Diabetics Taking Vinegar?

When I was first diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 12 years ago, my physician said “we’ll fix the fasting glucose, and after that it’ll be easy”. And he did, and it was. I started taking an oral antidiabetic drug, instituted a regular exercise program, and tried to eat less. My fasting blood glucose normalized, and I’ve merely had to add an additional oral medication to keep a reasonable daily glucose profile ever since.  I was therefore interested in reading an article in Diabetes Care describing the benefits of a dose of vinegar taken at bedtime on the fasting flood sugar level.

Eleven patients not taking insulin took either 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar or water with 1 oz cheese at bedtime for 2 days. Three to 5 days later they took the alternative evening ‘snack’ in a cross-over study.

Before the study, the average fasting blood glucose level was 137 mg/dL. It fell by 2% (2.7 mg/dL) with the placebo (cheese) and by 4% (4.7 mg/dL) with the vinegar. This was a statistically-significant difference. In those subjects with a baseline fasting glucose level above 130 mg/dL the vinegar-associated reduction was 6%, whereas it was 0.7% in those with baseline levels below 130 mg/dL.

As the researchers say: “Vinegar is widely available, it is affordable, and it is appealing as a remedy, but much more work is required to determine whether [it] is a useful adjunct therapy for individuals with diabetes”. I should say so!