Baking soda

What’s the difference between powder and soda? Just one little word.

In the e-Alert “McMedicine” (6/25/03) I told your how the average person may absorb anywhere from 10 to 100 mg of aluminum every day through aluminum deodorants, cookware, baking soda, antacids, and other sources. This is a concern, of course, because aluminum toxicity has been associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

But it appears that I had one little (but important) word wrong.

An HSI member named Pati wrote with this question:

“My family and I have been using baking soda as a deodorant for several years now, so that we could avoid the aluminum in regular deodorants. We have found it to be better than most health store varieties and have really liked it, but it looked – from your recent article – that it too contains aluminum. Is this correct? If so, then ANY type of deodorant – even in the health stores – that claims to be free of aluminum but that also has baking soda listed is also to be avoided. Is this so?”

Good catch, Pati. This question was also brought up on the HSI Forum in a thread titled “Baking Soda & Alzheimer’s Disease.” It’s gratifying to know that everyone is paying such close attention!

In a nutshell, here’s the lowdown: Baking soda doesn’t contain aluminum, but baking POWDER does (unless you go out of your way to find aluminum-free baking powder). So if you’re getting good results from a deodorant that contains baking soda – fear not – your product is aluminum-free. (By the way, I should have caught that one myself as my toothpaste is also baking soda based. Shame on me.)

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute