BS, Dietetics and Nutrition
This article is published as part of Nutri Inspector’s scholarship application by Cassidy Oliveira who studies at the Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Apple Cider Vinegar is a cider made from apples, when it is organic, unfiltered apple cider vinegar also contains “mother,” which is strands of proteins, enzymes and friendly bacteria. Some people believe that the “mother” is responsible for most of the health benefits, although there are currently no studies to support this. With it having friendly bacteria, which is essential for life in humans because not all bacteria is bad, it is a probiotic. The first step exposes crushed apples (or apple cider) to yeast, which ferment the sugars and turn them into alcohol. In the second step, bacteria are added to the alcohol solution, which further ferment the alcohol and turn it into acetic acid… the main active compound in vinegar. Apple Cider Vinegar being a probiotic assists in having healthy gastrointestinal health because of the immune system having a great sum of their healthy bacteria there. I have always heard about the miracles of Apple Cider Vinegar. It ranging to curing MRSA to the weight loss benefits. I always use Apple Cider Vinegar for multiple things for home remedies. Although a few years ago it was considered natural medicine, it it now the biggest trend. Doctor Oz has written articles and talked about it on his show. This meaning it when from a non-popular product to the biggest craze. I will discuss the benefits Apple Cider Vinegar has towards our health in our diet, organ health, and preventative methods or cosmetic healing.
One of the biggest trends I have been seeing all over social media has been the use of Apple Cider Vinegar. On Twitter, everyone was talking about this drink consisting of: Apple Cider Vinegar, warm water, cinnamon, raw honey, cayenne pepper, and lemon juice. This drink benefits our bodies because each ingredient is beneficial to our bodies. The Apple Cider Vinegar is full of enzymes and friendly bacteria, because we do need bacteria in our body so drinking this could be introducing friendly bacteria to your body. Lemon juice helps balance blood sugar and has an alkaline effect on your body helping to regulate PH. Cinnamon is one of the best antioxidants on the planet. It’s the number one herb/spice for balancing blood sugar. Cayenne pepper has been shown to drop blood pressure, increase metabolism. Lastly, raw honey has a world of it’s own benefits. This drink has been to proven to help as a detox drink or people chose to incorporate this in their everyday life and drink it before every meal. Dr.Oz has mentioned that there has been a study and those who ingest Apple Cider Vinegar have an increase of the enzyme, AMPK present in their bodies, which increases fat burning and decreases fat and sugar production in the liver. There has been a study that those in the group whose drank the Apple Cider Vinegar before eating that they were said to be more full and consume less than those who didn’t consume Apple Cider Vinegar (Connealy, 2017). With the Apple Cider Vinegar being apart of someone’s diet, making them feel full wouldn’t be the only thing that would help with weight loss. This leads to weight loss because you are decreasing your calorie intake by feeling full from Apple Cider Vinegar which is 5 calories per teaspoon. Over time this lessening of calories would lead to weight loss. Some researchers believe Apple Cider Vinegar works differently, “The researchers suggest that vinegar may turn on certain genes involved in breaking down fats.” (WebMD). This may be true because Apple Cider Vinegar stimulates the some of the same digestive juices and it helps break down food. This would be aiding ingestion, so if it is weight loss the user is looking for Apple Cider Vinegar could help, but it could also be beneficial to people who have digestion problems. If they are lacking certain digestive acids then the Apple Cider Vinegar could be the fix to their problem. “Additionally, the healthy acids found in ACV, including acetic, isobutyric, lactic and propionic acid aids better digestion by controlling the growth of unwanted yeast and bacteria in the stomach and throughout the body.”(Bright, 2017). There has been studies that show that Apple Cider Vinegar reduces body fat, it was tested on both animals and humans. It has been shown that the nutrition of Apple Cider Vinegar in your diet promotes healthy weight loss, “When obese individuals were given daily doses of vinegar over a 12 week period, they enjoyed reduced belly fat, waist circumference, lower blood triglycerides and weight loss.” (Bright, 2017).” Others have said that there are effects on the genes that have to do with fat storage or how the fat is burned. There has been many studies done to show the effects on Apple Cider Vinegar and how it stimulate the process of weight loss. There are many theories on how it works but there has been apparent effects on how it can promote weight loss.
There are more benefits than just weight loss, having Apple Cider Vinegar a stable element in your diet is beneficial on other aspects of your health, which will ultimately lead to a better lifestyle. If having Apple Cider Vinegar in your daily nutrition then has effects of your body’s blood sugar levels, pH, blood pressure, heart health, and detoxification of organs. With these aspects at health levels you are more likely to lose weight. Dr.Oz has said that one of the key things to lose weight and keep the weight off it to have stable blood sugar levels. With your blood sugar constantly and rapidly changing it effects your weight. “When blood glucose levels rapidly rise and fall – as they do after a carbohydrate or sugar heavy meal – this leads to mood swings, headaches, shakiness, cravings and hunger”(Bright, 2017). With Apple Cider Vinegar help stabilizing blood sugar, it helps you lose weight because you are going throught the mood swings nor the cravings. Apple Cider Vinegar can also help diabetics because of their bodies not producing enough insulin to compensate for the blood sugar levels. If you have diabetes or even pre-diabetes, adding apple cider vinegar to your diet may help improve insulin sensitivity and reduce a blood sugar spike. Apple Cider Vinegar could help ease the burden of them constantly worrying about blood sugar. Numerous of studies, in both rats and humans, show that vinegar can increase insulin sensitivity and significantly lower blood sugar responses during meals. This means apple cider vinegar can help reduce the effects of sugar or carb-rich meals, along with post-meal cravings and hunger. Apple cider vinegar has also been shown to alter the ratio of the fat storage and fat burning hormones in the body; reducing the ratio of insulin to glucagon, which favors fat burning. Having lowered insulin encourages the breakdown of fat, which can then be used as an energy source. Insulin causes the body to store up excess fat, and glucagon signals the body to release the fat and use it as fuel, so it’s beneficial that apple cider vinegar can lower one and increase the other.Blood pressure is a big issue with middle aged people or the elderly. Apple Cider Vinegar can help lower blood pressure because of it containing potassium, which is known to help balance the body’s sodium levels and maintain optimal blood pressure. It also contains magnesium, which helps to relax blood vessels walls, and ultimately lower blood pressure.With Apple Cider Vinegar helping blood pressure it helps with heart health. It increase HDL, or “good” cholesterol, according to a 2006 study reported in Medscape General Medicine.It was also discovered that Apple Cider Vinegar can help control triglycerides. Apple Cider Vinegar is also believed to contain the antioxidant chlorogenic acid, which has been scientifically shown to protect LDL cholesterol particles from becoming oxidized, a key step in the process of heart disease. As the acid-alkaline balance is essential. The body is constantly striving to achieve a state of equilibrium. Just a small change in pH can have a profound effect on body functioning. The first step towards great health begins with helping the body become more alkaline. Many enzymes and chemical reactions in the body work best at a particular pH, and research has shown that high acid levels lead to a lack of energy, and higher incidences of infection. While you might think that raw organic Apple Cider Vinegar is acidic, when consumed, it actually becomes alkaline. Acid forming foods include things like processed foods, alcohol, sugar and other simple carbohydrates. Keeping your body more alkaline will naturally help keep your energy levels up and better able it to fight off illness and disease. Lastly, Apple Cider Vinegar helps detox the liver. It has been proven to stimulate circulation, it removes the built up toxins that are in the body. It helps to flush it out and improve the natural blood filtration process while boosting energy levels. It has also have had some effects on the lymph nodes. The cider breaks down the mucus in the lymph nodes, which cleanses them. This helps in lymphatic circulation and ultimately improving the immune system. The lymph nodes are apart of the lymphatic system that helps flush out toxins and is in charge of immune response. Apple Cider Vinegar has many benefits to the whole body.
Besides of the cider having current health benefits, there are preventative and cosmetic benefits. There is a study showing that there are links to women who consumed Apple Cider Vinegar during their middle age have lessened severity of Osteoporosis. This awful disease affects millions of women when they get older. These women lose density of their bones. Preventing this disease before it ravages your bones is key, and as ACV aids in the nutrient absorption of calcium, an essential mineral for preventing osteoporosis, it’s one of the best tools you can use to reduce your risk. By drinking it along with each meal, it will help to ensure proper calcium absorption to strengthen your bones. The only other way I have heard from preventing this onset of the disease is through daily exercise, which should be apart of your daily life already. Apple Cider Vinegar also has a lot of benefits with skin. Personally, when I was in high school, I suffered from really bad acne and I chose not to go with the modern medicine. The current acne medication has extreme side effects and I did not believe it was worth getting rid of my acne. So I read something online that said that Apple Cider Vinegar had results on helping acne. Someone with acne would put the Apple Cider Vinegar on a cotton pad/ball and rub it on their face. The apple cider vinegar because it returns the acidity to our skin and restores that acid mantle. It also kills bacteria, removes excess dirt, oil and makeup and dissolves dead skin cells. It works to get rid of the things that cause acne, while also working as an exfoliator getting rid of the dead skin cells on your face or where ever the acne is located on the body. Although, since the vinegar is acidic it might dry out your skin, but this also helps prevent acne. Apple cider vinegar’s natural alpha-hydroxy acids and acetic acid will stimulate circulation, as well as minimize pores. As well as prevents blistering and promotes healing. Another benefit it has is with slow the aging, doing treatments on your skin helps prevent the sagging and wrinkling of the skin. Which is bound to happen when you get older.The antioxidant properties in vinegar can help prevent premature aging and even aid in slowing down the aging process. ACV’s ability to maintain the stability of the acid/alkaline balance in the body also plays a key role. It is also used for health and beauty, ranging from bug bites, bruise healer, sunburn relief, to getting rid of dandruff and being a razor bump remedy. The anti-inflammatory properties of apple cider vinegar soothe irritated skin, and acetic acid softens skin to help ingrown hairs grow out more easily. With it having anti-inflammatory, promoting and stimulating circulation, killing off fungus and bad bacteria, and balancing pH levels; it solves and cures all of these minor beauty problems.
Apple Cider Vinegar has so many uses and is so beneficial to our health. From weight loss, detoxing, to getting rid of acne. Apple Cider Vinegar goes from a household item to the solution of the decade. Although since it is so new to daily use in our bodies, we don’t know the long term effects it might have on our body. It is truly amazing how many uses and benefits it has from preventing future diseases of osteoporosis to making your nail polish last longer. In my biased opinion, every person should have a bottle of Apple Cider Vinegar for whatever health problems they have.
