotic as well by dehydrating the bacteria and fungi like candida in the intestine by increasing the alkaline level and then those bacteria and fungus will be killed naturally.
- Good for the Oral Health
One of the places where candida could grow is in the oral organ like mouth, teeth and tongue. The best thing you could do to control the growth of candida in the oral organ is by cleaning, brushing and rinsing your mouth regularly. However, there are a lot of health benefits of baking soda for teeth, tongue and mouth by using baking soda as toothpaste or mouthwash could suppress the growth of candida effectively and significantly. Besides, compared to the price of toothpaste and mouthwash, baking soda is amazingly affordable.
- Used for Bath to Fight Yeast Infection
Those who have problems with candida in the unexposed skin areas could use baking soda by mixing it with the water for bath. The warm water and the active compounds found in baking soda will help increasing the level of alkaline in the infected skin areas. However, it is depending on the severity of the conditions. The more severe the condition, the more time required to kill the bacteria and fungus. Moreover, you should consider the ability of bacteria to adapt as well, whereas you cannot use this method too often.
- Safe to Drink
There are a lot of people out there who are starting putting baking soda to their drink, not only because the know the benefits of baking soda for beauty but also for overall health as the benefits of alkaline water. Well, it is one of the ways you could do to maintaining the pH level in your body. Unfortunately, if you want to consume it in daily basis, consulting it with your doctor is highly recommended to avoid contradiction effects that may occur when you consume it in high dosage or small dosage but regularly.
Cautions of Baking Soda for Human Health
From the list mentioned above, baking soda is a bad news for fungus like candida but it doesn’t mean there is no specific caution for human as well. Finding out about the cautions of baking soda may help you avoiding the worst effect of this chemical compound.
- The key to the health benefits of baking soda is consuming it in the proper amount only because in high dosage baking soda may cause some health conditions like nausea and headache.
- As mentioned above, baking soda may be good to kill fungus and bacteria but too often will increase the pH level that instead of killing the fungus or bacteria, they will grow uncontrollably. So, don’t use it too often.
- Baking soda is natural and easy to find but you should make sure to get the product from the trustable supplier only because the plain white appearance of baking soda is quite hard to differentiate with other chemical compounds.
- The use of baking soda is quite safe for adults but it is not recommended for children under 5 years old, especially for internal usage.
Actually, consuming probiotics regularly could help controlling the growth of candida in human body but those who are suffering from lactose intolerance will find it difficult since probiotics commonly made from dairy products. However, baking soda is a natural solution to fight candida even for those who cannot tolerate probiotics from dairy products.