Good Acid, Bad Acid?

By Quinn Phillips Acetic acid, also known as vinegar, has long been a folk remedy for ailments ranging from infections to stomachaches to poison ivy. More recently, its benefits for both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes have been discovered. As DiabetesSelfManagement.com's David Spero wrote in a 2011 blog post, vinegar may act similarly to many different types of diabetes drugs, slowing the breakdown of starches like acarbose (brand name Precose), increasing insulin sensitivity like metformin, and promoting insulin production like nateglinide (Starlix). A 2004 study published in the journal Diabetes Care found that when accompanying a high-carbohydrate meal, vinegar led to lower postmeal blood glucose and insulin levels in both people with prediabetes and those with full-blown Type 2 diabetes. So a recent study may surprise and possibly confuse some people with diabetes who are familiar with the helpful effects of vinegar. Published last month in the journal Diabetologia, the study found that women with a high dietary acid load were far more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes. This finding was established by examining dietary surveys from a large study in which participants were followed for up to 14 years. To assess an acidic diet, researchers used two measures, called potential renal acid load (PRAL) and net endogenous acid production (NEAP) scores. Compared to the 25% of women with the lowest PRAL scores, the 25% with the highest scores were 56% more likely to develop Type 2 diab...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - Category: Diabetes Authors: Source Type: blogs