If it has not become a regularly used item in your health cabinet yet, this Fall is the perfect time for you to invest in the power and healing opportunities found in Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV). Most ACV you find in the grocery store is the clear liquid, pasteurized, and ultra-filtered.
Avoid that kind and instead buy raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar that contains a cloudy sediment called “the mother.” This substance is the settled bacteria and yeast that ferment the ACV and we highly recommend only using ACV with “the mother.”
Apple cider vinegar is made through a process called fermentation. The yeast in the mixture digests the sugar in the apple juice, turning it into alcohol after a few weeks.
Then, natural bacteria break the alcohol down into acetic acid, which gives vinegar its tangy taste and odor. Like other vinegars, ACV is an acid with a pH of 2-3. Even though it is an acid, it has an alkalizing effect on your body, helping to regulate your gut pH.
This is due to the alkaline nutrients that form from the breakdown of ACV in your gut. This is the crux of what separates ACV from the rest; it goes in with acidic benefits, and your body metabolizes it to give you alkaline effects. ACV is truly on e of a kind!
For many years, people have used ACV as a home remedy for everything from fighting infections to preventing heartburn.
More recently, research has shown that apple cider vinegar might have some real health benefits, such as helping to reduce blood sugar levels and aid weight loss. Some people give the mother credit for ACV’s health benefits.
And it’s thought to contain small amounts of probiotics, healthy bacteria that are good for gut health. But research hasn’t shown that the mother offers any particular health benefit. The acetic acid in ACV is also thought to be at least partly responsible for any health benefits it has.
But other types of vinegar contain acetic acid as well. While the jury is still out, there are many unique and important uses to benefit your health that you may be missing out on if you’re not using ACV regularly. Let’s explore a few.
- ACV Is A Natural Tooth Whitener
Yellow teeth can be embarrassing, and whitening kits and pastes are expensive. Apple cider vinegar is an easy and cheap way to bring back that natural shine.
It kills bacteria throughout the entire mouth while removing stains.
You should gargle the ACV for about 1 minute before brushing your teeth as normal.
- ACV Helps Regulate Healthy Blood Sugar Response
Apple cider vinegar has anti-glycemic effects, which means it improves hormone sensitivity.
In the case of your blood sugar, this means increasing the sensitivity of insulin to connect with the insulin receptor, pulling the glucose molecule out of the blood and into your cells for metabolism.
In addition, ACV absorption through the gut lining has been shown to slow glucose production and absorption to help lower blood sugar.
Stir one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar into a glass of water for lunch and dinner!
- ACV Can Stimulate & Assist Detoxification
Your body will have to change to work through the back end of these metabolites, and that can lead to constipation if you become dehydrated.
ACV has water-soluble fibers and polysaccharides like pectin that will assist with getting your gut moving a little more efficiently.
Ensure that you are correcting any potential dehydration by drinking adequate amounts of water first.
At least 2 quarts before you get to dinner is the minimum!
- ACV As A Natural Hair Support
Combine equal parts ACV and water to make a natural hair solution that nourishes and leaves your locks shiny and soft. It can also help destroy the fungus that causes dandruff and restore the pH balance.
You can apply the mixture and let it soak for at least 15 but no longer than 60 minutes, one or two times per week. And remember, your hair is naturally oily.
Putting in a product to reduce the oil doesn’t make your hair less oily, but more oily over time. Their needs to be a healthy balance of nourishing your hair so that it can repair and keep more hair growing from the root out.
- ACV Is a Powerful Antibacterial/Antiviral and Antifungal
It is especially effective topically to prevent acne and other skin problems. As for internal infections, the amount of ACV that can be applied most likely won’t be enough to cure an active ear infection or UTI, but it can prevent them from reoccurring.
In fact, putting ACV into a bathe to soak in for 15 min has been proven to restore the acidic nature of the reproductive cells in females to prevent the Candida yeast form every colonizing there again.
- ACV Helps Heal Skin / Hide Scars
One of its ingredients, succinct acid, is a short-chain fatty acid that will help to suppress the inflammatory action that causes fibrosis and scarring on your skin. To apply on your skin, mix one part ACV with 4 parts cassava flour, and pack it onto your skin.
As you can see, there is no shortage of benefits of utilizing ACV with “the mother.” The great thing is that ACV pairs extremely well with your nutritional program here at Cornerstone Health Center.
You can add ACV to bone broth to help with pulling nutrients form the bones so that you get the most out of a bone broth fast.
Give it a try once you are past Phase I, and be inspired to try something new using Apple Cider Vinegar!