Hey Skyelir! Hope you got a few minutes! This is probably going to be long!!!.....I know about ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar). However, there are 2 ACV's and you want to make sure you get the 'good' stuff. By that I mean ACV with the 'mother' in it. That's the brown gunk you see in the bottom of the bottle. Shake it up, hold the bottle to the light and look at it. You should see some brown spider web looking stuff floating around in it. If you buy the ACV w/o the 'mother', you will be drinking fermented coal tar!! ACV with the 'mother' is generally not sold in grocery stores, at least not where I live anyways. I have to go to a health food store to buy it. I pay about 8 bucks for a pint of ACV with 'mother'. At the grocery store you can buy a gallon of the stuff (w/o mother) for 3 bucks! There's a big debate about whether there's a diff in the 2...personally, when I found out the other ACV was made out of coal tar (yes, the kind of coal you did out of the ground!)....there wasn't any choice of which one I would be buying. And since it's been only me drinking it, this pint has lasted me about 2 months. Ok...take 2 TSPs ACV with 'mother', 2 TSPs raw honey and 8 oz water, stir it up until the honey dissolves and down the hatch. Do this 3 times a day. The first few times I drank it...it really gagged me but now I down it in a few swollows with my Blue Green Algae tab and my water pill. I started taking it because it is suppose to help with pain (arthritic) and it seemed to help for a few days, but then the pain came back so I don't know if it actually helped or not. I havn't really been too faithful with it the past month...it's just been a really crazy busy month and I feel like it would have been better if I could have just slept thru this month, period! LOL

ACV has been traced back to Egyptian urns as far back as 3000 B.C.! The Babylonians used it as a condiment and perservative, Julius Caesar's army used it as a tonic to stay healthy and fight off disease. The Greeks and Romans kept vinegar vessels for healing and flavoring. It was used in Biblical times as an antiseptic and a healing agent and is mentioned in the Bible. In Paris in the Middle Ages it was sold from barrels by street vendors as a body deodorant, healing tonic and a vinegar drink to keep the body healthy and ageless. Even Christopher Columbus and crew on his voyage to discover America in 1492 had vinegar barrels for prevention of scurvey as did U.S. Civil war soldiers. It helped to disinfect and heal their wounds. for centuries in Japan, the Samurai warriors drank it for strength and power. ACV has been used for thousands of yrs not only for health reasons, but as a cleansing agent to remove bacteria, germs, odors, and even stains and spots.

Hippocrates, the father of medicine in 400 B.C. treated his patients with hot steam baths, herbal poultices and natural, ACV for it's powerful healing and cleansing qualities. It's a naturally occurring antibiotic, antiseptic and and fights germs and bacteria (there IS some truth to 'an apple a day keeps the DR away"!). ACV is made with crushed apples that are then put in wooden barrels and allowed to ferment. That's all it is. Nothing more added. No perservatives, additives, natural or artificial flavors, colorings...nada, nothing. Some of the benefits are, it's rich in enzymes and potassium, it helps remove body toxins, helps promote a youthful body, maintains healthy skin, soothes sunburn, shingles and bites, helps prevent dandruff and itching scalp, helps control and normalize weight, improves digestion and bowels, helps relieve arthritis and stiffness, helps relieve dry and sore thoats and I could go on and on and on. My mother used vinegar for everything. Even for washing clothes (we had the whitest brightest clothes in school!!!). Type into your search engine just the word 'vinegar' and see what you get. I found some really funny and interesting things you can do with vinegar! Try the ACV with 'mother'...I swear by it. As for using it to lose weight. I'm not sure about that. I think what it does is neutralize the fats that you intake. It really hasn't helped me to control my hunger or feeling satisfied (full) when I eat. My pain (arthritis/fibromyalgia) has settled down even tho we're right in the middle of a snow storm! 10" so far and it's still snowing. There is a book out by Drs Paul and Patricia Bragg called "Apple Cider Vinegar miracle health system". Some of this info came from the book and some of it came from me personally using the ACV. Really give it a try and remember, it didn't take you over night to gain weight and it won't come off over night either, or for whatever reason it is that you want to use this, just remember like any medicine, it takes time to get it in your system. If you're wanting to use it for weight loss, also combine eating healthy and excersizing while using the ACV tonic. If you want to use it for other health problems, I definately recommend discussing it with your primary doctor first.