4 Interesting Ways to Use Apple Cider Vinegar for your Health and Beauty

Happy Sunday Steemians!

I thought I'd take a break from sharing food photos to discuss one of my favourite ingredients instead - apple cider vinegar! I have always had some apple cider vinegar stocked in the pantry after being introduced to it at a Raw Vegan detox in Thailand but I mainly used it just for my salad dressings for a tangy kick. I honestly didn’t think much about the health benefits of it until I realised @cjsound was using it as a face wash/toner. I started to do more research and discovered that it was more than just something to be thrown into my salads, it had so many different uses to increase your health and to help your everyday life. Bragg’s Apple Cider book contains heaps of different ways you can use ACV for yourself and within your household but I will list the 4 things that we use it for specifically in my household.

Food

Probably one of the more common ways of using this product as I mentioned above and the easiest way to incorporate some probiotics into your diet. I normally mix this in with my homemade salad dressing by mixing a bit of balsamic vinegar, ACV, maple, lemon, olive oil and pepper to taste. I also use it to make my homemade vegan mayo, aioli, hollandaise and my cheeses.I also recently learnt that you can use it to sour plant based milk to make recipes that include buttermilk!

Drink

ACV helps with clearing the throat and relieves cold symptoms which is why you will often find people drinking it while they’re sick. Simply put 1 tbs ACV with a sweetener of choice (maple syrup/date syrup/honey if you're not vegan) and mix it in with hot water. You can also drink it daily to look after your gut health as it contains plenty of probiotics due to it’s fermentation process. I kick this up a notch with what I call my health elixir by adding in 1 tsp butterfly pea powder, 1/2 tsp ashwaganda and 1/2 tsp pearl collagen powder. It gives you an energy boost so you can also drink this when you’re feeling a little run down.

Hair

I was shocked at the results of using ACV as a conditioner. The book says that you can replace your conditioner with a filtered mix of ACV and water but I use it alongside my conditioner and have had great results. All I do is mix 1 parts ACV with 4 parts water in a bottle. After conditioning my hair, I rinse my hair with the ACV mixture and let it sit for about 5 minutes (watch your eyes). I then rinse it out with water and my hair is left feeling as soft as baby hair.

Face

ACV makes for an amazing face wash, make up remover and toner! It is especially great for those with acne prone skin because it fights bacteria, balances the acidity on your skin and removes excess oil. You can start off filtering it down with water and working your way up to pure ACV as it is quite potent and leaves a stinging sensation if you don’t. I tend to use it when I see a breakout occurring and it controls the inflammation straight away.

There are plenty of other uses out there but those are my most commonly used ones. If you're interested in more you can check out Dr Axe's article here or you can grab one of Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar books. I hope you found this interesting and as useful as I did discovering them!

xx Ana