by Brigitte Mars
 
With many people lacking health and its insurance we can remember ancient folk wisdom that served our ancestors! Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, used apple cider vinegar as an internal cleansing agent. Before refrigerators, vinegar was used as a food preservative.
 
The word vinegar is from the French, vin aigre or “sour wine.” Apple cider vinegar prepared by the fermentation of apple cider and allowed to mature naturally in wooden barrels. During fermentation, sugar present in apple cider, is broken down by bacteria, and yeast breaks down alcohol to form vinegar. If vinegar appeals to you, make sure it is raw, and unpasteurized. Commercially distilled vinegars lack enzymes and minerals destroyed during the distillation. Apple cider vinegar is a powerful antibacterial agent. The alkalinity of apple cider vinegar can correct excess acidity in the system and help prevent infection. It also provides a plethora of anti-inflammatory enzymes and minerals such as potassium.
 
Apple cider vinegar can be mixed with sea salt and gently applied to a sprained area. Ringworm, nail fungus, bunions, corns, calluses, warts, shingles, boil, ant, black fly, mosquito bites, wasp, bee stings and even poison ivy all benefit from applications of apple cider vinegar. (Making a paste with equal parts baking soda and apple cider vinegar is used just as often.)
 
For a bloody nose, apply a compress of two teaspoons apple cider vinegar one a cup of cool water to the base of the neck and to the top of the nose to help constrict blood vessels.
 
Lice and bed bugs are repelled by apple cider vinegar and when combined with essential oils of tea tree, rosemary, lavender, and peppermint are made into a spay for the hair and bedding.
 
Many digestive ailments are improved by apple cider vinegar. Vinegar increases the metabolic rate promoting weight loss, corrects constipation and improves digestion.
 
Heartburn: Add one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to a cup of warm water and sip slowly for heartburn.
 
Indigestion, nausea and motion sickness improve with drinking two teaspoons each of apple cider vinegar and raw honey in a glass of warm water daily for its pH balancing effect.
 
Food Poisoning: Mix a tablespoon each of apple cider vinegar and raw honey in warm water and sip to deter the replication of unfriendly microorganisms, and replenish the body with depleted minerals.
 
The traditional remedy of teaspoons each of apple cider vinegar and honey helps in curbing allergies, arthritis and mastitis in humans and animals.
 
Bladder Infection: Using one half teaspoon each of apple cider vinegar raw honey in a glass of warm water helps to acidify the urine and prevent bacterial growth, which in some cases can contribute to incontinence.
 
Drink two teaspoons each of apple cider vinegar and honey in a cup of hot water three times daily to break up mucus congestion and cough. Have a glass by the bed and take a couple of swallows if you wake up coughing.
 
Bleeding hemorrhoids and hypertension will improve if you take two teaspoonfuls of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water at every meal.
 
The acids in apple cider vinegar can help dissolve kidney stones. Drink 2 teaspoons daily in a cup of hot water. Frequent gargling with two tablespoons apple cider vinegar in water brings relief and inhibits bacteria and viruses causing sore throats.
 
Vinegar helps draw pollutants out of the body and balances the skin’s pH.
 
After cleansing the face, apply a cotton ball soaked in equal parts apple cider vinegar and water to restore the skin’s proper pH and prevent and treat acne.
 
Include it in a rinse for an antifungal anti dandruff scalp treatment.
 
Use one cup in the bathtub to relieve sore muscles, itchy skin, candida, poison ivy, and sunburn. To ease the discomfort of shingles and varicose veins apply apple cider vinegar directly to the affected area three to four times daily.
 
If you launder your own cloth diapers, add 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar to the final rinse water. This will make them softer for your baby’s skin and prevent diaper rash.
 
Drink a teaspoon of raw apple cider vinegar in water three times daily before each meal to improve memory and increases the stamina.
 
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Brigitte Mars is an herbalist and nutritional consultant with over forty years experience. She is the author of Beauty by Nature, Rawsome!, The Sexual Herbal, Addiction Free Naturally, Healing Herbal Teas, The Desktop Guide to Herbal Medicine, and co-author of The Country Almanac of Home Remedies, and The Hemp Nut Health and Cookbook. Brigitte has had a radio show on KGNU called Naturally for over twenty years. She is a professional member of The American Herbalist Guild. Ms. Mars teaches at Naropa University, Boulder College of Massage, Omega Institute, Kripalu, and Bauman College of Holistic Nutrition and Culinary Arts. Brigitte is a blogger for The Huffington Post and Care2. www.brigittemars.com, 303 442-4967, brigitte@indra.com