I have a little love affair with apple cider vinegar. I originally started using it in salad dressings, particularly for the kale salad I love to make. The apple in the salad and the apple-y flavor of the vinegar go very well together. Slowly, I’ve started using it for other purposes. A friend of mine swears by it for heartburn and acid reflux. In the past couple of years, I’ve started getting more frequent heartburn and acid reflux attacks. I’ve tried to pay attention to what foods trigger it, and unfortunately it seems to be some spicy foods, food with cooked tomatoes, and refined flour and sugar. I’m still in the process of trying to narrow down the culprits exactly, but in the last year, I’ve had maybe 6 or 8 really bad attacks while I’m sleeping where all I can do is sit up completely upright at the kitchen table and wait (sometimes 3 or 4 hours) for the burning to subside. I’ve tried the over-the-counter stuff (tums, zantac, prilosec, etc.) and they do nothing. Eric has been having heartburn/acid reflux issues for at least a decade and swears by the zantac, but it hasn’t worked for me. When a friend recommended the apple cider vinegar, I was skeptical, but willing to try anything to avoid any more sleepless nights. Intuitively, it would seem that vinegar would ADD acid, and it’s true–most vinegars have an acidifying effect on the body. All except apple cider vinegar. Apple cider vinegar actually has an alkalizing effect on the body and so helps to balance the body’s pH when it is overly acidic. Imagine that! Last night, I had an attack of heartburn while we were watching TV and downed a tablespoon of ACV straight up. Within about 10 minutes, the burning had subsided. Now, if only Eric would try the apple cider vinegar! He’s not all that excited about gulping down a giant spoonful of vinegar. 🙂
My friend, Gwen, makes a drink using apple cider vinegar that’s really good (I’m not sure where this recipe is from):
2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 cup apple juice
16 oz cold water
slice of lemon
shake of cinnamon
shake of cayenne
a little stevia or maple syrup
Another use–Sometimes, I get those little bumps on my arms, which it turns out are ‘keratosis pilaris,’ a very common and harmless skin condition. Some people recommend washing your arms with apple cider vinegar and then applying coconut oil as a moisturizer. I did this for a while and it seemed to help. Though, it’s hard to know if it was the moisturizing of the coconut oil, or the vinegar, or both!
Apple cider vinegar is believed to be an effective anti-fungal and it is also believed to help a range of other conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and cancer. Though, a vegan diet should help all of these conditions, too! Of course, I am not by any means a medical professional, and the efficacy of apple cider vinegar for a wide range of conditions is disputed. But it certainly is interesting to read how many different ways people use apple cider vinegar.
How about you? Do you use apple cider vinegar for anything? Any miraculous uses you’d like to share?
Follow
