Here’s What Can Happen When You Take Apple Cider Vinegar
Start adding Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) to your daily protocol, and here’s what will probably happen:
- Your digestion will get better. On all levels. Bowel movements will be more consistent. Constipation and diarrhea will improve. Heartburn will go away.
- Blood sugar levels will improve. You’ll have less dramatic blood sugar spikes, less insulin secretion, which translates into feeling better, having an easier time sticking to your diet, and fat loss.
- You’ll have slightly more energy. Because ACV activates the AMPK pathway. Which basically helps your body create energy endogenously.
I’m gonna explain HOW to add ACV to your daily routine in a progression based way… but first…
A Little More Context
When I went through Nutritional Therapy school over 12 years ago, one of the first things we learned to improve digestion and manage blood sugar handling was to take apple cider vinegar. I remember thinking, “This is ridiculous. How can taking apple cider vinegar be so good for you? It’s just vinegar?!”
But sure enough, when I put it into practice, my acid reflux improved, my digestion got better, my bowel movements got better… and every single client I had implement the same protocols experienced the same exact benefits.
Recently I had a client and friend reach out:
“I have acid reflux. It just started out of nowhere. What do I do?”
I told this person:
“Eat clean today. And take ACV just before meals. Get back to me when you notice some changes.”
The next day, his reflux was gone.
Why Apple Cider Vinegar is Good
Vinegar increases stomach acidity. Your stomach is meant to be acidic. This helps it activate a protein digesting enzyme called pepsin. It also helps it disinfect and neutralize pathogens. If you have acid reflux, it’s usually an indication of too little stomach acid. With too little stomach acid, your digestive system “backs up” into the esophagus. ACV before meals helps you digest proteins better. Check out my previous post and podcast on How to Support Digestion.
Vinegar reduces blood sugar spikes and insulin spikes. The acetic acid helps make muscles more receptive to glucose, uptaking glucose more efficiently, and pulling excess glucose from the bloodstream. This will minimize your blood sugar spike and get you back into a fat burning state relatively faster after a meal. ACV before meals helps with blood sugar regulation.
Vinegar activates the AMPK pathway helping to create energy. The AMPK pathway is sensitive to low energy and low calories. When activated, it prompts your cells to make energy endogenously (internally) through stored glycogen and/or fat stores. ACV in the morning and/or before workouts can help with energy creation.
Benefits to Your Health Journey
Because of these improvements in digestion and blood sugar handling:
- Vinegar helps with satiety. The stronger your digestion, the more nutrients you get out of your food and the more your body gets what it needs. Your body will naturally give you signals of being satisfied, making you less hungry less often, and less susceptible to snacking and deviating from your nutrition.
- Vinegar helps with nutrient sufficiency. The stronger your digestion, the more nutrients you get out of the food and the more you become nutrient sufficient over time. This is crucial for long-term health.
- Vinegar can help with fat loss. Less blood sugar spikes means less storage of energy into fat stores. Less blood sugar spikes also means less cravings and urges, as mentioned before.
Apple Cider Vinegar progression.
Get yourself some organic apple cider vinegar. It can be Bragg’s but it doesn’t have to be. I specify organic because apples are on the EWG’s Dirty Dozen Pesticides in Produce.
Also, keep in mind, you don’t have to be perfect with this. If you just committed to the first step below, it would be a huge win, and you could stop there.
- Start with 2 tbsp first thing in the morning with a glass of water (or you can shoot it). This will prime your digestive system for the rest of the entire day. It will also get your body creating energy internally for the rest of the day. If you did nothing else and just did this, you’d see some great improvements.
- If that’s easy, next go to before meals. To take your ACV support to the next level, take 2 tbsp just before each main meal.
- As a bonus, take some ACC before workouts. Taking ACV in a fasted state reinforces your body’s ability to create energy on its own.
- If you really want to be neurotic, take ACV before snacks. If you have the ability to have ACV on hand at all times, take 1 tbsp just before snacks.
- Finally, if you’re not ACV’d out by the end of the day, a little ACV before bed can help with blood sugar regulation during sleep, which will translate into better sleep.
Commit to what works for you. Do it for a while. Then build on it and add to it if you want. But you don’t have to do everything all at once.
Keep it Real.
Resources:
• Apple cider vinegar attenuates lipid profile https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
• Vinegar intake reduces body weight, body fat mass, and serum triglyceride levels https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
• Effect of neutralized and native vinegar on blood glucose and acetate responses to a mixed meal https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
• The role of acetic acid on glucose uptake and blood flow rates in the skeletal muscle https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
• Acetic acid activates hepatic AMPK and reduces hyperglycemia https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
• AMP-activated protein kinase plays a role in the control of food intake https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
• Acetic Acid Upregulates the Expression of Genes for Fatty Acid Oxidation Enzymes in Liver To Suppress Body Fat Accumulation https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/
• AMPK activation—protean potential for boosting healthspan https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
