Suzy Cohen R.Ph.--

Dear Pharmacist,

My neighbor swears by apple cider vinegar and every time I complain about my health, she rants about the vinegar.  I haven’t tried it, but I have to say she looks fairly healthy and never gets sick.  Do you think there’s something to it?  --P.B.,  Lodi, California

Answer:  Vinegar has been used for centuries for many purposes including cleaning, killing weeds and pickling.  Apple cider vinegar (ACV) is sold as both a bottled vinegar, and a dietary supplement in the United States.  It is a popular folk remedy.  I don’t think that ACV cures everything, but I do find some studies intriguing.  I use ACV almost daily in my kitchen.    

Apple cider vinegar is a fermentation product of pulverized apples.  It’s primary active ingredient is “acetic acid” and many holistic practitioners believe that a little acid can relieve symptoms of reflux disease and heartburn.  Sounds strange to you doesn’t it, but the bitter truth is that  symptoms of heartburn and reflux can sometimes be related to insufficient levels of stomach acid (termed hypochlorhydria) not high levels like many of you who take acid blockers assume.  So the acetic acid in ACV sometimes brings relief to people with certain digestive disorders. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t take ACV without your doctor’s approval because it could damage the delicate lining of your digestive tract.  

Here are some other sweet uses for the vinegar: 

Arthritis- ACV is derived from apples which give us “malic acid.” This substance helps fight infections and also relieves pain. Malic acid may ease joint pain, fibromyalgia and gouty arthritis by dissolving uric acid deposits that form around joints.  

Diabetes- This is ACV’s most promising effect.  Several studies have concluded that it may help control blood glucose.  A 2007 study published in Diabetes Care concluded that people with type 2 diabetes experienced about a 5 percent reduction in morning blood glucose levels.   

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Any products mentioned or information within this column is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Suzy Cohen, R. Ph., is a licensed pharmacist with nearly 20 years of clinical experience. The author of The 24-Hour Pharmacist (HarperCollins, July '07) and Drug Muggers; she is "America's Most Trusted Pharmacist," and has helped millions of patients in various clinical settings, such as retail, hospital, nursing home pharmacies, and through her nationally syndicated column, "Dear Pharmacist." A former spokesperson for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, Suzy Cohen is a member of the Institute of Functional Medicine, The Association of Natural Medicine Pharmacists and The American Pharmacists Association. You can subscribe to Suzy's free weekly newsletter or ask her a question at her DearPharmacist website.

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