Chances are good that you have probably heard a lot about apple cider vinegar lately, and you may be wondering why is it suddenly so popular?  It's really not new at all, the benefits of vinegar have been known in other cultures as a powerful healing agent for thousands of years.  Here are 5 reasons that you should add it to your diet and make it a part of your daily routine.

Regulates Blood Sugar

Some research has emerged that points to apple cider vinegar being so effective in regulating blood sugar, that it could be used to help people with insulin resistance, which can lead to Type 2 Diabetes.  Obviously, if it is that effective in reducing the effects of glucose in the bloodstream, it should help anyone hoping to keep the effects of sugar in the diet to a minimum.  Studies have found that consuming vinegar with a meal, reduces the levels of not just the glucose itself, but the insulin and triglyceride levels as well.  By adding 2 teaspoons to a meal, it lowers the effects of blood sugar by 20%.  Studies have even shown that taking apple cider vinegar before bedtime, keeps the blood sugar levels lower the next day! 

Think about how other cultures use vinegar in their diets, and you will see that they have been reaping the benefits of the "blood sugar regulating" effects of vinegar, for centuries without needing the any research.  When rice is consumed in the Asian culture, it is usually mixed with rice wine vinegar, and Italians often dip their bread in balsamic vinegar...the rest of the world knew something long before we did! 

Keeps You Feeling Full Longer

While the exact science behind this is not known, consuming apple cider vinegar with meals helps you feel satiated a lot longer.  It also keeps you from eating as large amount of food during a meal, because you have the feeling of "fullness" more quickly.  One study found that when just eating a meal of bread alone, the subjects were not only hungry again two hours later, they were actually more hungry than they were before they originally ate the bread.  By adding apple cider vinegar, not only did they report that they felt more full during the actual meal, but they reported still feeling full two hours after they ate.  

This means apple cider vinegar can help stop you from reaching for that second helping of food, and it will keep the "carb crashing" binges to a minimum!  

It Has Probiotic Benefits  

The probiotic benefits of apple cider vinegar come from using the raw, unpasteurized, and unfiltered variety.   It has tiny particles floating around which are the healthy fermented bits that are called "the Mother of Vinegar" and contain probiotics.  Probiotics aid in digestion and help boost the immune system.   

Raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar also acts as a pre-biotic because it contains pectin which encourages the growth of good bacteria in the digestive system.  The pectin binds with waste products like cholesterol, toxins, and bad bacteria, and helps clear it from the digestive system, making way for the good bacteria.  

The demand for expensive Kombucha probiotic beverages are climbing fast, when you could make your own probiotic drink using a few teaspoons of apple cider vinegar for literally a few cents!  

Helps Burn Abdominal Fat

This is when your eyes may start to glaze over...too much information...but I will try to keep it simple.  Apple Cider Vinegar makes the body activate an enzyme called AMPK, and it acts as a metabolism booster.  AMPK tells the body to stop storing fat, and to start burning fat!  Sounds like a winner to me!  

Studies have shown that people who consumed apple cider vinegar, compared to those that did not, not only lost more weight overall, but they specifically lost visceral fat, which is the dangerous abdominal fat that surrounds our organs.   As soon as the subjects stopped consuming the apple cider vinegar, the fat started to creep back up, which leads even more credit to the effects of apple cider vinegar and the enzyme AMPK.

It Acts as an Anti-Inflammatory

Inflammation in the body has been linked to a host of diseases from cancer to auto-immune disorders, and people are embracing alkaline foods and drinks in an attempt to combat inflammation.  Keeping your body with a more alkaline PH is difficult, especially since our diets tend to be high in acidic foods like meats and grains.  Even though vinegar seems like it should have an acidic PH, it actually has a alkaline promoting effect in the body.  Adopting an anti-inflammatory diet can help your body fight disease and it can also help combat pain from chronic inflammation.  Even the website WebMD says adopting a alkaline based diet is a healthy approach to nutrition (article here).  

Some Things to Remember

It is important to remember to dilute the vinegar with water so it does not cause irritation to your mouth and esophagus, and is not damaging to your teeth.  You can also try experimenting with the frequency that you take it, and with what makes it the most palpable for you to consume.  Some people prefer taking 2 teaspoons with meals, others take it just once a day.  You can also try diluting it with water and adding a little lemon juice, or adding it to tea, which could actually help make the antioxidant benefits of white tea be more potent (read more here).  It is also important, as I touched on above, to make sure you purchase the raw, unfiltered variety, which has all the healthy probiotics.

Apple Cider Vinegar costs pennies a day to take, and boasts wealth of health benefits which has actually been studied through research...it is probably one of the cheapest and easiest health foods to incorporate into your diet.  Grab a bottle from your grocery store and start experimenting!