If you want to manage your blood sugar levels with diabetes, watching your carbohydrate intake definitely is the most important factor. You need to consume a controlled amount of foods containing carbs, such as bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, breakfast cereals, baked goods, most snack foods, sugar, soft drinks, desserts, fruits and yogurt. Once you have determined your optimal carbohydrate intake, adding specific food to your diet, like vinegar, can help you fine-tune your diabetes control.
Vinegar and Blood Sugar Levels
Adding vinegar to your meals can lower your glycemic response after a meal, which means that your blood sugar levels won't rise as high as they normally would. The acidity of the vinegar slows the digestion of your meal by delaying your gastric emptying. In other words, your meal will be turned into sugar more slowly than usual and will result in a slower and smaller increase in your blood sugar levels, according to a study published in June 2005 in the "European Journal of Clinical Nutrition."
Vinegar and Satiety
In addition to helping with your blood sugar levels, vinegar can enhance your satiety. Adding vinegar to your meals could therefore make you feel full longer between your meals, so you don't feel hungry and give up to your cravings. The increased satiety associated with using vinegar at your meals could help you stick more easily to your diabetes plan and even facilitate weight loss. Weight loss, if you are overweight or obese, can be beneficial for improving your diabetes control and keeping your blood sugar levels within the recommended range.
Using Enough Vinegar
Although there is not a lot of data about the right amount of vinegar to use as part of your meal to improve your diabetes control, the best results were obtained by using a dose of 2 tbsp. of vinegar containing 6 percent acetic acid. You can try experimenting with yourself by adding different amount of vinegar to your meal and monitoring your blood sugar levels both before and two hours after the meals to determine what amount of vinegar appears to produce the best results for you.
Making Vinegar Tasty
Vinegar is not very good to take straight or on its own. To incorporate vinegar into your diet in a tasty way, try making a vinaigrette by using equal parts vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil. You can use balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, raspberry vinegar or white vinegar and add seasonings like sea salt, freshly ground pepper and dried herbs to taste. Use this vinaigrette over a salad. If you enjoy the taste of a good-quality balsamic vinegar, you also can use it by itself over your vegetables.
