11 Reasons To Drink A Tbsp Of Apple Cider Vinegar Daily + More Uses

11 Reasons To Drink A Tbsp Of Apple Cider Vinegar Daily + More Uses

1. It Will Help Your Body Maintain a Healthy Alkaline pH Level

Most of us tend to be more acidic than alkaline. One of the first steps toward better health is a body that’s more alkaline. As the acid-alkaline balance is essential, with so many bodily functions occurring only at a certain level of acidity or alkalinity, the body is constantly striving to achieve a state of equilibrium. Just a small change in pH can have a profound effect on body functioning.

The first step towards great health begins with helping the body become more alkaline. The acid-alkaline balance is important, since many functions in the body occur only at a certain level of acidity or alkalinity. Many enzymes and chemical reactions in the body work best at a particular pH, and research has shown that high acid levels lead to a lack of energy, and higher incidences of infection.

While you might think that raw organic ACV is acidic, when consumed, it actually becomes alkaline. Acid forming foods include things like processed foods, alcohol, sugar and other simple carbohydrates. Keeping your body more alkaline will naturally help keep your energy levels up and better able it to fight off illness and disease.

2. Drinking Apple Cider Vinegar Helps to Regulate Blood Sugar

A study conducted out of Arizona State University by professor and director of the Nutrition Department Dr. Carol Johnston supports the therapeutic effects of drinking apple cider vinegar, particularly those who are at risk for type 2 diabetes. The authors of the study, which was presented at the 2013 Experimental Biology Conference in Boston, noted that ingesting ACV at meal time increased satiety and reduced postprandial glycemia, both metabolic effects that may benefit those who struggle with prediabetes as well as diabetes.

The researchers found that taking two tablespoons of ACV in water just before bed lowered blood sugar levels an average of 4 to 6 percent by morning.

3. Drinking Apple Cider Vinegar Can Help Lower Blood Pressure

There is also scientific evidence that ACV may help lower blood pressure, which in turn, lessens the risk of heart disease. ACV contains potassium, which is known to help balance the body’s sodium levels and maintain optimal blood pressure. It also contains magnesium, which helps to relax blood vessels walls, and ultimately lower blood pressure.

4. Drinking Apple Cider Vinegar Improves Heart Health

In addition to lowering blood pressure, which lessens the risk of heart disease, drinking ACV can help increase HDL, or “good” cholesterol, according to a 2006 study reported in Medscape General Medicine. Other research, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry in 2011, also confirmed these findings, and researchers also discovered that ACV can help control triglycerides.

ACV is also believed to contain the antioxidant chlorogenic acid, which has been scientifically shown to protect LDL cholesterol particles from becoming oxidized, a key step in the process of heart disease.

5. It Promotes Healthy Detoxification of the Liver and Other Organs

In the process of helping to balance the body’s pH, ACV works to help detoxify the body. Research has found that it specifically helps detox the liver, and that it can help stimulate circulation. ACV boasts a variety of healing processes for the skin and blood, helping to remove harmful environmental toxins that build up in the body, especially in the liver. It helps to flush it out and improve the natural blood filtration process while boosting energy levels.

Another way ACV helps to detox the body is by breaking up mucus and cleansing the lymph nodes, which allows for better lymph circulation. When your lymphatic system is healthy, it can remove toxins from cells and improve the immune system response.

6. Drinking Apple Cider Vinegar Eliminates Candida Overgrowth

As ACV is rich in natural enzymes, consuming it can help eliminate candida in the body. Candida has been blamed for many different health issues, including poor memory, fatigue, headaches, depression, sugar cravings and yeast infections. While it’s a naturally occurring yeast, it can quickly grow out of control if the body becomes too acidic from eating too many processed foods or too much sugar, or if good bacteria is killed off from antibiotic use.

Candida thrives on those types of foods, which includes refined carbs like pastries and cookies. Some natural health experts believe that a sugar addiction may even stem from yeast overgrowth as the yeast needs those foods to survive, which leads one to crave and eat more and more, creating a vicious cycle.

ACV is fermented with a beneficial yeast that serves as a prebiotic for healthy bacteria in the gut, essentially helping good bacteria grow as you eliminate those harmful foods that feed detrimental yeasts like candida.

7. Drinking Apple Cider Vinegar Eases Digestive Ailments

ACV is very effective when it comes to a variety of digestive disorders as it stimulates digestive juices that help the body breakdown food. It can help indigestion, bloating, gas and even heartburn. In fact, experts say that taking just a teaspoon of ACV with a glass of water will bring relief from heartburn fast. Some theories suggest that heartburn occurs due to low stomach acid levels, and ACV helps bring that level up. Additionally, the healthy acids found in ACV, including acetic, isobutryic, lactic and propionic acid aids better digestion by controlling the growth of unwanted yeast and bacteria in the stomach and throughout the body.

Do be aware that while it is effective for many digestive troubles, it won’t bring relief if you have an ulcer.

8. Drinking Apple Cider Vinegar Accelerates Weight Loss

Adding two teaspoons of ACV to 16 ounces of water and sipping it throughout the day may help boost weight loss efforts. All types of vinegars have been used over the years to aid weight loss, because they help make you feel full – as the study out of Arizona just mentioned, it’s been scientifically shown to increase satiety.

A study published in Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry showed that participants who consumed ACV for 12 weeks managed to achieve significant declines in body weight as well as abdominal fat, waist circumference and triglycerides.

Other research out of Japan found that overweight participants who drank ACV every day for 12 weeks had less visceral fat, lower waist circumference and a lower BMI as compared to those who didn’t drink apple cider vinegar.

We have dedicated an entire article to talking about the weight loss benefits of apple cider vinegar, which you can read here.

APPLE CIDER VINEGAR FOR WEIGHT LOSS

9. Drinking Apple Cider Vinegar Can Help to Prevent Osteoporosis

More than one in four women in America over the age of 65 have been diagnosed with osteoporosis. To get this diagnosis means that they’ve lost 50 to 75 percent of the original bone material from their skeleton. This frightening condition is estimated to affect 200 million women worldwide – about one of every 10 women aged 60, one of every five women aged 70, and two of every five women aged 80.

Obviously, preventing this disease before it ravages your bones is key, and as ACV aids in the nutrient absorption of calcium, an essential mineral for preventing osteoporosis, it’s one of the best tools you can use to reduce your risk. By drinking it along with each meal, it will help to ensure proper calcium absorption to strengthen your bones.

Urban Platter Himalayan Apple Cider Vinegar, 500ml 

10. Drinking Apple Cider Vinegar Slows the Aging Process

Other than the wisdom and experience gained by becoming older, few people look forward to the physical signs of aging, like wrinkles and sagging skin. The antioxidant properties in vinegar can help prevent premature aging and even aid in slowing down the aging process. ACV’s ability to maintain the stability of the acid/alkaline balance in the body also plays a key role.

11. It Assists In the Fight Against Free Radical Damage

You’ve probably heard the term “free radicals,” but do you really know what it means? The technical definition is that it’s a molecule or atom that has an unpaired electron in its outer orbit. Free radicals are continually created in order to carry on the metabolic activity of the body and are essential to life. They fight infection by killing a variety of germs that we become infected with, but, when there is an overproduction of free radicals, it can cause all sorts of problems.

If there are more free radicals that can be handled by enzymes or antioxidant nutrients, it can cause oxidative damage to cell membranes, tissues, proteins and even DNA, which may result in diseases like ulcers, emphysema, arthritis and immune disorders. In fact, just about every disease you can think of is caused by free radicals.

And, the damage that’s caused isn’t limited to our inner body, it affects our outer appearance as well, resulting in wrinkles and a more haggard look.

While avoiding free radicals completely is virtually impossible, we can minimize our exposure and neutralize their effects by eating more antioxidants that stop free radicals from causing extensive damage. Antioxidants, found in a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, and some other foods, like apple cider vinegar, helps to reduce free radicals in the body.

More Brilliant Ways To Use Apple Cider Vinegar

Not only is apple cider vinegar practically a must for internal use, but you can use it on your hair and skin, for household cleaning, and in the garden.

It Can Work Wonders on Your Hair

Apple cider vinegar has long been used as an alternative to shampoo, not only does it help to remove excess buildup of mineral deposits, it improves blood circulation to the hair follicles to encourage hair growth and prevent loss. If you rinse your hair regularly with apple cider vinegar, it makes removing tangles from your hair easier and closes the cuticles to improve porosity and encourage stronger strands, it leads to a reduction in breakage and split ends.

To use ACV as a rinse, combine a cup of water with a quarter cup of ACV. After you’ve washed your hair in the shower, be sure that it’s thoroughly rinsed and then pour the mixture over your head, making sure to avoid getting it into your eyes. Massage it into your scalp for a minute or two to stimulate blood circulation and hair growth, and then rinse well.

Apple Cider Vinegar contains all of the above and is available on Amazon from a number of sellers 

To learn more about using ACV for hair and how to make a herbal apple cider vinegar rinse, read our full article here.

It Can Relieve the Pain of a Sunburn and the Itch of a Bug Bite

If you find yourself with a sunburn, you can use ACV to help promote healing, prevent blistering, relieve the pain and decrease the redness. Just combine a half cup of ACV with four cups of water and then dip a clean washcloth in the mixture and apply it to affected areas. Use the same method for eradicating the itch and pain of a bug bite.

It Can Get Rid of Warts

ACV can get rid of warts too. While it doesn’t kill the virus, because it’s high in acidity, it can attack the flesh that makes up the wart, killing it so that it will naturally peel away from the skin. This also takes the virus along with it, which helps to prevent a recurrence. For this purpose, gather up about two tablespoons of ACV, some cotton balls, and a bandage. Soak a cotton ball in the apple cider vinegar allowing it to completely saturate, and then gently squeeze out the excess liquid so that it is not dripping when you apply it to the wart. Place it over the wart, and then secure it with a bandage. Repeat this every day, and it should die and come off within a couple of weeks.

ACV Makes an Effective Toner

Why spend an arm and a leg on a pricey toner that probably contains multiple toxic compounds. Instead, save some cash and your health by mixing equal parts of water and ACV. Used as you would any toner, the mixture helps to even out skin tone, balance skin pH and even battle breakouts too. The malic acid in ACV contains antiviral, antifungal and antibacterial properties that keep the skin clean, balanced and free of acne while encouraging it to heal itself.

ACV Can Fade Age Spots

Those creams and lotions with alpha-hydroxy acid that are designed to fade age spots can also come with a high price tag, but you can replace them with inexpensive ACV. ACV also contains alpha-hydroxy acid, which helps the skin stay firm, fresh and renew itself. To use, combine an equal amount of water and ACV, dip a cotton ball or pad into it and then dab it onto age spots, allowing it to soak in. Leave it on for a couple of minutes initially – if your skin reacts well, leave it on longer for the best results (10 to 15 minutes), and then rinse.

Apple Cider Vinegar Can Make Toilet Cleaning Easy

You can make toilet cleaning much easier by using full strength ACV. It not only cleans stubborn stains but it disinfects too. Pour in two cups of undiluted ACV just before you go to bed. Don’t flush. Allow it to sit overnight, and those stains will begin to disappear. Whatever is left will be easily scrubbed away.

Use ACV to Acidify Your Garden Soil

Some plants prefer more acidic soil, and if you need to adjust the pH level of your garden soil to help them thrive, you can use ACV instead of harsh, expensive commercially produced products. Soil with a pH that ranges from 1 to 6 is considered acidic, and while most plants require a pH between 6.5 and 7, others need those more acidic conditions – test your soil first to determine its precise pH before amending it with ACV. If it needs to be more acidic, mix a gallon of water with a cup of ACV in a watering can and then pour it over the soil.

It Makes a Great Fertilizer

You may have heard that white vinegar is an effective herbicide, but ACV has the opposite effect due to its 5 percent acidity. It can be used as a fertilizer to maintain healthy plants, for those that thrive on more acidic soil, like azaleas, gardenias, and blueberry bushes. Simply add 10 ounces of it into a 10-gallon bucket, and then fill the remainder with water. Pour the mixture onto the soil and around the roots, using a sprayer or watering can, of each plant you want to fertilize. If the sun is out, be especially careful not to touch the plants themselves, as they’re likely to wilt. There are lots more ways to use apple cider vinegar in the garden, as we reveal in this article.

How to Make ACV Taste Better

While ACV has so many uses it could almost be considered a miracle product; many people don’t care for the taste. If you’re one of them, don’t discount it altogether as you can make it taste better.

Add raw honey. The combination of ACV, raw honey and a splash of water is an easy way to make swallowing the bitterness a lot more tolerable. Just combine two cups of water with two to three teaspoons of ACV and one tablespoon of raw honey.

Combine it with juice for a tasty tonic. You can also mix a couple of teaspoons of ACV with apple or grape juice – it’s not only bearable, but you’ll also actually enjoy drinking it.

Make a tea. ACV is delicious as a tea by combining a cup of water, dash of cinnamon, a teaspoon raw honey and two teaspoons apple cider vinegar in a pot on the stove. Bring the mixture to a boil, allow it to cool enough so that it’s drinkable, and enjoy.

How To Buy The Best Quality Apple Cider Vinegar

When buying apple cider vinegar it is imperative to choose a bottle that is organic, non-GMO, unpasteurized, raw and unfiltered containing “the Mother” – a combination of enzymes, proteins and probiotic bacteria.

Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar contains all of the above and is available on Amazon from a number of sellers and in a number of different sizes on this page.