Does Apple Cider Vinegar Really Have Positive Effects on Intermittent Fasting?
IF Insider No. 32
In this issue, we are going to look at apple cider vinegar and answer one of the most frequently asked questions we get.
And as always, we are bringing you news on what we’re currently reading or watching. For our premium subscribers, in this issue’s Research Spotlight we take a deep dive into some intriguing new research that has identified a link between gut microbes and stroke, as well as which foods make for a worse medical outcome.
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Does Apple Cider Vinegar Have Positive Health Effects For Intermittent Fasters?
Apple cider vinegar, or ACV as it’s known within the intermittent fasting community, has long been touted to help reduce belly fat and to help with weight loss. Some people have ascribed nearly supernatural benefits to ACV, claiming it cures nail fungus, helps grow healthy hair, and even stops Wonder Woman in her tracks! Just kidding about Wonder Woman, but you get the idea.
So what are the facts? Does ACV really have any place in your intermittent fasting toolkit or is it all a bunch of old folklore hype? Let’s take a look at what the science says:
In our own IF practices, Denise and I have advocated the use of two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar diluted in water and taken before a meal, as studies show ACV can reduce the glucose (and insulin) spike associated with the ingestion of carbohydrates. Further research has shown that this effect is most pronounced if the ACV is consumed with a high carb, high glycemic meal as opposed to a meal that has a lower glycemic load.
In looking at the study design, we can see the number of participants was very small (only 16 total), and all of the participants had Type 2 diabetes, so of course you really can’t generalize these results to everyone, particularly those people who do not have Type 2 diabetes.
But there was an earlier study (2017) that was a meta-analysis (meaning a “study of studies”) that showed a decrease in blood glucose response in both healthy people as well as those with Type 2 diabetes, using 1 to 2 Tablespoons of ACV. Plus, there was yet another study showing a significant slowing of the rise in blood sugar, not only in healthy individuals and those who were Type 2 diabetics but also in those participants who were insulin resistant but were not yet diabetic.
Some recent articles have suggested that the evidence for the effectiveness of ACV is tenuous at best and more research is needed. Well surely we can always do more research, but on a substance that has been around as long as apple cider vinegar and has very little, if any downside, plus the backup of several positive studies, we can’t see any reason not to continue recommending it if you want to use it.
One caution: as ACV contains acetic acid, it can be, just like any food acid, harmful to tooth enamel. Be sure to dilute it with water before taking and if you want, drink it with a straw to bypass tooth enamel completely. Also, the doses in the studies varied, ranging from a couple of teaspoons to one to two tablespoons.
Plus, in looking at the studies, it’s not really clear what type of ACV was used, but we would opt for ACV that is a living, fermented food, rather than pasteurized, such as Bragg’s Organic Raw Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar, as you will get the additional benefits of probiotics and natural polyphenols contained in the product.
Why It Matters
Sometimes, it’s the little things that matter most. For those that like the taste of ACV and want to add this to your IF toolkit, we say go for it!
“Sometimes, little things make a big difference…”
~ Nino Varsimashvili (1982, born in Tbilisi, Georgia) - Award-winning screenwriter and producer at ArtWay Film production, her feature film project, The Empty House was shortlisted for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, won the Eurimages Award at TIFF, and was selected at the Cannes Cinéfondation Residence as wells as at Berlinale Co-Production Market.
What We Are Reading 📚
With each issue, we bring you a short blurb on what we are currently reading or watching, including books, articles, podcasts, videos, movies, and research papers of value.
Denise - During a guided meditation focused on cultivating resilience, Linda Graham’s book, Bouncing Back was mentioned. Then, during my search for the book, I discovered Graham’s companion book, Resilience: Powerful Practices for Bouncing Back from Disappointment, Difficulty, and Even Disaster, which I bought.
This is the how-to book for developing practices that help re-wire your brain to better tackle stressful and even life-shattering events. Linda Graham offers clear guidance to help you develop somatic, emotional, relational, and reflective intelligence -- the skills you need to confidently and effectively cope with life's inevitable challenges and crises.
Ellen - As the parent of a young adult daughter who is on the autistic spectrum (Asperger’s), I am always on the lookout for books that can help me to be a better parent and that can possibly help my daughter to function more effectively and be more comfortable in this complex world of ours.
Divergent Mind: Thriving In A World That Wasn’t Designed For You, was written by journalist Jenara Nerenberg, who is a successful Harvard and Berkeley-educated author, entrepreneur, and mother. Jenara was dumbfounded to discover that her own symptoms, which had always been routinely labeled as anxiety, were in fact a combination of autism and ADHD.
She lays out in startling detail how our medical system, almost totally focused on diagnosing and treating young male populations, is almost completely blind to female neurodiversity, plus given the fact that females are conditioned early to conform and blend in, their neurological differences often go unseen and they suffer in silence, sometimes for many years.
If you want to experience the gifts that neurodivergent minds have to offer, you are the parent of a neurodivergent daughter, or you think you may be neurodivergent yourself, Divergent Mind: Thriving In A World That Wasn’t Designed For You, comes highly recommended.
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