When the renowned chef Tom Valenti, who had one of the most celebrated restaurants on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Ouest, told me his secret for making his stews pop with flavor, it made perfect sense. Vinegar. Just a splash of it at the end of cooking ---not just in stews, but in most dishes-- adds an immediate wow factor, enlivening the meal and making all the flavors sing. Chefs talk a lot about the importance of acidity in food, which is what vinegar brings, but the benefits of the ingredient go way beyond enhancing flavor---vinegar also has some surprising health benefits.
It Can Help Manage Blood Sugar
There is substantial evidence that consuming vinegar before a meal can help keep blood sugar under control. That’s because the acid in vinegar, acetic acid, appears to inhibit the enzymes that help us digest starch, meaning less of it is broken down into sugars as we eat. Acetic acid also slows stomach emptying, so a meal is absorbed more gradually, and it helps trigger hormones that increase insulin action and production in people with type 2 diabetes. A recent meta-analysis showed that consuming acetic acid, typically in the form of 1-2 tablespoons of vinegar dissolved in water and sipped before a meal, led to significant reductions in fasting blood glucose in people with type 2 diabetes, and also had metabolic benefits for overweight or obese individuals.
Apple cider vinegar may get all the health-benefit hype (much of it overblown), but any type of vinegar works in this way—white or red wine vinegar, rice vinegar, distilled vinegar, etc. And it only makes a blood sugar difference if it precedes a meal that contains starch.
Drink it or Eat It
Since I’m genetically predisposed to high blood sugar, I am especially eager to try culinary nutrition techniques that could help keep it in check. But if you know me, you know I won’t eat anything that feels like suffering just because it is healthy. When I tried a tablespoon of vinegar in a glass of water before eating lunch, I found the first few sips pleasant enough, but I had trouble finishing it. So I didn’t.
The good news is you don’t have to drink vinegar to get its benefits, it works just as well to drizzle it on a salad as a first course before a starchy meal. If you do that, the fiber in the vegetables also adds to the blood sugar reducing effect. The salad recipe I’ve included below is one that would be ideal before a plate of pasta, or slice of pizza, for example.
A Few Important Caveats
