Apple cider vinegar is considered to be one of the best health foods today, with multiple health benefits. The following will introduce the benefits of apple cider vinegar supplements.
Table of Contents
- What is apple cider vinegar?
- What are the benefits of apple cider vinegar?
- How to drink apple cider vinegar (how to drink)?
- How to choose apple cider vinegar?
- Where to buy the most recommended apple cider vinegar supplements?
What is apple cider vinegar?
Vinegar can be traced back to the Kingdom of Babylon in 5000 BC at the earliest in human history and often used for flavoring, antiseptic and medical purposes.
Apple cider vinegar is made by fermentation of apple juice or chopped apples. The production process is mainly divided into two steps.
The first step is to expose the chopped apples to yeast, which ferments the sugar and converts it to alcohol.
The second step is to add acetic acid bacteria to further ferment the alcohol and turn it into acetic acid (a short-chain fatty acid, the main active substance in apple vinegar).
Like apple juice, apple cider vinegar may contain some pectin, vitamin B1 B2, biotin, folic acid, nicotinic acid, and vitamin C. It also contains small amounts of minerals: sodium, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, iron, and magnesium.
What are the benefits of apple cider vinegar?
1. Improve blood sugar control
Type 2 diabetes is a chronic and progressive disease. The hyperglycemia state caused by the imbalance between the body’s insulin demand and production capacity, especially postprandial hyperglycemia as the initial sign, will then develop into early morning hyperglycemia, and eventually Continues to hyperglycemia at night.
Evidence suggests that postprandial hyperglycemia may be an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, stroke, retinopathy, renal failure, and neurological complications.
A literature review and meta-analysis (including 11 controlled trials, 204 participants) pointed out that compared with the control group, the average glucose and insulin area under the curve (Area Below Curve) of participants who consumed vinegar during meals Significantly lower.
The underlying mechanism may be related to vinegar’s slowing gastric emptying rate, inhibiting the disaccharide activity of the small intestine epithelium, promoting glucose absorption and utilization, and inhibiting digestive amylase.
*Conclusion: Ingesting apple cider vinegar during or after meals may significantly reduce postprandial blood glucose and insulin response, and is a viable auxiliary option to improve blood glucose control.
2. Beneficial polycystic ovary syndrome
Polycystic ovary syndrome is one of the most common endocrine diseases in women. It is a disease characterized by excessive androgen, ovulation dysfunction, and polycystic ovary morphology.
The prevalence rate is estimated to range from 6.5% to 8%. Common symptoms include infertility, irregular menstruation, hirsutism, or other external manifestations of excessive male hormones, such as acne or hair loss.
In addition, evidence indicates that 50% to 70% of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome have insulin resistance, which not only increases the risk of infertility, dysfunctional uterine bleeding, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease but also often accompanied by obstructive Sleep apnea, depression, non-alcoholic fatty liver, and other diseases.
A preliminary study (90 to 110 days for 7 patients with polycystic ovary syndrome) pointed out that apple cider vinegar helps improve insulin resistance index, LH / FSH (luteinizing hormone/follicle-stimulating hormone ratio) and ovulation Menstrual events.
*Conclusion: For patients with polycystic ovary syndrome, ingestion of apple cider vinegar can restore ovulation function by improving insulin sensitivity, but limited by the small sample size, more large-scale trials are still needed to corroborate
3. Beneficial endothelial function
The endothelium is one of the largest organs in the human body, mainly located in the inner wall of blood vessels and lymphatic vessels. It is composed of as many as one trillion cells and weighs more than 1 kg. There are nearly 3 square meters of endothelial tissue in a male of 70 kg body weight. .
The endothelium is involved in many physiological and pathological processes, mainly including thrombosis, anticoagulation, regulation of vascular tone, vasoconstriction, and expansion, angiogenesis, wound healing, fibrosis, barrier function, and inflammatory response.
Endothelial Dysfunction is an early indicator of atherosclerosis, and endothelial abnormalities include smoking, obesity, age, high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, lack of exercise, and poor eating habits.
A cell and human study pointed out that vinegar has the effect of stimulating endothelial nitric oxide synthase synthesis and regulating vasodilation.
*Conclusion: Ingesting apple cider vinegar can prevent cardiovascular diseases by improving vascular endothelial function, but the relevant evidence is still insufficient, and more research is needed to corroborate it.
4. Antibacterial (reduces catheter-related urinary tract infections)
Urinary tract infections are the most common type of hospital-acquired infections, and most are related to indwelling catheters. About 15% to 25% of patients have received indwelling catheters in emergency care.
Due to the high incidence of catheter-associated urinary tract infections, the total cost of medical interventions is staggering. The United States spends approximately 424 million to 451 million dollars annually to control these infections.
Once a catheter-related urinary tract infection develops into an asymptomatic infection, the resulting complications can range from mild (fever, urethritis, and cystitis) to severe (acute pyelonephritis, renal scarring, stone formation, and bacteremia).
A single-blind randomized controlled trial (for 4 weeks, targeting 60 patients with long-term urinary catheterization) pointed out that vinegar can improve urine pH, bacterial titers and urine turbidity, and decrease compared with the control group receiving water Symptomatic urinary tract infection.
*Conclusion: Ingestion of apple cider vinegar may reduce the incidence of urinary tract infections related to catheters, but more large-scale trials are still needed to corroborate it.
5. Help lose weight
In the history of biological evolution, both humans and animals have evolved a redundant mechanism, that is, eating food to promote fat accumulation in order to survive the famine.
However, in the current “pathological environment” or “fat-enriching environment”, assets in the evolutionary process become liabilities, and excess fat accumulation and obesity become the root causes of chronic diseases.
A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial (a total of 175 subjects meeting the obesity standard for 12 weeks) pointed out that drinking apple cider vinegar helps to reduce body weight, body mass index (BMI), visceral fat, waist circumference, and serum compared to placebo Triglyceride levels.
The underlying mechanism may be related to the fact that acetic acid in apple cider vinegar inhibits fat production and stimulates fatty acid oxidation.
*Conclusion: Ingesting apple cider vinegar may reduce the effects of metabolic diseases by improving obesity, but more large-scale research is still needed to prove it.
How to drink apple cider vinegar (how to drink)?
The appropriate dosage of apple cider vinegar varies according to the age, health, and other conditions of the drinker.
It is recommended to follow the relevant instructions on the product label before use. If there is any discomfort associated with the current use, please consult a pharmacist, doctor, or medical professional immediately.
The best way to incorporate apple cider vinegar into your diet is to use it in cooking. It is generally used to make salad dressings, mayonnaise, or when cooking food.
Or you can take the original solution and dilute it as a drink to drink, the general dosage varies from 5 to 30 ml per day.
It is best to start with small doses and avoid large amounts of citations, as too much vinegar can cause gastrointestinal irritation.
How to choose apple cider vinegar?
The longer the fermentation time of naturally brewed vinegar, a layer of white non-toxic mucus will appear on the surface of the liquid (showing a wavy suspension). These substances are called “mother of vinegar” (mother of vinegar), which is produced during the fermentation process of apple vinegar Beneficial bacteria and natural enzymes.
Most manufacturers filter and pasteurize products before bottling to prevent the formation of these microorganisms. The biggest feature of these products is the clearer color.
These versions of vinegar can still be used for cleaning, drinking, and cooking purposes, but because the ingredient called the mother of vinegar is eliminated by sterilization or filtration, the benefits are greatly reduced.
Therefore, it is better to choose the brands marked Unpasteurized (unheated disinfection) and Unfiltered at the time of purchase.
Where to buy the most recommended organic apple cider supplements?
In recent years, food safety problems in various countries have exploded, and it is not healthy but black-hearted products that everyone spends on. Therefore, European and American products with relatively strict quality control have become popular products.
And iHerb.com is a large-scale medical cosmetics e-commerce company in the United States. It has a high satisfaction rate of 97% in the evaluation of Google customers. It provides global home delivery so that you can buy it without risking buying fakes through purchasing high-quality health products.
