When I posted about making fruit scrap vinegar, there were questions about how we use it.
My love of unfiltered vinegar “with the mother” started when we got chickens about 5 years ago. Someone suggested adding a little vinegar “with the mother” to their water to keep them healthy. I had never heard of “mother” when talking about vinegar so I began doing research and learned about Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar. We were able to find it at Whole Foods back then but now, Wal-Mart and our local Kroger both have it.
Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar
Supposedly, raw, unfiltered fruit vinegars have health benefits. If you aren’t familiar with those stated benefits, please read through some of the Bragg website. Someone recommended a drink which consists of about 2 tablespoons cider vinegar, a bit of honey and water as a healthy drink to have three times a day. The first couple of times we made it, I had a hard time getting it down but then I looked forward to it and I often drink this now with my meals instead of a Dr. Pepper. If I go a few days without drinking it, I begin to crave it. I’m not sure about any health benefits but I’m going to trust that it’s better than drinking Dr. Pepper.
I start with a little honey, add some warm water to dissolve the honey, then I’ll add a little mint, the cider, some ice and fill the glass with water.
Cider Drink
We also use fruit vinegar to add to olive oil and a few spices to make our own salad dressings but most of the vinegar we use is simply for the drinks shown above.
One thing you should never use homemade vinegars for is canning and pickling. The acidity of the homemade vinegars may not be right for pickling and canning but the homemade vinegars are great for drinks and salad dressing!
Lee says
I too have heard of the health benefits of drinking a little vinegar (in water). One of the things I’d heard/read, was in “olden days” farmer’s would add vinegar to their water when working in the fields to help prevent dehydration.
Carolyn says
Many Yrs ago (about 30LOL) an older neighboor woamn suggested that to me for a persistant yeast infection. Of course I only had access to heinz… it was helpful, but not a lot. Probably that brand would have been a better choice.
It wasn’t that bad of a taste either.
Carole says
Many years ago (we’re probably talking the 1970s) my mother worked with a lady from Germany. She always drank a glass of warm water and lemon juice (sweetening optional) but her healthy reason for it was regularity. Not for that use, but I find the warm lemonade nice during the cold weather. I wonder if the benefits are similar since they are both fruit acids.
Bev/mo says
I love Braggs….it make everything taste better. I don t know what “the mother” is, but this is amazing vinegar!
Sherrill says
Judy, that vinegar drink sounds really gross but I read the Bragg site and decided since I AM diabetic I’m going to give it a whirl. Will letcha know. Also passed along the info about the vinegar in chickens’ water to my niece since she has chickens. That ‘mother’ stuff is still very strange sounding! HA
Diana in RR, TX says
About 8 years ago now on one of Galen’s trip to Taiwan he came home with a pamphlet on the benefits of drinking a little vinegar every day. While not religious about it, I do manage to drink some about every week! Probably if I kept it next to the coffee pot I would be drinking it more-you know you the old out of sight out of mind!!!! Takes a little getting used to but not bad!
Pam SA says
Judy, we add a bit of cinnamon, slimming properties and alternatively ginger, aids digestion
Rebecca in SoCal says
Before I even read the post, I remembered a friend’s bottle of mango vinegar, and looked up recipes using it. I found this gorgeous salad that has me salivating: http://www.azeliaskitchen.net/tomato-salad-with-crab-crayfish-mango-vinegar/
Now that I’ve read your post, I think mango vinegar would make a good drink! As do any of your home-made fruit vinegars.
Also, I’ve read that LOCAL honey can help with hay fever. Doesn’t that just make your drink even better? (I have some avocado and some eucalyptus honey currently).
Jan says
Judy, have you ever heard of Shrub? It is an old drink from Colonial times, and a way of preserving fresh fruit. Equal amounts of sugar and fruit are macerated together in the fridge for a few days, then strained and an equal amount of vinegar like Braggs is added. Let the mother work for a week or so, and then add a few tablespoons to water, iced tea or best of all, bubbly water (I have a soda stream for this). I made strawberry last summer and it was so refreshing. Just Google it.
Helen Koenig1 says
I used to add vinegar to the water for my chickens – And really ANY birds. Also added vinegar to the water for my goats, and for the calves we were raising for meat purposes. It seemed to make their fur thicker, they weren’t sick nearly as often and as regards the chickens, they didn’t seem to have as many problems as other folks’ chickens health wise. Also drank the cider vinegar/honey myself – and still do – especially if I have a cold. The honey seems to dry up my sinuses and the honey seems to cut through the catarrh that goes with a cold. At any rate – I recover more quickly.
Also have used vinegar (in various stages of undiluted to very dilute) to counteract poison ivy. I tend to get this throughout my body – and the vinegar seems to affect my normal body pH enough that that the poison ivy STOPS itching!
In addition to that – did you know that both honey and vinegar are considered natural antibiotics? It’s true. With vinegar – it has to do with the pH level – and you can scrub floors with it (very diluted) as well as use it for general cleaning. I learned about this from one of the ladies I used to clean for when I was putting myself through school.
And – as for colds/cough syrups – I’ve made honey and lemon juice/ as well as honey and vinegar combinations – kept them in the refrig. Well, as long as I could keep them! (We had a friend whose boyfriend would frequently raid my refrig and wipe out all my cough syrups!)