This Old-School Pantry Staple Is Touted As A Cure-All. But Does It Really Work?

Apple cider vinegar has long been touted as an at-home cure for a range of ailments: weight loss, high cholesterol, gut issues and more.

Though many at-home cure-alls don’t actually carry much benefit, apple cider vinegar may be a little different. It’s known to kill bacteria on lettuce, making it an ideal salad dressing, and some, albeit limited, research backs many of the claims you’ve likely heard from loved ones or seen on social media.

“Apple cider vinegar kind of surprised me,” said Amanda Beaver, a wellness dietitian at Houston Methodist Wellness Services in Texas. “I was expecting very limited-quality studies and limited-use cases for it, but I was surprised because it’s definitely not snake oil.”

But like any product that promises lots of benefits, not all of them are true and not all of the research actually applies to the general public. Below, experts share their thoughts on this so-called miracle ingredient and its many uses:

“The evidence that it’s most beneficial for is blood sugar … specifically for people who have Type 2 diabetes,” Beaver said.

For people with the disease, their “blood sugar tends to be higher than what is considered optimal,” said Elisabetta Politi, a certified diabetes educator and dietitian at Duke Health in North Carolina.

Studies have shown that taking about 20 to 30 milliliters (or about 4 to 6 teaspoons) of apple cider vinegar per day can lower our fasting blood sugar level by about 7 to 10 points, according to Beaver. This is a positive change in blood sugar, she noted, adding that she’d be happy if she saw this kind of reduction in her patients.

This won’t happen after taking apple cider vinegar once, though. “This is if we take it consistently for about eight weeks,” Beaver said.

Study participants split the recommended 20 to 30 milliliters into two servings, once before lunch and once at dinner — so 10 to 15 milliliters, or 2 to 3 teaspoons, at a time. And the vinegar should be mixed in about 8 ounces of water, Beaver noted

There’s a reason apple cider vinegar had such a beneficial effect on blood sugar: It “slows down the rate of digestion therefore causing a slower release of glucose,” said Julia Zumpano, a registered dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic Center for Human Nutrition in Ohio.

Most studies have been done with people who have Type 2 diabetes, according to Beaver, so information on how this affects folks without the disease is limited. Apple cider vinegar should also not be a replacement for doctor-prescribed Type 2 diabetes treatment.

“Things like improving diet and exercise will likely have a greater effect on their blood sugar … than something like apple cider vinegar,” Beaver said. “The same thing goes for medications, too. Those will be more powerful.”

Apple cider vinegar is fermented, and these kinds of foods are known to be beneficial for your gut health.

“It can support a healthy gut due to it being a probiotic, which means it provides good bacteria to your gut, which can aid in bowel regularity, immune function, digestion and, in some cases, reflux,” Zumpano said.

Though apple cider vinegar does contain probiotics, more research is needed to determine just how helpful it is for gut health, Beaver noted.

Also, Beaver said, not all apple cider vinegar is created equally. Raw, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar contains a substance called the “mother,” which is a cloudy clump at the bottom of the container that contains the healthful yeast, probiotics and bacteria that come from the fermentation process (and is what many apple cider vinegar consumers want).

“Most of the apple cider vinegar on the shelf, though, is pasteurized, and that is not going to contain the probiotics or the yeast in it,” Beaver said.

If you do want to drink apple cider vinegar for gut health reasons, you’ll want to make sure you buy the variety with the mother at the bottom.

“Research, including a 2021 review of nine studies, suggests that [apple cider vinegar] reduces total cholesterol and triglycerides and raises (good) HDL cholesterol,” Zumpano said.

Like the high blood-sugar research, these studies largely looked at people with Type 2 diabetes, Beaver noted. So, even though it could lower cholesterol in people without the disease, more research is needed to confirm that.

Several studies have looked into apple cider vinegar as a weight loss treatment, and results are mixed.

“Some studies show some effectiveness … others don’t,” Politi said.

In a 2018 weight-loss study, two groups of people were told to follow a calorie-restricted diet for 12 weeks — and one of those groups was also instructed to take apple cider vinegar. The group that took apple cider vinegar lost a little more weight than the control group, “but it was only by 2 to 3 pounds, so not a huge benefit,” Beaver said. The study was very small, with only 39 people, so it’s unknown if the benefits apply to the general public.

“The other studies are mixed and limited, but there also is some evidence that acetic acid, which is the acidic component of apple cider vinegar, can reduce appetite slightly,” Beaver explained, but more high-quality research is needed before any of this is definitive.

If you find that apple cider vinegar helps with your weight goals, Politi said, it’s OK to keep using it, but “exercise and what you eat are more important than having apple cider vinegar in the morning.”

Vinegar is acidic, which can cause problems if not consumed properly.

“If a patient comes to my office and they are very enthusiastic about apple cider vinegar and they really think it’s helpful, I would just make sure … that they have it in a way that is not going to erode their tooth enamel,” Politi said.

Don’t drink apple cider vinegar on its own. Instead, add the apple cider vinegar to a cup of water, Beaver suggested. Politi noted that you should drink the diluted vinegar mixture with a straw to avoid direct contact with your teeth.

You should also talk to your doctor before adding any supplement to your wellness routine because even the mildest-seeming ingredient (like apple cider vinegar) can carry a risk. Specifically, folks with low potassium or gastroparesis, or people taking diuretics, laxatives and certain blood pressure medications, should not take apple cider vinegar, Zumpano explained.

Beaver would not endorse apple cider vinegar for folks with upper gastrointestinal issues, such as nausea or upset stomach. She added that it can be particularly irritating if taken on an empty stomach, too.

Experts are torn on whether they’d recommend apple cider vinegar to a patient. Politi would not, Beaver would recommend it to people with Type 2 diabetes and Zumpano would recommend it to her patients. But the recommendations come with a grain of salt.

“There are some clinically proven benefits … although the science is weak,” Zumpano added.

There are more effective ways to manage things like high cholesterol and high blood sugar, and to treat gut health.

“It’s not a magic bullet. Things like lifestyle change and exercise are going to be more impactful, and I would much rather them do sustainable lifestyle, sustainable behavior change that sets them up for success for years to come,” Beaver said.

Again, apple cider vinegar is also not a replacement for medication or doctor-prescribed behaviors. Though it can be a nice supplement for some folks, it likely isn’t going to change your life the way exercise, diet and medication can.