Apple cider vinegar: what a daily spoonful can and cannot do

Apple cider vinegar has been a kitchen cure all for about as long as there have been apples and barrels. These days it is sold in gummies and shots as well as bottles, with claims that range from reasonable to wild. The real picture is more modest, and still worth knowing.

What it is

Apple cider vinegar starts as crushed apples. Yeast turns the sugar into alcohol, then acetic acid bacteria turn the alcohol into acetic acid, which gives vinegar its bite. Most good ones land at 4 to 6 percent acidity. Raw, unfiltered vinegar keeps a cloudy, stringy sediment called the mother, a mix of bacteria and cellulose left over from fermentation. It is a sign the vinegar has not been pasteurised or heavily filtered. Whether the mother itself does much for your health has not been well studied, though plenty of people prefer it for taste and for its less processed nature.

Blood sugar: the strongest evidence

The best supported effect is on the blood sugar rise after a meal. Several small studies have found that one to two tablespoons of vinegar, diluted and taken with or just before a meal high in starch, lowers the spike that follows. Acetic acid seems to slow how fast the stomach empties and how quickly starch is broken down. The effect is real but modest, and it does not replace diet, movement or medication for anyone with diabetes.

Weight and appetite

This is where the marketing gets ahead of the science. A few trials have shown a small drop in weight, in the order of one or two kilos over three months, in people who also changed little else. Some people feel fuller after a vinegar drink, which may partly explain it. It is a small helper at best.

As for detoxing, alkalising the body or melting fat, there is no good evidence for any of them. Your liver and kidneys handle detoxing, and your blood pH is held steady no matter what you drink.

Digestion and reflux

Many people swear a vinegar drink before dinner helps their digestion, and a common online claim is that reflux comes from too little stomach acid, so more acid will fix it. There is no good research behind that idea. For some people vinegar makes heartburn worse, not better. If you have reflux that keeps coming back, see your GP rather than treating it yourself, since ongoing reflux can damage the oesophagus over time.

How to take it without damaging your teeth

Vinegar is an acid, and taken neat it can erode tooth enamel and irritate the throat. A few habits keep it safe:

• Dilute one to two tablespoons in a large glass of water, around 250ml or more
• Drink it through a straw, and rinse your mouth with plain water afterwards
• Wait at least 30 minutes before brushing, so you are not scrubbing softened enamel
• Never take it straight from the spoon or as an undiluted shot

The easiest way to get it into your day is with food. Use it in a salad dressing with olive oil and mustard, splash it into lentils or slaw, or make a switchel by mixing it with water, grated ginger and a little honey over ice. Any of these, eaten with a starchy meal, gives you the same benefit as a vinegar shot without the wince.

Timing matters if blood sugar is your reason for taking it. The studies give vinegar just before or with a meal that contains carbohydrate, such as bread, rice or pasta. A glass first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, hours before you eat, is unlikely to do much for the meal that follows. Outside the kitchen, a tablespoon in a cup of water makes a simple rinse that leaves hair shiny after shampoo.

Gummies and capsules

Gummies are popular because they skip the taste, but most contain far less acetic acid than a tablespoon of vinegar, and many add sugar, which works against the main reason people take it. Capsules avoid the taste and the teeth issue, and suit people who cannot face the liquid. Check how much vinegar each serve really provides.

Choosing a bottle

Look for raw, unpasteurised and unfiltered if you want the mother, and an acidity around 5 percent. Australian made vinegar from local apples is easy to find now, much of it from Tasmania and the Adelaide Hills, and organic or biodynamic versions mean the apples were grown without synthetic sprays. Glass bottles store better than plastic.

Talk to your GP before taking apple cider vinegar every day if you have diabetes and take insulin or other blood sugar medication, take diuretics or heart medication such as digoxin, or have reflux, stomach ulcers or slow stomach emptying. Stop if it causes throat or stomach discomfort.

What we keep on the shelf

Wild Mother Tasmania Organic Australian Apple Cider Vinegar, 750ml

Gaga's Australian Apple Cider Vinegar, 750ml

Mock Red Hill Biodynamic Apple Cider Vinegar, 500ml

Pyewacket's Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, 500ml

Nature's Help Apple Cider Vinegar Capsules, 60

Honest to Goodness Raw Honey, 500g

The Wild Mother, Mock Red Hill and Pyewacket's bottles are unfiltered and keep the mother, and the raw honey is there for your switchel. If you are looking at the gut more broadly, our post on eating more fibre is a good companion read. More is under Vinegars and Dressings, or come in to 936 Anzac Parade, Maroubra.