Apple Cider Vinegar Benefits
In today's topic, we will talk about apple cider vinegar and its benefits, specifically when it comes to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
Apple cider vinegar's many health benefits are widely known, everything from killing bacteria to improving skin health, but what we are going to focus on today is the impact it has on blood sugar levels and insulin levels because if we can control these, we can start to reverse insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
So in today's topic, we're going to talk about apple cider vinegar, the benefits of consuming it, and if it can help us manage blood sugar levels.
Apple cider vinegar is made from fermented apple juice, and you might automatically think that this would mean that it is high in sugar as it is made from apple juice.
However, the fermentation process breaks down the sugar so that there is next to none left by the time apple cider vinegar is created, but how does this tie in with blood sugar and managing it well.
It has been found that drinking apple cider vinegar before a meal can significantly lower blood sugar and insulin response.
One study had participants take one and a half tablespoons of apple cider vinegar two minutes before a high-carb meal that included a bagel and orange juice; they found that the group that consumed the apple cider vinegar were up to 34 percent more insulin sensitive and hour after eating compared to the group that consumed the placebo.
But what exactly does this mean for insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes? These conditions result from the body not managing blood sugar effectively; they are the same because insulin resistance causes type 2 diabetes.
It takes time for insulin resistance to manifest, so it often goes undiagnosed; if we can identify and address insulin resistance early, we can stop it before it inevitably leads to type 2 diabetes.
Because when you first become insulin resistant, the excess insulin that is being pumped out is enough to manage the extra blood sugar, but eventually, you come to a point where the insulin can't keep up anymore, so your insulin is high, and your blood sugar is now increased.
But I'm getting ahead of myself; we first need to understand what insulin resistance is before understanding how we can use apple cider vinegar to address it.
Insulin is a hormone known as the fat-storage hormone; when we eat, insulin increases to take the energy from our bloodstream and bring it to our cells.
Now when we become insulin resistant, our cells stop responding to insulin, so our insulin remains elevated, and our blood sugar remains elevated as well.
Because insulin resistance is caused by high insulin levels, also known as hyperinsulinemia, the remedy to reversing it is to keep insulin low. When insulin is kept low, our cells become more sensitive to it again, and as our cells become more sensitive, our blood sugar and insulin return to normal levels.
But what causes our insulin to remain high in the first place? There are several factors at play, but the primary one is diet; when we eat, carbohydrates are broken down into glucose, and this causes our blood sugar to rise; in response to this rise in blood sugar, our pancreas will release insulin.
Insulin is responsible for managing blood sugar levels, so it takes the excess sugar out of the bloodstream and deposits it in the cells; eating too many carbs and eating them too frequently means that the body is constantly pumping out insulin to keep blood sugar in check.
And as we already mentioned, this constant stream of insulin causes us to become resistant to it; to reverse it, we need to keep insulin low, and apple cider vinegar can potentially help us do that.
A tablespoon of apple cider vinegar diluted in water before A meal can significantly reduce the blood sugar and insulin response to that meal.
One small study found that if the participants took apple cider vinegar before eating white bread, the blood sugar response was over 30 percent lower, and there are a few other studies that mimic these findings.
Another study had people with diabetes take two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar before bed, and this lowered their fasting blood sugar in the morning by four percent.
So clearly, there is something to this, but before you get all excited thinking that apple cider vinegar is the secret to you eating whatever you want to think again.
A 2018 review looked at the short- and long-term effects of diabetes taking apple cider vinegar; it showed that apple cider vinegar could be effective in the short term, 30 minutes after eating but at the 60 90, and 120-minute mark.
The difference was insignificant, so here's the thing: apple cider vinegar is not magic; yes, it can help to mitigate the response of blood sugar and insulin to an extent, but on its own, it isn't enough to reverse it together. Reversal should be the goal because it is possible if you are only focused on managing symptoms.
You are not doing anything to lower your risk of developing other diseases because being insulin resistant or diabetic significantly increases your risk of heart disease, Alzheimer's, PCOS, and more.
The best way to reverse insulin resistance is to eat fewer carbs and eat less frequently. Carbs are the macronutrient that raises insulin the most by limiting them or even eating the carb-rich foods at the end of your meal.
After your protein fat and non-starchy vegetables, you can significantly reduce the insulin load and eat less frequently, not snacking between meals. Even incorporating some intermittent fasting can give your pancreas a break and allow blood sugar and insulin levels to return to baseline before your next dinner.
So if you are following the tips that I
just laid out, combining apple cider vinegar might provide some added benefit,
but apple cider vinegar on its own is not a cure-all.
