Vinegar has a long history, dating back to its discovery in Babylonia around 5000 BC, explains Carol S. Johnston, PhD, RD, et al. This product results from fermenting ethanol, resulting in an acidic compound used in recipes and medicine. Vinegar also makes a useful household cleaner. Despite the variety of uses, including dietary use, ingesting too much vinegar could prove harmful. Knowing how to use vinegar in your diet, as well as the possible health benefits, will help you use vinegar in a healthful way.
Dietary Uses
You can select from various types of vinegars, and these include regular, distilled vinegar, balsamic vinegar and apple cider vinegar. Many people use vinegar to flavor marinades or salad dressings, using a variety of flavors such as garlic to give the vinegar extra flavor. You may enjoy simply adding a tablespoon or two of vinegar to your salad instead of piling on high-fat salad dressings.
Consuming vinegar will not provide you with an abundance of nutrients. In fact, a single tablespoon of regular distilled vinegar will provide you with 1 mg of calcium, 1 mg of phosphorus and trace amounts of copper, magnesium and selenium.
Health Claims
Vinegar may have some benefit in treating certain types of infections and may have some benefit in controlling high blood sugar levels. In a 2001 study, researchers from the Central Research Institute in Japan evaluated the effects of vinegar in rats with high blood pressure. The findings showed that vinegar helped reduce blood pressure readings. Although these findings were for rats, this does show that, in theory, vinegar may have some cardiovascular effects.
Apple cider vinegar has gained in popularity as a weight loss aid, but Katherine Zeratsky, a Registered Dietician with MayoClinic.com states that the vinegar diet will not typically result in weight loss.
Side Effects
For most people, vinegar use will not result in any side effects. However, if you drink large quantities of vinegar, this could result in throat irritation. The acidic nature could also damage your teeth, as well.
The components in vinegar could interfere with the actions of your medications or supplements, and this could result in ineffective treatments for your health conditions.
Considerations
If you plan to use vinegar as a health supplement, talk with your doctor about the possible interactions that may occur. Your doctor can help you determine if vinegar makes a good choice in caring for or preventing certain health problems.
References
- University of Pittsburgh; Vinegar: An Ancient Medicine and Popular Home Remedy; Bonnie K. McMillen, R.N., B.S.N.
- "Medscape General Medicine"; Vinegar: Medicinal Uses and Antiglycemic Effect; Carol S. Johnson, PhD, RD and Cindy A. Gaas, BS; 2006
- MayoClinic.com; Apple Cider Vinegar for Weight Loss: Effective?; Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.; April 2010
- USDA National Nutrient Database: Vinegar, Distilled
- "Bioscience, Biotechnology and Biochemistry"; Antihypertensive Effects of Acetic Acid and Vinegar on Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats; "S. Kondo; December 2001
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