5 Ways Vinegar Keeps You Healthy

Tuesday, 02 Jun 2015 05:00 PM

By Sylvia Booth Hubbard






Vinegar has been used for healing since Hippocrates used it to treat wounds. Recently, vinegar has been touted as a cure for everything from an upset stomach to dandruff. Can vinegar really be such a "cure-all?" Modern scientific studies are giving the old folk remedies new life by showing that they can indeed be used to treat modern medical scourges.

"One of the more surprising discoveries about vinegar is that it can help control blood sugar," say Joe and Terry Graedon, authors of the monthly newsletter Simple Health Remedies.

Vinegar forms when sugars ferment and turn into alcohol. If the alcohol is allowed to continue fermenting, it turns into vinegar. The main ingredient in vinegar is acetic acid, but vinegar also contains vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. Apple cider vinegar, made from fermented apples, is believed to offer the most health benefits.

Check out the following ways vinegar can help keep you healthy:

• Diabetes. Numerous studies show that vinegar lowers blood sugar levels. A study published in the journal Diabetes Care in 2004 found that drinking apple cider vinegar after eating a high-carb breakfast lowered blood sugar levels by 34 percent in patients with prediabetes, and by 19 percent in those who had Type 2 diabetes. "The addition of vinegar blunted the rise of blood sugar and insulin," the Graedons tell Newsmax Health. "It also made people feel fuller."

A 2007 study, also published in Diabetes Care, found that taking two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar before bed lowered morning glucose levels by up to 6 percent. And Italian researchers discovered that apple cider vinegar taken with meals slashed blood sugar levels by 30 percent.

"More recent research shows that giving volunteers vinegar before a meal can help their muscle cells take in blood sugar and reduce spikes in glucose, insulin, and triglycerides after eating," say the Graedons. "The people recruited for this study had prediabetes, and the researchers suggest that vinegar may prove useful in reversing metabolic abnormalities."


• Weight loss. Vinegar has been used as a weight-loss remedy for centuries, and appears to work by increasing satiety, allowing dieters to feel fuller with less food. In a 12-week, double-blind experiment, three groups of obese Japanese drank a daily liter drink (about 16 ounces) that contained either 30 ml (about 1 tablespoon) of vinegar, 15 ml, or no vinegar. Those whose drinks contained vinegar had lower body mass index (BMI), less visceral fat, and lost more weight than those whose drinks didn't contain vinegar. Even though volunteers in both vinegar groups lost weight, those who drank the larger amount lost the most weight.

A different study, which was printed in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that people who were given small amounts of white vinegar along with a piece of bread felt fuller than those who just ate bread.

A Japanese animal study found that mice whose high-fat diets were supplemented with acetic acid (the main ingredient in vinegar) developed up to 10 percent less body fat than control mice.

• Heart. A 10-year study found that women who used a vinegar-based salad oil five to six times each week lowered their risk of ischemic heart disease. Research published in June of 2011 in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that apple cider vinegar significantly lowered triglycerides and cholesterol. Other research supports those findings: An animal study published in Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry found that apple cider vinegar reduced blood pressure, and another study published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that apple cider vinegar lowered cholesterol.


• Cancer. Numerous studies have shown that vinegar can kill cancer cells, but the jury is still out since most studies have been done either in test tubes or on animals. Still, a Chinese study involving humans found that vinegar decreased the risk of esophageal cancer. A Siberian study, however, indicated that vinegar might increase the risk of bladder cancer. A study at Columbia University found that modified citrus pectin (MCP), which is found in apple cider vinegar, slowed the growth of cancerous cells in both human and mouse prostate cancer cells.

• Stomach ailments. Apple cider vinegar has strong antibacterial properties, and can treat diarrhea caused by bacteria. Pectin contained in apple cider vinegar eases intestinal spasms. Vinegar can also maintain the proper balance between good and bad bacteria in the gut. Some experts recommend drinking a tablespoon of organic vinegar mixed with 4 ounces of water with each meal if you're having problems with digestion and reflux.


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