Apple Cider Vinegar is Not Always the Wonder Cure People Say it Is

Apple Cider Vinegar is touted in many places as an amazing health cure-all. It’s named as a high-cholesterol reducer, it’s supposed to be great for your skin, it cleans out your body, it’s anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial and it stops colds dead. So, having been feeling run down for a few months I thought I’d try it. Couldn’t hurt right? Well, think again.

I’m definitely the type of person who tries alternative therapies, so from what I’m about to say, don’t presume I’m against alternative therapies. I’m not. I’ve had great results with Panthothenic Acid for Acne and turmeric for curing migraines. My experience with Apple Cider Vinegar however was not one of these great experiences.

I started out by buying the non-pasteurized, organic Apple Cider Vinegar that all supporters recommend. At $4 a bottle, it’s pretty expensive, especially as each bottle will only be enough for about 4 days. That’s $30 a month, as expensive as some medications. But, I took it home and started on the regime I had read about on several internet websites.

I began with two tablespoons of vinegar, mixed with water and some bicarbonate of soda. The bicarbonate of soda helps neutralize the acid and makes it less likely to destroy the enamel on your teeth, a common complaint of people who have drunk vinegar for years. I drank this mixture twice a day as suggested.

After three days of drinking the mixture, I noticed my skin was starting to break out. Now, as I’ve never had a breakout in more than seven years, I thought this was odd. I also noticed my stomach was becoming bloated and feeling very tender. Most importantly, I hadn’t had a bowel movement in almost three days. As I’m normally a very regular person and have not had one day in my entire life where I was constipated, the only cause of this had to be the Apple Cider Vinegar.

On day four, my skin was decidedly worse than it had been in seven years and my constipation was now so bad I was forced to go out and buy a laxative. I was also starting to feel nauseous. At this point, I reduced the Apple Cider Vinegar I was taking to only 1 tablespoon twice a day. I noticed absolutely no difference on how I felt except that my constipation was not as bad.

On day six, still feeling heavy, bloated and constipated and still taking the laxative, I stopped taking the vinegar completely. Two days later, my bathroom habits were completely back to normal. I felt lighter, less nauseous, my stomach wasn’t bloated and my skin was starting to clear up. From just my one week of consuming the drink, it became obvious to me that Apple Cider Vinegar isn’t for everybody. For me, it created problems I didn’t have before but didn’t improve any of the minor problems I had had.

I haven’t drunk Apple Cider Vinegar since, and I doubt I ever will. It is however great as a detergent for cleaning things. My coffee maker and tile floors have never looked cleaner.