Vinegar: condiment, cleaner - or essence of life?

<p>For most people, that bottle of vinegar sitting on the pantry shelf serves a multitude of purposes. Not only is it a condiment, food preservative, and a general household cleaner, but for many, it's a medicinal wonder. Most often, it's taken for granted, and people only see a bottle of vinegar. However, to scientists studying the origins of life on Earth, acetic acid/vinegar, is thought to have played the key role in biochemical development of the first primitive life forms, and without it, life, as we know it would not exist.</p>
<p>Historical documentation of vinegar's use for dye making, medicinal purposes, invigorating tonics, a condiment, and as a food preservative dates back to the earliest known records. </p> <p>Natural vinegar is produced by the secondary fermentation of the alcohol in wine and is a three to five percent solution of acetic acid in water. Acetic acid is what gives vinegar its distinctive biting taste and aroma. It was probably the first commercially produced acid in the world.</p> <p>Acetic acid in fundamental to our existence, not only from a essential biological standpoint, but also in the production of chemicals, light industry, textiles, pharmaceuticals, printing/dyeing, rubber, pesticides, plastics, photographic chemicals, electronics, and food processing to name a few.</p> <p>In nature, a family of bacteria called acetobacter converts alcohol into acetic acid, and they are the single largest producer of acetic acid to keep Earth's the life machine running.</p> <p>The micro
scopic, acid resistant critters are pervasive in the environment. They thrive in the alcoholic ecological niches of flowers, fruits, water, soil, and in a dormant stage, they're even floating around in the air we breathe. Acetobacter also thrive in the intestines of all living creatures where they are essential to the digestive process and most likely, the major suppliers of acetate to keep our system functioning.</p> <p>According to the widely accepted Wchtershuser's theory on how primitive life forms evolved from the primordial soup, the first organic molecule in the chain of events was acetic acid. He based his theory on the fact that the formation of acetic acid is a primary step in metabolism in most all living things that provides the energy cells use to manufacture all the biological ingredients an organism needs to exist.</p> <p>There is a metabolic activity essential to life called acetylation, and among many other roles the process has in the body, it also plays th
e key role in the repair of DNA. A study published in the 2000 Elsevier publication Cell about DNA repair states: "Data show that cells defective for DNA-break repair capability lack the histone acetylase [acetylation] activity leading to apoptotic machinery breakdown."</p> <p>Acetate hemodialysis is a common therapy for people suffering with kidney failure. In several studies, aside from acetate's buffering effect, it has shown to aid in dialysis by dilating veins, thus increasing the effectiveness of the treatment. One 1987 study on stated: "Acetate provoked vascular dilatation, which was compensated for by a heart rate-dependent increase in cardiac index."</p> <p>Acetic acid is fundamental to the biochemistry of almost all forms of life. It's the foundation for the acetyl/acetate group which is a plays the essential in the Krebs Cycle/Citric Acid cycle. The Krebs Cycle occurs in all plants and animals. The importance of the function lies in the efficiency with which it ca
ptures energy released from nutrient molecules and stores it in a usable form.</p>
<p>In humans and animals, functioning of the Krebs cycle relies on a product produced in our system called Acetyl Coenzyme A created during the synthesis of fatty acids. </p> <p>Another acetate-based enzyme called Acetyl Cholinesterase/AchE is integral to the operation of brain functions and the central nervous system.</p> <p>In fact, there are a number of acetyl-based enzymes that are essential to human/animal life down to the chemical composition of genes.</p> <p>Curiously, when it comes to explaining where the acetate comes from to feed the processes, scientists' explanations seem to be somewhat vague, convoluted, and often, contradictory. However, aside from the metabolic production of acetate by organ functions, large amounts of acetic acid is produced by acetobacter in the intestines which is absorbed into the system; and it would logically appear that that process provides most of the acetate needed.</p> <p>In a 1985 study published in the Journal of Clinical Investiga
tion, Carbohydrate fermentation in the human colon and its relation to acetate concentrations in venous blood, the authors' state: "These studies show that the large intestine makes an important contribution to blood acetate levels in man and that fermentation may influence metabolic processes well beyond the wall of this organ."</p> <p>Several studies suggest that there may be such a thing as an acetate deficiency, and acetate supplementation may be useful in the treatment of Canavan disease, a hereditary, neurodegenerative disorder.</p> <p>In folk medicine, apple cider vinegar is touted as a cure for many health problems such as a host of allergies, sinus infections, acne, high cholesterol, flu, chronic fatigue, candida, acid reflux, sore throats, contact dermatitis, arthritis, and gout. While apple cider vinegar is the traditional choice, the only ingredient of any volume that may have an effect at the dosage recommended (one two tablespoons a day) is acetic acid.</p> <
p>As far as cider vinegar's effectiveness for alleviating gout and arthritis symptoms, the anecdotal (testimonial) evidence is overwhelming. And some studies give credence to the claim; however, they all point to the acetic acid content.</p> <p>The interesting aspect of the cider vinegar is that unlike the parent apple for which, possibly, is the most well researched fruit, there is no research to be about cider vinegar or even plain of vinegar as having any health benefits.</p> <p>To an investigative writer, in light of all the abundant health claims made for cider vinegar, the paucity of research, especially to disprove the claims, evokes a great deal of suspicion the unmistakable aroma of a rat rotting somewhere in the woodwork. It's most unusual not to see volumes of scientific studies into a product that is so entrenched in folk medicine.</p> <p>Both the parochial scientists and naturopaths fail to see the possibility of acetate deficiencies. Maybe, it's simply a quest
ion of not seeing the forest for the for the [apple] trees.' However, the role of acetate in animal health has been well researched in animal husbandry, and farm animal feedstock is routinely supplemented with either vinegar or acetic acid.</p> <p>However, when realizing that primordial formation of acetic acid is postulated to be responsible for the creation of the first life on earth, and the essential function acetate plays in biochemistry, there has to be something special about vinegar.</p> <p>###</p><br><br><br><br><a href="http://iautoblog.com">iAutoblog</a> the premier <a href="http://iautoblog.com">autoblogger</a> software