Every year there’s a hot new miracle product that everyone is touting as the elixir for all issues. Last year it was coconuts. God forbid any suburban home was without coconut water, coconut oil, coconut bras… This year appears to be the year of AVC. We Americans love to choose a food, product, miracle of nature and make it très de rigueur. Never mind that said object has been around for eons. We like to think we just discovered it and proceed to use it for every single purpose possible. We are strange, strange, strange.
Our ancient forebears used vinegar for pickling food, medicine, cleaning, wine making…the list goes on for the many applications of vinegar throughout the ages. Today ACV (for those who want to be in the know – you have to shorthand apple cider vinegar) is experiencing a renaissance (buy shares of vinegar stock. We are going to be rich!). Drink it, bathe in it, clean with it, pour it on your head when you’re having a bad day…ACV can solve all of your ailments. Is it truly that good?
Well, first, in my research the type of vinegar appears to be critical. The kind you get at stop ‘n shop, safeway, publix, arnolds…i’m trying to get a larger geographic demographic reading this blog…is usually a filtered, processed version. Some of the original medicinal properties may still exist but in a much more diluted format. Raw, unfiltered ACV – that is what you want. Whole Foods and other natural grocery stores sell it.
It looks like this:
Okay moving on…why use it?
Beauty
Hair: Spray a solution of 1 cup water with 2 Tbsp ACV onto hair after shampoing to ehance shine, detangle, remedy dandruff, and remove product buildup. I do this about once a month and it definitely makes my hair feel lighter.
Teeth & Breath: Gargle with ACV for whiter teeth and better breath.
Skin Toner: Use it in on a cottonball in lieu of harsher toners.
Detox bath: I add this into my bath. I don’t know if it detoxes but mentally I think it does so that’s enough for me.
Health
Diet: Not sure about this one but I have heard of people drinking 1 -2 Tbsp a day to lose weight. I tried it a few times and it does seem to get these moving along if you know what I mean so if your motility is sluggish this could be your elixir. There is a burning sensation like heartburn when it first goes down but it subsides quickly.
Medicinal: Gargle with ACV to soothe a sore throat or rid yourself of hiccups
Cooking
Delish has fantastic ideas for using ACV in salad dressings, detox drinks, pork glaze, doughnuts, and many more recipes to get your fix.
Cleaning
I prefer white vinegar, especially since you can buy it in large jugs and then add a little oil to cover the vinegar smell but ACV does the same job. Check out my post on spring cleaning the healthy way for more cleaning recipes.
It’s the world’s newest miracle product that’s been around for centuries.