What is Vinegar?
The primary constituent of vinegar is acetic acid, but acetic acid in itself isn’t vinegar, it also contains mineral salts. Vinegar can be made from anything that is starchy like corn or apples. Yeasts convert natural sugars to alcohol and then bacteria transforms the alcohol portion to acid. Vinegar has 6 calories an ounce and noteworthy enough, in 1 ounce it has 2mg calcium and 22mg potassium. It’s shelf life is nearly indefinite and doesn’t require refrigeration. (12) (8)
Throughout history, it has been used as a food preservative, to manage wounds and prescribed by numerous medical practitioners to cure many ailments in the 18th century. And fun fact, it was combined with sulfur to act as the first hand sanitizer. (11)
What is Mother Vinegar?
Have you ever seen the stringy, murky, and for lack of a better term, gross looking stuff in the bottom of vinegar bottles? That’s called Mother. And it’s where the mother-load of health benefits lie. “Mother vinegar is extracellular cellulose and is a thick, hard layer formed by the acetic acid bacteria on the surface of vinegar.” (7) Most companies pasteurize their vinegar to actually prevent mother from forming because it is rather unsightly. Bad idea though, you’re ridding the vinegar of, bioactive substances.
What are Bioactive Substances?
Bioactive substances are the extra nutritional properties in food present in small amounts. These substances are under research to fully identify their properties and effect in the body. Already identified are phenolic compounds and their subgroup flavonoids, resveratrol and lycopene just to name a few. Many have been found to be potent antioxidants that provide substantial health benefits. (14) (Side note, these are the reasons why a vitamin/mineral supplement just doesn’t compare with the real deal.) Also the reason why we should opt for raw, unpasteurized vinegar like Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar.
Get Healthy and Lose Weight with Vinegar
(Substantiated by Research)
Vinegar Fights Obesity 
Vinegar is clinically proven to increase satiety (the feeling of fullness). The more vinegar you take, the more full you will feel. (2) A powerful aid to aid in weight loss is to sip on a vinegar-honey elixir mid-day as dinner approaches. Recipe below!
Vinegar is an Anti-diabetic
Vinegar reduces the amount of insulin released after eating. The more vinegar ingested, the less insulin is released. (2) Why is this beneficial? Suppression of insulin secretion is associated with weight loss and fat mass. (5) Blood glucose will be lower after eating a meal with vinegar. The more vinegar ingested, the lower your blood glucose will be after eating. (2) Diabetics will appreciate this a ton; managing the disease is all about keeping blood sugar under control. It actually possess similar physiological effects as many diabetic medications.
Vinegar Reduces the Glycemic Load of Your Meal
Due to it’s low pH, vinegar decreases the glycemic response. (1) What does this mean? Your food will digest slower, releasing glucose into your system at a more steady rate. Why is this beneficial? (4)
Lower glycemic diets are associated with rapid weight loss, decreased circulating triglycerides, lower blood pressure and improved fasting glucose and glucose response.
Vinegar is High in Iron
Just 1 fluid ounce of cider vinegar contains 0.06mg iron. (8) An 8 fluid ounce glass of cow’s milk doesn’t even contain that much! (10) And just for comparison, a 3 ounce steak (an excellent source) contains 1.57mg iron. (9) That said, it’s tough to get more than an ounce of vinegar a day, so don’t rely on your salad dressing or the Skinny Juice (recipe below) to fulfill your daily iron needs.
Vinegar is an Antioxidant
Naturally fermented vinegar has potent radical scavenging activity and this study showed it’s ability to repress growth of leukemia cells. (6) Not surprisingly, pomegranate vinegar has the highest free radical fighting abilities. (7) But since I have yet to find a raw (unpasteurized) pomegranate vinegar, I will choose to stick with the apple cider vinegar so I can savor the mother.
Vinegar and Arthritis
There is surprisingly little research done in this area despite it’s popularity in folk medicine. Perhaps it is because early studies have found it to be “ineffective as an anti-arthritic and anti-inflammatory agent” (in rats) (15).
I grew up hearing stories of my great grandpa religiously drinking his vinegar-honey concoction daily to treat his arthritis. He swore it worked. Who knows, placebos are a powerful drug.
Get More Vinegar in Your Diet!
Eating a salad dressed with a vinegar-based dressing is your best option for your heart, your cells, and your waistline. If you want an easy way to reduce your appetite and eat less naturally, drink the following Skinny Juice daily.
I suggest making your Skinny Juice it in the late afternoon to reap the biggest benefits of appetite reduction.
I suggest making your vinegar and honey Skinny Juice in the late afternoon to reap the biggest benefits of appetite reduction. For 70 calories, it tastes great, will give you a natural energy boost and provide your body with powerful antioxidants it needs.


- 1 oz Unpasteurized apple cider vinegar
- 2 oz Honey syrup* (recipe below)
- 6 oz Water
- In a tall glass, add vinegar and honey syrup*.
- Add ice to top of glass.
- Fill with water and stir.
- Drink daily in the late afternoon.
- In a small saucepan heat 8 oz honey and 8 oz water over medium-low heat.
- Stir until fully incorporated.
- Let cool .
- Honey syrup should be stored in the refrigerator for use in tea and bar drinks. It will pour smoothly and incorporates well, even in ice cold drinks.
- Each Skinny Juice is 70 calories.
Disclosure: Any links to outside products are affiliate links and I may be marginally compensated if purchased. Don’t worry though, I’d never promote something I dislike or wouldn’t purchase myself.
THE INFORMATION PROVIDED DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. All content information is intended to be for general informational purposes only. Please see your doctor with regard to information attained from the above article if you are concerned with the health of you or your child. The content above is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. NEVER NEGLECT YOUR DOCTOR’S PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVICE BECAUSE OF SOMETHING YOU HAVE READ.
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Crazy! One of my coworkers just started drinking something very similar this week for her joints! It smells terrible, but she said it really doesn’t taste bad at all. I have met quite a few people who swear by apple cider vinegar and they drink it every day.
My husband can’t stand the smell either, but I actually LOVE how it tastes! Gives a tingle in the tummy 🙂
I’ve been hearing a lot about how great apple cider vinegar is for you. Sometimes when I remember I add it to my salads. Great post!!
I love using vinegar! We have a store here in Texas called Oil & Vinegar, which is just basically that— tons and tons of flavored olive oils and vinegars. I use raspberry, blackberry, and even champagne flavored vinegar almost every day in salads and on veggies. I recommend vinegar often to my CHF patients at the hospital because it’s zero sodium!
Agreed! I LOVE vinegar!!
I never knew all this about vinegar. I’m all for simple health solutions!
I’ve learned more about vinegar today. Good to know. Thanks!
So happy you liked it!
Okay, I have a Hungarian friend who SWEARS by a spoonful of vinegar a day . . . and she hasn’t been sick in like 15 years. And my mom has used cider vinegar to cure her heartburn—she was skeptical at first, but now she is heartburn-free! And now that I see all the other health benefits it has (weight loss?! really?! amazing!) I’ll pass this on for sure . . . Thanks!
Really? How interesting! Vinegar is the way to go! Thanks for your support!
Wow! I had no idea how healthy Vinegar is… Now does it have to be the non pasteurized kind to be beneficial? I need to look into this for weight and arthritis!!
I’ll have to see if I can find unpasteurized vinegar in France. I assume in a health food store. I might possibly be able to drink that. You make it look good with the ice cubes and mint leaf.
With the honey syrup, it is good! 🙂 Good luck in finding it!
Do you have to make the honey syrup to drink or yiu cant just mix cold
The honey will not incorporate into cold liquids, I’ve tried!!
Thank i cant wait to try it.
Thank you so much. I’ve learnt how to maintain my weight using vinegar. I didn’t even know that it was a remedy to other diseases too.
Looks delicious!!! Why the walnut oil? Any particular benefits vs olive oil?