A favourite of wellness influencers and alternative health proponents, apple cider vinegar is back in the zeitgeist after a new Netflix series of the same name.
The series dramatises the life of the infamous scammer and disgraced wellness influencer Belle Gibson.
Her dubious statements went far beyond the purported benefits of apple cider vinegar. She falsely claimed she had cancer, and that she was donating large amounts of money to charity.
But what about apple cider vinegar itself? Are there any real benefits to consuming it, or should it be treated with a large dose of scepticism?
What’s in apple cider vinegar?
As the name suggests, apple cider vinegar is made by fermenting apples.
Like other vinegars, its main component — besides water — is acetic acid, which is formed from sugars fermented by bacteria in the vinegar.
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Those bacteria, and the apples, leave behind a collection of other molecules that give the vinegar its distinctive flavour.
“It’s used a lot in vegan cooking because it adds certain flavour profiles,” University of South Australia nutrition researcher Evangeline Mantzioris says.
“When people make things like baked vegan cheeses, adding apple cider vinegar as opposed to lemon juice or normal vinegar gives it an extra funkiness that’s associated with the bacteria.”
Does it have any health benefits?
The body of evidence in favour of apple cider vinegar is small compared to the level of hype it gets on social media.
“There really are not enough studies that show significant benefits to health,” Katrina Kissock, a nutrition researcher at the George Institute for Global Health, says.
The evidence that does exist is tentatively positive, Dr Mantzioris says.
“The research that has been done has shown that people who have been given apple cider vinegar to consume often have improvements in blood glucose control.”
But there’s a lot of noise in the data, she cautions. Participants have been given anywhere between a few teaspoons and nearly 800 millilitres of apple cider vinegar a day in different studies. Plus, participants’ diets, genetics, and exercise levels can all interfere with the results.
Even scanter evidence links apple cider vinegar with a few other positive health indicators, such as lower cholesterol, Dr Kissock says.
“There has been an indication that it might lead to weight loss, but there really is no consistent evidence that shows this amongst the literature.”
There are a few components in apple cider vinegar that might cause these small benefits.
The fermentation process produces compounds called prebiotics, which Dr Kissock says are helpful for gut health. There are also very small amounts of other nutrients present, such as iron and magnesium.
The acetic acid, meanwhile, neutralises enzymes in your mouth that start to break down carbohydrates, Dr Mantzioris says.
“That means when the carbohydrate gets into your intestine, it needs more time to be broken down and digested into individual sugar units.”
But this isn’t a special property of apple cider vinegar.
“Using any sort of vinegar with your salads, or having lemon juice on food, can have the same impact,” she says.
And a lot of the benefits of these components can be obtained by consuming a diet that mostly consists of whole foods, like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds.
So it doesn’t hurt to add it to your meals, but you’re not missing much by avoiding it.
“What this really tells us is that plant-based foods are healthy for us,” Dr Mantzioris says.
“If you like having apple cider vinegar in your meals, fine … if you’re solely seeking to have apple cider vinegar to reduce your blood glucose levels, there’s probably a whole lot of other things you can do in your diet as well.”
Any more extraordinary claims should be taken with a grain of salt, Dr Kissock says.
“There are no studies to my knowledge that look at apple cider vinegar consumption and cancer in humans.”
Does apple cider vinegar have any risks?
“It tastes awful,” Dr Mantzioris says.
More seriously — or if you happen to like the flavour — it can harm your teeth.
“Because it’s so acidic, it can destroy your tooth enamel,” Dr Mantzioris says, “so people need to be careful about how they consume it.”
As seen on the Netflix series, influencers often tout drinking apple cider vinegar straight. If you’re going to copy this, Dr Mantzioris recommends using a straw and rinsing your mouth out after, to lower the risk to your teeth.
This is true of other acidic drinks, including lemon water — another favourite of wellness influencers.
The acidity of apple cider vinegar might also interfere with medications.
“If people are on medication and they want to use it, they should probably talk to their doctor first,” Dr Mantizioris says.
Beyond your teeth apple cider vinegar might cause a few uncomfortable symptoms — again, because of its acidity. Dr Kissock says that drinking it might damage the oesophagus, which connects your mouth with your stomach.
“The acidity can also lead to other stomach upsets, or even acid reflux,” she says.
“There was one study that I came across that does report an increase in burping and flatulence from apple cider vinegar.”
There isn’t enough evidence to say how much apple cider vinegar is too much, but Dr Kissock points out that many of the health benefits of apple cider vinegar come into play when you’re eating it with other foods.
“When it comes, particularly, to blood sugar levels, you want to consume it at the same time as a meal rather than individually.”
So, while it’s fine to add to your salad dressing, apple cider vinegar is not the fix a lot of people hope it is, Dr Mantzioris says.
“It’s not going to be the magic cure.”
