Tucked away in your kitchen cupboard is probably a bottle of apple cider vinegar that you use once in a blue moon, though you could be using it a lot more. It is made by first pressing apples and using the liquid, then adding yeast and bacteria. After two fermentation processes it is made into vinegar with another type of bacteria.
Apple cider vinegar contains:
Vitamins B1, B2, and B6
Vitamin C
Biotin
Folic acid
Niacin
Pantothenic acid
Acetic acid
Citric acid
Sodium
Phosphorous
Potassium
Calcium
Iron
Magnesium
Raw Apple Cider Vinegar Versus Distilled Vinegar
With its unique make up, apple cider vinegar can be used for a lot of things. Natural, raw vinegar is slightly cloudy. To remove the “cobweb-like” particles vinegar can be distilled. You may want to use distilled for some uses below. If the apple cider vinegar is for health benefits, consider using raw apple cider vinegar because distilling removes nutrients.
Bragg’s, a producer of raw apple cider vinegar explains in ACV Has Powerful Health Qualities:
In distilling, the vinegar is turned to steam by heating, thus destroying the powerful enzymes and evaporating the life-giving minerals such as potassium, phosphorus, natural organic fluorine, silicon, trace minerals and pectin as well as many other powerful nutrients! Distilling also destroys the natural malic and tartaric acids which are important in fighting body toxins and inhibiting unfriendly bacteria.
Here are 20 household uses for apple cider vinegar:
1. Lower your blood sugar.
When you eat 2 teaspoons of vinegar with a meal, it decreases your after meal blood sugar spike. Check out the video explanation at Nutrition Facts: Is Vinegar Good For You.
In a study, researchers found that the acetic acid in vinegar keep away some carb digesting enzymes so that some pass through without being digested, therefore keeping those sugars out of your blood.
2. Trap fruit flies.
It doesn’t take long for fruit flies to multiply; stop them in their tracks with some apple cider vinegar. See the info here: Make a Vinegar Trap to Get Rid of Fruit Flies.
Grab a cup, fill it ¼ of the way with vinegar, and then add a few drops of dish soap. Place some plastic wrap over the top and secure with a rubber band. Poke a few holes in the top. The flies will love the fermented smell.
3. Relieve poison ivy itch.
If you’ve been in contact with poison ivy, you likely have lots of itching, blistering, and pain. Just dab apple cider vinegar directly to the affected area, or a cold compress with the vinegar on it; it will suck the poison right out of your skin. Read more here: Natural Remedies for Poison Ivy.
4. Reduce nighttime leg cramps.
Many things cause muscle cramps, from overuse to inactivity to lack of certain minerals like potassium. Since apple cider vinegar is high in potassium it can help.
Any way you can drink two teaspoons of it works; mix with honey and water if you can’t stand the taste. Read more on about Natural Remedies for Leg Cramps.
5. Relieve stomach pain.
Depending on what is the root cause of your stomach pain, apple cider vinegar may relieve the pain. Just drink a tablespoon to calm your belly, help digestion, or detox. Read more at Home Remedies for Stomach Aches & Abdominal Pain.
6. Clear your sinuses.
Mix a half cup of apple cider vinegar with a half cup of water, heat on the stove, and inhale the steam, as instructed here: Natural Sinus Infection Treatment. The pungency will make you breathe better.
But ingesting a few teaspoons can also help heal a sinus infection from the inside out; repeat for a few days for it to clear up.
7. Cure hiccups.
Some aren’t sure why, but drinking a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar cures hiccups. Perhaps it’s the pungent smell, taste, or totally disruptive nature of it. Either way, it’s worth a try.
Check out more on Reader’s Digest: Health Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar. There’s even been a hiccup lollipop created with apple cider vinegar as an ingredient.
8. Get rid of bad breath.
There are many causes for bad breath, including strong smelling food or even bacteria. Reverse it with a swig of apple cider vinegar (dilute a teaspoon or less in a cup of water). It will neutralize the odor or bacteria in no time. You can read more at here: The Amazing Apple Cider Vinegar.
9. Whiten teeth.
Forget other teeth whiteners out there with all sorts of harsh ingredients in them. Dilute some apple cider vinegar in water and swish. Keep at it regularly until your teeth are pearly. Read more here: Surprising Ways to Whiten Teeth.
10. Fade bruises.
Did you know that vinegar will increase blood flow? So simply apply it right on the bruise and blood flow will increase, helping the bruise dissipate easier. Apply with warm compress for added benefit. Read more here: How to Get Rid of Bruises.
11. Get rid of dandruff.
Depending on what is causing your dandruff, which is likely yeast growth or an off pH on your scalp skin, use apple cider vinegar to balance it out again.
According to Dr. Oz’s Apple Cider Vinegar for Dandruff, just mix half vinegar and half water into a spray bottle. Spray onto scalp and hair, then wrap your head in a towel to let it soak in for a 15 minutes to an hour. Keep at it a few times a week.
12. Erase warts.
Removing warts can be an expensive procedure; why not try something natural at home? According to Natural Remedy Ideas, while apple cider vinegar doesn’t kill the virus that causes warts, it does peel the wart skin from healthy skin, bringing a portion of the virus with it.
Check out the step by step process on the website: How to Remove Warts Using Apple Cider Vinegar. Basically you’ll be dabbing a lot of it on over a period of time. So be patient!
13. Help your garden thrive.
What’s great about it is that it’s all natural! First, apple cider vinegar can be used as a fertilizer for acid loving flowers such as gardenias and azaleas, and acid loving blueberry bushes. Make sure you dilute it according to directions on the website.
Second, it can be used as a weed killer. It’s best if used on a sunny day and only on plants you want to kill. Check out this article for more info: Weeds in Paths? Use Vinegar, Not Roundup.
14. All-natural cleaner.
Use it for anything from washing windows (streak free!), to degreasing the kitchen, to de-mildewing your bathroom. For some jobs, use straight apple cider vinegar; other jobs dilute with water or add another ingredient. Check out One Green Planet for an awesome list of apple cider natural cleaner uses.
15. Preserving food.
To make foods last longer, you can “pickle” or ferment them in vinegar. Apple cider vinegar not only helps some food last longer, but it adds interesting flavor and also health benefits.
One idea is to preserve garlic with apple cider vinegar. It’s a pretty easy process and makes garlic more palatable in its raw form. Here’s how:
Preservation And Pickling Of Garlic In Apple Cider Vinegar.
16. Weight loss.
There are many ways apple cider vinegar aides in this regard—it helps control sugar cravings, helps you digest better, and increases fat burn.
Of course, as with anything use it sparingly and add it to a healthy eating and exercise plan. Check out Prevention’s article for more info: How To Drink Apple Cider Vinegar For Weight Loss.
Try mixing Green Tea with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. It is known to boost your metabolism.
17. Disinfect wounds.
It’s important to clean wounds so they can heal properly. Apple cider vinegar makes an easy and all-natural cleanser, even on jellyfish stings. But be careful and don’t use it for every wound out there. Check out Health Tap for more info about what to use it in: Cleaning Vinegar with wounds.
18. Detox!
Sometimes you just need to clear out your system. Apple cider vinegar does that by breaking down extra stuff in the body, like mucous, cleansing your organs in the process. It grabs toxins and takes them out of the body and then leaves behind nutrients. Ready more at: Apple Cider Vinegar: Detoxify Your Body & Cleanse Your Skin, Naturally.
Apple Cider Vinegar Detox Drink Recipes:
Here are three detox drink recipes we like:
Secret Detox Drink
An apple cider detox recipe with water, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, ginger, cinnamon, cayenne pepper and honey.
Ginger Detox Apple Cider Vinegar
Contains lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, ginger juice, maple syrup and cinnamon.
Bragg’s Organic Honey Vinegar Cleanse Concentrate
Already mixed concentrate with Apple cider vinegar, honey, water, cayenne pepper and lemon juice. You just mix 4 tablespoons with 1 cup of water.
19. Relieve sunburn.
If you’ve spent a little too much time in the sun, run a bath and drop some apple cider vinegar into it. You’ll feel relief in no time!
20. Curb jalapeno burn.
If you forgot to wear gloves when working with jalapeno peppers, your skin is probably tingling and maybe even burning. Relieve the burn with some apple cider vinegar. It has antibiotic and antiseptic properties, and it can also help keep the area cool. Check it out: Treatments for Jalapeno Pepper Burns.
Often it’s not the hands that burn, but what you touch. My face was burning after cutting jalapenos. After holding a paper towel with apple cider vinegar on it, the burn immediately stopped. I wish I knew this years ago!
21. Hot Spots on Dogs
Apple cider vinegar can cleanse and calm hot spots on dogs. Read more of other uses of apple cider vinegar for dogs here: Apple Cider Vinegar: A Holistic Remedy for Dogs.
Excelent is very useful in so many ways.
There is no “poison” in poison ivy. It is people’s allergic reaction to urushiol oil found in the plant. If cider vinegar helps relieve the itch, that’s great! Another great itch reliever for poison ivy is applying a topical solution of boiled sweet fern leaves.
When added to brown sugar and root ginger root and heated, it relieves the stinging of a hives outbreak and reduces the discomfort faster than most steriod ointments.