Vinegar Can Help Tame Sugar Spike From Big Meals

Vinegar can help tame sugar spikes from big meals. Thanksgiving marks the start of a season that poses particular hazards for people with diabetes and others who are sensitive to the blood-sugar spikes that can follow big meals.

But several studies have revealed a possible way to reduce the impact of a carb-laden dish: Add a little vinegar. Doing so seems to help slow the absorption of sugar from a meal into the bloodstream, apparently because vinegar helps block digestive enzymes that convert carbohydrates into sugar.

One study by Italian researchers showed, for example, that when healthy subjects consumed about 4 teaspoons of white vinegar as a salad dressing with a meal that included white bread with a little less than 2 ounces of carbohydrates, there was a 30 percent reduction in their glycemic response, or rise in blood sugar, compared with subjects who had salad with a dressing made from neutralized vinegar.

In 2004, a study published in Diabetes Care, a journal of the American Diabetes Association, found similar effects in people with diabetes or insulin resistance who consumed a vinegar solution or placebo before a carb-heavy meal.

Apple Cider Vinegar

The best form of vinegar to supplement with is apple cider. Apple cider vinegar tastes great, is easy to swallow, and offers tons of sugar healthy benefits.

Over the centuries, vinegar has been used for countless purposes: making pickles, killing weeds, cleaning coffee makers, polishing armor, and dressing salads.

In recent years, apple cider vinegar has been singled out as an especially helpful health tonic. So it's now sold in both the condiment and the health supplement aisles of your grocery store. While many of the folk medicine uses of vinegar are unproven (or were disproved), a few do have a medical research backing them up.

Some small studies have hinted that apple cider vinegar could help with several conditions, such as diabetes and obesity. So does consuming apple cider vinegar make sense for your health?

Vinegar is a product of fermentation. This is a process in which sugars in a food are broken down by bacteria and yeast. In the first stage of fermentation, the sugars are turned into alcohol. Then, if the alcohol ferments further, you get vinegar.

The word comes from the French, meaning "sour wine." While vinegar can be made from all sorts of things -- like many fruits, vegetables, and grains -- apple cider vinegar comes from pulverized apples.

The main ingredient of apple cider vinegar, or any vinegar, is acetic acid. However, vinegars also have other acids, vitamins, mineral salts, and amino acids.

If you are concerned about blood sugar spikes after meals, check out the diabetic diet guidelines for important guidance on managing blood sugar.

Dr. Michael Smith is an integrative medical doctor and antiaging specialist. Dr. Smith is dedicated to the dissemination of innovative disease prevention and treatment strategies.

Check out his web site at Innovative Diabetic Diet for up-to-date and innovative nutritional strategies for beating diabetes.