Today, we will be looking at the idea that apple cider vinegar is effective for fat loss or weight loss.
What is apple cider vinegar?
Apple cider vinegar so apple cider vinegar is made by basically taking a bunch of apples, just crushing them down and then squeezing out the liquid. Then you add yeast which ferments the natural sugars found in the apples to alcohol and then you add bacteria which converts the alcohol to acetic acid basically vinegar. This process isn’t unique to apples, you can make vinegar from really any fermentable carbs force including grapes, coconuts, potatoes, maple syrup, wine, and the list goes on.
Now, it makes apple cider vinegar special for some of its advocates is the so-called “Mother”. This is basically a stringy goop found in the unfiltered version which supposedly contains enzymes responsible for some of its health effects.
What about vinegar and fat loss?
There’s really only one high-quality study done on this and it’s a 2009 study which took 175 obese Japanese subjects and split them into one of three groups. One group got no vinegar but they made a taste like vinegar to control for placebo effects. Another group got 15 milliliters so about a tablespoon of vinegar and the third group got thirty milliliters. So about two tablespoons of vinegar and they consume that every day split between breakfast and supper for 12 weeks.
At the end of the 12 weeks, body weight and body fat were significantly lower in both vinegar groups than the placebo group. This was despite there being no difference in calorie or macronutrient intake between the groups.
This led the authors to conclude that daily intake of vinegar might be useful in the prevention of metabolic syndrome by reducing obesity and they highlight AMPK mediated inhibition of lipid Genesis or fad formation as a potential mechanism of action.
So here we have a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study showing a pretty good effect with a seemingly reasonable mechanism of action. So there could be something to it but “I think there’s also a lot of room for skepticism with this study” for one the subjects were obese meaning, the results may not extrapolate well if at all two healthy lean folks.
Also in a four-week follow-up after the study ended all three groups had just gained all their weight back anyway and finally the study used a self-reported diet diary to record energy intake which is just universally recognized as being notoriously unreliable and inaccurate for calorie reporting.
Benefits
Lowers blood sugar
This was highlighted in a 2017 meta-analysis, looking at 11 studies, There was a significant effect for both glucose and insulin response in favor of the vinegar group is worth noting that five of these comparisons did, in fact, use apple cider vinegar. Despite impressive results here, these effects are generally larger in subjects with diabetes or insulin resistance and I think this is where apple cider vinegar probably has its most practical significance.
Best carbs to take with apple cider vinegar
Also, apple cider vinegar anti glycemic effect appears to be somewhat ironically dependent on the type of carbohydrate you’re consuming. it’s much more effective when taken with complex carbohydrates where the glycemic response will be much lower anyway and it doesn’t seem to work really at all in response to simple sugar consumption where it might actually be quite helpful. This is due to the fact that it seems to work by inhibiting starch digestion meaning it’s really only going to be effective when you’re eating starchy complex carbohydrates.
Acne problem
Apparently, it can help dry out pimples but because of the smell and risk of chemical burns experts recommend using safer and more effective methods than vinegar when it comes to skin care.
Digestion
It also might help with digestion. Insofar as it’s possible that the mother is prebiotic meaning it promotes the growth of healthy bacteria in the gut but as I alluded to earlier eating an actual apple is likely to contain much more prebiotics than the mother of apple.
Rich in Vitamins
Apple cider vinegar in a large number of vitamin antioxidant agents can promote metabolism.
Anti-aging
The antioxidant substances contained in apple vinegar can inhibit the formation of peroxides in the human body, relieve the aging of cells, and have a good anti-aging effect.
Conclusion
I would say that apple cider vinegar and all of the type is pretty much busted, this is mostly because the more credible claims around blood glucose and insulin control are just not unique to apple cider vinegar, just plain old vinegar works just as well. These benefits might only be relevant to those already with or at risk of disordered glucose control anyway.
Despite the fact that there is that one single study you know these subjects showing a slight edge in weight loss we already know that weight loss is ultimately determined by the balance between the calories you’re eating versus those you’re expending.
It may improve feelings of fullness after a meal but this is simply due to feeling nauseous. So I would say strategies like just eating higher fiber foods drinking more water at meals or simply eating more slowly or more reasonable and as for all the other stuff I think just eating an apple is a healthier more sensible option.
IN THIS POST:
Weight Loss:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26115563
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19661687
Glucose Control/ Insulin Sensitivity:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25168916
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20068289
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28292654
Appetite and Satiety:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23979220
Tooth Whitening:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15693499
