Is apple cider vinegar good for you?

Apple Cider Vinegar and Health

Image Credit: Veganbaking.net / Flickr

I have heard that apple cider vinegar which I know contains potassium, that is can also leach potassium, and can thus contribute to high blood pressure. Do you have any information about this?

aeason / Originally posted on Is vinegar good for you?

Answer:

There are a baker’s dozen of articles in the medical literature on apple cider vinegar (as indexed by the National Library of Medicine), and indeed there is a case report “Hypokalemia, Hyperreninemia and Osteoporosis in a Patient Ingesting Large Amounts of Cider Vinegar” that does suggest ingestion may lead to potassium wasting.

Acetic acid in vinegar is rapidly metabolized in the liver into bicarbonate, and potassium is used by the kidneys to excrete bicarbonate from the body. So chronic use of high doses could lead to problems–the woman described in the report was drinking more than a cup of vinegar a day!

One would not expect any such problems as the doses described in the studies featured in the Is Vinegar Good For You? video (2 teaspoons with meals). I would, however, warn against apple cider vinegar pills. A study published in the Journal of the ADA of 8 such products found some “could be considered poisonous, as indicated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission….”

Image Credit: Veganbaking.net / Flickr

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