You may have been hearing the buzz about apple cider vinegar. What was once just a baking aid has been recently discovered by the masses and us at Konscious Keto, as a useful tool in improving health!
Apple cider vinegar has proven to be very helpful in the keto diet as well as in intermittent fasting. In this Konscious Keto guide, we’ll break down the benefits of apple cider vinegar.
Also included in this guide is a simple recipe you can make with apple cider vinegar so you can start reaping the benefits of this “liquid gold”.
What is Apple Cider Vinegar?
Apple cider vinegar (ACV) is a vinegar made from apples, sugar, and yeast.
Typically the briny, sour, and slightly sweet liquid has been used in baking and cooking for flavor and acidity, but its health benefits have been taking the diet world by storm.
There have been many studies conducted to uncover all the benefits of drinking apple cider vinegar on a keto diet.
Many are beginning to believe that the acetic acid in ACV can help keep blood sugar low in patients with type 2 diabetes, suppress appetite, and make someone feel overall better and healthier.
Kourtney Kardashian Drinks ACV
It's possible apple cider vinegar has gotten even more recognition after Kourtney Kardashian revealed her use of the diet aid.
Every morning, Kourtney Kardashian mixes organic ACV with water as a quick drink in the morning. She drinks apple cider vinegar with her dinner as well. In fact, Kourtney credits her keto diet and apple cider vinegar for making her feel and look so healthy in 2018.
Apple cider vinegar is a great tool for suppressing hunger and controlling appetite while intermittent fasting on the keto diet. It helped Kourtney Kardashian curb her sugar cravings too!
Apple Cider Vinegar on a Keto Diet
So, how exactly can drinking apple cider vinegar on the keto diet help you lose weight? And how does including it in your diet actually improve the effects of a ketogenic diet?
Of course, there are no miracle foods out there; but, the science behind apple cider vinegar proves that it aids your body in maintaining ketosis.
Including apple cider vinegar in your diet doesn’t have to be difficult either, since the ingredient was already made for adding to foods!
At the end of this guide is a quick and easy apple cider vinegar drink recipe you can enjoy multiple times a day.
Another way you can include ACV in your keto diet is by adding a tablespoon to your salad dressings, your sauces, smoothies, or soups!
Does ACV Burn Fat?
There are studies that prove apple cider vinegar can aid in weight loss. While apple cider vinegar is not the direct cause in burning fat, it can maintain your satiety.
This allows you to burn the fat on your body without replacing it with more food you consume.
Taking apple cider vinegar on a daily basis can increase a person’s fullness and cut down their daily calorie intake by over 200 calories.
Granted, 200 calories is not a large amount, so a consistent keto diet and regular physical activity still play an important role in fat loss.
Does ACV Regulate Insulin?
Perhaps the most successful studies in finding the benefits of apple cider vinegar are those with type 2 diabetes patients. This type of diabetes means a person’s body has become resistant to insulin (what controls our blood sugar) or is unable to produce it.
Consuming ACV with a high-carb meal can increase the sensitivity to insulin, making the body less resistant towards it. The acetic acid in ACV also seems to suppress blood sugar as well.
Even if you don’t have type 2 diabetes, and you’re just looking to keep your blood glucose low, drinking apple cider vinegar on a daily basis can really help.
Does ACV Break a Fast?
Apple cider vinegar on its own can break a fast. Don’t let this scare you away though! The benefits of apple cider vinegar outweigh the possibility of breaking your intermittent fast.
Plus, there are ways to combine ACV with other ingredients so this break doesn’t happen.
While you’re on a fast, your body will be depleted of nutrients and minerals (since you’re not consuming any), so by combining apple cider vinegar with a few other high-mineral ingredients, you can keep your body working efficiently without breaking a fast.
Apple Cider Vinegar When Fasting
Aside from the marvelous health benefits of drinking apple cider vinegar that were mentioned before, there is another great benefit of ACV that crosses the board: the acetic acid helps your body absorb other important minerals while killing off bad bacteria.
This one role that acetic acid plays can lead to numerous other beneficial functions your body can perform.
As you fast, your body is learning to rely on ketones for energy, as well as your body’s stores of important minerals like sodium and potassium.
Drinking ACV will make your body more sensitive to these minerals, so you will be less likely to experience any negative side effects as these stores get depleted.
Reasons to Drink ACV on a Fast
While drinking apple cider vinegar on a keto diet and a fast can help reduce blood sugar, burn fat, and suppress appetite, it helps in a lot more intricate ways as well!
Apple cider vinegar:
- Increases the body’s absorption of minerals
- Curbs cravings by maintaining blood sugar
- Helps maintain blood sugar after ending your fast
- Increases the beneficial effects of the food you eat after your fast
You really can’t go wrong with drinking apple cider vinegar. Below is a simple drink recipe with a breakdown of all the beneficial ingredients!
ACV Keto Fasting Recipe
Here is a simple drink you can make once or twice a day to aid you with your intermittent fasting:
- 10-12 oz water
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- ¼ tsp cream of tartar
- ½ tsp pink Himalayan salt
- Juice of one whole lime
Directions: Stir the ingredients together and enjoy!
Cream of tartar is high in potassium (a single teaspoon has almost 500mg) and it does not affect your body’s insulin response.
When fasting, your body will deplete your potassium stores quickly, making you feel fatigued, tired, or weak. Cream of tartar can restore your potassium without breaking your fast!
Pink Himalayan salt is high in sodium, and it’s needed to keep your body in balance with potassium and magnesium.
It’s very easy to become deficient in sodium on any diet! Supplementing your sodium level will decrease your chance of bloating after you return to regular eating, at the end of the fast.
Having potassium and sodium together is important for maintaining energy levels without the use of caffeine. The balance between these two minerals is crucial for regulating your body’s energy production.
Although lime juice is known to trigger an insulin response, it’s too minor in intermittent fasting to truly have any negative side effects. Limes also have a high number of limonoids.
Limonoids are believed to increase the body’s glutathione, which gives us the ability to naturally detox of free radicals.
Summary
It just goes to show that natural ingredients, like apple cider vinegar, have a lot of beneficial side effects for your health.
Numerous studies have proven the overall health improvements in patients looking to lose weight, control their blood sugar, and feel better all-around.
Including apple cider vinegar in your intermittent fasting can be very easy. Simply drink it in the morning or evening!
With all this information, it almost begs the question, “what is a keto diet without apple cider vinegar?”
Keto Resources
A, W. (2019). Insulin resistance and management of the menopause: a clinical hypothesis in practice. - PubMed - NCBI. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21427422Östman, E., Granfeldt, Y., Persson, L., & Björck, I. (2005). Vinegar supplementation lowers glucose and insulin responses and increases satiety after a bread meal in healthy subjects. Retrieved from https://www.nature.com/articles/1602197
Yagnik D, Serafin V, J Shah A. Antimicrobial activity of apple cider vinegar against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans; downregulating cytokine and microbial protein expression. Sci Rep. 2018;8(1):1732. Published 2018 Jan 29. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-18618-x
