20 Amazing Uses of Hydrogen Peroxide You Didn't Know About

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If you don’t have a bottle of hydrogen peroxide at home, you don’t know what you’re missing out on. This humble solution that’s two parts hydrogen and two parts oxygen is practically a genie in a bottle with a plethora of uses and benefits. Hydrogen peroxide benefits are easy to reap and the solution is easily available.

Did you know you can use it on your skin, as a mouthwash, an antibacterial, an antiviral and an anti-acne agent? We bet you also didn’t know that hydrogen peroxide is already in your body. Yes! Your white blood cells produce it, which enhances your natural immunity. But that’s not the only hydrogen peroxide health benefit that exists. There’s a lot more to what you thought was just a regular household cleaner and home-use bleach.
Hydrogen peroxide has been a recognized medicinal source since the 1800s. Though it has gone through its fair share of infamy and disrepute, it is still widely used for many purposes. It may seem to lie in a sort of limbo, so far as established medicine is concerned, but there is also a significant body of research highlighting and enumerating its several therapeutic benefits.

Available in a variety of forms and strengths, the most common use hydrogen peroxide solution has a strength of 3 percent. You can get it at pharmacies, groceries, and general stores.

The use of food grade hydrogen peroxide of 35 percent strength is a little controversial as the scientific community has noted benefits and ill-effects alike. Though used in the food industry to preserve and store food, the USFDA warns against drinking high-strength hydrogen peroxide for medicinal purposes.

Uses Of Hydrogen Peroxide

But that’s not to say hydrogen peroxide is not useful. Here are 20 great uses and benefits of hydrogen peroxide:

1. Freshens Your Veggies

• You can prolong the life and freshness of all your veggies with hydrogen peroxide. To a sink full of cold water, add one-fourth cup of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide solution. Light-skinned vegetables like lettuce should be soaked for 20 minutes, while thicker skinned ones like cucumbers can stand for 30 minutes. Drain, dry and refrigerate.

2. Disinfects Your Kitchen Counter

• Always keep a spray bottle of H2O2 (3 percent) solution in the kitchen. You can wipe off countertops and appliances with it. It will not only disinfect the kitchen but also give it a fresh smell. Use it to clean your refrigerator as well.

3. Sparkle Up Your Whites

• Instead of using fabric bleach, soak your dingy or yellowed white clothes in water along with a cup of hydrogen peroxide to renew them.

4. Cleans Contact Lenses

• Hydrogen peroxide is a cheap alternative to lens cleaning solution. It is the active ingredient in most lens cleaning solutions anyway.

5. Maintains Skin’s pH Balance

• After a shower, spray or mist your body with a 3 percent hydrogen peroxide spray. This maintains your pH balance and replaces your skin’s acid mantle which is destroyed by soaps.

6. Detoxifies And Revives Your Body

• Soak yourself in a bathtub with a maximum of two cups of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide for about half an hour or more. This is going to detox and rejuvenate your body.

7. Reduces Plaque And Gingivitis

• It’s no news that hydrogen peroxide features regularly in most toothpastes. Studies have shown that prolonged use of hydrogen peroxide with a strength higher than 1 percent decreases plaque and gingivitis indices.

8. Fights Cavities

• When combined with blue light (frequently used by dentists during bleaching), hydrogen peroxide can manage to reach and treat bacteria settled in deep layers of biofilms on our teeth. These sneaky bacteria are responsible for causing cavities and gingivitis.

9. Brightens Your Pearly Whites

• Hydrogen peroxide gels are often used for tooth whitening.

10. Freshens Your Mouth

• Use equal parts water and 3% H2O2 as a mouth wash to get rid of bacteria and germs. It also relieves minor irritations of the mouth like canker sores and swollen gums. It also takes care of bad breath. Just don’t swallow it.

11. Removes Stain From Your Teeth

• Peroxides, hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide, are the active ingredients in most tooth-whitening products. Mix hydrogen peroxide and baking soda to make your very own stain-removing toothpaste. This is particularly effective if you are a coffee addict or smoker or indulge in other foods that leave stains on your teeth.

12. Fixes Athlete’s Foot

• If you suffer from athlete’s foot, soak your feet every night in a 3 percent solution of hydrogen peroxide until you see improvement.

13. Whitens Your Nails

• Has repeated use of dark nail colors left your nails with a dingy, yellow film? Get rid of it by soaking them in hydrogen peroxide.

14. Cleans Up Lungs

• What if we tell you that this liquid has the capability to clean up your lungs? Intravenous hydrogen peroxide therapy has been successfully used on patients suffering from lung disorders like emphysema, asthma, and chronic lung disease. Overseen by a doctor, the treatment involves a hydrogen peroxide drip that enters your body intravenously. Every session burns the soot and debris in your lungs and lifts it off the surface of the air sacks. This is released through coughing over a few days and you can breathe easier after that. Do not try this at home!

15. Aids Immune System

• Using the zebrafish as an animal model, scientists have demonstrated that the body uses hydrogen peroxide to alert the immune system when a tissue has been injured. Hydrogen peroxide is the stuff in your body that’s responsible for informing and directing white blood cells to come to the aid of the wounded site.

16. Works As An Antiseptic

• Because of its ability to create a foamy effervescence on the site of injury, hydrogen peroxide is able to reach the tiniest crevices of wounds, cuts, and scrapes, cleaning the area immediately.

17. Cleans Your Ears

• A common home remedy for a buildup of earwax is to pour a small amount (a capful of the bottle should do) into your ears while lying on one side. You will experience some buzzing and popping sounds. Stay put for 15-20 minutes and drain the hydrogen peroxide into a towel by tilting your head. You will probably notice small pieces of ear wax on the towel.

18. Clears Up Acne

• The 3 percent solution not only clears up your acne but also helps get rid of acne scars. It may sting a little the first few times but you’ll start seeing results soon.

19. Bleaches Your Hair

• Ran out of hair color? Just reach out for that bottle of peroxide, some cotton balls and a hair coloring brush to streak your hair. Let it stay for 30 minutes and wash off. However, don’t make it your go-to hair color as long-term use can damage your tresses.

20. Softens Corns And Calluses

• Dip your feet in a mixture of water and hydrogen peroxide to soften and eventually get rid of corns and calluses.

Well, hydrogen peroxide makes your life a lot easier, isn't it? So grab a bottle of this wonder solution without delay.

Source PHT - CJ

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