Is Apple Cider Vinegar Good for Weight Loss?

Apple cider vinegar has been used in medicine for many years. But while there are many assumed health benefits of apple cider vinegar, the latest is a weight loss. The “apple cider vinegar weight loss diet” (sometimes referred to as apple cider vinegar detox) became quite popular for a couple of years now. But does it work?

This article explores the link between apple cider vinegar, weight loss and other potential health benefits. It also advises you on how you can take the apple cider vinegar in your daily diet.

What is Apple Cider Vinegar?

Apple cider vinegar is also produced by a two-step fermentation process.

First, apples are chopped or crushed and mixed them with yeast that will turn the sugar of the apples into alcohol. Second, bacteria are added to the production process in order to ferment the alcohol into acetic acid.

An ordinary method of manufacturing apple cider vinegar takes about one month while some companies use a fast method that may only take one day.

The major constituent of apple cider vinegar is acetic acid or ethanoic acid. Acetic acid makes up 5 percent to 6 percent of apple cider vinegar. It also includes water and other lesser amounts of acids including the malic acid. One tablespoon which is equal to 15 mL, has roughly 3 calories and 0 gram of carbs.

Does Apple Cider Help You Lose Weight and Body Fat?

There is not enough evidence that apple cider vinegar helps with weight and body fat because there is only one study to this effect and it was not followed up by any other.

The referred clinical trial was conducted in 2018 on 39 participants who were put on low calorie diets. Regular consumers of apple cider vinegar with about 2 tbsp, or 30 mL per day for 12 weeks in the study lost more weight and body fat than their competitors who did not take the vinegar.

This analysis argues that it is safe and effective to consume 1 or 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar in order to lose weight. It can also lower your body fat percentage, result in the reduction of visceral adipose tissues (belly fat), and decrease your blood triglyceride levels.

How Do You Use Apple Cider Vinegar for Weight Loss?

Here are a few methods of how apple cider vinegar can be used in the diet plan, though, there is not enough information that the use of this product will help lose weight.

By adding it to olive oil and placing it as a dressing on a salad, it is quite easy to take it. It is especially delicious with spinach, cabbage and tomatoes. It can also be used for pickling vegetables or you can add it directly to water and drink.

For weight loss; the recommended dosage taken is 1-2 tablespoons (15-30 milliliters) of apple cider vinegar per day, which has to be diluted with water. It is best to divide this into 2 to 3 portions a day and drinking it before taking any meal seems to be the best.

Consuming more than this is not advisable because it could lead to adverse effects at higher concentrations for example have interactions with other drugs and lead to tooth decay.

Does Apple Cider Vinegar Increase Fullness and Reduce Calorie Intake?

Several small scale trials have indicated that apple cider vinegar may increase satiety levels hence reducing the calorie consumption. 

Taking a closer look at the reviewed literature from 2022 that consisted of seven studies, only four among six short-term trials indicated that apple cider vinegar helps reduce hunger. Long-term studies showed no such effect.

However, short term studies which claimed to see the appetite suppressing effect have seen vinegar with the level of having at least 24.6 mmol/L of acetic acid. It means that there isn’t a guarantee that the vinegar you purchase will have that exact concentration of acetic acid, and there isn’t a guarantee as well that the same effect will be obtained at other concentrations.

Further evidence pointing to the fact that apple cider vinegar slows down the rate at which food is emptied out of the stomach has also been found to have several kinds of bias indicating that these results may not be very accurate.

Does Apple Cider Have Other Health Benefits?

In addition to promoting weight and fat loss, apple cider vinegar may have several other benefits:

• Lowers blood sugar and insulin: If taken with a meal high in carbohydrate content, many clinical studies have demonstrated that, apple cider vinegar dramatically reduces blood glucose and insulin levels in the human body after meal intake.
• Improves insulin sensitivity: Some researches indicate that it is advisable to take vinegar together with a high carb food since it will improve insulin sensitivity.
• Lowers fasting blood sugar: Studies have concluded that taking apple cider vinegar leads to a considerable reduction of fasting blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin.
• Decreases cholesterol levels: A research review of 9 clinical trials conducted in 2021 indicated the potential in apple cider vinegar of lowering total cholesterol and triglycerides.
• Kills harmful bacteria and viruses: There are also lab tests that reveal that this vinegar has the potential to kill E.coli and S.aureus bacteria as well as resistant Escherichia coli (rE.coli) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA).

The Bottom Line

There is some evidence that indicates that taking a moderate portion of apple cider vinegar may help a person to lose some weight but not satisfactorily. But studies indicate that it can have a number of other health benefits.

Other kinds of vinegar may offer the same kind of benefits, although vinegar effects may change depending on the kind of acetic acid.

Although consuming apple cider vinegar can help you lose a few pounds, it will not work alone. That’s why it goes hand in hand with the need to maintain a balanced diet, and exercise in order to ensure that the results are sustainable.