Kidney health is a vital part of any person’s overall well-being. When a person’s kidneys aren’t functioning at optimal levels due to chronic kidney disease or other issues, many people will look to natural alternatives to try and facilitate toxin removal, they’ll try identifying foods that cleanse the liver and kidneys.
This can help ease the burden on the body’s natural detox filters not working to their full potential. As the kidneys are tasked with filtering out toxins from the body, helping them with a natural kidney cleanse is an excellent way to support normal kidney function.
With so many options, kidney disease sufferers or those at risk of developing kidney issues have one pressing question first and foremost: what cleanses the kidneys? And, more specifically, what cleanses the kidneys quickly, safely and effectively.
One of the most widely-searched kidney cleanses is Apple Cider Vinegar Cleanse. Many people believe apple cider vinegar for kidney cleansing, has numerous health benefits. Including helping with chronic kidney disease. The answer to this, however, isn’t necessarily as straightforward as you may believe.
If you’re looking for a natural kidney cleanse that works, we’ll get into that in a bit, but first let’s take a look at what exactly Apple Cider Vinegar is as well as some of the multitudinous uses you can find for it.
Apple Cider Vinegar: A Matter of Fermentation
Apple cider vinegar is essentially derived from three simple ingredients: apples, yeast and sugar. When apples are sufficiently crushed they leave behind liquid, which is then blended with the yeast resulting in a process known as alcoholic fermentation, so named because the sugars which are produced during the fermentation process become alcohol.
Once the alcohol that used to be sugar undergoes its second fermentation, it transforms once more into vinegar. This occurs due to a bacteria, known as acetobacter, which starts to form, creating acetic acid.
Acetic acid is also the ingredient which you taste in vinegar’s signature tangy flavor. This is also where you find the phosphorous, potassium, magnesium and calcium in vinegar, which CKD patients need to be mindful of.
You may have heard of something called “the mother,” it’s frequently listed on the labels of many commercially available bottles of Apple Cider Vinegar. The mother is a membrane-like substance made of cellulose and the acetic acid bacteria responsible for the fermentation process. Including the mother in alcoholic liquids produces vinegar and many vinegar makers keep the mother intact floating at the bottom and generating beneficial enzymes and bacteria.
Many health food experts have stated Apple Cider Vinegar with the mother intact is indicative of better quality and more potent health benefits.
Proponents of Apple Cider Vinegar’s Benefits
As stated, Apple Cider Vinegar is a very potent and popular natural remedy
which has been reputed to help with numerous different situations, such as:
1. Regulating Blood Sugar
There have been numerous studies which have confirmed Apple Cider
Vinegar’s ability to improve insulin sensitivity and significantly reduce blood sugar levels.
2. Expedites Weight Loss
Researchers have long touted Apple Cider Vinegar’s ability to help speed along weight loss efforts, with studies confirming that taking just a couple tablespoons each day over a 3 month period could result in nearly 5 lbs. of weight loss without any other changes in diet or exercise levels. Another study boasted of Apple Cider Vinegar’s ability to curb appetite by increasing one’s feeling of fullness.
3. Lowers Blood Pressure and Cholesterol
Including a couple tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar in your diet each day can help to minimize heart disease by keeping blood pressure stable and lowering levels of bad cholesterol. Cholesterol is a fat-like substance that can build up in the arteries, causing them to narrow and harden. High blood cholesterol puts a strain on your heart, forcing it to work harder to push blood throughout the body.
4. Promotes Good Gut Health
Fermented foods can help your gut health by delivering a host of added beneficial bacteria to your digestive system. These in turn can help improve your immunity and the ability of your body to effectively absorb nutrients from the food you eat.
5. Detoxes Body & Balances Your pH
Apple Cider Vinegar facilitates lymphatic drainage and enhances circulation, making it a great option for detoxification. Additionally, even though acetic acid (the acid in Apple Cider Vinegar) has an acidic quality, it actually has an alkalizing effect on the body. A few tablespoons each day can help keep your pH levels balanced and your body’s systems functioning at optimal levels.
What Does The Science Say About Apple Cider Vinegar For Kidney Cleansing?
Unfortunately, when it comes specifically to chronic kidney disease, as of this writing, I have not seen any scientific evidence which substantiates Apple Cider Vinegar’s benefits as a cleanse for kidney health so I can’t personally recommend it. If a person with CKD is going to take Apple Cider Vinegar for some of its other benefits, I’d recommend no more than one tablespoon per day, as we also don’t have much data on whether it is detrimental to kidney health in larger doses either. For more of the latest information on kidney cleanses of all kinds, be sure to follow us on Twitter and be the first to know when we post!
