Apple cider vinegar is often an ingredient or the main component of home remedies. It is promoted for treating allergies, rashes, and infections and for aiding in digestion and promoting weight loss. However, there does appear to be some scientific evidence backing up vinegar’s viability as a supplement for lowering cholesterol, though you should not use it as a substitute for traditional medicine, nor without your doctor’s approval.
Cholesterol
There are two types of cholesterol. There is good cholesterol, or HDL, and there’s bad cholesterol, or LDL. You need both to be healthy, but it’s vital that you have higher HDL, because it helps to keep your LDL in check and prevents heart disease. Maintaining a healthy diet and taking cholesterol medication is the common course of treatment for those with high LDL cholesterol.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is made by fermenting apples, and it’s been used as a home remedy for a variety of ailments over the centuries. According to Earl Mindell, author of “Dr. Earl Mindell’s Amazing Apple Cider Vinegar,” diluting vinegar in water can improve digestion, blood sugar regulation, and may promote weight loss. It can also be applied topically to treat rashes and fungi.
Function
According to a study published in the “Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences” in 2009, apple cider vinegar may help to regulate cholesterol. The study showed that rats that drank vinegar experienced a reduction in LDL cholesterol and an increase in HDL cholesterol, especially if they did not have diabetes, which is the essential combination for reduced heart disease risk.
Warning
Though the study in the “Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences,” is promising, it does not indicate if these results would be the same in humans as they were on rats. More study is required before vinegar can be considered as a high cholesterol treatment. Likewise, it is not a substitute for treatment, so if you have high cholesterol, see a doctor or continue taking your medication as directed.
Incorporating Apple Cider Vinegar Into Your Diet to Lower Cholesterol
Drink two tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar or make a tonic to drink as you would any other beverage. Two or three tablespoons of apple cider vinegar can be combined with a tablespoon of honey, mixed well, and topped off with spring water, sparkling water, lemonade, or any juice. In May 2005 the Japanese Society of Nutrition and Food Science determined that two-three tablespoons per day will maximize the cholesterol lowering benefits.
Apple Cider Vinegar can be used in cooking as you would use any other vinegar. The taste is different but usually negligible as a substitute for white vinegar. You can make salad dressings, marinades, and sauces. Apple cider vinegar is excellent as a meat tenderizer, to increase fluffiness of cooked rice, and to prevent pasta from sticking. Apple cider vinegar can also be used as a salt substitute when steaming fish or vegetables. You can, of course, use apple cider vinegar for pickling, once of the most common uses for any vinegar.
If you simply do not like the taste of apple cider vinegar you can take it as a supplement and still reap the benefits. The greatest benefits will be in the liquid form that has not been pasteurized, and if you are going to take apple cider vinegar in tablet form be sure to buy one from a reputable manufacturer to ensure to efficacy and integrity of the acetic acid and pectin which are the cholesterol lowering compounds.
