Top 10 Apple Cider Vinegar Uses

Your grandma may have cleaned with this stuff, but the uses for Apple cider vinegar go beyond cleaning (though it’s great for that too!). We’ll save the ways to use it for cleaning for another day because I want to focus on all the great stuff it can do for your health right now.

Apple cider vinegar has been used since 5,000 BC as a way to improve health. This includes keeping homes germ-free. People way back then knew that fermenting apple juice created vinegar that detoxified the body, aided circulation, purified the blood, kept lymph flowing, and improved overall immune response. Hippocrates used it to cure colds and coughs in his patients. The acetic acid that forms during the fermenting process is what makes apple cider vinegar so effective in keeping bad bacteria at bay while promoting good bacteria and assisting many bodily systems to work at their best.

This liquid is a powerhouse of health. It naturally contains potassium, magnesium, probiotics, enzymes, minerals, vitamins, and polyphenols.

Apple cider vinegar has both antibacterial and antifungal properties, which increases its natural health benefits (and is why grandma used it to clean house). Like coconut oil, apple cider vinegar helps all types of issues, whether just irritating or potentially deadly. It was a challenge to decide which of the many ways ACV can be used to improve health, but I think I’ve done it. You’ll be amazed at all of the uses for apple cider vinegar, and what this stuff can do for you and your family!

Top 10 Uses for Apple Cider Vinegar

Blood Sugar and Diabetes

Apple cider vinegar has anti-glycemic properties that improve insulin sensitivity, insulin responses and lowers blood sugar after starchy meals, which all adds up to protecting you from developing Type 2 Diabetes. With the increase in both insulin resistance and diabetes, this is great news for many people in the West. It can be used to prevent diabetes and to assist diabetics to keep their blood sugar under control. {If you are taking medication for diabetes, talk to your doctor before starting an ACV regiment.}

Acid Reflux

It may seem counterintuitive, but yes, apple cider vinegar can do wonders for those who experience acid reflux. Although it’s high acidity, it reacts in the body as an alkaloid, which balances the pH level in the stomach. Another common cause of acid reflux and general heartburn is a lack of the necessary probiotics and enzymes in the stomach. Apple cider vinegar contains probiotics and enzymes, and an acid that stimulates the growth of probiotics in the digestive tract. And, if that weren’t enough, its anti-inflammatory properties reduce inflammation in the stomach, lessening heartburn, and acid reflux.

Warts

Though warts aren’t a horrible illness, they are ugly and can be painful. Rather than using a toxic wart remover, you can use apple cider vinegar to rid yourself of them. The acid in the vinegar attacks the HPV virus that causes warts so they can be peeled right off the skin, virus and all. To remove warts, put ACV on a cotton ball and wrap it with a Band-Aid, so it will stay put overnight. Do this each night until the wart can be easily removed.

Circulation and Varicose Veins

The anti-inflammatory properties make it a great remedy for improving circulation and for varicose veins. Apple Cider Vinegar breaks up calcium deposits in the blood vessel wall, helping the blood circulate through your body more easily. Restricted circulation can cause all manner of diseases and keeps the body’s organs from working at their highest performance level.

Colds and Flu

Because apple cider vinegar is full of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes, adding it into your diet can improve your overall immunity to help you get over colds and flu faster. It doesn’t hurt that it also has antimicrobial and antiseptic properties that help your body fight infections and viruses.

Weight Loss

Apple cider vinegar has lots of tricks up its sleeves and induces weight loss in several ways. It also promotes fat loss, in one study on mice, up to 10%! Sounds good to me! Even the Journal of Diabetes Care published a medical study proving ACV could assist in weight loss. It gives dieters that little extra oomph they need by decreasing sugar cravings, stabilizing blood sugar for longer stretches of time, and improving body detoxification.

Blood Pressure

High blood pressure or blood pressure that is tough to regulate can be improved by consistently consuming apple cider vinegar. Medical studies have proven it helps in a couple of different ways. First, it lowers the renin activity in the bloodstream. Renin is an enzyme that regulates blood pressure, so reducing the amount of it in the body makes blood pressure easier to regulate and control. It also lowers bad cholesterol and triglycerides, which in turn allows blood to flow more freely through the arteries, naturally lowering blood pressure.

Sunburn

Yes, vinegar is smelly, but if you have lobster-red skin that’s burning, you probably don’t care. Apple cider vinegar soothes the burning and takes away the sting of sunburn. And I swear, it turns the burn to tan faster too. The smell dissipates pretty quickly, so you don’t need to deal with it too long, and it’s totally worth the relief you get.

Allergies

You can use apple cider vinegar two different ways to get allergy relief. The first way is to dilute it and then drink it.* It breaks up mucus in the body and also increases lymph drainage. Keeping your lymph moving freely gets the pollen out of your system fast. The other way you can use it is to put it in your Neti pot solution to clean out your sinuses. I use both of these ways to keep my allergy symptoms under control. You can also use these suggestions for colds and sinus conditions.

Body Detox

We’ve already covered some of the ways it helps your body, specifically your liver, detox, but let’s sum it all up here. The acid in it binds up toxins so that your body can remove them more quickly, reducing the amount of damage they can do. It also increases blood and lymph circulation which further speeds up the process of elimination. Finally, breaks up mucus so it can be removed from the body.

Now, before you rush out to grab up all the bottles of apple cider vinegar off the shelves, I want to let you know that it’s important to only use organic, unfiltered and unpasteurized ACV. Make sure it also has an active “mother” percentage listed on the label. This ensures all of the great probiotics and other nutrients have not been removed. If your apple cider vinegar looks cloudy, that’s a good thing. We personally LOVE this brand, it’s been our favorite for years!

*It’s also important to always dilute ACV. It’s super strong and drinking it straight can burn your esophagus. You don’t want to overdo it for the same reason. Most experts say you should take no more than 2-3 tablespoons per day in a large glass of water.

I would love to hear what your favorite uses for apple cider vinegar are, please post them in the comments below!

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Hi, my name is Kate.

I love food. Real food. We eat all of the things that nursing school taught me were bad for you: butter, eggs, bacon, and raw milk.

I am a Nurse, a Mom, and a Real Food loving blogger. Just trying to save the world.

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