You’ve heard of ACV as a superfood to help with detoxification, digestive health, skin issues, managing yeast infections, cancer, diabetes, and for weight loss. What’s the truth about apple cider vinegar and weight loss? Is it safe, what are the benefits? And what about those apple cider vinegar gummies?
We’ll start by talking about what is apple cider vinegar, the evidence behind apple cider vinegar and weight loss, if there are any health benefits of apple cider vinegar, how much is safe to drink/day, and apple cider vinegar gummies.
First, what is apple cider vinegar?
ACV is made by crushed apples and yeast mixed together. This allows fermentation to happen (the same process to make miso, sauerkraut, kimchi). The sugars in the apple allow the yeast to work. The fermentation process produces acetic acid as the end result. This produces apple cider vinegar and the acetic acid gives the sour smell and flavor.
The “vinegar” or “acetic acid” aspect is what gives the health benefits.
You can ferment other foods that contain sugar such as grapes, bananas, and even maple syrup to get a vinegar.
Because apple cider vinegar is fermented, you might ask yourself if it is probiotic?
The answer is that it does contain some bacteria that is in fermentation however it’s not clear with research the probiotic effect in ACC and how much probiotics is in it. There’s no regulations for amount of probiotics in ACV.
If you’re eating it for probiotics, go for yogurt with probiotic claims or take a probiotic supplement. These forms tell you that there are LIVE probiotic cultures.
How about ACV and weight loss?
There is some evidence linking to SLIGHT weight loss from ACV consumption. HOWEVER, the weight loss for the subjects was modest and it’s not conclusive if it’s the taste of apple cider vinegar affecting appetite or the apple cider vinegar itself. If you’ve ever tried drinking ACV on it’s own, it’s hard to drink!
It’s very concentrated acidic taste and can make you want to throw up.
So, if not for weight loss, are there any proven benefits of drinking ACV?
There is some research that shows that ACV consumption can help improve blood sugar after a meal and insulin response. ACV blocks enzymes that digest the carbs eaten and cause a lower rise in blood sugar and insulin levels after eating. The acid also slows the stomach from emptying which means a slower release of of sugars entering into the blood.
Even though the evidence is there, it doesn’t mean you should drink ACV for BS management. Instead, you can manage your BS with the RIGHT foods at your meals. And if your taking meds for BS management, ACV is not a substitute.
However, if you decide to drink ACV, make sure to dilute first. There has been cases that ACV can burn your esophagus and the acidic nature can damage your teeth enamel.
You can drink it with your meal, so you mouth produce saliva to protect your teeth. ACV can also affect some medications- discuss with your pharmacist first, if you plan to take ACV regularly and in large amounts.
Also b/c of the acidic nature, vinegar can cause or make acid reflux worse.
Very popular right now is the ACV goli gummies such as from Goli Nutrition. There are other brands of ACV gummies, but I’m just mentioning this brand as it’s the most rated one from Amazon.
You may have seen this from Amazon, it’s also been sponsored by JLo and Alex Rodriguez.
The gummy form uses concentrated ACV plus a sweetener like sugar like sugar, “superfood” like beets or pomegranate, and pectin (to make it a gelly) and added B12 and B9 vitamins.
They are said to help with digestion, energy, clear skin, detox, immunity, digestive issues. Pretty big claims.
500mg of ACV is contained in each gummy. The studies I mentioned earlier have the subjects drinking at least 1 tbsp of ACV to see some results.
1 tbsp = 14780 mg, using the density of water
So, that would mean eating at least 74 gummies/day to get 1 tbsp of ACV.
That’s 73g of added sugar, based on the nutrition facts label, since 1 Goli gummie is 1g sugar. And also the first ingredient listed is sugar.
Therefore, the only proven benefit to date is blood sugar management with ACV, but if your consuming an excess of 73g of sugar in order to see some benefits, you’re actually doing more harm in the long run. Not to mention it’s not realistic or cost effective, 73 gummies is more than 1 bottle of these gummies/day, since each bottle contains 60 gummies. These ACV gummies are just really fancy gummy bears and no one should be eating 73 gummies/day, especially, every day.
So, to summarize, ACV may have some health benefits in reducing blood sugar levels but you can manage your blood sugar with food choices and lifestyle, there is minimal evidence to say it helps with weight management, and if you want to drink it, have it with a meal and dilute it with water or use it to make a vinegar dressing for your salad. You don’t need fancy ACV supplements.
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