If you follow natural beauty routines, diets, and/or medicinal remedies, then you likely already have a bottle of apple cider vinegar in your home. Wellness insiders have been swearing by its health and beauty benefits for centuries, but there’s a new vinegar player in town that may be just as beneficial and a lot more appetizing. Meet coconut vinegar.
What is coconut vinegar?
While it’s not as recognizable in North America, coconut vinegar has actually been quite popular in Asia and India cuisine for some time. Many use it as an acidic condiment, such as a salad dressing, marinade, or dipping sauce.
Coconut vinegar is made from a coconut flower’s sap. It naturally ferments and turns into vinegar within eight months to a year. Its appearance is a milky white after fermentation, and it has a milder, sweeter taste than apple cider vinegar.
What are the benefits of coconut vinegar?
• Probiotic
Like it’s apple cider vinegar cousin, coconut vinegar is a natural source of probiotics. These probiotics are healthful in a number of ways, particularly when it comes to gut health. The probiotics increase the number of good gut bacteria as it lowers the amount of bad gut bacteria that can make you sick.
• Polyphenols And Nutrients
Coconut vinegar contains B vitamins, vitamin C, potassium, choline, potassium, iron, copper, boron, zinc, magnesium, manganese, and phosphorus. Such micronutrients are considered antioxidants, which help fight off and prevent free radical damage. There may also be some heart health benefits since potassium-rich foodstuffs are known to lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.
• Blood Sugar
Since it contains acetic acid, coconut vinegar may help prevent blood sugar spikes following meals of carbs and sugars, lower a diabetic’s daily blood sugars, and improve insulin sensitivity.
• Weight Loss
The anti-inflammatory properties of coconut vinegar may help fight obesity and stave off hunger. It basically makes you feel satiated longer, and some studies have shown that the acid can turn off fat-storage cells and turn on fat-burning cells.
• Topical Antiseptic
Applied directly to the skin. coconut vinegar has antibacterial and anti-microbial properties that make it a great asset in your beauty treatments. Research is limited, however, and it’s not an approved treatment for conditions like sunburn or acne
Don’t throw out your apple cider vinegar just yet
While the studies and purported benefits are hopeful, the research on coconut vinegar is still young and sparse in comparison to apple cider vinegar. For now, it’s best for both kinds of vinegar to sit as friends in your pantry and medicine cabinet. Of course, you’ll also want to consult your healthcare provider before adding any natural remedy to your health plan.
How to use coconut vinegar
Begin by ensuring that the source of coconut vinegar is created from unadulterated sap, not water. Coconut water has been diluted of much of its amino acids, vitamins and minerals, and enzymes.
For oral use, you can buy premixed coconut vinegar beverages or add up to a couple of tablespoons to your own beverages daily. It makes a great dipping sauce when added to fresh avocado, or you can mix it with a little honey, coconut oil, and mustard for a fantastic salad dressing
As with any acidic, you’ll want to practice great oral care to previewing tooth decay while using coconut vinegar.
In closing, with coconut oil and coconut water being all the rage in many diets today, it’s not shocking that coconut vinegar is just the next piece of the health and beauty pie. It’s making waves in the research community, but the jury is still out on whether it should replace its less appetizing apple cider vinegar cousin.
