Apple cider vinegar: good and bad news; how opioids can cause chronic pain
Q: I hear that apple cider vinegar helps with weight loss and improves glucose tolerance for people with diabetes. Is this true? - Emma S., Los Angeles
A: Glad you asked, Emma. Dr. Oz had a report on his April 30 show on that subject - the Apple Cider Vinegar Project. It takes a look at the good and bad news about using apple cider vinegar as a health booster.
The Basics: ACV starts off as apple juice, but adding yeast (for fermentation) turns its fruit sugar into alcohol, then bacteria turn the alcohol into acetic acid - the key ingredient that conveys ACV's health benefits. Studies show that ACV can reduce the rise in your blood glucose level after a meal and help promote weight loss as part of a calorie-restricted diet. Dr. Oz recommends 1 teaspoon before or with each meal (add to salad dressing or a berry shake) in his apple cider vinegar detox.
However, one of the show's guests, Dr. Tod Cooperman, president and founder of ConsumerLabs.com, wants consumers to be careful with ACV. High levels (remember, it's acidic) potentially can damage your teeth, throat and stomach. In fact, household products with acetic acid content above 20 percent should be labeled as poisons, but foods and supplements are exempt from such labeling!
Due to its growing popularity, ACV is now popping up in pill form, and www.ConsumerLabs.com tested some to see how they compared with the liquid.
All the liquid ACVs they tested had between 5 and 6 percent acetic acid in them. But when they tested the pills, they found a wide range of results, from an acetic acid level of 0.4 percent (ineffective) up to 30 percent (potentially dangerous)! After the show aired, one maker of ACV pills told ConsumerLabs.com that it's going to add a warning label and include specific instructions for use.
Bottom line: Stick with the bottled liquid ACV, and watch the segment online at www.doctoroz.com.
Q: I recently had a spinal fusion operation (same as Tiger Woods), and I'm tapering off my pain meds. But my pain doesn't seem to be going away. There's no indication that anything is wrong with my back repair. Why do I feel so bad? - John W., Hebron, Kentucky
A: Back surgery is complex, and recovery takes time. Tiger Woods had his spinal fusion operation (anterior lumbar interbody fusion) in April 2017. After a year, he's now playing golf at a level that can be attained only by a few people. We hope you recover as well as he has. But remember, Tiger also had a rough time getting away from the medications that were necessary for him to endure his operation.
A recent study from the University of Colorado Boulder sheds some light on why he, you and millions of others have found that taking pain pills isn't always a simple solution to post-op pain and that "trauma, including surgery, in combination with opiates can lead to chronic pain."
The study, published in Anesthesia & Analgesia, found that in animal tests, the longer test subjects were taking morphine, the longer their pain lasted after they stopped taking opioids. Something is going on inside the nervous system's pain receptors that actually prolongs pain and the desire for pain relief.
That's why you need a good pain-management specialist to guide you through your detox and regular physical therapy to make you ever stronger. Pain is a serious issue, and today's meds are so good that it's much easier to get hooked than it was in the 1970s, when pain meds had dysphoric or nausea-creating side effects. Let's not forget that a few bad actors in medical care and some bad actors in society profit handsomely from you getting addicted. We cannot stress enough that if the pain or the need for narcotics lasts longer than three days, you should seek an immediate second opinion from a pain-management specialist.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
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