Balsamic vinegar has been a healthy addition to the diet throughout history. In the middle ages, alchemists used balsamic vinegar as a healing tonic. Current research was published online in Diabetes & Metabolism Journal to investigate the effects of balsamic vinegar on beta cell dysfunction.

The study evaluated rats over a 4 week period. The rats were fed either a normal diet or a high-fat diet and drank either tap water or diluted balsamic vinegar.

The outcome of the rats fed a normal diet and the rats fed a high-fat diet was insignificant. However, for both groups, normal diet and high-fat diet, the rats that drank diluted balsamic vinegar were shown to have greater islet cell reactivity than the rats that drank tap water.

Research published  in the Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism was explored in dLife in anarticle named “A Spoonful of Vinegar Makes the Blood Sugar Go Down“. The study explains how the main star in vinegar, acetic acid, inhibits some carbodydrate-digesting enzymes. This enables some carbohydrates to pass through without being digested, so they have less of an impact on blood sugar

As the years have passed, many civilizations have found purpose for vinegar. Whether it was used as a food, flavoring, preservative, or to alleviate illness – vinegar has withstood the test of time and continues to prove its worth for the future. Perhaps there’s a need for a blueberry balsamic soda after all? Sugar-free, please.

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