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BAKING SODA USES

Baking Soda(NAHCO3) is a magical ingredient found in your kitchen. This magical ingredient can be used in multifarious ways for your daily beauty regimen as well as cooking. Over here, I am listing a few uses of baking soda which you can try at your home and let me know the feedback.

Baking Soda Uses for Beauty:

Uses for skin:

Advantages:

Skin, being the largest organ of our body need special care. It is very important to take care of and maintain our skin. There are many substances with which we take care of our skin and baking soda is one of them. It is easily available in our kitchen and it's pretty cheap.

Uses For Face:

Acne:

We can use baking soda for treating acne. Excess oil secretion blocks our pores and thus causes acne. Applying baking soda paste can reduce acne inflammation. However, a tiny amount is required in this and it can be used as a spot treatment.

Exfoliant:

I sometimes use baking soda as a mild exfoliant for my skin. It helps to cleanse the skin and remove dead cells. For this, I prefer to mix half a teaspoon of the baking soda along with yoghurt.

I make a paste and then apply it to the face and neck area and leave it for about 10 minutes. I do not apply this paste to the eye area as it is very sensitive. After the stipulated time, I wash it off with lukewarm water. I use this scrub once every 10 or 12 days.

Pigmentation:

I have found it to be helpful in reducing pigmentation on the skin.   I mix half a teaspoon of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder and two teaspoons of yoghurt and apply it to the skin for reducing blemishes. This face pack should not be used daily.

 Infections:

I use this paste of one teaspoon of baking soda and one teaspoon of water to cure inflammation from bug bites like mosquitoes. This paste helps in reducing inflammation as well as irritation on the skin. I use this paste as a spot treatment.

Sometimes it can be used to cure fungal infections of the skin also. But I recommend consulting a dermatologist before using this.

 Underarms:

In order to lighten your dark underarms, you can use this pack twice a week.

Mix one teaspoon of baking soda with half a teaspoon of lime juice and two teaspoons of turmeric powder. Make a paste of that powder and apply it to your underarms and keep it for about 15 minutes. Wash it off with lukewarm water and apply coconut oil as a moisturiser. You will notice a noticeable change in the pigmentation and it will reduce. But you have to be consistent in using this.

Teeth:

Mix it with salt and sometimes brush your teeth, This will help in cleaning the brightening your teeth. You can do this once a week and this method is effective in treating gum problems also.

 Hair:

You can use baking soda mixed with water to clean your scalp once or twice a month. This helps to clean the residue on your scalp. Never overdo this. If you use it every day as a cleaner to clean your scalp or as a substitute for shampoo, then you might have a very dry and flaky scalp. This will cause severe problems and will eventually lead to dandruff. You should be careful and use it once, maximum twice to clean the scalp.

Disadvantages:

Baking soda has got alkaline properties.

Regular usage can cause excessive dryness of the skin.

I have seen that if I use it daily, it strips the skin of its natural oils, making it irritated, dry and flaky.

Baking soda should not be used on sensitive skin or the skin of babies and infants. It can cause skin infection and other reactions. And moreover, baby skin is very soft and delicate. Do not use it.

I always recommend doing a patch test before using any products on the skin. This avoids unnecessary issues.

Please be careful if it enters the eye. It can cause serious effects like redness and swelling.

Who should Avoid:

Baking soda has a tendency to get absorbed in the skin and so please avoid using it if you are having majorly infected skin if you are lactating, pregnant or if you are suffering from any major disease.

Baking Soda uses for Kitchen:

Uses as a Cleaning agent:

The first and foremost thing that comes to my mind regarding this topic is how effective baking soda is to clean the kitchen. Be it utensils, oven, drainage holes, tiles etc. It acts as an excellent cleaning agent. Because of its alkaline nature, it acts as a cleaner and helps in removing difficult stains like coffee, tea, oils and dirt.

I wash the chopping board with it because it cleans it beautifully and it removes the smell also.

Which Surfaces To Avoid:

However please refrain from using this in the case of marble countertops or any other things made of marble and aluminium utensils as this might cause chemical reactions.

I avoid cleaning glass surfaces and ceramic cookware also as it might cause abrasion.

Uses in Cooking:

It gives a very soft and nice texture to fritters or pakoras, cakes, and dhokla.

I recommend using it in very small amounts in foods. Do not use it in a very high amount as it can cause health problems like hyperkalemia. Please be cautious regarding the amount.

Conclusion:

Bicarbonate of soda is very easily available and pocket friendly. It is used in various ways in our homes for treating skin-related problems, baking and cleaning. It is a great cleaning agent as well as it can be used for various health remedies regarding acid influx (because it is alkaline), treating mild infections and swelling of the skin.

Regarding the amount of intake in food, you should be careful and limit the amount. Or else it will create health issues like kidney-related problems and heart-related issues.

 PABDA FISH RECIPE OR PABDA MACHER JHOL RECIPE

Well, Bengalis and their love affair for fish is legendary and the Pabda Fish recipe or Pabda Macher Jhol is one of the favourites. Fish is called mach and a light curry is called jhol in Bengali.  Most of the Bengalis are fish lovers and the process of cooking fish here in Bengal is different from the rest of the country.

There are many varieties of fishes available with freshwater fishes dominating the scenario. Pabda is also known as Butterfish or butter catfish. Over here a very simple curry using Pabda fish called Pabda fish curry or Pabda macher jhol (light curry in Bengali) is shared.

INGREDIENTS FOR PABDA FISH RECIPE OR PABDA MACHER JHOL RECIPE:

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Pabda fish or pabda mach

Yoghurt- 3 tablespoon

Ginger paste or grated ginger

Turmeric Powder- Half teaspoon(for curry) and 2 Half tablespoon for marinating the fish.

Coriander Powder- Half tablespoon

Cumin Powder-Half tablespoon

Red Chilli Powder- Half teaspoon

Bay leaf-2 pcs

Nigella seeds or kalo jeera r black cumin seeds- Few

Green Chilli- 4 to 5 (slightly slit)

Mustard Oil(For frying the fish and making the curry or jhol)

Salt-To taste

Sugar-Half teaspoon

Coriander Leaves(For garnishing)

BENEFITS OF DRY BRUSHING

There are many benefits of dry brushing the skin on our body. The skin, being the largest organ of our body is exposed to environmental harshness the most. We need to take care of it as we take care of our other body parts. Regular exfoliation with the help of a dry brush helps in many ways which are discussed in the blog.

You should have a comprehensive idea of the skin structure and it is discussed below:

Our skin has 3 layers:

Epidermis- The outermost layer of the skin is called the epidermis. The pigment, called melanocyte which is responsible for our skin colour and tone is located on the epidermis.

Dermis- The second most layer of our skin is called the dermis. It consists of hair follicles, sweat glands and tissues.

Hypodermis: The third layer of our skin is called the hypodermis. It is the deepest part of our skin and it consists majorly of fat and connective tissues.

Due to several factors like environmental pollution, excessive sweating, bacterial infection etc, our skin suffers a lot. So we need to take into consideration the benefits of dry brushing to prevent some of the diseases.

Reasons for Dry-brushing:

There are several factors which need to be taken into account before we ask the question"Why dry brushing is so important"? Some of the reasons are listed below:

You will be achieving smooth skin.

Getting rid of ingrown hair.

To get rid of dry skin cells.

In order to have a good lymphatic flow.

Toxin elimination.

Increasing blood flow and circulation.

Benefits  of  Dry Brushing:

A dry brush has got coarse bristles made up of natural fibres. The coarseness of the bristles helps in exfoliation.  In order to remove dead skin cells, exfoliation of the body is essential.

Slow and circular rubbing motion of the brush ensures a good blood flow in the area.

The toxins are flushed out of the body during dry brushing because it helps to open up the pores and the toxins are flushed out of the sweat glands.

Our lymphatic system is essential to ward off infections. So, a dry brush helps to stimulate that system and ensures that the flow is unobstructed.

The dead skin cells sometimes tend to block the hair follicles and that is a cause of ingrown hair. Dry brushing helps to prevent that.

Method of Dry brushing:

You should be dry brushing your body with a brush which is made up of coarse natural fibre bristle.

The body should be dry or else this technique will not be effective enough.

Start with a circular motion and concentrate on each and every body part, except your face and neck.

You should apply firm pressure but it should not be aggressive enough to scar the skin. You should be careful about that.

You should keep a damp towel and wipe off after dry brushing.

Apply a good layer of moisturiser. This step is important. Do not ignore this step.

A moisturiser penetrates better inside your skin if applied on slightly damp skin.

Results: