You probably know by now that chips aren’t the healthiest thing in the world for you.
They’re high in carbohydrates and dripping in oil – and they’re not fried in good stuff either, it’s vegetable oils that are high in inflammation-causing Omega 6 fatty acids.
But they just taste so damn good. So if you can’t resist nipping to the chip shop on a Friday night and ordering a large chippy tea, there’s definitely one thing you need to be doing.
Make sure you drench your chips in vinegar.
You might just think it’s just a nice condiment that gives a little flavour kick to the soggy potatoes in your polystyrene tray, but adding vinegar to chips (or any carbohydrate for that matter) has a some real diet and health benefits.
Chips are very high on the glycemic index (GI) which means when you eat them they release a massive amount of sugar into your bloodstream very quickly. The same as white bread, pasta or those nice pastries you buy from the bakery.
Your body pumps out insulin to get it out of your bloodstream and into your cells as quickly as possible.
But if you’re not burning all that sugar off, it’s probably going to get shunted straight into your fat cells – especially if you’re insulin resistant. Then half an hour later you’ll probably have a blood sugar crash and be tired and hungry again.
However, science shows that vinegar is very effective at slowing down your blood sugar spike after a high carb meal like fish and chips.
Vinegar can improve your insulin sensitivity by anywhere from 19 to 32 per cent after eating something like chips, according to Authority Nutrition, which means you can handle those carbs better.
It also lowers your blood sugar by around a third and the amount of insulin your body has to pump out to deal with it.
But this isn’t all. Adding vinegar to your daily diet has also been found to help people lose weight and shed belly fat. It makes sense to be honest if you’re able to better control your blood sugar and improve your insulin sensitivity.
This 2009 Japanese study found that just adding 1tbsp of vinegar to the participants’ daily diet helped reduce weight and body fat significantly.
It also helps you feel fuller, so adding it to a high carb meal will make you consume between 200 and 275 calories less throughout the day, according to this study, which over time can translate to weight loss.
The best kind of vinegar for these health benefits is organic apple cider vinegar, so go out and stock up.
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