Apple vinegar is arguably a millennial product that has been used for many years ago as a natural remedy to cure different conditions after the discovery of its antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties and its extensive uses in everyday life. Before Christ and Hippocrates used it to treat persistent coughs, also during the First World War to heal the wounds of people who went out to battle, just as samurai in japón used it to gain more strength and vitality.
Where to find and how to make apple cider vinegar?
Apple vinegar can be made from juice, the pulp of the fruit, or cider.
In the market, you can find pure apple vinegar, unrefined, which is obtained from the crushing of the pulp of the apples that are allowed to rest and ripen over time, and with this the fermentation occurs in 2 simple steps without chemical mediation. It is a vinegar of a brown color, light but with a certain turbidity, which when resting can present at the bottom of the container small very characteristic strands.
This pure apple vinegar is rich in enzymes, organic acids such as acetic acid, malic acid, and tartaric acid; in fiber and pectin, antioxidants, and minerals such as sodium, potassium, magnesium, fluorine, iron, and sulfur, among others.
On the other hand, there is also distilled and refined apple vinegar from which many properties are lost, when nutrients are lost during the processing process.
In apple vinegar, the 2 fermentation steps take place by the intervention of bacteria and fungi:
– A first fermentation by which microorganisms transform apple sugar into alcohol
– And a second fermentation that occurs over time is much slower in which alcohol oxidizes, oxygen is added, forming acetic acid
Properties of apple vinegar:
All these elements in apple vinegar explain its multiple health and well-being benefits. Likewise, there are also many contradictions about certain aspects of the benefits that apple vinegar can bring. So is apple vinegar the magic elixir? To do this, Estefanía Fernández, nutritionist, and coach of Adidas Runners Madrid; better known as StefyActiva tells us her point of view about some of them:
– Apple vinegar helps control glycemia and blood sugar levels. One of the reasons is that acetic acid blocks part of the starch from carbohydrates (some). But it is very important to bear in mind that this benefit is not a plus, it is an extra, and it is not the only solution to control blood sugar.
In the same vein, what vinegar does is mimic in a way the mechanism of action of metformin, one of the medicines used for the control of glycemia. It has been shown that consuming apple vinegar well in food or consuming pickles, such as pickles that come in vinegar, manages to reduce that blood sugar index. With the incorporation of apple vinegar into the diet, it has also been observed how the level of glycemia can be reduced by awakening that people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM-2) have.
– Help with weight loss, the evidence of this benefit is very little, the only study refers to 12 weeks with the intake of 30 milliliters a day of apple vinegar incorporated into the usual diet of overweight men and women, and the results were that the weight decreased approximately 1 kg during those 12 weeks, but these levels returned back to the old in 4 weeks… Not very wonderful not?
– Remove the appetite, normal that suppresses it, if a person ingests a spoonful and causes nausea, it is likely to come to assume that many people would have the same. The only study to prove this is because in the experiment they were offered a drink based on vinegar and another without vinegar at breakfast. Volunteers who took the vinegar drinks felt a bit of nausea, so this diminished their appetite. But more than that, there is NOT enough scientific evidence to say that there is no NO, about thinning.
– Detoxify your blood, and neutralize your pH, this is certainly one of the most controversial, and with which the expert feels most uncomfortable. I think I’ll never tire of explaining that the body doesn’t need an external detox, the liver and kidneys (if you have them healthy) perform this function perfectly. If our pH was more acidic, we would be suffering from serious pathological conditions. Nothing you eat affects your blood pH, this has to be clear, it’s pure physiology.
Benefits of Apple Vinegar:
Likewise, other points of view speak about the excellent benefits that this ferment brings according to how it is consumed:
-It is a stimulant of the immune system thanks to the polyphenols present in the product that act as protectors of oxidative stress and damage caused by free radicals
– It facilitates digestion if added to raw meals, for example, meat, when pre-metabolizing food, as it takes a lot of stomach acid to digest red meats.
– It has been shown that thanks to its antimicrobial properties, apple vinegar is excellent for healing wounds at the topical level.
For people who are followers of ketogenic diets, apple vinegar helps control blood glucose and facilitate digestion.
Counterindications of Apple Cider Vinegar:
There is no product that has no health contraindications, however its benefits are greater. Thus, apple vinegar is also one of those products that are often sold as miracles, consumed without measures, and in the long run, can cause problems to a greater or lesser extent if the necessary forecasts are not taken.
Despite being low-risk, the most common side effects include:
– Constipation,
– Itching
– Occasional Diarrhea
– Damage to tooth enamel due to acidity
The vinegar should always be diluted in water or juice before consumption, as consuming it purely can cause esophageal injuries and burns in the esophagus. It’s also very good to consume it as a dressing for salads, always in moderation.
Some people never have side effects when taking apple vinegar, even if any of the symptoms mentioned above occur exaggeratedly and prolongedly, it is important to stop consuming it and consult a doctor.