Loading...
Almost 30 million Americans have diabetes, and another 86 million adults have prediabetes. Elevated blood sugar puts the individual at risk for developing frank diabetes unless something is done to control blood sugar.
Non-Drug Approaches to Control Blood Sugar:
Q. My doctor was so concerned about my rising blood sugar that he had me get a meter and start testing my blood every few days. He thought I’d need diabetes medication.
I decided to try sipping some apple cider vinegar before each meal. It helped bring my blood sugar down so that now it is where it should be when I test it.
I take a full tablespoon in water just before I begin eating. Others might like to know about this, as it can’t hurt and might help.
The BBC’s Demonstration Project:
A. The BBC show, “Trust Me, I’m a Doctor,” did a cute demonstration of the effects of apple cider vinegar. They gave a few healthy people two bagels for breakfast and measured their blood sugar afterwards. On subsequent days, the volunteers drank apple cider vinegar or malt vinegar in water before eating their bagels. Then they tested blood sugar.
Blood sugar was 36 percent lower on the day they had taken apple cider vinegar first. Malt vinegar did not change blood sugar significantly.
Is There Any Science?
This was television, not science. Clinical research has shown, however, that vinegar can lower blood sugar after meals (Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, Aug., 2016). This does seem to work better for healthy individuals than for those with diabetes. Even people with type 2 diabetes have lower post-meal blood sugar when they consume vinegar first (Journal of Diabetes Research, online May 6, 2015). Vinegar encourages muscle to take up glucose, and this may explain its benefit.
We discuss blood sugar control for people with type 2 diabetes in our book, The People’s Pharmacy Quick & Handy Home Remedies. If you are interested in using bitter melon, cinnamon, fenugreek or nopal as well as vinegar, you will find details that can help. Following a diet that has relatively little processed food can also be useful.
Amelia
North Carolina
Making a healthy salad dressing using AC vinegar and olive oil is so simple and delicious that pre-diabetics should try this to control their blood sugar.
Noel
I’ve recently seen commercial marketing claims that at least certain varieties of the White Mulberry Tree (berries and leaves, fresh or dried) contain compounds that can absorb some of the sugars ingested with food in the digestive tract, before absorption into the blood stream.
This would be of interest to anyone with elevated blood sugar, whether or not they have been diagnosed with pre-diabetes, etc. This might provide another “home remedy” alternative if it can be verified.
Sarah
CA
There is a reason your digestive system can no longer handle sugar. Suggest you go to a Functional Medicine practitioner and find out why your blood sugar is going up. You may have a food allergy, infection or the beginnings of a serious illness, which can be nipped in the bud if you know what’s the problem.
Sadly, health insurance pays to manage your symptoms, not to find causes and cure them. It took 6 months to cure my diabetes — I chose to be healthy. Took responsibility for making decisions about my health and paid a little extra for it (but much less than years of co-pays for unnecessary medications).
A side benefit was getting off the cholesterol medication, which was making me depressed and confused. I truly got my life back with this decision.
Billy
Texas
I saw a reference to the use of apple cider vinegar to aid in controlling blood sugar some several years ago. Even though my A1c is in the 5-5.5 range, I thought it was a good idea to be proactive as I aged. I discussed it with my family doctor and his response was, “Why would you want to change your body’s pH by taking an acidic substance like vinegar”? That doesn’t make sense because vinegar is used for many types of food preparation such as salad dressings and flavor enhancement. So is it possible that using vinegar, as your article suggests, would in fact change the pH of one’s body?
Thank you. We look forward to and enjoy the weekly articles.
Cat lover
Portland, OR
I have dropped from the pre-diabetic range to the level just below it recently. Haven’t lost weight yet. Added cinnamon to my morning cereal and a cup of black tea almost daily. That is the only change so far!
Never heard of nopal but will look it up and possibly give it a try also.
Purchased a “drinking vinegar” at the farmer’s market last week and will try to get it ingested…
Kamar
Annapolis, MD
Also, I have recently read that apple cider vinegar (ACV) with the “mother” can be an aid in losing weight. Something along the lines of fermented foods as a probiotic. I have recently began taking 1 TBSP in about 6 oz. of water before meals. I have lost about 3 pounds in a week. (I also exercise 25 minutes a day.) If there is concern about the acidity eroding tooth enamel, the quick fix is to rinse your mouth if you are taking the ACV without food.
J
I have recently started drinking kombucha and have diabetes in the family and have lighter blood sugar issues myself. I have noticed that even though you should not drink alot of kombucha I am drinking more and more of it through out the day and have noticed a quicker or faster metabolism of food after I eat. I also to feel more energetic and not as I would after eating a large italian meal. Kombucha is acidic so, this is interesting, I will be rolling this around in my mind for a while now.
Janice
Mesquite, TX
About taking vinegar before meals. I travel a lot and taking vinegar with me is inconvenient. Are there vinegar capsules I could take instead ?
eb
Fl
Janet, health stores carry an old formula of Kelp, B6 and
cider vinegar. Ages ago it was used for weight loss I think.
Perhaps they also have plain vinegar tablets. If you
ask for oil and vinegar in restaurants, perhaps they have
ACV instead of wine vinegar.
On my last trip I put some vinegar in a small glass bottle
which I put on a wet cotton pad and used as deodorant.
You can take 3oz on a plane.
connie
Arizona
We travel also, apple cider vinegar does not need refrigeration. Suggest some additional reading, since what I’ve found is the ‘vinegar’ pills do not deliver in the same way.