No, I’m not fasting. No, I’m not planning to drink vinegar cocktails every day for the rest of my life.
Yes, I feel better.
For the serious science on vinegar in general, and for the current crunchy take, there are your links.
Basically, apple cider vinegar (ACV) is lauded in the fight against allergies, dull hair, skin problems, fatigue, diabetes, toxic buildup and, my favorite, cancer! It’s also limited as a miracle cure by a lack of hard scientific evidence. Of course, that’s true of many natural/home remedy type agents. We just don’t know, really. Risks seem minimal, though low potassium, bone trouble and bladder cancer have all been mentioned, but not in the context of short-term, moderate use.
My reason for doing this is not that I believe it will make me live forever or even be in perfect health today. The thing is, it’s not going to hurt me, and it’s getting me to drink more water. It’s also a proactive ritual that’s part of my determination to get back on the health wagon, so to speak. The holiday season made me a bit squishy, in every sense of the word, and adhering to some sort of “detox” routine is part of my counter attack.
As always, good health is about a mindset, and not following a bunch of formulated Do-Don’t lists. My goal is physical and mental calm – not to cheat the Reaper.
Along with the ACV regimen, I’ve slashed the sweets and booze intake, upped the whole, fresh foods and started exercising again. Wherever credit may be due, I’m feeling more energetic, enjoying better digestion, less anxious and just feel… cleaner overall. I realize the ACV might be the least important factor, but, as a healthy ritual, it’s helping me stay on track.
If you hate vinegar, you’d probably hate the concoction I’ve been imbibing daily for the last week:
- Every day, shortly after getting up, I put the kettle on and grab my jar of raw honey.
- I put about 1/3 tablespoon of honey into a large drinking glass, along with small dashes of cayenne pepper and cinnamon.
- I add the boiling water to fill the glass – about a pint or so.
- I drop in one tablespoon of lemon juice and one to two tablespoons of ACV, stir and sip.
It’s all based on the Bragg’s ACV drink recipe and a few others I checked out.
This is something I’ve wanted to try for a while, and what better time than the kickoff of 2015? What are you doing to take on the year?