Making Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar

Why bother making your own homemade cider vinegar?

As some may know, I love making my own red wine vinegar, kombucha, water kefir, sourdough starter, and other live-culture items. I often add cider vinegar to a liter of water to enjoy all the health benefits apple cider vinegar brings to us.

Apple cider vinegar has many known beneficial effects on our health. It’s been used for eons as a home remedy for all kinds of ailments. Some of the confirmed beneficial effects of apple cider vinegar include:
– slight weight loss over time: drinking 2 tablespoons of cider diluted in water one or two times a day can lead to the loss of a couple pounds over a month or two. Although not drastic, this weight loss will continue gradually over time, while bringing other benefits to your health.
– help with blood sugar and with diabetes: drinking 2 tablespoons of cider diluted in water about half hour before a meal will help block digestion of some of the starch in the meal. This is particularly helpful before a starchy meal. Of course, drinking apple cider vinegar in water is not a cure or exclusive treatment for diabetes, yet it can supplement other steps you are taking.
– aids digestion: the starches you do not digest will feed the good bacteria in your stomach and will encourage the development of probiotics and other beneficial bacteria in your gut. Drinking unfiltered apple cider vinegar is particularly helpful for the development of beneficial bacteria.

I always try to use unfiltered and unpasteurized organic apple cider vinegar when I’m drinking it. If you do not make your own apple cider vinegar try to buy the unfiltered and unpasteurized organic apple cider vinegar at a health food store as the stuff floating around the bottom of the bottle is full of natural probiotics and excellent for your digestive health.

Make sure that you always dilute apple cider vinegar in water if you are drinking it because drinking it pure can hurt the enamel of your teeth. Diluted apple cider vinegar will not hurt the enamel of your teeth, except if you brush your teeth within a half hour after drinking apple cider. This 30-minute rule however is also true about brushing your teeth after eating or drinking anything.

Apple cider vinegar is often used for cleaning around the house. It’s a cheap way to remove tartar from sinks and other household appliances. I often put some apple cider vinegar in a pot of boiling water to throw in my toilet bowl to remove stains. I leave it about 10 minutes before brushing the toilet. It works wonders around the house! For household use it’s not important that the apple cider vinegar be unfiltered, unpasteurized or organic. Don’t waste this good product on such tasks. Sharing the homemade apple cider vinegar with friends would be a much better use for such a gem of a product.

This recipe for apple cider vinegar available at Nourishing Joy appears to be quite easy to make. By making your own, you will create a “mother” vinegar that you can share with your friends so they can make their own apple cider vinegar without having to go through the first fermentation process.

I hope that this post and recipe will inspire you to make your own homemade apple cider vinegar and to integrate it into your daily life, both in your food and in your household.