It has many health benefits, such as lowering blood sugar levels. But can adding apple cider vinegar to your diet also help you lose weight.
What Is Apple Cider Vinegar?
Apple cider vinegar comes from apples that have been crushed, distilled, and then fermented.It can be consumed in small quantities or taken as a supplement. Its high levels of acetic acid, or perhaps other compounds responsible for health benefits.
Acetic acid is the main active component of apple cider vinegar. Also known as ethanoic acid, it is an organic compound with a sour taste and strong odor.The term acetic comes from acetum, the Latin word for vinegar.
About 5–6% of apple cider vinegar consists of acetic acid. It also contains water and trace amounts of other acids, such as malic acid.One tablespoon (15 ml) of apple cider vinegar contains about three calories and virtually no carbs.
What can the apple cider vinegar diet do for you?
Lowers blood sugar levels: Acetic acid improved the ability of the liver and muscles to take up sugar from the blood.
Decreases insulin levels: Acetic acid also reduced the ratio of insulin to glucagon, It can help for fat burning.
Benefits for Metabolism : Acetic acid showed an increase in the enzyme AMPK, which boosts fat burning and decreases fat and sugar production in the liver.
Reduces fat storage: Treating obese, diabetic rats with acetic acid or acetate protected them from weight gain and increased the expression of genes that reduced belly fat storage and liver fat.
Burns fat: Acetic acid found a significant increase in the genes responsible for fat burning, which led to less body fat buildup.
Suppresses appetite: Another study suggests acetate may suppress centers in your brain that control appetite, which can lead to reduced food intake.
Although the results of animal studies look promising, research is needed in humans to confirm these effects.
Is there a downside to the apple cider vinegar diet?
For diets with high vinegar content, a few warnings are in order:
- Vinegar should be diluted. Its high acidity can damage tooth enamel
- It has been reported to cause or worsen low potassium levels. That’s particularly important for people taking medications that can lower potassium (such as common diuretics taken to treat high blood pressure).
- Vinegar can alter insulin levels. People with diabetes should be particularly cautious about a high vinegar diet.
- its appetite-suppressing effects, apple cider vinegar has also been shown to slow the rate at which food leaves your stomach.
- In another small study, taking apple cider vinegar with a starchy meal significantly slowed stomach emptying. This led to increased feelings of fullness and lowered blood sugar and insulin levels
- Gastroparesis, or delayed stomach emptying, is a common complication of type 1 diabetes. Timing insulin with food intake becomes problematic because it is difficult to predict how long it will take for blood sugar to rise after a meal.
Those who consumed 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of vinegar per day had on average the following benefits:
- Weight loss: 2.6 pounds (1.2 kg)
- Decrease in body fat percentage: 0.7%
- Decrease in waist circumference: 0.5 in (1.4 cm)
- Decrease in triglycerides: 26%
This is what changed in those consuming 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of vinegar per day:
- Weight loss: 3.7 pounds (1.7 kg)
- Decrease in body fat percentage: 0.9%
- Decrease in waist circumference: 0.75 in (1.9 cm)
- Decrease in triglycerides: 26%
Apart from promoting weight and fat loss, apple cider vinegar has several other benefits:
Lowers fasting blood sugar: In a study in people with type 2 diabetes, those who took apple cider vinegar with a high-protein evening snack had twice the decrease in fasting blood sugar as those who didn’t.
Improves PCOS symptoms: In a small study of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) who took vinegar for 90–110 days, 57% resumed ovulation, likely due to improved insulin sensitivity.
Decreases cholesterol levels: Apple cider vinegar increased “good” HDL cholesterol. It also reduced “bad” LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.
Lowers blood pressure: Vinegar may decrease blood pressure by inhibiting the enzyme responsible for constricting blood vessels.
Kills harmful bacteria and viruses: Vinegar fights bacteria that can cause food poisoning, including E. coli. In one study, vinegar reduced numbers of certain bacteria by 90% and some viruses by 95%.
An easy method is to use it with olive oil as a salad dressing. It proves particularly tasty with leafy greens, cucumbers and tomatoes.It can also be used for pickling vegetables, or you can simply mix it into water and drink it.
The amount of apple cider vinegar used for weight loss is 1–2 tablespoons (15-30 ml) per day, mixed with water.
It is best to spread this out into 2–3 doses throughout the day, and it may be best to drink it before meals.
Do not take more than 1 tablespoon (15 ml) at a time, because taking too much at one sitting may cause nausea.
It’s important to mix it with water, as undiluted vinegar may burn the inside of your mouth and esophagus.