Health Benefits Of Apple Cider Vinegar, History And How To Make It
What if I told you that there’s a 100% safe and natural remedy that can promote longevity, help regulate weight, reduce inflammation, increase energy levels and even help prevent the common cold and flu?
It’s called apple cider vinegar (ACV), and guess what? This is only a fraction of countless healing and therapeutic effects that it has on the body, and around the house.
A little History
vinegar has coexisted alongside mankind since the beginning of time. Scientists have even uncovered traces of it in the Egyptian urns dating back to the year 3000 BC .
Ever since the Neolithic age , humans have utilized the art of fermentation to produce homemade (I mean cavemade) drinks and wild beverages.
It’s easy to see why this wonder tonic has been with man since the beginning of time. Vinegar is a completely natural process that nature does all on it’s own.
All alcoholic beverages like hard cider, wine will naturally turn into vinegar when exposed to air. The millions of strains yeast and bacteria floating around in the atmosphere convert apple cider, beer and wine into acetic acid.
Think about it, have you ever seen what happens when you leave fruit scraps or peels in a bowl for a few day? What happens is the fruit starts to undergo the process of fermentation.
The science of fermentation (also known as zymology), is a metabolic process where glucose and sugar (also known as disaccharides) are broken down and converted into cellular energy by anaerobic bacteria.
Anaerobic bacteria feed on sugar and microscopic yeasts that are in the air, everywhere, and even on the walls and the skin of your body.And there’s even one simple way to tell if you have anaerobic bacteria present in fresh food or in a beverage
It will start to ferment and create bubbles and become naturally effervescent.
This is why when you open up a lacto-fermented beverages that’s been ageing inside a bottle (like in the case of Kombucha), it will fizz and the bubbles start to sporadically rise to the top (sometimes all over your lap :).
One Step More For Vinegar
So the initial fermentation process turns the sugar into alcohol. Then a secondary fermentation process where the alcohol is aged (usually a couple weeks) is then converted into vinegar by acetic acid that’s an acid-forming bacteria.
Naturally Antimicrobial
Several foodborne pathogens are inhibited by apple cider vinegar such as: Clostidium botulinum, salmonella, listeria, staphylococcus, escherichia coli link
Apple cider vinegar is truly a longevity tonic and one of my favorite vinegars. This liquid substance should be in everyone’s cupboard of healthy products.
Benefits Of Apple Cider Vinegar
Support the immune system
Regulate weight
Balances ph
Promotes digestion
Soothes a dry itchy throat
Strengthens the hair and makes it shine
Keeps skin healthy and soothes itchy skin
Helps the body stay youthful
Relieves muscle pain from exercise
Will remove body sludge toxins
Alleviate muscle cramps and fatigue
Cleans fruits and vegetables
And it seems like every day, new emerging research research about the benefits of apple cider vinegar keeps getting discovered.
“An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away”
Apples are overflowing with many different vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. They contain vitamin A, C and E, all of which help boost the immune system and fight infection.
Apples Contain B Vitamins
Believe it or not, apples contain small amounts of B vitamins like B1 thiamin, B2 riboflavin and B6 prydoxine.
Apples are a natural source of flavonoids which lower blood pressure and regulate blood flow
High In Fiber
Pectin is one of the main ingredients. It’s a unique type of soluble fiber that is food for your gut bacteria. Pectin stimulates the growth of healthy gut bacteria, Yay!
Pectin Is Essential
it’s nature’s natural prebiotic. It’s a carbohydrate that dramatically slows nutrient absorption and then binds to the products and substances in the digestive tract exports the waste from the body by way of proper elimination.
Essentially, apple cider vinegar cleans, prepares and paves the way for the probiotics in the body to dominate and happily grow.
Acetic Acid
This is what gives ACV it’s tart, acid like flavor. Acetic acid is also one key ingredient that makes ACV such a wonder tonic.
Acetic acid inhibits the growth of bad bacteria like E. Coli and Salmonella and many other harmful bacteria,(that’s why it’s good to consume with and perfect for cleaning your fruits and vegetable also).
Helps also effective at healing open wounds and preventing them from becoming infected.
Organic, raw and unpasteurized vinegar is the only type of ACV that should be inside your kitchen pantry and going inside your body.
This is because it contains the mother of vinegar ,sometimes referred to as the “mother” which takes on a web-like-appearance and by the way “horses love to eat old kombucha mothers” , crazy right? 🙂
The mother of vinegar is essentially one big mass of cellulose and acetic-acid-bacteria. As it starts to grow, it slowly transforms the alcohol into vinegar.
The “mother” is only a part of the first, primary batch of vinegar being made. Once finished, the vinegar is typically stained and separated from the mother (I know, it’s shocking).
The resulting liquid is finished vinegar, and the mother is kept to make another batch.
Now, even your bottle of vinegar has the potential to “grow” a mother of vinegar all on it’s own, in the bottle. If this happens, it’s perfectly fine.
However, this won’t happen if your vinegar (or any food or beverage is pasteurized).
Pasteurized Vs Unpasteurized
For me, pasteurization is like mass genocide to the food, because, like in the case of vinegar after it’s removed from the mother, it undergoes a heating process where it’s heated up to around 161 degrees fahrenheit.
Anything over heated over 118 degrees is considered cook which kills and destroys all of the beneficial enzymes and prebiotic / probiotic bacteria.
As for vinegar and many other foods, this process isn’t good because our bodies need this beneficial bacteria to create balance and harmony in the ecology of the body.
Originally, pasteurization was developed to halt further fermentation of what was being fermented. This allows food to sit on store shelves for months and even years. So, in the end, this is good for the pockets of food corporations but bad news for the bacteria in your gut.
Easy Ways To Consume It
Is to make a simple homemade salad dressings, it’s one of the best ways to get apple cider vinegar into your diet on a daily basis. It’s much easier and palatable than taking it straight like a shot of alcohol (which can be pretty intense).
A very basic and healthy recipe that came from one of my favorite cook books Nourishing Traditions is as follows:
-1 part apple cider vinegar -1 part extra virgin olive oil -1 part stone ground mustard. Just mix all the ingredients together and there you have it. This is a very easy basic salad dressing that can be made in no time at all. This is a recipe can easily be modified and expanded upon. The options are truly endless.
Morning Coffee Substitute And Detoxification
is an easy way to incorporate it into your diet is to mix a couple (teaspoons) of apple cider vinegar plus a dollop of organic honey in a cup of lukewarm water. You can also add a little bit of cinnamon and lemon to adjust for flavor.
Make A Fire Tonic
And supercharge your digestion. This is one of my favorite ways to take apple cider vinerar.
Use it as a base to make what is called “Fire Cider, also call fire tonic has a synergistic effect on the body resulting in rapid uptake of nutrients, optimal digestion and elimination to the fullest degree. Fire Cider supports the immune system and boosts your digestive function while also occupying amazing anti-inflammatory and circulatory benefits.
If You Feel Sick
Or you have a flu or a cough do cold creeping up try this stuff first. Many times when I feel like I’m starting to catch something I immediately head for the medicine cabinet and grab some fire cider and it almost always does the trick. Plus it has a very long shelf life taboot.
How To Make Cider, Hard Cider And Apple Cider Vinegar
The process to make fresh apple cider, hard cider (alcohol) and vinegar is the same. What makes them unique is the time input for each.
For example; once you have pressed apple cider (apple juice) you allow it to sit for a couple days while being exposed to the air which contains natural yeasts.
You can tell when it’s cider just by tasting it. Typically the longer it sits, the stronger and more alcoholic it becomes. Then, in order to prevent further fermentation just chill it in the refrigerator.
And for vinegar, all you do is let the hard cider keep on fermenting.
The yeasts do all the work!
Apple cider is fun to make and you can become a homemade scientist and turn your kitchen into a laboratory 🙂
Plus, on top of that, there are so many different combinations that you can experiment with at home that are far superior to the couple brands that are available at the grocery store.
First off, you start with freshly picked apples. After the harvest, it’s time for the apples to get crushed and then mashed in a cider press.
This machine masticates and breaks open the cell walls of the apples exposing the pulp (also known as apple must).
For small batches, it’s fine to just use a juicer.
If you do decide to make it...
Understand, that It takes very little time to make and literally costs pennies per gallon to make.
Just like wine and beer, there’s a whole world dedicated to making hard cider and cider champagne
Hard Cider
Have you ever tried apple cider vinegar?
Have you experienced any benefits?