Oh, once I tried regimen of capful of “Bragg Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar” twice a day based on someone’s testimony that it is excellent for general health and especially straightening out GERD/painful ulcerous raw stomach problem I had at the time, I think… or maybe it was for lowering blood pressure…
Anyhow I just couldn’t handle that Bragg’s organic vinegar stuff any longer than a week as it just tasted awful. But then, mahbe it fixed my stomach… although I was supposed to follow through for at least 3 months.
My mother was a huge believer in the benefits of vinegar, which she drank (sometimes mixed with honey, and, I think, diluted with a little water). However, she was very specific that it had to be cider vinegar. Other sorts, including the distilled, white stuff, would not do at all. I think she told me that this was because cider vinegar, unlike other types, contains malic acid, and that this, rather than acetic acid, was the main source of the benefit. The main benefit she claimed from it (though far from the only one) was relief from the symptoms of arthritis.
I do not vouch for the truth of any of this - my Mum was rather prone to dietary woo - but her enthusiasm for cider vinegar lasted a lot longer than any of her other health and diet related fads, and she is going to be 95 next week, having outlived all of her siblings by quite a bit. (I refer to her cider vinegar habit in the past tense because she is now semi-senile and no longer has much say in her diet or medication.)
In the USA (or certainly in Southern California), cider vinegar seems to be the default, cheap sort, so perhaps for Americans it is less important to specify that, for medicinal purposes, it be cider vinegar. That is what they will probably get anyway. In the UK, however, where my mother lived all her life, cider vinegar is relatively hard to find, and the cheap default is either malt vinegar, or something that goes by the appetizing name of non-brewed condiment.
[del]Ancient Chinese secret[/del] Sheer magic.
(Like I said, I forget exactly what it was supposedly good for and why I tried it. I definitely remember the awful taste. I think I did chase it with a tea spoonful of honey and water.)
I guess there’s a current vinegar fad, though vinegar-based beverages have in fact been popular at various times and places going back to antiquity. The Ancient Greeks and Romans had posca, which was made with diluted vinegar and herbs. In the Caribbean and American colonies (and later states) switchel was a popular drink; it consisted of diluted vinegar flavoured with ginger and sometimes sweetened with honey, sugar, molasses, or maple syrup. I’ve always wondered what these would taste like; they seem simple enough to make at home so maybe I should actually mix up a batch.
This is something of a high jack, but I was a healthy volunteer in a study of the effects of hippuric acid, found in cranberry juice, and lasix. (a liter of cranberry juice and 40 mg Lasix) The short result was the hippuric acid caused a much greater output than lasix alone. So, indeed cranberry juice will help some bladder infections by diluting urine. We didn’t compare other acids.
This one is actually interesting to me, as I take an acid reducer (Prilosec) for reflux - and the reduced acid is believed to decrease absorption of calcium and other minerals, and lead to an increased risk of osteoporosis. I’m told to take calcium supplements.
Anyone have any ideas what the mechanism is of vinegar (i.e. INCREASING acidity) in causing the same effect?
Prilosec’s effect is on stomach hydrochloric acid which apparently helps make some of the more common sources of calcium (e.g. calcium carbonate) easier to absorb farther in the gut. This is a local gut effect and does not effect systemic acid base balance. Regular ingestion of large amounts of acetic acid OTOH, does effect systemic pH, the excess acid gets buffered by the calcium carbonate of the bone, freeing calcium from bone into circulation and from there into the urine in order to reduce the now higher than the body wants serum calcium level. Conversely regular ingestion of bases, such as potassium carbonate, decrease urinary calcium losses.
In brief, the local acid effect of Prilosec impacts calcium absorption; the systemic acid effect of regular significant vinegar intake impacts calcium excretion.
FWIW, vinegar is just a solution of Acetic Acid. Concentration depends on whatever the manufacturer or distiller decides upon.
If you want the extreme case (and this is ridiculously extreme, no vinegar is sold this way):
We use, from time to time, “glacial acetic acid” in industry. This is more or less as concentrated as acetic acid gets.
Anyways, our pilot plant had used a hand pump, unbeknownst to me, for pumping a solution of near-glacial acetic acid.
Later that day, in the pilot plant, I needed a hand pump. I picked up said pump. Not knowing if it was clean, I brought the tip close to my nose and smelled deeply. Stupid.
I nearly blacked out. The acid burnt the hell out of my sinuses and I don’t know if it was oxygen deprivation or just the acid residue itself; my knees buckled and I fell over on the floor. Dizzy for at least an hour. Lesson learnt. I’m lucky I didn’t fully lose consciousness and bang my head or something.
So large amounts of vinegar extract calcium from your bones? I am male and not quite as susceptible to bone loss as the ladies. Still, it is nothing I need. Not sure higher calcium in my urine is good either.
Another point. Since 100%, glacial acetic acid, is still a liquid, what else is in the vinegar pills? I did a search last night and all I found was hype.
So if I wanted to turn into a boneless blob (like Peter did in an episode of Family Guy), basically I just need to wash down a handful of Prilosec with a big ol’ glass of cider vinegar every few hours ;).
And more seriously, it sounds almost like taking bicarb would be a good choice for acid control because it would help the stomach, AND protect the bones. I know, there are plenty of issues with baking soda as an acid reducer and it’s not advisable, it’s just an interesting academic exercise.