Vinegar for diabetes
Eating vinegar with meals was used as a folk remedy for diabetes well before any pharmacologic glucose-lowering therapy. One of the best benefits of vinegar is its effect starch digestion. In fact, research by the Hellenic National Center for Research, Prevention and Treatment of Diabetes reported that vinegar improves insulin sensitivity in healthy individuals, as well as those with diabetes. Furthermore, consuming vinegar at bedtime has been shown to decrease fasting glucose levels in humans with type 2 diabetes.
How vinegar reduces glucose levels is still unclear. But what they do know is that acetic acid has been shown to delay gastric emptying in healthy people and patients with type 1 diabetes. Another thought is that acetic acid may suppress the carbohydrate absorption.
