Vinegar To Lose Weight And Solve Life's Ills ???

[Cartooniverse]

This morning, a lady at my kids rollerhockey game was touting the curative powers of apple cider vinegar. Anti-oxidant, lowers cholesterol, helps control weight, etc.

Then, not three hours later, a few colleagues here at work tell me that it’s unhealthy, dangerous and gives awful hemorroids.

Okay. What’s the Straight Dope on using apple cider vinegar???

Cartooniverse

[Tripler]

Two things:

1. Besides the taste?

2. You should place ice hockey. It’s better’n roller hockey.

Tripler
Just my two . . . well you get it.

[Tripler]

“Play” ice hockey, that is. . . [sub]I’m thinking ahead of myself. They say it’s a sign of genius.[/sub]

Tripler
Damn keyboard. :mad:

[Tapioca_Dextrin]

*Originally posted by Cartooniverse *
**What’s the Straight Dope on using apple cider vinegar???

**

Sorry to answer with a factual answer in MPSIMS, but I would advise you to the Consumer Health Digest. The article is around three quarters of the way down. The FDA does not allow any sort of medical claims for this stuff. This includes claims that it will

relieve arthritis pain, fight infection, fight osteoporosis, control cholesterol, help people with high blood pressure, and relieves sore throats, laryngitis, and nasal congestion.

In a medical debate between the FDA and a random lady at a rolloerhockey game, I know which side I’d be on.

Good for dressing salads though

[burundi]

My dad is firmly convinced of the miraculous powers of vinegar. He drinks a glass every day to lower his cholesterol (he also takes medication for it). <shrug> As long as I don’t have to swill the stuff, I don’t mind. It can’t hurt, right? Unless you’re drinking gallons at a time, how can it be more unhealthy than apple juice?

[ultrafilter]

There’s a little bit of evidence that vinegar can help carbohydrates get stored as muscle glycogen (one of the first available energy sources during most sorts of exercise) rather than as fat, but like any other supplement, it can’t save you from a lousy diet and a sedentary lifestyle.

If someone wants, I’ll dig up a cite.

[Zulema]

I tried the vinegar thinkg one morning, it was something like two tablespoons in a glass of water. It made my stomach so upset all day I couldn’t eat. I guess that would work for weight loss.

[Aankh]

*Originally posted by burundi *
My dad is firmly convinced of the miraculous powers of vinegar. He drinks a glass every day to lower his cholesterol

An entire glass of vinegar everyday?!!! That cannot possibly be good! Can it???

[quiltguy154]

Try taking the 2 spoonfuls of vinegar plus 2 of honey in a glass of warm water. Much more palatable that way.

[SexyHamster]

*Originally posted by aasna *
**An entire glass of vinegar everyday?!!! That cannot possibly be good! Can it??? **

It doesn’t sound very good for your teeth. That’s the reason I stopped drinking it straight (I just happen to like the stuff).

I suppose you could swish your mouth out afterwards. That seems like an awful lot of effort.

[Cartooniverse]

Hmmmmm. This doesn’t bode well.

What in the sam hill am I supposed to do with 5 gallons of apple cider vinegar???

:eek:

[NurseCarmen]

before long some spa in California will be touting vinegar enemas.

[voguevixen]

I don’t know if it’s in the linked article or not, but supposedly you have to use the natural cider that still contains the “mother” (the cloudy bit that makes it cider.) You have to go to a health store to get it, and can’t just buy Heinz off the regular grocery shelf because it’s all filtered & processed.

(I still think it’s a load of hooey though.)

[ultrafilter]

Here we go. The researchers in this study investigated acetic acid (the main ingredient in vinegar) rather than any of the health food store stuff, but it looks like it offers actual benefits.

Personally, I take tablets, cause drinking vinegar just isn’t pleasant.

[AskNott]

Well, you can mix it with spices and olive oil, for a lovely salad dressing. That would solve the palatability issue. If you have five gallons of it, you can still use it to clean your sink, shower, and coffee maker. Some say it will kill the weeds in the cracks in your driveway. Dribble a little on your hair every day, and folks will think you’re using expensive shampoo.

[Shirley_Ujest]

A long time ago, a sponge soaked in vineagar was used as a method of birth control.

[Merhouse]

*Originally posted by Shirley Ujest *
**A long time ago, a sponge soaked in vineagar was used as a method of birth control. **

I imagine wearing it as cologne would accomplish the same thing without bothering the poor innocent sponge

[Cartooniverse]

*Originally posted by Shirley Ujest *
**A long time ago, a sponge soaked in vineagar was used as a method of birth control. **

Well, this has just gone from bad to worse. When I got to the Emergency Room, the Dr. there asked me who in the world told me to try to shove a sponge soaked in vinegar into my urethra. :smack:

I said her name was Shirley Ujest. After that, I blacked out for a few hours. When I came to, I had stitches in the WEIRDEST places !!! :eek:

ultrafilter, I couldn’t get your link to work, darn it all. I really was hoping for some positive info on it’s curative powers.

Oops, time to soak in the special charcoal bath the Dr. gave me. Be back later !!!

[ultrafilter]

*Originally posted by Cartooniverse *
ultrafilter, I couldn’t get your link to work, darn it all. I really was hoping for some positive info on it’s curative powers.

Huh. I didn’t have any trouble.

Well, here’s the abstract:

To investigate the efficacy of the ingestion of vinegar in aiding recovery from fatigue, we examined the effect of dietary acetic acid, the main component of vinegar, on glycogen repletion in rats. Rats were allowed access to a commercial diet twice daily for 6 d. After 15 h of food deprivation, they were either killed immediately or given 2 g of a diet containing 0 (control), 0.1, 0.2 or 0.4 g acetic acid/100 g diet for 2 h. The 0.2 g acetic acid group had significantly greater liver and gastrocnemius muscle glycogen concentration than the control group (P < 0.05). The concentrations of citrate in this group in both the liver and skeletal muscles were >1.3-fold greater than in the control group (P > 0.1). In liver, the concentration of xylulose-5-phosphate in the control group was significantly higher than in the 0.2 and 0.4 g acetic acid groups (P < 0.01). In gastrocnemius muscle, the concentration of glucose-6-phosphate in the control group was significantly lower and the ratio of fructose-1,6-bisphosphate/fructose-6-phosphate was significantly higher than in the 0.2 g acetic acid group (P < 0.05). This ratio in the soleus muscle of the acetic acid fed groups was <0.8-fold that of the control group (P > 0.1). In liver, acetic acid may activate gluconeogenesis and inactivate glycolysis through inactivation of fructose-2,6-bisphosphate synthesis due to suppression of xylulose-5-phosphate accumulation. In skeletal muscle, acetic acid may inhibit glycolysis by suppression of phosphofructokinase-1 activity. We conclude that a diet containing acetic acid may enhance glycogen repletion in liver and skeletal muscle.

[Shirley_Ujest]

Hey, I’m not making this stuff up.

and from Planned Parenthood.

Throughout history women have used various substances to block the way to the uterus and absorb semen. Vegetable seedpods were used in South Africa, plugs of grass and crushed roots were used in other parts of Africa, wads of seaweed, moss, and bamboo were used in Japan, China, and the South Sea Islands, and empty halves of pomegranates were used in ancient Greece (London, 1998; Riddle, 1992; Tone, 2001).

Sponges were perhaps the most commonly used substances to block and absorb semen. The oldest reference to using sponges for contraception is from the Talmud (Bullough & Bullough, 1990). The Talmud recommends that a sponge soaked in vinegar — mokh :;snip:::During the 17th century, the French used the method of wetting a sponge with brandy to weaken the sperm (Keown, 1977). In the early 20th century, British birth control crusader Marie Stopes** prescribed sponges moistened with olive oil ** for 2,000 of her indigent patients — she recorded no unintended pregnancies in the follow-up visits (London, 1998).

Sorry for the hijack. Just thought I find this stuff fascinating.