After my initial success of feeling my digestion improve greatly within a week of starting the Apple Cider Vinegar (a fermented food), I began researching Apple Cider Vinegar in earnest, doing some muscle testing on my body, and downloading books on the topic. Then I really got excited. Here's what I discovered!

Other Ways to Access This Blog: Watch Video Online | Listen to Related Podcast

Muscle Testing Results with Apple Cider Vinegar

As we muscle tested each other (Mark and Patti Virkler) on the benefits of apple cider vinegar, our bodies told us that Bragg’s organic, raw, unfiltered, unpasteurized, naturally gluten free Apple Cider Vinegar would do wonders for our body if we took one tablespoon a couple minutes before each meal as well as morning and evening. We did ask about taking it 30 minutes before a meal, and our bodies both said, no, but that immediately before the meal was better.

MRT informed us that apple cider vinegar would aid in digestion in both our stomachs and our small intestines. It would nurture healthy probiotics in the colon (since it is a fermented product), lower cholesterol and blood pressure, strengthen the heart, increase our pH and promote overall health. I was told that I would no longer need to take the 11 digestive pills I was taking with each meal if I took the apple cider vinegar instead. So off we go to experiment and see what we can learn by life speaking back to us as we try new things out!

Note: It is now 30 days later and what MRT was telling us was indeed true. I have cut back to 2 digestive enzymes and two probiotics per meal, and I can actually eat a meal without taking those pills, and my body does not react negatively to the food. However I am continuing to take them as my goal is maximum digestion!

Sweetening the Taste of Apple Cider Vinegar: Patti said she had never used it before because she did not like the taste, and it never occurred to her to do what I instinctively did, which was to squirt some liquid stevia into the cup of water with the tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in it. The stevia made it taste fine. It’s so nice that I can occasionally be of some help in the kitchen! My son and daughter-in-law have begun taking apple cider vinegar also. They mix it with local honey (which is an excellent anti-allergen) and if you mix apple cider vinegar with honey in a cup of hot water, then you have a cup of great tasting tea, which I have come to love. Don't microwave the water, heat it in a pan or teapot, and only until warm. Temperatures over 112 kill the healthy enzymes destroying the benefit of your drink. Then add the apple cider vinegar and honey once the water is warm.) So I take the warm tea with honey in the morning and evenings and before meals, I consume Apple Cider Vinegar and Stevia in cold water. 

One study showed a 19% decrease in blood sugar levels when consuming 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar after a high carbohydrate meal.

Another study in which participants consumed 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar before bed resulted in their morning fasting blood sugar levels decreasing by 4%.
 

Mercola Introduces the Health Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar

I suggest you begin by reading carefully Dr. Mercola's short review of apple cider vinegar, which has been viewed by 700,000 people. And then to get blessed, read some of the 300 comments after the article as people tell how they have used apple cider vinegar to heal all sorts of things.

• Mercola notes that studies show apple cider vinegar can cut blood glucose concentrations by nearly half.
• In 2006, one study showed that vinegar could lower cholesterol in laboratory rats. Another study on rats found their blood pressure could be lowered by the acetic acid in vinegar.
• One thing that apple cider vinegar is high in is acetic acid. Like other acids, acetic acid can increase your body’s absorption of important minerals from the foods you eat. Therefore, it is possible that drinking a mild tonic of vinegar and water just before meals might improve your body’s ability to absorb the essential minerals locked in foods. Apple cider vinegar might help you get more out of your leafy greens!
• Weight loss: Participants taking two - three teaspoons of vinegar prior to two meals per day lost an average of two pounds over the four-week period, and some lost up to four pounds. The pH changes it induces may contribute to some of its actions.
• Apple cider vinegar is highly acidic. The main ingredient is acetic acid, which is quite harsh. You should always dilute it with water or juice before swallowing.
• Role in disease: When there is a low amount of gastric acid in the stomach, bacteria is not killed as it is supposed to be and there is greater risk of infections of the digestive tract. When there is a high amount of gastric acid in the stomach, it can cause gastric ulcers.
• Functional Health Properties of Vinegar by Mercola

Fermented Foods Are Incredibly Healthy for Digestion

Since apple cider vinegar is a fermented food (actually it has experienced double fermentation), I decided I should educate myself about fermented foods. Do fermented foods provide health benefits? The answer is a resounding YES!

Probiotics and their fermented food products are beneficial for health

The following abstract is copied from this website. Probiotics are usually defined as microbial food supplements with beneficial effects on the consumers. Most probiotics fall into the group of organisms’ known as lactic acid-producing bacteria and are normally consumed in the form of yogurt, fermented milks or other fermented foods. Some of the beneficial effect of lactic acid bacteria consumption include: (i) improving intestinal tract health; (ii) enhancing the immune system, synthesizing and enhancing the bioavailability of nutrients; (iii) reducing symptoms of lactose intolerance, decreasing the prevalence of allergy in susceptible individuals; and (iv) reducing risk of certain cancers.

The mechanisms by which probiotics exert their effects are largely unknown, but may involve modifying gut pH, antagonizing pathogens through production of antimicrobial compounds, competing for pathogen binding and receptor sites as well as for available nutrients and growth factors, stimulating immunomodulatory cells, and producing lactase. Selection criteria, efficacy, food and supplement sources and safety issues around probiotics are reviewed. Recent scientific investigation has supported the important role of probiotics as a part of a healthy diet for humans as well as for animals and may be an avenue to provide a safe, cost effective, and ‘natural’ approach that adds a barrier against microbial infection. This paper presents a review of probiotics in health maintenance and disease prevention.

So far we have incorporated this fermented food to heal our digestion and intestines

They are 1)  Bragg’s organic, raw, unfiltered, unpasteurized, naturally gluten free Apple Cider Vinegar 

My digestive health is greatly improved and I am getting off most of the digestive enzymes and probiotics I had needed to take with each meal. I am absolutely thrilled with the discovery of Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar and fermented foods in general. I consider this a big step forward for me, for my health and my longevity. I encourage you to explore and experiment and see what your body says to you.