Apple cider vinegar-good, bad or indifferent?

KrisJ125
KrisJ125 Posts: 93 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Can someone explain to me how drinking a mild acid is beneficial? There are claims that it helps with weight loss--is this true? If so, how does it work? I just saw a video claiming that it helps to depress your insulin response if you take it before a meal. Any validity to that one? Any opinions, facts or anecdotal evidence on this topic would be appreciated.

Replies

  • Theo166
    Theo166 Posts: 2,564 Member
    I think it works more like a sugar pill than a legit treatment.

    I've seem some research indicating increased weight loss. They claimed it caused increased 'fullness' with high carb meals.

    Most of the other health benefits seem to be attributed to the cloudy bits in the raw/unfiltered product. Many supportive research studies are too small in size to be trustworthy IMHO.
  • Speakeasy76
    Speakeasy76 Posts: 961 Member
    So I decided to just try diluted ACV not for weight loss, but for digestion. I'm often bloated and gassy, so I thought maybe if I drank it before dinner (I drink Kombucha before lunch) it would help. I think I am less bloated, but is i the ACV? I don't know.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    Good! For taste in many dishes, not any special health effects. I'd ignore claims about drinking it and explore how you can use it in salad dressings, with cabbage or collards, with pork, etc.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    I consumed Bragg's ACV regularly for a few years for something other than weight loss. It didn't help with either issue.
  • goal06082021
    goal06082021 Posts: 2,130 Member
    It's not a magic elixir, but like, it tastes good so use it on food if you want to. Drinking it straight is probably not necessary and also probably bad for your teeth.
  • gigius72
    gigius72 Posts: 183 Member
    KrisJ125 wrote: »
    Can someone explain to me how drinking a mild acid is beneficial? There are claims that it helps with weight loss--is this true? If so, how does it work? I just saw a video claiming that it helps to depress your insulin response if you take it before a meal. Any validity to that one? Any opinions, facts or anecdotal evidence on this topic would be appreciated.

    https://youtu.be/6fOkmbgXO0g
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,620 Member
    goal06082021 wrote: »
    It's not a magic elixir, but like, it tastes good so use it on food if you want to. Drinking it straight is probably not necessary and also probably bad for your teeth.

    Not uniquely.

    ACV at the standard commercial 5% acidity has a pH of 3.3 to 3.5, which is very acidic. Nonetheless, even undiluted, it's less acidic than many common beverages**, such as Gatorade Lemon-Lime (pH 2.97), Kool-Aid Grape (pH 2.83) or Dr. Pepper (pH 2.88), among many, many others. Diluted, ACV's pH is higher (more neutral). All of these things are bad for teeth, but ACV is far from uniquely so. On top of that, few people drink undiluted vinegar in the same volume as those other types of drinks.

    ** Cite for relevant American Dental Association research:

    https://www.ada.org/en/~/media/ADA/PublicPrograms/Files/JADA_The pH of beverages in the United States

    (NOTE: Unfortunately, the URL may not appear correctly as a link for all viewers because of the embedded blanks. You may need to cut'n'paste it into your browser if you want to read the ADA article about acidity of common beverages.).

    Yes, I do drink ACV, for (speculative) reasons having nothing to do with weight loss. (I do actually like the stuff - wouldn't drink it if I thought it was unpleasant.) For my purposes, any raw/unpasteurized vinegar would do, but ACV is the easiest to find in raw form (and may taste better straight, too, since that apple-y fruitiness is nice IMO).

    I drank it for weeks at a time during weight loss, and avoided it completely for other weeks at a time. Personally, I saw zero effect on either appetite or weight loss rate, when I compared experience/results during those different time periods. 🤷‍♀️ The research suggesting otherwise, that I've seen, is IMO of lukewarm quality at best.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    For weight loss it is worthless but it may help with gut health...
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    goal06082021 wrote: »
    It's not a magic elixir, but like, it tastes good so use it on food if you want to. Drinking it straight is probably not necessary and also probably bad for your teeth.

    Sigh, I want to believe in magic again....
  • Dilvish
    Dilvish Posts: 398 Member
    edited February 2021
    the jury is still out. more study needs to be done on it. I know a fellow who is 88 this year who swims 10 laps (250 metres total) every day and he drinks ACV every day as well he swears by it as something that keeps him youthful!! He doesn't use it for weight loss but at his age it must be doing something beneficial !!!

    Personally I look at it this way - if it was proven to help with weight loss, it would be flying off the shelves faster than face masks and toilet paper
  • KrisJ125
    KrisJ125 Posts: 93 Member
    Thanks, everyone for your responses. It was mostly what I expected to hear.
  • eels4peels00
    eels4peels00 Posts: 41 Member
    USE IT WHEN COOKING GREENS TO TAKE THE BITTERNESS OUT!
  • ben_100
    ben_100 Posts: 70 Member
    If you venture to the fridge alot ...snacking...having a swig of acv followed immediately by water..will stop that urge to eat in its tracks...
    I also took this to prevent gout.. perhaps curbing appetite helped

  • n95girl
    n95girl Posts: 10 Member
    I use it every single day. It is great for the gut as is anything fermented. Most people do not chew their food well and with the use of heavy carbohydrates in the form of grains and starches they often have bad bacteria/fungi/yeast and microbes growing in the gut and their stomachs become alkaline. It can kill pathogens and bad bacteria growing in food and the gut. Acid reflux is actually the gut not acid enough to break down the food so it helps in balancing acid in the stomach for digestion also. I have heard information on it helping stabilise blood sugars. It also has anti inflammatory property's to the gut.
  • Whatsthemotive
    Whatsthemotive Posts: 145 Member
    Interesting discussion. Thank you. I have reflux. Maybe I’ll try it.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    edited February 2021
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    KrisJ125 wrote: »
    Can someone explain to me how drinking a mild acid is beneficial? There are claims that it helps with weight loss--is this true? If so, how does it work? I just saw a video claiming that it helps to depress your insulin response if you take it before a meal. Any validity to that one? Any opinions, facts or anecdotal evidence on this topic would be appreciated.

    It doesn't do anything for weight loss. It also doesn't depress your insulin response per sei...but taken before a meal it does help to stabilize and keep blood glucose lower...a glass of red wine does the same. That could be of some benefit for a diabetic, but pretty irrelevant to an otherwise healthy person. You also wouldn't want something to depress your body's insulin response...a depressed insulin response is exactly what type II diabetics have. The non pasteurized ACV is also probiotic as are all fermented foods and yogurt.

    In a nutshell, there's nothing magical about ACV and it doesn't provide you with anything that can't be found in other foods. It is delicious in homemade dressings and it is my preferred vinegar for anything BBQ.

    I am a type 2 diabetic who tests blood glucose after meals and regularly eats the exact same breakfast. I tried ACV before breakfast for about two weeks out of curiosity and if it had any effect it was not detected by me.

    Incidentally a glass of red wine before a meal would definitely NOT help to stabilize my blood glucose - the quick carbs in it would cause my blood glucose to shoot up.

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,679 Member
    Whatsthemotive wrote: »
    Interesting discussion. Thank you. I have reflux. Maybe I’ll try it.

    I had the acid reflux from hell. We’re talking barf bags and spare panties in the purse, changes of clothes in the car, waking up choking on acid and unable to breath, mortifyingly embarassing public reflux “incidents”, the whole nine yards.

    I tried it all, including ACV and all sorts of medications and supplements.

    The only thing that gave any relief was simple weight loss.

    SMH. I could kick myself for having put it off so long. Years of unnecessary, miserably miserable misery.

    TL:DR don’t waste your time with ACV for reflux.


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