 | A Spoonful of Vinegar is the Medicine that Goes Downposted by KJ Hannah Greenberg, Aishes ChayilThursday, October 6th 2011 @ 1:00 PM |
Often we associate healing liquids with ghastly-tasting prescriptions or with sugar-laden remedies. Rarely do we think about preparations for our health as bitter but palatable. Vinegar is one such strong-tasting cure to which we ought to get accustomed.
Vinegar is remarkable in that it has few side effects but offers many benefits. Vinegar balances the digestive system and equalizes blood sugar. It cleans out internal muck, and it serves as a breath freshener, too.
Vinegar works in wonderful ways because of its chemical nature. In brief, vinegar is very acidic. Acids, used in the correct amount, over the correct span of time, are wonderful as antimicrobials; in other words, they are wonderful weapons in our fight against bacteria and viruses.
Acids are also disinfectants. Mild acids, from common water to “exotic” urine, to citrus juice and vinegar, even when diluted, might make a cut sting, but can provide miraculous means of fighting life-threatening germs. Better a little burn than a long burial!
Acidic substances perform because when we tweak the conditions within our bodies ever so slightly, we don’t ordinarily sustain damage but we do usually succeed in making ourselves inhospitable to climate-sensitive microbes. That is, vinegar in our systems helps eradicate or disable invaders both within our bodies and on our bodies’ surfaces. Sipping vinegar works in the same way as does encouraging a low fever to run its natural course.
Vinegar can also be used for more localized issues. For example, you can use vinegar combined with rosemary to treat lice; combined with honey to treat throat inflammations; and combined with water to treat various topical fungal contaminations. Plus, vinegar aids in wart removal, curbing appetite, and treating reflux.
There’s more to this wonder than just repair and defense, however. A vinegar habit is a preventative measure, too. As generations of wise women have long known, taking iron pills or iron-rich herbs, in the company of a wee slug of vinegar, maximizes our bodies’ ability to absorb essential minerals. Especially as we age, it’s vital, literally and figuratively, to keep up our store of those elements.
In addition, vinegar-as-a-treatment is both cheap and widely available. Though fruits high in citric acid vary among the world’s regions, the possibility of distilling vinegar remains a constant over the entire globe. Besides, while mead (a drink of fermented honey and water) might be the beverage of nobility, vinegar remains within the province and within the providence of even paupers.
Granted, we ought not to douse ourselves, except under the guidance of health care providers; yet, simultaneously, we ought not to lose out on the powers of acetic acid–tinged solution. Daily consumption of vinegar, whether we ingest this sour stuff in salad dressings, in cups of warm water, or straight up, is good for us. A spoonful of vinegar is not as tasty as a spoonful of syrup, but it can address to many of our physiological needs.
