For lovers of fermented juices, apple cider vinegar (ACV) is certainly what comes to mind when someone mentions apple juice.
Unlike apple juice, apple cider vinegar is fermented juice made from crushed apples. Its nutritional component is similar to apple juice since it also contains pectin, B vitamins: B1, B2, B5, B6, and Vitamin C. It is also rich in essential minerals including, but not limited to, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, iron, calcium, and magnesium. The citric acid and acetic acid components of apple cider vinegar augment its medicinal value.
What Are the Goods of Some ACV at Bedtime?
Like all natural products, apple cider vinegar has a lot of uses and can bring some benefits to you if you have some apple cider vinegar before going to bed.
1. Lose weight
Apple cider vinegar contains a potent satiety inducer called pectin. It stimulates the satiety center in the brain making you feel satisfied. This appetite reduction effect can help you regulate the number of calories you consume. Apple cider vinegar is also a potent inhibitor of fat accumulation in the abdomen.
If you are feeling hungry before bedtime, you certainly need to go for apple cider vinegar, instead of grabbing any other alternatives.
When taken incessantly, the big difference between apple cider vinegar weight loss before and after will be the result you would hope for.
2. Relieve indigestion
Sleep is an essential component of a healthy life. However, certain health complications of indigestion may reduce an otherwise sweet sleep to a terrible experience.
Nevertheless, one teaspoonful of ACV before bed and an equal measure of honey mixed in a cup of warm water is helpful. This combination therapeutically cures insomnia by reducing bloating, eliminating stomach gas, and combating nausea, as well as acid reflux.
3. Treat a sore throat
As aforementioned in the introduction, apple cider vinegar contains acetic acid and citric acid that creates a low pH environment.
This condition is extreme and somewhat inhabitable for group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus – the bacteria causing a sore throat.
One teaspoonful of apple cider vinegar before bed swallowed 3 times at 30 minute-intervals really helps in managing sore throat.
4. Relieve a stuffy nose
One major therapeutic goal of treatment for nasal congestion is by thinning the mucus layer lining the nasal cavity.
Vitamin B1, B2, and C coupled with potassium and magnesium in apple cider vinegar effectively relieve a stuffy nose by thinning the mucus that lines the nose.
For a faster relief, one teaspoonful of apple cider vinegar is sufficient to guarantee a peaceful night's rest.
5. Eliminate bad breath
Apple cider vinegar is therapeutically useful due to its antibacterial property. In this regard, it helps in reducing the number of bacteria present in your mouth.
These bacteria are the major cause of bad breath as they constantly metabolize nutrients and remove waste within the oral cavity.
6. Lower blood sugar levels
Perhaps the most plausible role of apple cider vinegar is its ability to increase the sensitivity of insulin receptors to insulin.
Insulin is the antidote for high blood sugar, a condition medically termed as hyperglycemia. By up-regulating the sensitivity of insulin receptors to insulin, it facilitates rapid reduction of blood sugar levels.
Two spoonfuls before bed are sufficient for this purpose. However, if you are a diabetic patient under management, you should first consult your doctor before using apple cider vinegar.
Precautions and Warnings to Consider When Taking ACV
One of the basic principles of toxicology is that "the dose makes the poison." As stated by the once famous Swiss physician Philippus Aureolus, "all things are poison and nothing is without poison; only the dose makes a thing, not poison."
Apple cider vinegar could not be an exception. Here are some of the precautions that you should consider when taking ACV:
1. Possible side effects
- Effect on potassium levels
A high dose of ACV has been reported to cause a reduction in the levels of potassium. Though rare in occurrence, low potassium levels associated with ACV overdose can precipitate heart arrhythmias in patients with heart disease.
- Can cause stomach pain
As much ACV can help reduce stomach pain, an overdose may reverse the result and cause more pain in the stomach. This happens because it increases the acidity of the stomach.
2. Individuals who should avoid drinking ACV
- Pregnant and lactating women
There are two categories of apple cider vinegar: pasteurized and unpasteurized. Ideally, pregnant and lactating women should not consume unpasteurized food products due to a possible risk of food poisoning. However, staying on the safer side will encompass not drinking ACV, at all.
- Diabetes
The difference between type 1 and 2 is that insufficient insulin is not produced in type 1, while insulin receptors are not active in type 2. ACV is only helpful for type 2 diabetes. It can worsen type 1 diabetes. Irrespective of your condition, seek advice from your doctor before taking ACV.
3. Interactions
- Digoxin (Lanoxin)
This is a drug used in congestive heart failure. Low potassium levels precipitated by ACV reduce its attachment to receptors thus increasing its levels in the blood. This condition is called digoxin toxicity and can cause arrhythmias.
- Insulin
ACV increases the sensitivity of insulin receptors, therapeutically advantageous to type 2 diabetes patients. To some extent, this privilege does not suffice in type 1 diabetes.
- Diuretics
Some diuretics such as loop diuretics and thiazides cause potassium loss. Coupled with potassium-lowering effects of ACV, this can worsen hypokalemia. This can, however, be antagonistically managed by potassium-sparing diuretics such as amiloride and triamterene.
Final Thought
In the end, you will realize that a strict dose-dependent ACV therapy is the safest path to take. Though beneficial to some extent, the side effects and contraindications are also worth avoiding. Besides, ensure to consult your doctor of any health issue and avoid self-medication. Let your doctor permit you to take ACV.
