Not only is vinegar good for descaling kettles, cleaning windows and pickling onions, but it seems that it could help you to keep the weight off, too.

    An old housewives' tale has it that cider vinegar is good for the waistline. The supermodels Cindy Crawford and Heidi Klum seem to be on to it too and have been known to take a swig of vinegar before a meal, believing that it helps them to maintain their figures. Researchers in Japan have now found some evidence that vinegar does, indeed, appear to have a fat-burning effect after all.

    Before you rush out to buy a bottle of Sarson's, it is worth noting that the scientists carried out their study on laboratory mice rather than on human beings. Nevertheless, they found that when the mice were fed a high-fat diet along with vinegar, they developed up to 10 per cent less body fat than mice that were fed a high-fat diet and just water. It seems that the acid in vinegar - acetic acid - switches on genes that make certain fat-burning enzymes spring into action, helping to suppress the accumulation of body fat.

    What's more, two other studies have shown that vinegar-taking mice also had lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure compared with those on water. Somewhat tantalisingly, Tomoo Kondo, from the Central Research Institute in Handa, Japan, reveals that further research, this time on people, also looks promising. It seems that subjects who were given 15ml of vinegar daily lost fat, particularly around their stomachs.

    Research has also shown that it takes the edge off appetite by slowing the speed at which our stomachs empty. This means that you probably eat less during a meal and feel full for longer after it, so you are less likely to snack in between meals. Thankfully, you need only about four teaspoons of vinegar to slow down stomach-emptying - an amount that can be found in a generous serving of French-style salad dressing. Lemon juice, which contains citric acid, has a similar effect, and it is likely that lime juice does as well.

    The natural acids known as lactic and propionic acid, produced during the fermentation of sourdough breads, have also been shown to make people feel more full for longer and to reduce the rate of digestion compared with other breads, making Mediterranean-style diets, which often feature salad with a vinegar-based dressing and sourdough bread, particularly good for your waistline.

    The bottom line is that adding vinegar, lemon or lime juice to your meals will do no harm and may help a bit in the battle of the bulge. Just don't think that you will lose much weight by sprinkling extra vinegar on your chips.

    你知道嗎？醋的用處多多，不但能泡醋拌洋蔥、清除舊壺上的水垢，擦去玻璃窗上的污跡，看來還能幫你瘦身呢。

    長久以來主婦婆們流傳著一種廚房秘方：食用蘋果醋（美國人喜歡喝果醋，咱們是米醋更好--譯注）可以讓腰間的贅肉跑光光。超模辛迪·克勞馥和海蒂·克拉姆看來就是深諳此道，她們在每餐之前喝上一大口蘋果醋，深信這樣有助于保持曼妙身材。現在日本的研究者們發現了一些證據，表明醋確能起到燃燒體內脂肪的奇效。

    請先別急著沖下樓狂買鎮江香醋，有必要提醒您現在的研究成果還僅限于實驗室，小白鼠的確瘦了，大活人還未必。然而話又說回來了，小白鼠們在享用了一頓高脂肪大餐后，那些邊吃邊佐以醋飲的小家伙們比邊吃邊喝點白開水的同伴們確實要少長點膘，差別最多可達10%.學者們覺得是醋里面的酸物質--醋酸--接通了小鼠體內的某些基因，"通電"后的基因（通過轉錄）蹦達出許多專管燃燒脂肪的蛋白酶，這些活躍的酶有助于抑制脂肪堆積。

    喝過醋的小鼠們還有另兩項好處，比起它們喝水的倒霉同伴來，前者的膽固醇水平和血壓都要更低些。來自日本半田中央研究所的近藤君還做了更進一步的人體實驗，結果也很惹人心癢。數據顯示，每天攝入15毫升醋的受測者們都變瘦了，特別是在胸部和上腹部的位置。

    研究還揭示了醋能減緩胃清空的速度，從而使人的食欲下降。這就意味著您可以正餐吃得少些，飽脹感卻比以前維持得更久，因此不大會在兩餐間忍不住大嚼零食了。對于怕酸的人來講，謝天謝地，只需要喝下四調羹的醋就能起到減緩胃排空的效果，這點醋也就是一道普通的法式色拉的醬料的水平。能和醋媲美的還有檸檬汁，其中的檸檬酸也有和醋酸相似的效用。

    酸面包（酸面包是面包家族中一個比較獨特的品種，它的發酵是酵母和嗜酸性乳桿菌共同作用的結果--譯注）發酵過程中天然產生的乳酸和丙酸，也能使食用的人有更久的飽脹感，和別的面包比起來，酸面包能減緩消化的速度。地中海風味的食譜，常常有一道用醋醬澆頭的色拉和幾片酸面包，因而對那些在意自己小蠻腰的女士來說特別值得推薦。

    最后一個貼士：飲用果醋、檸檬汁或酸橙汁無礙健康，有助瘦身。但請記得不要在你的薯條上狂灑酸醋，然后一廂情愿地等著大肚腩癟下去。