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Vinegar is touted as a healing wonder tonic. It seems like it can cure everything. People claim that it can help you lose weight and that if you eat a teaspoon of it, you'll be immune to mosquitoes. A lot of those boasts have to be balderdash. What are the true of benefits of Vinegar? For that information, I have turned to one of my favorite sites How Stuff Works. Gayle Povis Alleman, M.S., R.D explains the real health benefits of vinegar.
Why this is Green
Vinegar is a natural product that's been around for thousands of years. It can be substituted for over-packed products and used in vegan/vegetarian diets.
Here is the health breakdown:
- Vinegar helps the body absorb calcium. Salad greens are full of calcium. If you're vegan who has stopped drinking milk due to environmental concerns, a vinegary salad might be your best source for Ca.
- Vinegar seems to help people with type 2 diabetes. It appears to increase insulin sensitivity in those who are insulin resistant.
- Vinegar can be used to replace high-fat foods like mayonnaise and tartar sauce.
- Vinegar can add some much-needed spice to a diet. The diet is more apt to work if it is tasty. Vinegar has only 25 calories per half cup.
- Removing Harmful Substances from Produce.
Gayle Povis Alleman:
Some people are concerned that eating large amounts of fruits and vegetables may lead to an unhealthy consumption of pesticide and other farm-chemical residues. Vinegar can lend a hand here, too. Washing produce in a mixture of water and vinegar appears to help remove certain pesticides, according to the small amount of research that has been published. Vinegar also appears to be helpful in getting rid of harmful bacteria on fruits and vegetables.
To help remove potentially harmful residues, mix a solution of 10 percent vinegar to 90 percent water (for example, mix one cup of white vinegar in nine cups of water). Then, place produce in the vinegar solution, let it soak briefly, and then swish it around in the solution. Finally, rinse the produce thoroughly.
Do not use this process on tender, fragile fruits, such as berries, that might be damaged in the process or soak up too much vinegar through their porous skins.
Some pesticide residues are trapped beneath the waxy coatings that are applied to certain vegetables to help them retain moisture. The vinegar solution probably won't wash those pesticides away, so peeling lightly may be the next best option. Some research suggests that cooking further eliminates some pesticide residue.
Have a great health benefit of vinegar of your own? Want to read what other Planet Green readers are doing with vinegar? Check out the new vinegar forum.
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