Vinegar, baking soda, and plain table salt are among the staples in your kitchen cabinet that can battle pain and sickness. Indigestion, infection, acne, and sore throat are just four conditions you can treat with them.

Baking Soda

You can mix this white crystalline bicarbonate of soda with water as an antacid drink that calms an upset stomach. You can sprinkle it with water to make a toothpaste that will fight bad breath. And you can use the paste to soothe a bee sting, prevent razor burns and oily skin, soften a callus, or help fight acne; rubbing a blackhead gently with the paste for about two to three minutes will loosen it.

Because baking soda, like table salt, contains sodium, repeated ingestion by those with high blood pressure or heart failure is not advised. Anyone who is on a sodium-restricted diet should consult a physician before taking baking soda internally.

Table Salt

A saltwater gargle relieves a sore throat. And warm, diluted salt water, sniffed gently up the nostrils, can clear mucus from the nasal passages when you have a head cold. Also, dentists recommend rinsing with a solution of warm salt water to ease gum irritation and speed healing. Salt water heated to body temperature may relieve earaches by loosening wax. And two teaspoons of salt in a pint of tepid water makes a footbath that helps curb fungal infections by softening and cleansing the skin. A saltwater soak also makes it easier to remove a stubborn splinter.