In my fridge next to the roselle kefir are bottles of fruit vinegar. These drinking vinegars have now claimed a permanent spot in my fridge.

I am a pro-apple cider vinegar health freak for many years. For more than a decade now, the first drink of my day has been organic apple cider vinegar with Manuka honey or raw honey mixed with a teaspoon of psyllium husk. This will kick start my  system to work and move the bowels. Recently, I added Korean Hong Cho fruit vinegars.  At mid day, I drink a glass of Hong Cho fruit vinegar. I currently have 2 flavors in my fridge: black raspberry vinegar and blueberry vinegar. Cass drinks this fruit vinegar too. It’s the only fruit vinegar that she likes as she loves the slightly sweetened and tang of berries from the vinegar. She says it tastes like her favorite Japanese fruit jelly.  The promoter at the supermarket who introduced this vinegar to us told us that Hong Cho fruit vinegar is effective in preventing constipation.

While it’s not a miracle elixir, vinegar can give your health a boost in many ways.

Grain vinegars and fruit vinegars, both of which are fermented, possess a variety of beneficial physiological effects, including antibacterial and antioxidant properties and even some anticancer activities (particularly with Japanese black soybean vinegar), according to a 2016 review in the journal Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety.

Recent studies also point to the potential of drinking vinegar to promote weight loss and to treat insulin sensitivities.

Benefits of Vinegar

Weight Loss
Apple cider vinegar helps to burn fat, improves the functioning of the metabolism, leading to weight loss.

Management of Diabetes
The ability of vinegar to moderate insulin and glucose levels seems to offer some benefit for diabetics. A Swedish study, published in a 2005 issue of the” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition,” showed that when participants ate a simple carbohydrate meal based on white wheat bread, but supplemented it with vinegar, they experienced less of a spike in blood glucose and insulin levels than participants who ate just the bread meal.

An animal study, reported by the “Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences” in December 2008, indicated that apple cider vinegar ingestion may be of  “great value in managing the diabetic complications.”

Reduces Glycemia
Vinegar is also useful in reducing glycemia. Research has shown that its addition to a high glycemic meal has positive effects on the reduction of postprandial glycemia.

Detoxification and Digestion
The use of vinegar to promote cleansing dates back to Hippocrates, who recommended apple cider vinegar to cure joint pain, digestive distress and blood disorders.  Apple cider vinegar destroys harmful bacteria in the digestive tract—creating more efficient digestion and elimination of waste. He also noted that vinegar’s ability to break up fat helped improve the functioning of the liver and kidneys, whose primary role is to detoxify the body.

Anti-aging Properties
In many cultures, vinegar was thought to improve immunity and was associated with longer life and strength. Studies administering it to rats have shown quite encouraging results.

Improves Acid-alkali Balance
Taking two tablespoons of vinegar every day can help reduce high alkalinity in the blood. Alkalinity is increased by regular metabolism, which has to be balanced by an acid. It could be a good choice for this!

Antimicrobial Properties
Vinegar possesses antimicrobial properties. Tests on wood vinegar confirmed that wood vinegar was effective in controlling the growth of microbial cultures.

Fun Facts
Vinegar has been used as a food preservative for hundreds of years. Vinegar, due to its antibacterial properties, can effectively act as a good preservative for food by controlling microorganisms that generally attack food and cause decomposition.

If drinking vinegars haven’t crossed your radar yet, they most definitely will soon as more and more drinking vinegar stalls and shops pop out at malls.