Okay, let’s shift gears now a bit. Many knew that this was coming as a priority – Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV).
Sunday Health Hack No. 3 – Add ½ – 1 tablespoon of ACV to your water (Health Hack No.1) with Lemon spritz (No.2).
I am all about “gut health first”. It’s in your gut where your “immune-system” is primarily located, and even your second (first) “brain”.
Yep, there are tons of studies out there which prove that even “depressions”, caused by chemical imbalances in the brain, most often have actually their roots in a “broken” gut-system, and that fixing the diet led to major improvements with many (moody) patients. The same accounts for chronic headaches or even migraines.
There is a scientifically established “gut-brain axis “which points out a direct bidirectional relationship between the gastrointestinal (GI) and the central nervous system (CNS).
Simply put, the connections between the gut and the brain mean that when the gut is unhappy, the brain (YOU) is unhappy too. Worst case is that even your cognition could decline.
Additionally, a mal-functioning gut impairs your ability to absorb nutrients from food, your physical performance (and energy levels) suffers, and your immune system takes a hit.
No good in these Corona times and winter/flu season.
Fermented foods are the basic tools for establishing a “healthy gut”. And Apple Cider Vinegar is fermented apple juice. The acetic acid in apple cider vinegar creates a happy environment in your digestive system which your gut flora will appreciate, nourish, and flourish on.
But ACV can do so much more – it lowers blood sugar levels and improves insulin sensitivity (by levelling out the “sugar” spikes and drops), it lowers cholesterol, it lowers blood pressure and improves heart health, or it also helps to lose weight by increasing satiety as well as suppressing a process called lipogenesis (fat storage). And there are animal studies which showed that ACV even slows down the growth of cancer cells.
Bottomline – ACV should become / be a part of your daily (diet) regiment no matter for what reason.
Sidenote – You might even remember that your “grandma” used ACV for “everything”, not only for the salad dressing or in the lentil soup, but for cleaning the dishes, or even as a skin care product. She had her (many) reasons, which had been passed on for generations, but which have been buried in oblivion in the last decades thanks to (again) huge marketing efforts that it is eg. much “nicer” to put some (chemical) odorous hair shampoo on your head against dandruffs instead of the much cheaper ACV which has got the same effect.
But let’s focus on the “intestinal” health benefits for now.
Sunday Health Hack No. 3 – ACV & How to use it.
You may remember Hack No.1, how to drink more water, and No.2, pimping up your water with some lemon spritz. Well, now you just add ½ – 1 tablespoon of ACV to the water too. That’s it!
And no worries, the ACV will be so diluted that you neither will smell the “vinegar” nor will the acid endanger your teeth. Again, it’s not about the “amount” you drink once but about (little) consistency which will offer you the benefits.
But there are a couple of specific occasions during the day you should specifically focus on having ACV –
First thing in the morning. Your liver releases glucose during the night, thus your sugar-levels are elevated in the morning. ACV calms it down / levels it out. And you loose the urge to dash for the next pile of pancakes bathed in maple syrup.
Next, before and after each meal, again primarily for holding your sugar-spikes in check, but also for improving your digestion system.
Eventually, for me, it became such a habit that I put ACV in all my drinks (not in my coffee, tea or wine though), even in my workout-drink with a “use body-fat for extra energy” effect, I put ACV in all soups and sauces, in the salad dressing of course, and I even use it as a (antibacterial) skincare-product.
Extra Travel hack – I always have a small bottle (300ml) with me on my business trips, filled 50/50 fresh-pressed lemon juice and ACV. I put some of this mix in my water at the airport, train or hotel. And if I do meet people in a restaurant I just order still water for drinks, get the bottle with my lemon/ACV-mix out of my bag und add some drops to my water. Of course, most at the table curiously want to try it too. So it’s a nice “ice-breaker” for a good conversation as well :-).
Quality matters
It is understood that you rather spend one or two bucks more on a good quality, organic ACV in a local health store or farmers market which is as “cloudy” as possible. Especially these “cloudy” tannins (polyphenols) add an extra layer onto all the ACV benefits.
ACV is cheap. So going for a quality product which might be double as expensive as the standard industrial ACV in the supermarket still won’t ruin you, but it makes all the difference.
Vine & dine, Andreas
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The only impossible journey is the one you never begin!
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Well, let’s free your gut bacteria, shall we?!