everything i’ve read or watched about ACV seems to always add a disclaimer that there are very few studies on the benefits of ACV therefore any medicinal claims shouldn’t be taken as gospel. of course there are the people that stand by the good effects it has on them so the division is clear between science, and personal experience. i’ve read that ACV has been used for 3-4000 years now and has been a home remedy for a couple hundred. so why, despite the long existence of ACV and its use as a home remedy, does barely anyone study its claims (on humans)?
Out of curiosity, what would you say are the precise effects that should be tested? Often these health claims are quite vague, so it’s hard to know what should be tested.
In saying that, I believe there are already some decent research showing that it help to blunt glucose spikes (this is vinegar in general, not ACV specifically).
Right, because there really is a lack scientific evidence supporting the benefits of ACV.
Anecdotal observations are just that…anecdotal.
The problem with individuals connecting something like ACV to some end result is that they aren’t controlling for any other variable that could be having an effect on the outcome. It is very unscientific.
People swear up and down that low carb is the way to go, while another group will swear up and down that low fat is the way to go. Actual scientific research comparing the two says it doesn’t matter. When you get to the 6-month to a year range, the two diets are head to head. And it’s not even really about low carb or low fat. It’s about eating more whole, minimally processed foods and being more active throughout the day.
This is also, BTW, why it’s true that what works for one person doesn’t work for someone else.
I’m convinced it’s bunk. Ask yourself why vinegars made from apples are so special. You can make vinegar from anything you can make into booze. Sugar cane, rice, malted barley, wine grapes, etc. I’m convinced it comes down to the mystique and marketing of Bragg company.
Just eat some apples and/or use vinegar in your cooking when you want that flavor.
Vinegar effect on blood sugar:
J B Kohn. Is vinegar an effective treatment for glycemic control or weight loss? J Acad Nutr Diet. 2015 Jul;115(7):1188.
P Mitrou, E Petsiou, E Papakonstantinou, E Maratou, V Lambadiari, P Dimitriadis, F Spanoudi, S A Raptis, G Dimitriadis. Vinegar Consumption Increases Insulin-Stimulated Glucose Uptake by the Forearm Muscle in Humans with Type 2 Diabetes. J Diabetes Res. 2015;2015:175204.
T Kondo, M Kishi, T Fushimi, S Ugajin, T Kaga. Vinegar intake reduces body weight, body fat mass, and serum triglyceride levels in obese Japanese subjects. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2009 Aug;73(8):1837-43.
J H O’Keefe, N M Gheewala, J O O’Keefe. Dietary strategies for improving post-prandial glucose, lipids, inflammation, and cardiovascular health. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2008 Jan 22;51(3):249-55.
C S Johnston, A J Buller. Vinegar and peanut products as complementary foods to reduce postprandial glycemia. J Am Diet Assoc. 2005 Dec;105(12):1939-42.
K Ebihara, A Nakajima. Effect of acetic acid and vinegar on blood glucose and insulin responses to orally administered sucrose and starch. May 1988.
C J Panetta, Y C Jonk, A C Shapiro. Prospective randomized clinical trial evaluating the impact of vinegar on lipids in non-diabetics. World J. Cardiovas. Dis. 3, 191-196. 2013.
J L Chiasson, R G Josse, R Gomis, M Hanefeld, A Karasik, M Laakso; STOP-NIDDM Trail Research Group. Acarbose for prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus: the STOP-NIDDM randomised trial. Lancet. 2002 Jun 15;359(9323):2072-7.
M Naissides, J C Mamo, A P James, S Pal. The effect of acute red wine polyphenol consumption on postprandial lipaemia in postmenopausal women. Atherosclerosis. 2004 Dec;177(2):401-8.
M Hanefeld, J L Chiasson, C Koehler, E Henkel, F Schaper, T Temelkova-Kurktschiev. Acarbose slows progression of intima-media thickness of the carotid arteries in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance. Stroke. 2004 May;35(5):1073-8. Epub 2004 Apr 8.
J L Chiasson, R G Josse, R Gomis, M Hanefeld, A Karasik, M Laakso; STOP-NIDDM Trial Research Group. Acarbose treatment and the risk of cardiovascular disease and hypertension in patients with impaired glucose tolerance: the STOP-NIDDM trial. JAMA. 2003 Jul 23;290(4):486-94.
DECODE Study Group, the European Diabetes Epidemiology Group. Glucose tolerance and cardiovascular mortality: comparison of fasting and 2-hour diagnostic criteria. Arch Intern Med. 2001 Feb 12;161(3):397-405.
A M Opperman, C S Venter, W Oosthuizen, R L Thompson, H H Vorster. Meta-analysis of the health effects of using the glycaemic index in meal-planning. Br J Nutr. 2004 Sep;92(3):367-81.
“Z Beheshti, Y H Chan, H S Nia, F Hajihosseini, R Nazari, M Shaabani, M T S Omran. Influence of apple cider vinegar on blood lipids. Life Science Journal 2012;9(4).
T C Wascher, I Schmoelzer, A Wiegratz, M Stuehlinger, D Mueller-Wieland, J Kotzka, M Enderle. Reduction of postchallenge hyperglycaemia prevents acute endothelial dysfunction in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance. Eur J Clin Invest. 2005 Sep;35(9):551-7.
G Livesey, R Taylor, H Livesey, S Liu. Is there a dose-response relation of dietary glycemic load to risk of type 2 diabetes? Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Mar;97(3):584-96.
J I Mann, L Te Morenga. Diet and diabetes revisited, yet again. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Mar;97(3):453-4.
J Fan, Y Song, Y Wang, R Hui, W Zhang. Dietary glycemic index, glycemic load, and risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and stroke mortality: a systematic review with meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2012;7(12):e52182.
S H Holt, J C Miller, P Petocz. An insulin index of foods: the insulin demand generated by 1000-kJ portions of common foods. Am J Clin Nutr. 1997 Nov;66(5):1264-76.
E A Gale. Lessons from the glitazones: a story of drug development. Lancet. 2001 Jun 9;357(9271):1870-5.
The reason there isn’t a bunch of studies, is because there isn’t a ton of money to be made from it. ACV is fairly cheap and plentiful. Therefore, not a lot of investors interested in funding research.
I’ve had digestive benefits. Especially from reflux. Learned the hard way how much damage a PPIs drug can do to your health as well as the false/lacking claims that high stomach acid causes reflux.
I take it before meals, table spoon in 100ml+ water, using a straw. Has helped with digestion to the point I question what life was like before it. “It’s placebo” is a common tout response, placebo ain’t that strong or valid as a counter since its hard to even prove that effect in a given scenario. Vinegar itself has many benefits to digestion, so why wouldn’t ACV not atleast have the basic benefits.
The probiotic side is also helpful for weaker guts.
Is there studies to back this? Not that much, but that doesn’t automatically make the thousands of people seeing benefits wrong.
However. One thing I deteste. There is no benefit for weight loss. That would require big scale effects that it simply can’t do.
I think the common problem regarding nutrition is the very specifc biochemical pathways we have. Although much is known about the human body and we do all share the obvious genetic blueprint, we are still unique individuals with vastly different lifestyles and environments. We could have two biologically identical humans and put them in completely different environments (different nutriënt bioavailability, different activity level) and their body’s could, and have shown to, metabolize the same nutriënts differently according to what in mkst cases is the most efficiënt.
That’s in my opinion just the tip of the iceberg of what makes very specific food recommendations or nutriënt based claims very difficult to research. Think about the amount of people and recources it would cost to put such large scale studies in place. Like, in theory this COULD be researched on a large scale and show very interesting results, it is just not profitable/important enough to society as a whole.
Vinegar effect on arterial function:
F B Hu, M J Stampfer, J E Manson, E B Rimm, A Wolk, G A Colditz, C H Hennekens, W C Willett. Dietary intake of alpha-linolenic acid and risk of fatal ischemic heart disease among women. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999 May;69(5):890-7.
F Brighenti, G Castellani, L Benini, M C Casiraghi, E Leopardi, R Crovetti, G Testolin. Effect of neutralized and native vinegar on blood glucose and acetate responses to a mixed meal in healthy subjects. Eur J Clin Nutr. 1995 Apr;49(4):242-7.
M Iizuka, M Tani, Y Kishimoto, E Saita, M Toyozaki, K Kondo. Inhibitory effects of balsamic vinegar on LDL oxidation and lipid accumulation in THP-1 macrophages. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 2010;56(6):421-7.
S Sakakibara, R Murakami, M Takahashi, T Fushimi, T Murohara, M Kishi, Y Kajimoto, M Kitakaze, T Kaga. Vinegar intake enhances flow-mediated vasodilatation via upregulation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2010;74(5):1055-61.
R A Vogel, M C Corretti, G D Plotnick. The postprandial effect of components of the Mediterranean diet on endothelial function. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2000 Nov 1;36(5):1455-60.
P J Ong, T S Dean, C S Hayward, P L Della Monica, T A Sanders, P Collins. Effect of fat and carbohydrate consumption on endothelial function. Lancet. 1999 Dec 18-25;354(9196):2134.
H O Steinberg, M Tarshoby, R Monestel, G Hook, J Cronin, A Johnson, B Bayazeed, A D Baron. Elevated circulating free fatty acid levels impair endothelium-dependent vasodilation. J Clin Invest. 1997 Sep 1;100(5):1230-9.
S Agewall, S Wright, R N Doughty, G A Whalley, M Duxbury, N Sharpe. Does a glass of red wine improve endothelial function? Eur Heart J. 2000 Jan;21(1):74-8.
R A Vogel, M C Corretti, G D Plotnick. Effect of a single high-fat meal on endothelial function in healthy subjects. Am J Cardiol. 1997 Feb 1;79(3):350-4.
A A Chaves, M S Joshi, C M Coyle, J E Brady, S J Dech, B L Schanbacher, R Baliga, A Basuray, J A Bauer. Vasoprotective endothelial effects of a standardized grape product in humans. Vascul Pharmacol. 2009 Jan-Feb;50(1-2):20-6.
B Cortés, I Núñez, M Cofán, R Gilabert, A Pérez-Heras, E Casals, R Deulofeu, E Ros. Acute effects of high-fat meals enriched with walnuts or olive oil on postprandial endothelial function. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2006 Oct 17;48(8):1666-71.
A Rodriguez-Mateos, C Rendeiro, T Bergillos-Meca, S Tabatabaee, T W George, C Heiss, J P Spencer. Intake and time dependence of blueberry flavonoid-induced improvements in vascular function: a randomized, controlled, double-blind, crossover intervention study with mechanistic insights into biological activity. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Nov;98(5):1179-91.
Here are some videos explaining the results of studies on Apple cider vinegar. Please note that a person can take too much, and it’s recommended to limit it to a couple tablespoons a day.
https://nutritionfacts.org/topics/apple-cider-vinegar/
That’s how I feel about collagen protein. None of the collagen products on the market where studied by the FDA. I saw an infomercial on antigen protein collagen this morning & it was insanity. They said it would cure arthritis & prevent wrinkles & prevent you from losing your hair but the very last 5 seconds was ‘ this product has not approved by the FDA’….. 😵💫
ACV has all sorts of health benefits - from supporting digestion, reducing inflammation, improving skin quality, etc. Throughout my MMA career (amateur), specifically weight cutting, we took shots of this to help with balancing out / normalizing blood sugar levels. I noticed a significant difference when I would and wouldn’t take it. I wouldn’t feel as dizzy, curb my appetite a little bit, and would feel I had more sustained levels of energy. It is also a prebiotic, meaning it feeds healthy gut bacteria and aids in a healthier gut microbiome composition.
Because it can’t be monetized. That’s the reason. No one will invest time, effort, and capital to create clinical trial experiments to test efficacy and health benefits of ACV if they then don’t own the exclusive rights to sell ACV at a price that then creates a profit.