Health Benefits of Pomegranate Vinegar

Pomegranate, just like dates, has always been the essential ingredients in Middle Eastern as well as Mediterranean foods. Besides eating the fruit raw, you can also take pomegranate in the form of juice, molasses, paste, tea, vinegar and even in capsule form.

Lately, with the known health benefits of vinegar, pomegranate vinegar is fast gaining popularity amongst health conscious people.

Vinegar is actually acid but in a very very weak & diluted form. The major component being the acetic acid which is about 5% and the rest is water. Pomegranate Vinegar is known to be high in acetic acid.

So what are the health benefits of pomegranate vinegar? They are many and to start with, they are known to be rich in antioxidants and provide good health benefits as follows:

• Acetic acid helps with the digestive system by increasing our body's capacity to take up essential nutrients from the food that we eat. Pomegranate vinegar being high in acetic acid is beneficial to our digestive system. Adding pomegranate vinegar in salads or taking pomegranate vinegar drink ( mix 1-2 tablespoon in a glass of water ) before or with meals, will help improve the absorption of essential minerals found in foods.
• This easy absorption of vital minerals in the food that we take, help us fight against diabetes, cancers and osteoporosis. Pomegranate vinegar, in a way, can play a part in improving our health by letting our body to perform better.
• People suffering from dairy product intolerance (lactose intolerance) may need alternative sources for their calcium intake. This could be from spinach, broccoli, garlic etc. A drop of pomegranate vinegar will assist in a better absorption of calcium in these foods.
• Just like eating apricot seeds, Pomegranate Vinegar also helps to lower the cholesterol and blood pressure levels. This indirectly help reduce our chances of getting heart diseases and strokes.
• It is also claimed to be a remedy for clogged arteries, hypertension and even for HIV patients.

With the many known health benefits of pomegranate vinegar, it is very popular and commonly used by people from the Middle East, Turkey, Iran and the Northern African countries such as Egypt, Libya, Algeria etc

Hence you will find them in Middle East/ Arab sundry shops. You will also find them at Health Food stores and large supermarkets that stock international foods.

Alternatively you can buy them from Amazon.com from the convenience of your home.

To enjoy the full health benefits of pomegranate vinegar, you can add variety to its uses. Pomegranate Vinegar, which has a delicate sweetness and an irresistible tartness to its flavor, can be taken:

• As a drink: Mix 1-2 tablespoon of pomegranate vinegar to a glass of water. Drink first thing in the morning and last thing at night. If you find it difficult to drink, add a bit of honey to sweeten the taste. You can also have it before or during meals.
• As salad dressing: You may use the pomegranate vinegar as your only ingredient to your salad dressing or experiment with a few concoctions such as mixing pomegranate vinegar with olive oil, garlic, mustard etc.
• In your cooking: Use pomegranate vinegar to replace other vinegars in your cooking such as in the barbecue sauce, soups and salsa. It can also be used as a seasoning for fish and chicken. Marinating meat with pomegranate vinegar will give a more fruity flavor to your cooking.
• In your pickle: If you pickle vegetables such as garlic, cucumber, gherkins; use pomegranate vinegar instead of your usual vinegar.
• As a dip: Add pomegranate vinegar to olive oil and use it as a dip

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Preparation:

Beat together the pomegranate vinegar, molasses, honey, mustard, salt and pepper. Then slowly add in the olive oil until completely blended.

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Preparation:

Whisk together all the ingredients until emulsified.

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Before you decide to try and brew pomegranate vinegar yourself, let me caution you that the process is so sensitive and tend to spoil easily. For example, if part of the crushed seeds were to enter the juice, the fermentation will be spoilt.

So here is the recipe if you still want to give it a shot:

As a rough guide, you will need 4kg (8.8 lb) of pomegranate fruits to produce 1 liter (0.26 gallon) of pomegranate vinegar (after evaporation and filtration losses)

Preparation:

After peeling the fruits, juice them and placed it in a juice jar. Refrigerate for 2days. This will allow all the crushed seeds to settle to the bottom.

Filter the juice carefully making sure the crushed seed does not enter the filtered part of the juice. Don't throw away these crushed seeds as it can be eaten and is good for fiber.

After placing the filtered juice in a new juice jar, cover the jar with a cloth and tie it properly with a rubber band. Store the jar in a dark room and allow to ferment for 30 days.

Then it is filtered and ferment again for another 60 days. At the end of this 90 day fermentation process, the vinegar is again filtered. This is the last process.

Keep the filtered vinegar, bottled, and store it in the refrigerator. It will be sharper and crispier during the next few days. Then you can start using it.

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Amongst the other uses of Pomegranate are:

• The flowers are used to make a red dye.
• The juice is used in making of grenadine.
• It is high in tannin, and the pomegranate rind is used to tan leather.

I hope 'Health Benefits of Pomegranate Vinegar' has given you new and useful informations.

If you want to read my other articles on healthy fruits, click on these respective links:

• Health Benefits of Mulberry
• Pomegranate Health Benefits | Its Many Uses
• Health Benefits of Apricot Seeds and
• Health Benefits of Dates Vinegar

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If you have history of any medical problems, get your doctor's advice before taking pomegranate vinegar. Check if it will interfere with the medication that you are now having. It is always best to first consult your doctor for any medical help.