The internet would have you believe apple cider vinegar is the new pixie dust due to its health benefits. Need to lose weight? No problem, take a shot of apple cider vinegar daily and you’ll be an Instagram model in no time. Going bald? Apple cider vinegar in the morning will take you from baldish to carrying your Afro pick in a couple of days.
Of course, I’m joking, but you get the picture. It’s tempting to believe the internet claims about apple cider vinegar. They sound so fantastic—even doctors can fall victim to them.
I had a colleague tell me that they couldn’t handle daily apple cider vinegar shots due to acid reflux. They told me how they tried to power through the heartburn, but it became too much for them. When I asked them why they were using apple cider vinegar—they had a perplexed look on their face. I matched their look with an equally confused look. They responded with, “It’s pixie dust, right?”
Photo by Govinda Valbuena on Pexels.com
At that moment, I knew I had to write about evidenced-based health benefits of apple cider vinegar. Apple cider vinegar is not pixie dust, but it’s also not snake oil. For those who want to try apple cider vinegar, it does have some proven health benefits. In this post, I share a few of apple cider vinegar’s health benefits—straight, no chaser.
What is apple cider vinegar? Why would it have any health benefits?
Vinegar comes from the French phrase vin aigre, meaning sour wine. The sourness comes from the acetic acid. Making apple cider vinegar entails taking advantage of controlled-spoilage.
Yeast digests the sugars in apples and converts them into alcohol. A bacteria, acetobacter, then turns the alcohol into acetic acid. I don’t want to get too technical, but you can call this process fermentation. The ‘mother’ refers to the combination of yeast and bacteria formed during fermentation. If you look at an apple cider vinegar bottle, you can see strands of the ‘mother’ floating around. (Making vinegar and making kombucha are similar—see my kombucha post.)
The Mother
Many people attribute apple cider vinegar’s effects to the ‘mother.’ There’s some truth to this since the mother counts as a probiotic. But, the importance of the mother has not been established with research.
Aside from probiotics, apple cider vinegar has a vitamin profile similar to apple juice. Hence, the sour drink is ripe with b-vitamins and polyphenols (plant-based anti-oxidants).
All in all, the pro-biotics, acetic acid, and the nutrients in apple cider vinegar are responsible for its health benefits—but what are those benefits?
5 Proven Health Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar
1. Diabetes- Apple cider vinegar can help with blood sugar control.
If Canaan was the land of milk and honey, the U.S. is the land of ice cream and high fructose corn syrup. It’s no secret that diabetes is common in the United States. Is apple cider vinegar a reasonable weapon in the fight against diabetes?
It is according to some studies. One example is a small study published in the Journal of the American Association of Diabetes in 2004. The study entailed giving participants a meal composed of a bagel, OJ, and butter. After the meal, the participants received 20 grams of apple cider vinegar or a placebo. The researchers checked blood glucose levels 30 and 60 minutes after the meal.
They found that apple cider vinegar significantly lowered post-meal blood glucose levels. Several other studies report similar findings.
Bottom line: Apple cider vinegar won’t cure diabetes, but it may moderately lower blood glucose levels. It won’t take the place of any meds for diabetes, but it’s a safe enough addition to diabetes treatment plan (as long as you don’t have kidney disease).
2. Anti-microbial properties—Apple cider vinegar may keep the bacteria on your salad from getting out of control
In 2005, a study assessed vinegar’s anti-microbial properties by inoculating arugula with Salmonella. The researchers treated the tainted arugula with either vinegar, lemon juice, or a combination of them both. The researchers sought to see if these interventions could reduce bacterial growth.
They found that both lemon juice and vinegar decreased the growth of Salmonella. In fact, the apple cider vinegar/lemon juice mixture decreased Salmonella to undetectable levels (I wouldn’t bank on this at home though).
Bottom line: Nowadays, it seems like there’s a recall for lettuces at least once per week. Throwing some apple cider vinegar on your salad may serve a purpose beyond adding flavor. As an aside, I wouldn’t use apple cider vinegar with the ‘Mother’ to clean your countertops.
Even if you use apple cider vinegar, you still have to use common sense. If you dip raw chicken in your spinach, the apple cider vinegar won’t stop the bout of diarrhea that’s coming.
3. Weight loss- Can apple cider vinegar help with weight loss?
Everyone wants to lose weight. Supplements that facilitate weight loss are in high-demand. Does apple cider vinegar really help with weight loss?
The participants drank 15ml of apple cider vinegar with lunch and dinner (a total of 2 tablespoons). They also ate a diet that was 250 calories less than their daily estimated requirements. The researchers found that apple cider vinegar significantly reduced weight. In fact, the people in the apple cider vinegar group lost an average of 8.8 lbs over 12 weeks. On the other hand, the participants who did not receive apple cider vinegar only lost 5 lbs over the 12 week study period. The researchers also found that apple cider vinegar also decreased cholesterol levels.
Bottom line: Apple cider vinegar may have a modest effect on weight loss, but don’t get rid of your gym membership. Keep in mind that the people in this study were on a calorie restricted diet and they exercised. The researchers argued that apple cider vinegar affects weight by lowering one’s appetite.
4. High Blood Pressure- will apple cider vinegar be the end of hydrochlorothiazide? It won’t.
One of my Facebook followers recently asked me about using apple cider vinegar for controlling blood pressure. I initially thought that apple cider vinegar won’t help blood pressure problems. Doing further research didn’t change my mind.
I saw one small study in rats that showed a decrease in systolic blood pressure in rats fed a diet containing acetic acid compared to those without it. There weren’t any studies using apple cider vinegar for high blood pressure in people.
Bottom line: High blood pressure is nothing to play with. I’ve seen people have strokes in real-time from high blood pressure. If you have high blood pressure, there’s simply not enough data to support using apple cider vinegar as a blood pressure medication.
Eat a healthy diet, exercise, and take your meds if you need them.
5. Esophageal Cancer- Does apple cider vinegar have anti-cancer properties?
A few studies show that vinegar may have anti-cancer properties. Most of these studies involved culturing cancer cells and exposing them to vinegar or acetic acid. The limitation of these studies is obvious; we can’t directly pour apple cider vinegar on cancers inside of people. Further, you definitely can’t give someone an apple cider vinegar IV infusion without causing serious harm or death.
Yet, a large population study from China found lower rates of esophageal cancer in people who frequently consumed vinegar.
It’s worth noting that the people in the study were likely consuming rice vinegar, not apple cider vinegar.
Bottom line: Ok, apple cider vinegar is not going to cure esophageal cancer—unfortunately.
As a GI doctor, I’m typically the first person to tell someone they have esophageal cancer. I wish I could tell people all they have to do is drink some apple cider vinegar. Sadly, things aren’t that easy.
If you are concerned about the risk of esophageal cancer—don’t smoke and don’t drink a lot of alcohol. Talk to your doctor if you have chronic heartburn, you may need screening for Barrett’s esophagus.
Are there any side effects to using apple cider vinegar?
Overall, apple cider vinegar is safe. Everything has a possible downside, even apple cider vinegar. Before you start guzzling apple cider vinegar, here are a few negative possibilities.
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The acid in apple cider vinegar may erode your teeth enamel. You may want to guzzle some water after drinking it.
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Anecdotally, acidic foods or liquids like vinegar may exacerbate acid reflux.
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If you have chronic kidney disease, your kidneys may not be able to process the excess acid that comes along with drinking apple cider vinegar.
What’s the bottom line about apple cider vinegar and its health benefits?
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Like any supplement, apple cider vinegar won’t replace a healthy lifestyle. (Check out my post on black seed oil if you are interested in supplements.)
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It’s great on salads. Plus, it may have anti-microbial properties.
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Two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar may help with weight loss.
- Apple cider vinegar may modestly help people with diabetes, but it shouldn’t be the only component of a treatment plan.
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Overall, we need more to studies to truly understand the health benefits and side effects associated with apple cider vinegar.
As always, the Doc writes interesting articles in an accessible manner. The only thing I’d change is the title: from “proven” to “possible”. But the last paragraph makes that completely clear, and the whole article is balanced. Research into apple cider vinegar is limited for all its suggested benefits, and as Doc points out – many are either on animals or in vitro, or on humans with a lot of limitations. Apple Cider vinegar is definitely a condiment every good cook should have in their kitchen armoury – but like anything in nutrition, it’s about the whole diet not individual components. Eating a bowl of blueberries everyday isn’t going to stop you from getting bowel cancer if you follow it with a double cheese burger. And on the topic of apples….did you know that an apple a day won’t keep the doctor away, but the soluble fibre, pectin, will keep your good gut bacteria partying! And the bugs that like it are the bugs that keep you thin (according to animal and in vitro studies – human studies are needed).Look forward to the next article!
Seb you’re 100% right. Possible is definitely better than proven. It shows how hard writing nutrition focused headlines can be. I should have caught that. That’s the benefit of having knowledgeable blogger like yourself share some comments. Next time drop a link to your blog on a comment. I want to make sure people on my blog can see your stuff. I’ll try to include a link to one of your excellent articles in my next article. I appreciate your support.
Writing any headline is an art form! You’re very welcome and thank you for the kind words!! For us in nutrition, it’s fantastic that medics not only take an interest in nutrition but actively promote it!! So I’m more than happy to support anyone in medicine get these crucial messages across!
Thank you for that great content i totaly agree Apple cider vinegar has multiple benefits that are very useful when dieting. In addition to fighting stomach upset, it helps stabilize blood pressure but must be used with caution https://eyandco.com/weight-loss-drinks-with-apple-cider-vinegar-does-it-work/
Thank you for publishing this informative article on Apple Cider Vinegar. This is an informative and educational topic. I like your blog and have learned a lot from it. ACV helps to minimize multiple diseases. I drink ACV mixed with honey for heart problems. Can low-pressure patients drink ACV? If yes, when and how? I also prefer Organic Products.
Yes, ACV is safe with low blood pressure