Apple Cider Vinegar: Tried and True Health Help or Hype?

December 12, 2011

DrAxe.Com

By Dr. Josh Axe

“Dr. Axe has a great apple cider vinegar detox drink. Check out the video below for the recipe. It’s easy and actually tastes pretty good.  It’s best if you use a cocktail mixing drink and shake it up – minus the vodka of course.” –KTRN

A few years ago it seemed that all most people wanted was their doctor to prescribe a pill for them to pop to cure all that was ailing them – body, mind, and soul. Today the story (thankfully) is beginning to change.

The tide has begun to shift from people wanting solely pharmaceutical quick fixes to a more all natural approach. Maybe it’s watching the rates of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes soar or people’s own personal experience with some of the nasty, unpleasant side effects of pharmaceuticals driving them to demand change. Either way change is coming as more people look to all natural solutions for health issues.

One of the forerunners in this movement is looking back to the age old apple cider vinegar to heal many ailments. From asthma to high cholesterol apple cider vinegar is touted to cure many disorders and diseases. But is it all true or just hype?

Apple cider vinegar is created from just what you imagine – the apple. Vinegar means ‘sour wine’ in French. Basically, apple cider vinegar takes apples crushes them, adds sugar and yeast, allows them to ferment two times thus becoming apple cider vinegar.

Vinegar has been used for more than 10,000 years as a medicinal treatment. It was used by the Babylonians, the Samuri’s, Hippocrates used it as an antibiotic treatment. More recently it was used during the civil war and in World War I.

Most recently apple cider vinegar was brought back into popularity when well known Vermont doctor, D.C. Jarvis, wrote a book in which he promoted the use of apple cider vinegar to cure many ails including migraines, diabetes, chronic fatigue, arthritis, and other common ills.

Today the same numerous claims about the healing properties of apple cider vinegar abound. However the science to back these claims is scarce. Now when it comes to science validating claims of all natural remedies I know that there isn’t always evidence from research on the books even though the cures are real.

There are three areas associated with the healing benefits of apple cider vinegar that recent scientific data does support. Let’s discuss them here.

4 Scientifically Backed Healing Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar

1. Apple Cider Vinegar and High Cholesterol

In an article published in the British Journal of Nutrition in 2006 a study was performed on rats to determine if consuming apple cider vinegar had any impact on their cholesterol levels.

The evidence showed that these rats levels of cholesterol were reduced by consuming apple cider vinegar in two stages. First the action in the liver and secondly the way the apple cider vinegar impacted bile acid secretion.

Yes, this study is on rats not humans but the results show promise.

Click here for the full report.