Vinegar and Health

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Vinegar and Health

Excerpted From

" Vinegar "

by

Lawrence J. Diggs

Vinegar's use as a medicine goes back to ancient times. Due to its

antimicrobial properties, (it kills or retards the growth of

microorganisms), it has been used as an antibiotic for the dressing

of wounds as well as other uses. Throughout those years, vinegar has

been suggested as a cure or ingredient in a cure for most human and

many animal ailments. While many of those claims have withstood the

test of time and scientific scrutiny, some have proved to be

baseless, even ridiculous. One proponent of vinegar as a cure of

yellow fever died of yellow fever.

It is not the intent of this chapter to suggest using vinegar in

place of seeking competent medical advice. However, you will discover

in this chapter that renowned physicians have recommended vinegar for

a wide variety of ailments for many centuries.

In an article titled " Vinegar: Building Block for the Body, " various

scientists reported their findings on vinegars role in human

metabolism. This article pointed out that as a result extensive

scientific study, vinegar was shown to be an extremely valuable

constituent in the body's biochemical operations. The article pointed

out that vinegar is an essential building block in the construction

of many complex substances in the body. This research was carried out

in four different universities.

One study used tagged atoms to trace the path of vinegar through the

tissues and cells, allowing the scientist to discover how the body

uses it. It was found that acetic acid, the principal constituent in

vinegar, played an important role in the release of energy from fats

and carbohydrates. Vinegar also participated in the development of

fats, glucose, amino acids and hemoglobin (the red pigment in the

blood that supplies the body with oxygen). These reports were

delivered in a meeting of the American Chemical Society.

Dr. Konrad F. Block of the department of biochemistry in the College

of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University, said, " Acetic acid

(vinegar) has only recently been recognized to be of primary

importance in the bodys' metabolism. He added, " Normally, part of it

is carried by the blood into the kidney and muscle and undergoes

complete oxidation with the release of energy. Some is retained and

utilized as a source of carbon atoms for the synthesis of a variety

of tissue constituents. "

Dr. F. Lipman of the Biochemical Research Laboratory of Massachusetts

General Hospital reported that " when foreign substances such as drugs

are introduced into the body, acetic acid frequently reacts by trying

to detoxify them. It unites the toxic substances with other molecules

to produce a new compound. The combination of sulfanomides with

acetate forms a compound that is biologically inactive and more

easily excreted. "

In the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Irving L.

Ochs of polis land reported on the use of vinegar to treat

external otitis, a severe form of ear infection. He said that " acetic

acid acts specifically as a bacteriacidal agent against B.

pyocyaneus . It is frequently used as a wet dressing to over come

infections in contaminated surgical wounds, burns, and granulating

osteomeylitic wounds due to this organism. A solution containing 1 to

2 percent acetic acid clears the malodorous green discharge in a few

hours. There is no apparent damage to the tissue with this

treatment. "

He also cited an article by Dr. C. R. Owen133 in which Dr. Owen

demonstrated the bacteriacidal properties of acetic acid against gram-

negative bacteria. Owen found that .1 cc of 10 percent acetic acid in

a media of 15 cc of a beef heart broth will completely inhibit the

growth of gram negative bacilli. However, Streptococci and

Staphylococci will continue to grow. He pointed out that this was the

result of acetic acid and not just acid alone, since hydrochloric

acid and sulphuric acid did not give the same results.

Dr. Ochs devised a technique which was essentially to clean the ear

using hydrogen peroxide to loosen any debris and discharges. After

the ear is cleaned, it is stuffed with cotton and saturated with

household vinegar of 5 percent strength. The patient keeps this ear

plug saturated with vinegar and an aluminum acetate solution. After

48 hours, the patient returns and the wick is removed. If there is

still pain and swelling, the patient continues the treatment for

another 48 hours. If the condition is chronic, it may require a week

or more before the skin returns to normal.

He presented the following case as representative of his findings.

A 40-year-old man had had a discharging ear for five years. He had

been treated with dyes, silver nitrate, sulfanomide drugs, rotegen

rays and physiotherapy without any success. Within hours of the use

of the acetic acid tampon, the discharge stopped completely. The

swelling of the canal was reduced enough to permit adequate cleaning.

The wet dressing and cleaning regimen was continued until there was

an absence of swelling. The patient was told to apply an ointment

that kept his ear dry, smooth, open and relatively free of itching.

Och concluded that this technique using vinegar is an effective,

available and inexpensive way to control external otitus. This

treatment is now standard for this disease when it is caused by

Pseudomonas, Candida, or Aspergillus.

The modern medical profession has found that 5 percent concentrations

of acetic acid is lethal to many microorganisms. Lower concentrations

have also been found to be quite effective in medical treatment. In 1

percent solutions, it is used prophylactically in surgical dressings,

and a .25 percent solution is used in catheterization and irrigation

of the bladder. Vaginal infections caused by Candida and Trichomonas

are treated with douche solutions of 0.25 percent to 1 percent. These

solutions are also used as a spermatocide. Concentrations of 5

percent have been found to be effective in treating extensive burns

when there is a need to suppress the growth of Pseudomonas

aeruginosa. These solutions are sometimes irritating to the vagina

and concentrations of more than 5 percent are sometimes irritating to

the skin.

But the documentation of the effectiveness of vinegar as a medication

goes back as far as Hippocrates, who is often called the father of

modern medicine. He used vinegar in the treatment of a number of

illnesses. Oxymel, a medicine often prescribed, was a combination of

honey and vinegar. He instructed his students that they would find

the drink called oxymel very useful for promoting expectoration and

freedom of breathing. When strongly acid, the oxymel helps to make

coughing productive.

Hippocrates also prescribed oxymel for a chronically constipated

patient who has a fever. It was also recommended in the treatment for

peripneumonia and pleuritic affections.

Oxyglyky is decoction of honeycombs and vinegar. It was recommended

in the treatment of an acute separation of the heel.

Vinegar itself was recommended in the treatment for inflammations and

swellings, ulcers of various types and burns. In one remedy

Hippocrates detailed a vinegar preparation for cleaning ulcerations.

Vinegar compresses were also recommended in the treatment of sores.

Variations of the oxymel formula has found favor among physicians

right up through modern times. In the second century A.D., the great

physician Galen also prescribed the combination of honey and vinegar

for coughs. In 1703, B. Boyles, a fellow of the Royal Society of

London recommended it as a gargle. More recently Dr. D.C. Jarvis also

recommended it his book " Folk Medicines " for a wide variety of

ailments.

Use in Asia

The medicinal use of vinegar is not limited to western medical

practice. Vinegar is called the friend of Chinese herbs because it is

often used to process the herbal preparations. It is added to enhance

the desired effects and inhibit the the undesired effects. It is

thought to possess yin qualities and is used to arrest bleeding,

disperse blood coagulation and counteract toxic effects, as well as a

variety of other herbal cures.

Modern Chinese medicine also uses vinegar. The Hu Bei Yeecang

People's Hospital treated 51 cases of jaundice hepatitis with 10 ml.

of rice vinegar and two vitamin B-l tablets. All of the patients

recovered in four days and regained their appetites.

The Research Institute of Epidemic Diseases at the Chinese academy of

Medical Science conducted an experiment on the use of vinegar to

treat respiratory infections. They cultured 200 colonies of

microorganisms known to cause such diseases as pneumonia, influenza

and catarrh. Most of those bacteria were killed within 30 minutes in

an atmosphere of vaporized vinegar. This experiment may explain why

the workers in the vinegar division were the only ones spared when an

epidemic of influenza struck a food plant in China. Another report

from a Chinese food processing plant claims that an average of 8

percent of their workers suffer respiratory infections per year while

only 1 percent of those who work in the vinegar section suffer such

illnesses. And the report say's that the workers in the vinegar

section suffer less when they are stricken.

There are also reports that Japan and India make medicinal use of

vinegar.

And there is more health information on vinegar!