Apple cider vinegar benefits the body, internally and externally. There are many home remedies and apple cider vinegar uses that you can do to combat odors, ailments, and more! Keep reading to learn all the benefits of apple cider vinegar. Stay tuned and learn to make your own.
Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar | Home Remedies & Apple Cider Vinegar Uses
By Tara Pelette
A product that can be used as an ingredient in food, a cleaning product, and to improve your health is a necessity to any homesteader. Not to be mistaken for other beneficial fermented products making their way back into the spotlight, Apple Cider Vinegar’s benefits and variety of uses outshine all of the others.
There has been a lot of buzz around Apple Cider Vinegar in the nutrition, homesteading and environmental communities. I will breakdown why this ingredient commonly used in salad dressings and condiments can be used for more than just food. Anyone close to me can verify that I swear by Apple Cider Vinegar, as it is something I use daily. I believe it will become one of the most important things at your disposal too.
Buy your own bottle of Apple Cider Vinegar here
It is very simple in its composition. Apple Cider Vinegar is made from crushed apples that are left to ferment over time. Wise Geek, defines fermentation as, “the conversion of a carbohydrate such as sugar into an acid or an alcohol.” In this case we are looking at Acetic Acid, which is formed through the fermentation process and is the main component of all vinegars. The simplicity and natural processing that takes place in order to produce Apple Cider Vinegar makes this product not harmful for the environment or to you and your loved ones.
“Apple Cider Vinegar contains necessary ingredients, such as enzymes, and life stimulating minerals, mainly potassium, in a natural state,” claims Braggs Live Foods, a brand that makes raw, unpasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar. These enzymes and minerals are present in the vinegar as web-like strands known as the Mother, giving Apple Cider Vinegar its cloudy appearance.
This product is only worth your while in a raw, unpasteurized state, as heat from the process of pasteurization destroys the beneficial enzymes and minerals. The brand I prefer is Braggs as referenced above, but there are many beneficial brands out there! The best way to distinguish a good brand is by ensuring that the Apple Cider Vinegar is unprocessed.
According to Apple-Cider-Benefits.com, “recorded vinegar history starts around 5000 BC.” They state that during this time Babylonians made vinegar to use in food and as a preserving and pickling agent. They also report that vinegar has been found to have been used in Egypt around 3000 BC and in China around 1200 BC.
“In ancient Greece, around 400 BC, Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, prescribed Apple Cider Vinegar mixed with honey for a variety of ills, including coughs and colds,” a remedy that is still being used today.
They also state that vinegar was used in the military as a “strengthening and energizing tonic,” which also had the benefit of killing any internal infections. In the same way, vinegar was used topically, “to clean and disinfect soldiers’ wounds.”
Apple Cider Vinegar has been used in different cultures through the years and has had its waves of popularity come and go, but its benefits have never changed.
Braggs Live Foods claims it to be so beneficial that it,
“Helps removes body toxinsHelps promote a healthy body
Helps support a healthy immune system
Helps maintain healthy skin
Helps control weight
Improves digestion and assimilation
Soothes tight aching joints and sore muscles
Soothes irritated skin”
As it is so diverse, healthy and simple, due to its lack of processing it can be a beneficial and permanent addition to your everyday life. Apple Cider Vinegar can be an immune booster, an antiseptic, a facial toner and an all purpose cleaner. Once you try it out I am sure you will always have it stocked in your medicine cabinet, cleaning closet, with your toiletries and your condiments.
Buy your own bottle of Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar here.
Below are ways that Apple Cider Vinegar can be used:
Note: Always dilute ACV in about a one tablespoon to one cup of filtered water, unless otherwise specified.
1. Help Dandruff
Rinse hair with mixture
2. Facial Toner
Use a cotton pad or cloth to apply mixture on your face
3. Deodorant
Use cotton pad or cloth to apply mixture under arms
4. Treat Warts
Douse cotton ball in mixture and keep applied to wart overnight
5. Relieve Burnt Skin
Keep mixture in spray bottle and spray on skin after a day of sun.
Also, add 1 Cup to your bath to soothe skin ailments.
6. Treat Bruises
Due to anti-inflammatory properties, applying to bruises will help soothe and bring down tint.
7. Prevent Bad Breath
Gargle mixture.
8. Foot Odor
Splash ACV onto paper towel or baby wipe and wipe down foot
9. Use as an After Shave
Apply to skin with cotton pad or cloth.
11. Treat Itchiness
Apply to itchy area of bug bite, poison ivy or even jellyfish stings.
12. Feel more energized
(With basic drink mixture)
13. Clear your sinuses
(with basic drink mixture)
15. Help relieve muscle soreness
17. Flea Prevention
Rub into fur and work into skin
18. Blood Pressure and Cholesterol Reduction
Drink mixture daily
19. Constipation
Drink mixture
20. Ear Infections
Squirt mixture in ear a 1:1 ratio let sit, then turn head over and drain
21. Shingles
Add 1 cup of Apple Cider Vinegar in bath water
22. Urinary Tract Infections and Bladder Infections
Drink mixture a few times a day
23. Balance your entire inner body system.
“The body constantly strives to achieve a state of equilibrium. Apple cider vinegar helps the body maintain a healthy alkaline pH level. Research shows that higher acid levels (lower pH level) leads to a lack of energy and higher incidences of infection.”
For more Apple Cider Vinegar facts, check out cooking detective’s comprehensive guide here.
Now that you know how many benefits of apple cider vinegar there are, be sure to pick up your own bottle! Start using apple cider vinegar to treat just about anything, and enjoy the natural, practical, and homesteading apple cider vinegar uses. How will you use yours?
Buy your own bottle of Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar here.
Check out this Apple Cider Vinegar infographic by our friends at Fix.com, to sum things up…
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