More today, we will talk about a liquid solution of acetic acid obtained by fermentation, i.e., we will speak of vinegar.

The word vinegar comes from the Latin word “Vinum acre,” which means sour wine. This bad wine has been in our lives for thousands of years already; in the fifth century BC – Hippocrates, the father of medicine, used vinegar to treat wounds and persistent cough.

In World War I, vinegar was used to clean wounds on the battlefield, and samurai drank vinegar to increase their strength and power.

The production of vinegar involves microorganisms such as fungi and bacteria that carry out fermentation in two steps, and a first fermentation called alcoholic fermentation by which the sugar of the food used to produce vinegar is transformed into alcohol and a second step, an acetic fermentation by which the alcohol is converted into acetic acid.

Acetic acid. 

Depending on the primary ingredient and its characteristics, there are different types of vinegar: 

We have wine vinegar: which is obtained from the fermentation of wine and can be made from red wine, white wine, sherry wine, herb wine, garlic wine. It is the most commonly used vinegar in gastronomy in Europe and Spain.

We also have, in particular, apple vinegar which can be obtained from the juice or pulp of apples or cider. It is a milder vinegar because it has a lower acetic acid content, and as we will see later in the video, it has many beneficial properties for health.

We also have the distilled white vinegar obtained by distillation. The extraction just before the alcohol is transformed into acetic acid and is generally obtained from molasses, sugar cane, or corn.

We also have at the other extreme, because it is a thicker dark vinegar, the Modena vinegar obtained from grape must, what is done to get this Modena vinegar is to boil the grape must and thus increase the concentration of sugar and the intensity of flavor and then let it age for 6 to 12 years.

Modena vinegar in many supermarkets is made in another much more economical way because this aging process over time makes the product much more expensive. The Modena vinegar that we find in most supermarkets is achieved simply by adding a high sugar content to the vinegar.

We also have vinegar that is little known in our western culture and is widely used in Japanese cuisine, which is rice vinegar, a vinegar of a golden color, transparent, very smooth to the taste, and obtained from the fermentation of rice starch.

The additional tablespoons of vinegar all have different characteristics of color, smell, taste, and also other properties, and with it, different uses can be applied; in general, the vinegar serves to enhance the flavor of the meals, facilitate the digestion of the fiber and the protein also of the fat that is an exciting aspect, as we will see later.

They help to control glycemia, the level of sugar in the blood, they are antioxidants, antibacterial, therefore they are used as preservatives, and they are also valuable regulators of the immune system.

Among the types of vinegar, apple cider vinegar stands out for its properties, its wide range of uses in our daily life, and also because it has gained considerable popularity in recent years.

Apple cider vinegar can be made from the juice or pulp of the apple or cider.

In the market, we can find pure unrefined apple cider vinegar, which is obtained from the crushed apple pulp left to stand and mature over time. Then fermentation takes place in two steps without chemical mediation.

It is a vinegar of light brownish color but with specific turbidity, and when it rests, it may present spiderweb-like strands at the bottom of the container. This pure apple cider vinegar is rich in enzymes, organic acids such as acetic acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, fiber, pectin, antioxidants, and minerals such as sodium, potassium, magnesium, fluorine, iron, sulfur.

On the other hand, we have distilled apple cider vinegar, refined from which properties are lost because nutrients are lost in the elaboration process.

In apple cider vinegar, these two fermentation steps occur due to the intervention of bacteria and fungi, a first fermentation by which microorganisms transform the apple sugar into alcohol and a second fermentation that takes place slowly over time, by which the alcohol is oxidized, oxygen is added. It is transformed into acetic acid. All these elements present in apple cider vinegar explain its multiple benefits for health and well-being. 

For example: 

Apple cider vinegar helps to control glycemia, the level of sugar in the blood; it does so because it mimics the mechanism of action of metformin, one of the drugs used in the treatment of blood sugar control, and it has been observed that when apple cider vinegar is taken directly in food or for example by incorporating pickles, such as vinegar pickles, as was done in a study, it manages to reduce the glycemic index of

This effect, with the incorporation of apple cider vinegar in the diet and the day-to-day, has also been observed how it can reduce the level of glycemia upon awakening.

What apple cider vinegar does is that it improves our sensitivity to insulin, that is to say, the action of insulin at the cellular level.

Apple cider vinegar is also a perfect complement or good element that favors cardiovascular health because it helps control blood pressure, reduces triglyceride levels in the blood, and helps lower LDL cholesterol, the so-called bad and raise HDL cholesterol, the so-called good cholesterol. In addition to its antioxidant capacity, it is a vital element for our blood vessels’ health. 

Apple cider vinegar has also been postulated as a great weight controller; we must be careful because we should not get carried away by advertising and think that by taking apple cider vinegar, we are going to lose weight, it is not so. However, it has been shown to have different effects that can help and be very interesting in weight control.

For example: for that effect of controlling blood sugar or apple cider vinegar can improve our satiety, those cycles of appetite and hunger.  Also, it helps to metabolize our reserve fat, reduce the percentage of body fat, and control sugar cravings, among other mechanisms by which it can benefit in weight control.

Apple cider vinegar activates the intestinal transit. Thus, the purification of the body’s natural cleansing helps digest food better and reduces gastrointestinal discomfort, bloating heaviness gas, and abdominal pain.

Apple cider vinegar is a good protector of the liver, the great filter of the body. This mechanism of improving the sensitivity of cells to insulin provides us with more energy or makes available to us more efficient energy; it is also a good helper of the immune system for its antioxidant effect and antibacterial, antiviral effect. It has even been seen that it can be effective in the treatment of candida.

Apple cider vinegar can also be used in other ways, not only drunk, when used on the skin helps in the disinfection of wounds in the healing, treatment of burns, bruises or bruises of bumps, when we give a blow.

It also helps to reduce dandruff or give more shine to the hair. When we rinse with apple cider vinegar, we can improve the health of our throat, the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat and help, for example, that a sore throat or a developing infection goes away.

When we take a bath with a significant amount of vinegar, it also helps to make a purification by eliminating toxins through the skin. If we do, a foot bath only serves for the feet’ deodorization to remove odor and treat some diseases of the feet.

Also, apple cider vinegar helps to reduce inflammation, is an interesting tool to relieve muscle pain and joint pain. There is also talk about the benefits of apple cider vinegar’s ketogenic properties, i.e., the inclusion of apple cider vinegar to improve some aspects of the ketogenic diet, and this is the reason why in recent years, apple cider vinegar has achieved more incredible popularity.

Apple cider vinegar complements a ketogenic or ketogenic-type diet very well, although it can be used by everyone.

In a keto diet, apple cider vinegar provides a plus, mainly for controlling blood sugar due to its effect of improving sensitivity to insulin response and thus blood sugar control.

In a ketogenic diet, this objective is mainly sought and will be achieved throughout the diet’s progress, but it may happen that at first, it costs, and there are imbalances. Apple cider vinegar helps to better control these possible rises in blood sugar. It is also very interesting when a keto-cyclic diet is done after a few weeks of the strict ketogenic diet. It increases the carbohydrate content in the diet to get out of that state of ketosis and thus achieve various benefits and then return to our strict ketogenic diet; in those periods of time in which we raise the carbohydrate content of the diet, there is very interesting to include apple cider vinegar to help us have better control of blood sugar.

Apple cider vinegar activates the oxidation of visceral fat and thus helps us burn fat which is one of the main objectives sought in a ketogenic or ketogenic type diet.

Apple cider vinegar helps us to make better digestion, and this is very important and very useful when a ketogenic diet is done. Especially in the early stages, there are people that. 

They are not well adapted to fat intake. When they start a ketogenic diet, they feel very heavy digestions, a lot of digestive work, and that is why incorporating apple cider vinegar is very interesting for them because it will facilitate that work. 

All this is because apple cider vinegar activates the secretion of digestive gastric juices and also the function of the gallbladder in charge, the protagonist of the digestion of fats, and another aspect why apple cider vinegar is fascinating in a ketogenic diet is because it helps us to control sugar cravings, cravings the imperious need to eat sugar have to do with those peaks and valleys of blood sugar, When the sugar level rises we feel strong, euphoric, plethoric, but when the sugar level drops we can feel very low, without energy, even sad, unfocused and then we perceive the need to take sugar or a food rich in carbohydrates and especially those with a high glycemic index to return to the peak.

In a ketogenic diet at the beginning, especially there is greater instability of blood sugar because as we are taking few foods rich in carbohydrates, we do not have that contribution. As we are not yet metabolically flexible on the excellent use of fats, we are not yet generating enough ketone bodies to give us stable energy and that feeling of vitality force of mental focus. We lack adequate fuel, and we interpret it as needing sugar or high glycemic index foods. 

Using apple cider vinegar in these phases will help us control those cravings that need to eat sugar or carbohydrate-rich foods.

As you can see, apple cider vinegar offers excellent benefits.

How to use it 

First of all, we must choose the best apple cider vinegar, which is the pure one, the complete one, the one that is not distilled, preferably if it is possible that it is of organic production and that it comes in a glass container, better than a plastic or metal container. 

We can use it in a digestive way incorporating it into the meals in the form of dressing or putting a splash of vinegar in the dish already served. With this, we will enhance the flavor of the food. We will favor the digestive process, that we feel better the food and this is beneficial in meals that contain a lot of fiber, protein, and fats, can also be included as a snack food taking 15 minutes before the main meal, a small salad or some cooked vegetables to which we put a dressing of vinegar and oil or a plate of pickled olives, gherkins, spring onions that are marinated in apple cider vinegar, with this we will promote the entire digestive process, the secretion of gastric juices and gallbladder function.

Also, remember that by including apple cider vinegar, we will have better control of blood sugar and people who are doing a ketogenic diet or ketogenic type. 

We will promote the production of ketones by the liver, you can also drink apple cider vinegar, and you can drink it by diluting one or two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water which can be done ideally in the morning when we get up, with that we will have again a better control of blood sugar especially interesting for people with diabetes mellitus type 2, we will help to take care of the intestinal health the function of purification by the effect it has on the kidney, we will contribute to the balance of the microbiota our intestinal flora to the balance of the internal pH, and we will also promote the regulation of the immune system. 

Drinking the vinegar diluted in water will also give us an effect like that of the samurai who drank it to gain power and energizing force. It will help us to use better our reserve energy and with that, we will have a greater sense of control and ability to face the day.

Those who notice that this has a solid taste and find it unpleasant can add a little cinnamon or natural stevia to the water mixed with vinegar. This is to the taste of each one.

Apple cider vinegar can also be used in other ways, and that helps to improve certain conditions; for example, it can be used topically on the skin to help heal wounds, cuts, burns for its natural antimicrobial effect natural disinfectant or apply on bruises, bruises rubbing that favors the faster resolution of these lesions or for the prevention or treatment of acne or warts or athlete’s foot, mycosis of the nails, of the feet, can also be used for the treatment or improvement of dandruff and give more shine to the hair and also and it is a widespread use can be used at home as a disinfectant, an exciting natural general cleaner to avoid in our house the use of chemicals laden with substances that are toxic to health and our welfare.

Its multiple benefits in health and wellness at many levels and the versatility of its uses and even for the versatility of its services. Even for its rich, mild flavor and easy to incorporate into our food, apple cider vinegar is a fascinating element to include in our daily life. Day today.