It’s only a matter of time before this title hits the shelves. Vinegar for weight loss. Who knew it could be that easy? While it probably won't gain miracle status, it's looking like vinegar is another handy tool to hang in your weight loss belt.
With evidence of its use in Egypt around 3000 B.C., vinegar might just be the oldest condiment known to man, but it also has an extensive history of use in medicine. The famous Greek physician Hippocrates prescribed vinegar for wounds and it has long been a staple of folk remedies for just about every ailment we can think of. But does it stand the test of science?
Recent evidence suggests that it may.
In 2004, vinegar was shown to improve insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetics fed high carbohydrate meals. In 2006, a couple of studies investigated the ability of vinegar to lower blood sugar and cholesterol, and in 2007 it was shown that ingestion of vinegar at bedtime helps to control morning blood sugar levels.
Now researchers in Japan have reported that vinegar can help prevent accumulation of body fat and weight gain. The study will be published in the 08 July issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. This study demonstrated that mice fed a high-fat diet along with vinegar had a significantly lower body fat than those without and posits that the mechanism is trough activation of genes that control the body’s ability to burn fat for energy.
Between improved insulin response, lower cholesterol, improved blood sugar, and increased fat burn it would seem that good old-fashioned vinegar is in the running for the best weight loss supplement yet. . . and it’s cheap! Perhaps Americans could take a lesson from the Brits and start dousing their fries in malt vinegar rather than corn syrup poorly disguised as tomatoes.
