Research has shown that Vinegar reduces the body’s insulin response to a carbohydrate meal and increases satiety
Results of the study show that increasing intake of the common flavouring at mealtimes or consuming it in a drink may help dieters eat less and reduce cravings brought on by sugar peaks after meals. A significant dose-response relationship between the amount of vinegar consumed by 12 healthy subjects and their glucose and insulin responses to white bread was observed.
For the study, volunteers were given three amounts of vinegar (18, 23 and 28 mmol acetic acid) diluted in water in combination with a portion of white wheat bread containing 50g available carbohydrates after an overnight fast. Bread served without vinegar was used as a reference meal.Blood samples taken during the next two hours assessed glucose and insulin levels while satiety was measured with a subjective rating scale. The satiety scores after the highest level of vinegar were rated significantly higher than the reference at 30, 90 and 120 minutes after the meal. Both glucose and insulin responses were about 25 per cent lower at 90 minutes when the volunteers had consumed the highest level of vinegar compared to the reference meal.
Although some vinegar makers in Europe allude to health benefits, in Japan vinegar-based drinks have taken off in recent months, owing to beliefs in their medicinal properties. According to the leading makers of vinegar in Japan , their sales have nearly trippled to 21.46 billion yen between March and August 2004 from 7.57 billion yen in the same period in 2000.
