This article is about honey and vinegar. Manuka honey and apple cider vinegar to be precise -
two of the most powerful natural ingredients you can add to your diet.
Let’s start with apple cider vinegar?
Well, this little marvel has been used as a health tonic since ancient Egyptian times. It’s even mentioned in The Bible as an antiseptic and healing agent.
And it’s no wonder they held apple cider vinegar in such high esteem. This substance is loaded with goodies that can help all sorts of ailments, from high blood pressure and food poisoning to getting rid of bad cholesterol and reducing stress.
But one of its main powers is its ability to fight joint disease.
According to Sally Fenn, a leading nutritionist and health writer, vinegar is full of natural enzymes that can help dissolve uric acid, which breaks down the calcium deposits lurking in your joints. At the same time, the vinegar builds up the minerals needed for healthy bone
structure.
In simple terms, it makes joint-pain sufferers feel a whole lot better.
BUT… if you want to benefit from the full power of apple cider vinegar, it MUST be unpasteurised. But of course, big business doesn’t want to give you what’s best for you, it wants to give you what’s best for them…
The problem with most supermarket vinegars
When it comes to supplying you with foods, it’s not the nutritionists or doctors who dictate what you can and can’t have - it’s the marketing
men. So, when it comes to apple cider vinegar, they take one look at it in its natural state and almost faint. All that colour, all those impurities… oh no, that just won’t do.
So they boil it to within an inch of its life till it’s clear and pretty and looks good on a shelf. But the trouble is, this process kills all the enzymes and removes vital nutrients.
So tip number one…
If you want the most powerful anti-inflammatory nutrients fighting in your corner, make sure you use unpasteurised apple cider vinegar.
And here’s another tip for you…
Although apple cider vinegar is good on it’s own, it’s even BETTER if you take it with manuka honey.
First off the honey acts as a natural sweetener, so you don’t have to hold your breath each time you swallow the vinegar.
And secondly, manuka honey packs a few nifty health punches of its own - one of the main ones being its effectiveness as an anti-inflammatory. So if you take a mixture of manuka honey with a good unpasteurised apple cider vinegar then BAM! Your joint pain won’t know what’s hit it.
You want to find a supplier whose honey cider vinegar is 100% pure… not like some varieties you can find in your local shop.
Now of course, if you want to simply drink it neat, there’s nothing stopping you. The manuka honey makes it sweet and easy to drink.
Honestly, it’s really nice. But if you’d like to use it as part of a tasty meal, here is a great recipe that’s so easy to make.
Fennel, orange and chicken salad - the tasty way to ease joint pain
This simple recipe uses a healthy mixture of apple cider vinegar and honey for a delicious, quick lunch for two.
For the salad you’ll need:
- 1 fennel bulb, finely sliced
- 250g cooked chicken, roughly shredded
- 2 oranges, peeled and segmented
- Small handfuls of fresh parsley and mint
For the dressing:
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil, 1 1/2 tbsp flax oil
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or apple cider
vinegar with active manuka honey
- Pinch of flaky sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Here’s all you need to do.
- First, combine the salad ingredients in a bowl.
- Then whisk up the dressing - or place everything in a sealed jar and shake vigorously
- Now pour over the salad.
That’s all there is to it. And if you use this particular honey cider vinegar, you’ll be sure you’re getting the very best nutrients out of your meal…
