In this video Brigid Titgemeier explains what apple cider vinegar (ACV) is, how it’s made by fermenting crushed apples into alcohol and then into vinegar, and why she recommends it as a dietary staple. She outlines three main health benefits: (1) post‑meal blood‑sugar control – taking 1–2 tablespoons of ACV diluted in water before a high‑glycemic meal can blunt the glucose spike, a claim supported by her anecdotal work with clients using glucometers and continuous glucose monitors and by some research; (2) modest weight‑loss support – a single randomized controlled trial showed an average 4‑lb greater loss over 12 weeks, likely due to acetic acid’s effect on satiety, which is present in all vinegars; (3) prebiotic gut benefits – ACV contains natural prebiotic compounds that may fuel probiotics, though direct evidence is limited. She also notes that ACV can help or worsen acid reflux depending on the individual. Practical guidance includes diluting 1–2 Tbsp in at least 8 oz of water, using a straw to protect tooth enamel, and avoiding straight shots. She demonstrates several tasty ways to incorporate ACV: in soda water (or with a splash of pomegranate juice for a mocktail), in homemade salad dressings with olive oil and Dijon mustard, and in warm cinnamon tea (not too hot to preserve the beneficial compounds). Brigid emphasizes that ACV is not a magic cure but a flavorful, low‑sugar option that can support blood‑sugar control and overall health when used responsibly.
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So one food staple that I love to have people add to their diet is apple cider vinegar. It works for many people, but of course, nutrition is not one size fits all. I personally love adding apple cider vinegar to my diet. I have it right here in this soda water. And I want to talk through some of the benefits to apple cider vinegar, what it even is, and if you should consider adding it to your diet. Apple cider vinegar is made from crushing apples and then using the naturally present yeast that are in those apples that ferment into a naturally occurring alcohol. And then the second step of that is using the acidic bacteria to ferment that alcohol into the vinegar that you buy from the grocery store that's in the apple cider vinegar bottle. It can help with one blood sugar control, especially if you're adding it to a meal before you eat, that's going to be high in the glycemic response. So let's say that you're going to eat something that has, like you're going to go out for sushi and you know that the white rice and the sushi is going to spike your blood sugar. If you have a glass of water with apple cider vinegar, 1 to 2 tablespoons before you go, it should help with decre, that postprandial glucose response, which is just your blood sugar response after the meal that you're eating. This is something that actually I've seen in people with monitoring their blood sugar levels anecdotally over the last seven years, because we have worked with a lot of clients in helping them stabilize their blood sugar levels in testing using either glucometers or continuous glucose monitors to figure out ways to help support blood sugar control. And apple cider vinegar has consistently been shown in those anecdotal experiments. We could call them with each person to, to help with improving some of the blood sugar response. And there is some research to support that. Now, the second benefit that is promoted sometimes too much by the wellness industry is weight loss. So there's a lot of people that will tout apple cider vinegar for the weight loss benefits, and then other health experts that will say, oh, there's no research to show that there's any benefits to apple cider vinegar. There actually is one randomized control trial that showed that adding apple cider vinegar for 12 weeks in the intervention group compared to the control group. The intervention group that was adding the apple cider vinegar lost 4 additional pounds compared to the control group. So the idea behind it is that the acetic Acid that's found in the apple cider vinegar is what helps to regulate your satiety. So it helps you not feel as hungry and helps you feel more satisfied after you've eaten. The acetic acid is actually also behind some of the blood sugar benefits as well. Acetic acid is actually found in all vinegars, so you don't have to just drink apple cider vinegar in order to get some of these benefits. The reason that the apple cider vinegar is something that I recommend is because it's one, can add a lot of flavor to meals or even a drink like this, and two, because it is lower in total sugar compared to something like balsamic vinegar that has a lot of sugar that is included in it. The third benefit would be that it is a prebiotic. So prebiotics help to support gut health. And while there's not a lot of evidence behind this, there's not a lot of research to show the specific strains of bacteria or short chain fatty acid levels that are improved from consuming the prebiotic form of apple cider vinegar. There should be gut health benefits to it, given that it is a naturally occurring prebiotic food. And we know that prebiotics help to fuel your probiotics. So those are the top reasons, top three reasons that I do recommend apple cider vinegar in a person's diet. We've worked with people anecdotally that have reported that it also helps with acid reflux. But for other people, it will actually make acid reflux worse. So you need to do what works best for you. The number one thing that I would recommend if you're thinking about adding apple cider vinegar to your diet, is making sure that you're not just taking straight shots of it. You want to add 1 to 2 tablespoons into at least 8 ounces of water so that it's diluted. And for anyone that has issues with tooth enamel, then you'd want to drink it through a straw just to help to protect your tooth enamel. So there are several ways that I add apple cider vinegar to my diet. The first you can see right here, I took soda water from my SodaStream and then added about 1 to 2 tablespoons of Apple cider vinegar into this. And I like that just on its own. Sometimes I'll add like a little splash of pomegranate juice. If I'm trying to do like a mocktail, where I'll do a splash of pomegranate juice with 1 to 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and some soda water, and I think that's delicious. Another way that I'll do it is adding it to dressings. If I'm making my own dressing. Apple cider vinegar is so delicious on salads when mixed with extra virgin olive oil and some Dijon mustard. And then the third way that I like to add it is in cinnamon tea. So I just take a few cinnamon sticks with hot water. You don't want it to be too hot so that you don't actually kill off the prebiotics and the acetic acid that's in the apple cider vinegar. But I'll do some warm water with the cinnamon sticks and then one to two tablespoons of the apple cider vinegar. And that is actually an amazing, just like afternoon elixir that tastes delicious and can also help to support your. Your blood sugar control overall. So it's an easy thing that you can add to your diet using food as medicine with some of these nutritional properties that it contains. Some of the hype on the Internet might make it sound like a magic solution, which it definitely is not. But there are some benefits that I think a lot of people could benefit from in adding it as a regular staple to their diet.
