7 Days of Apple Cider Vinegar Drink Instead of Coffee

Move Over Coffee, Make Room For This Apple Cider Vinegar Drink

If you know me, you know that I love my morning coffee. I actually just love coffee in general, so afternoon and evening coffee is okay with me too. =) However, in the morning, coffee is a must.

It is somewhat ritualistic I would say- wake up, start the coffee pot and enjoy the aroma filling up the apartment each morning. But it also helps get me going. I don’t need a lot; just 6-8oz is good for me, including creamer. Although I adore my coffee addiction, it is an addiction! And I wanted to see what would happen if I took a week off.

But to add some flavor to this challenge, I decided to incorporate a morning apple cider vinegar drink into the mix, as I have wanted to test out the benefits of drinking apple cider vinegar daily. Now, on to the challenge! Below, I am going to recap the 7 days without coffee, and introducing ACV drink using a recipe inspired from itstaylermarie.org.

Click here to see my experience with Whole 30!

No Coffee + ACV Drink

Day 1:

I used 1 tablespoon of vinegar, 8oz of hot water, honey and a dash of cinnamon to create my 1st ACV drink. Find original Apple Cider Vinegar Drink recipe on itstaylermarie.org. It tasted better than I thought it would for a first time try. I enjoyed it, and it was easy to drink on an empty stomach which I was grateful for. However, I did feel sluggish all day from lack of my usual caffeine.

Day 2:

From the moment I woke up in the morning until I went to bed that evening I had a headache. I know this headache was from not having caffeine for the 2^nd day in a row. I’ve had this headache before, from neglecting my caffeine itch. And having a cup of joe in that moment typically cures my headache like taking two Tylenol. But obviously I couldn’t do that this time, so I had to tough it out.

Day 3:

Drinking apple cider vinegar is supposed to help with stomach bloating. It helps clean out the bad bacteria in our small intestines that might get stuck in there during digestion. By day 3, I definitely noticed a flatter tummy, and less bloating. Yay! I did feel some tiredness in the morning after waking up from no coffee, but at least that headache did not return. See more ACV Health Benefits on Healthline.

Day 4:

I actually felt pretty normal! And was getting used to, and starting to like drinking the ACV first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach. I felt like I was starting my stomach off on the right track each day, cleaning out bacteria and setting myself up to feel more full and eat less throughout the rest of the day. Here’s the Health Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar article that I referenced for educating myself on the affects of apple cider vinegar.

Day 5:

Pretty similar to day 4, honestly. I was just happy to be far enough away from coffee to not be craving it or having headaches. But it was nice to still have that warm drink in the morning that somewhat replaced my aromatic coffee ritual. Even though vinegar doesn’t really smell that great… you get used to it. =)

Day 6:

At this point I felt like I could keep the new sans-coffee, 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar lifestyle up forever. I wasn’t running to the bathroom in the morning anymore, because if you didn’t already know coffee is a natural diuretic and legitimately runs straight through me. So that was a nice change. My stomach felt flatter, and overall I didn’t have any stomach problems, which sometimes I get some burning or upset stomach from coffee.

Day 7:

The final hour! Knowing that I only planned on doing this coffee cleanse for 7 days, I had a bitter sweet moment because I was excited to indulge back into my favorite morning caffeinated goodness, but I was also a little sad knowing that I was going to trade in my new side affects from drinking apple cider vinegar in it’s place. Overall my stomach felt better and flatter, I wasn’t running to the bathroom every morning, I became less dependent on caffeine, and I ultimately found a good and healthy alternative to drinking coffee every morning.

Click here to see my famous cake recipe!

What I Didn’t Like

The only thing that I would say I didn’t enjoy about the vinegar was the throat burning. The first 2 days of drinking it, I didn’t notice any burning, but on the 3^rd day I noticed it was a bit harsh on my throat. So I started using more water. Instead of 8oz, I was doing 12-14oz, diluting the vinegar more, and that seemed to help a lot. Again, I was only using 1 tablespoon of vinegar a day, which can be on the low end for people who go hard core for this stuff. But I definitely was not tying to go hard core. I just simply wanted to introduce something new and potentially healthy into my life. And I am happy with my testimonial discoveries.

Why not just keep coffee and apple cider vinegar in your life at the same time, you ask? Well, I think that would be too acidic on my stomach, especially having them both in the morning at least. I am, however, considering drinking one in the morning and one in the afternoon though. We will see how it goes…

Here’s a quick no coffee + apple cider vinegar drink challenge recap!

No coffee PROS:

No additional sweetened creamer intake

Less caffeine intake

No immediate bathroom visits caused by the natural diuretic

No coffee CONS: (Mostly side effects from coffee addiction)

Headache from lack of caffeine

Tiredness & sluggishness

Apple cider vinegar drink PROS:

Flatter tummy/less bloating

Slightly curbed or decreased appetite

Health benefit of cleaning out bad bacteria in the intestines

Apple cider vinegar drink CONS:

Slight throat burning if drink is not diluted enough

The ACV drink is no coffee replacement. And I have no intentions on leaving coffee behind. However, I will periodically do a coffee detox, and I will absolutely continue to incorporate this ACV drink into my life. Let me know if you gave this 7 day challenge a try for yourself! Or if you only gave up coffee, or just started drinking apple cider vinegar. I would love to hear others experience!

Until next time, enjoy! Simple recipe below.

-KayGood

Recipe: (Original recipe here.)

8-14oz of hot water

1 tbs of apple cider vinegar

honey to taste

1-2 dashes of cinnamon

Sources:

https://itstaylermarie.org/wellness/daily-apple-cider-vinegar-drink?rq=acv

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/6-proven-health-benefits-of-apple-cider-vinegar#section2