Vinegar Through The Ages

Vinegar has been used to cure ailments for centuries. For hundreds of years, folk medicine practitioners have recommended daily doses of apple cider vinegar, not only for specific medical problems, but also for overall food health. In Asia vinegar is called the friend of Chinese herbs because it is often used to process herbal preparations. It is also successfully used in modern Chinese medicine.

Historically, the origin of vinegar was never specifically noted. Vinegar was probably discovered when one of our ancestors found that wine exposed to the air would turn sour, thereby creating vinegar. It is amongst the oldest of foods and medicines know to man. For its healing ways, vinegar has been used for thousands of years. In 400 B.C, Hypocrites, known as the father of medicine, treated patients with vinegar, making it one of the world's first medicines. Throughout biblical times, vinegar was successfully used to treat infections and wounds. For centuries medical textbooks have listed various ways to use vinegar. These uses include everything from keeping a sharp mind to purifying the waters of the body and to easing pain and alleviating dozens of other ailments. Modern laboratory analysis verifies the antibacterial and antiseptic properties of vinegar. Many of the old-time uses are just as applicable now as they were centuries ago. (Moore xii)