High blood sugar and high cholesterol have one thing in common: they are precursors for far more serious complications down the line.
But with a combination of diet and exercise, most people control the condition before problems arise - or keep it at bay altogether.
Limiting foods high in saturated fat and sugar is a logical starting point for addressing the health concerns. The addition of other ingredients, however, may also offer benefits.
Vinegar has long been recognised for its ability to enhance the body’s response to insulin, allowing cells to absorb glucose more efficiently from the bloodstream.
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|Vinegar allows cells to absorb glucose more efficiently from the bloodstream
Now, a new investigation into date vinegar has been published in Frontiers in Nutrition, highlighting its benefits on a sample of 50 people.
The findings showed that consuming date vinegar daily for ten weeks led to substantial reductions among those suffering from type 2 diabetes and dyslipidaemia.
Researchers leading the study suggest these improvements may translate into reduced cardiovascular and metabolic health risks.
It particularly offers promise for those managing diabetes and avoiding dates due to their natural sugar content, as the fermentation process creates a potentially therapeutic alternative.
How was the study structured?
The fifty participants included in the study were aged between 30 and 60. They were divided equally into two treatment and control cohorts.
Those in the treatment group drank 20 millilitres of date vinegar daily through a 10-week period. Meanwhile, controls received a placebo drink made from honey, water, and lemon juice that matched the vinegar’s acidity but lacked its beneficial compounds.
Those who took the date vinegar saw their fasting blood sugar drop from 168.4 to 147.6 mg/dL and the long-term blood sugar marker HbA1c fall from 6.85 per cent to 6.08 per cent, marking a clear improvement in diabetes control.
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|Date vinegar may offer reductions in blood sugar and bad cholesterol
Researchers also saw a modest reduction in total cholesterol levels, with bad cholesterol falling from 121.1 to 111.1 mg/dL, and good cholesterol increasing from 43.2 to 46.5 mg/dL.
"Significant improvements were observed," they wrote in their report.
On the other hand, those who didn’t take the vinegar saw their blood sugar and cholesterol levels worsen, suggesting the vinegar may be responsible for the improvements.
This may be explained by the fact that vinegar contains a host of natural ingredients like pectin, zeaxanthin and diosgenin, which interact with certain proteins in the body.
But while the findings seem promising, larger studies would be required to confirm how safe and helpful the ingredient really is over time.