Apple Cider Vinegar - A Buying Guide
During my usual grocery shop the other day, I went past the vinegar section at the supermarket. I scanned over the multiple different types; white, malt, red wine and of course apple cider vinegar. At the supermarket I shop at, in this particular area, there were 5 different types of apple cider vinegar. I thought about how I often recommend apple cider vinegar to my clients and how looking at ALL of these products would make it extremely difficult to decide which one to buy.
Like a lot of thing, not all are created equal. I try and educate people about this regularly. What you see is not always what you get, and quality is everything, especially when your health and wellness is concerned.
Like a lot of thing, not all are created equal. I try and educate people about this regularly. What you see is not always what you get, and quality is everything, especially when your health and wellness is concerned.
What to look for |
There are a couple of major points to remember when looking for an apple cider vinegar, these are making sure it's:
- Unfiltered
- Unpasteurised
- From the Mother
- Naturally Fermented
- Raw
And preferably Organic. The ingredients should also read 100% apple cider vinegar.
- Unfiltered
- Unpasteurised
- From the Mother
- Naturally Fermented
- Raw
And preferably Organic. The ingredients should also read 100% apple cider vinegar.
These were the ones I spotted on the supermarket shelf. I picked them up and looked at them all. I could tell straight away that these were refined. A top quality apple cider vinegar is murky to look at (these were all clear and transparent) The reason a top quality product is murky, is because of the mother. The mother is the good bacteria. When apple cider vinegar is filtered, some of the good bacteria has been removed. And if it is pastured, it has been heated which kill the beneficial bacteria.
I also noticed that in one of these, there was caramel colouring added. Apple cider vinegar is a natural yellow/ brown colour, there is no need for the addition of colouring of any sort.
In the health food isle, there were better quality products including Ceres Organic apple cider vinegar and Braggs.
I also noticed that in one of these, there was caramel colouring added. Apple cider vinegar is a natural yellow/ brown colour, there is no need for the addition of colouring of any sort.
In the health food isle, there were better quality products including Ceres Organic apple cider vinegar and Braggs.
I have been stocking and using Chantal Organics apple cider vinegar for a while now. As you can see on the front of the bottle, it clearly states the key attributes to look for, and on the back it also states 100% Organic apple cider vinegar. This particular one retails for $9.20, considering some of the others were $7.00 for a far lesser quality product, it's a pretty good price.