The Health Benefits of Drinking Apple Cider Vinegar For Your Immune System
By Contributing Author: Helen Sanders
Most people have heard of apple cider vinegar, even if as nothing more than an addition to your favorite salad dressing. However, raw apple cider vinegar (sometimes called ACV for short) has been praised for centuries for its medicinal properties. Drinking a small amount of this yeasty, fermented goodness daily can offer a huge host of health benefits, most notably, boosting and aiding the function of your immune system.
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What Is Apple Cider Vinegar?
Raw, organic apple cider vinegar is made from (as the name suggests) organic apples. Because it is not pasteurized, the apples maintain many of their nutritional benefits. Plus, due to the two fermentation processes needed to make ACV, a number of enzymes are produced. This makes ACV the magic, life giving, cure-all elixir so many people claim it to be.
How Does Apple Cider Vinegar Benefit the Immune System?
There are a number of properties in ACV that can aid the immune system in one way or another. ACV contains potent malic acid. This is a strong antiviral and one reason why many people who drink ACV daily feel their immunity is boosted as they do not experience as many colds or other viral infections.
Furthermore, apple cider vinegar is rich in vitamins, minerals and enzymes all of which are beneficial to the body.
Finally, many varieties of apple cider vinegar contain probiotic microorganisms. As your gut flora is imperative to maintaining a healthy immune system, using apple cider vinegar to promote the growth of good bacteria could just improve your overall immunity.
Does Drinking Apple Cider Vinegar Offer Other Health Benefits?
A daily dose of ACV can provide you with a plethora of health benefits in addition to boosting your immune system. These include:
- Aiding digestion
- Promoting weight loss
- Regulates blood sugar
- Lowers blood pressure
- Aids skin complexion
- Promotes beautiful, shiny hair
How Should You Use Apple Cider Vinegar?
As the name suggests, ACV s a vinegar and is incredibly acidic with a sharp, sour taste. It should therefore never be sipped straight from the bottle, it must be diluted.
It should be mixed into an easy to consume detox drink, mixing it with water, some honey and a twist of lemon. This will help to not only dilute the fermented fruit, but also take away some of its sharp sourness. If you are interested in trying your own apple cider vinegar detox drink, you can use this recipe to create your own at home.
Which Types of Apple Cider Vinegar Should I Use?
Like most things, not all products are created equal. When looking to purchase a bottle of apple cider vinegar, you obviously want the best quality that is going to offer the most health benefits. Therefore, you need to choose a raw, organic apple cider vinegar.
This should contain remnants of the apples that produced it. You will be able to tell this as it should have a cloudy matter floating in the vinegar. I know that doesn’t sound particularly appealing, but believe me, that’s the gold right there.
That floaty, cloudy goodness is the part that contains all of those beneficial probiotics and enzymes and is exactly what you need to reap all of the major health benefits. Just be sure to give the bottle a good shake each time you use it.
A good recommendation is Bragg Organic Raw and Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar, which you can buy at most grocery stores.
Should Anyone Not Try an Apple Cider Vinegar Drink?
Although the health benefits are apparent, there are some people who should avoid trying their own ACV drink at home without consulting their doctor first. For instance, if you manage your blood sugar or are taking anti-diabetic medication, speak with your healthcare provider before trying a ACV remedy at home.
If you suffer from GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) or IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) you should consider avoiding apple cider vinegar altogether as for any kind of digestive or reflux issue, drinking something so acidic could be incredibly painful.
Also, drinking apple cider vinegar can cause dental issues as it is known to damage the enamel on your teeth. Therefore, ensure it is diluted properly and try drinking it through a straw to prevent any permanent damage to your teeth.
So, Should You Try It?
Although it is not conclusive whether apple cider vinegar is quite the magic potion so many people claim it to be, science does back its many health benefits. Therefore, it could be worth trying for anyone looking particularly to boost their immunity!
About The Author
Helen Sanders is the creator of www.HealthAmbition.com and is passionate about sharing simplified and actionable health and nutrition advice for regular people on the go!
