[3/19/17]  While in today’s world apple cider vinegar is mostly overlooked, to my grandmother, it was more of that “good old-fashioned medicine.”

She raised children during the Great Depression, which made her not only tough as heck, but a bit strange about some things. She saw little use for doctors most of the time and thought just about everything could be cured with folk remedies like apple cider vinegar.

I remember on most mornings my grandmother would drink hot water with a good dose of ACV in it before she had her morning coffee. Honestly, I don’t know how she managed it, but I suppose she had become accustomed to it. She claimed that it cured her stomach problems, although I’m not sure if she actually had any or if the ACV prevented her from having any!

I bet many of you remember your grandmother using ACV in various ways, too.

Let’s take a look at the top 5 ways that our ancestors put apple cider vinegar to work.

1. Dandruff cure

Many people believed that mixing equal parts of apple cider vinegar and water would stop dandruff. While I was unable to find any studies to back up this claim, there are thousands of testimonials online which say that it works. When you consider that the main compound in ACV is acetic acid, which can kill bacteria and fungus, it doesn’t seem that far-fetched that rinsing your hair with ACV after shampooing could work to eliminate, or at least reduce, dandruff.

2. Toenail fungus

The story is that, if you soak your feet every single night in ACV, then it will kill toenail fungus in “a few weeks.” Again, I could find no studies proving this is true, but the amounts of online testimonials is overwhelming. The length of time is questionable (how long is a “few” weeks?) However, there is no denying that this has worked for thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people.