Benji Jones: Wait, how zoomed-in are you?
The internet is good for many things,
but providing trusted
advice on natural remedies
is definitely not one of them,
especially when it comes
to apple cider vinegar.
A quick Google search will show you
that people use it for everything
from cleaning their teeth
to curing yeast infections.
So if people on the internet are doing it,
it's worth trying, right?
Definitely wrong.
Because not only is there little evidence
to support most of the uses
for apple cider vinegar,
but some of them are
straight-up bad for you.
Apple cider vinegar is
basically just fermented juice.
Yeast turns the sugars in
apple juice into alcohol,
and bacteria then turns that alcohol
into acetic acid, the chemical linked to
most of cider vinegar's alleged benefits.
But here's the thing:
This process isn't unique
to apple cider vinegar.
In fact, acetic acid is
in all types of vinegar,
from white wine to balsamic.
The main thing that makes
cider vinegar different
is that it might be easier to swallow
than a straight-up swig of balsamic.
And if you are so
inclined to gulp it down,
there's at least one benefit
you can look forward to.
Research shows that drinking
cider vinegar after a meal
may help lower your blood-sugar levels.
Edwin McDonald: So studies
have demonstrated that when
people eat a high-starch
meal and follow it
with a little bit of apple cider vinegar,
the blood sugars after eating those meals
may not go up as much compared
to when you eat placebo.
Jones: That's doctor and
trained chef Edwin McDonald.
He says that ingesting as little as
20 grams of apple cider vinegar
has been shown to slow the release of food
from your stomach into your intestines.
That's where your body breaks down
starches like pasta into sugars,
and as a result...
McDonald: You're not gonna
absorb those sugars as quickly.
So when you don't absorb
sugars as quickly,
your insulin levels
really don't rise as much,
and your blood sugar doesn't rise as much.
Jones: And that's great news for anyone
who's diabetic or pre-diabetic.
Now, despite what you read online,
it probably won't help you lose weight.
McDonald: I also run a
weight-management clinic,
and this question comes up all the time.
Jones: But lowering your blood
sugar after a meal is just
about the only benefit of
drinking apple cider vinegar.
Research does suggest that acetic acid
can slow down the accumulation of body fat
and prevent metabolic
disorders in mice and rats.
But there's little evidence
that it has the same effect on humans.
In one weight-loss
experiment, 30 volunteers
drank two tablespoons of
either apple cider vinegar,
malt vinegar, or a placebo drink,
twice a day, for two months straight,
and none of them lost weight.
In an older study with a similar design,
participants did lose weight,
but only about a third
of a pound each week,
which McDonald says isn't much.
But if not for weight loss,
what about using cider
vinegar to whiten your teeth?
McDonald: I caution people against that.
Jones: That's because
cider vinegar is an acid.
In fact, most brands
have a pH between 2 and 3,
which is similar to stomach acid,
so swishing it around in your mouth
can over time wear down the
enamel around your teeth,
leaving them feeling rough to the touch
and more susceptible
to cavities and decay.
Yikes.
Then there are the people who use
apple cider vinegar as
a shampoo replacement.
And as it turns out, there's actually
a pretty good reason for that.
Because cider vinegar is so
acidic, Dr. McDonald says
it can kill some of the microbes
that make your hair stink,
and it can also limit the population
of a type of fungus that
can lead to dandruff.
But there's a flip side.
Because cider vinegar is so acidic,
it can also burn or irritate your scalp.
So you should always dilute it with water.
Oh, and despite what you read online,
cider vinegar is not
effective against head lice.
In fact, one study found
that among six home remedies
that people use to eliminate lice,
like olive oil and mayonnaise,
apple cider vinegar is
the least effective.
None of them worked though.
The claims of what apple
cider vinegar can do
don't stop there.
Just keep in mind that at
least for now, none of them
is supported by a large
body of scientific research.
Now, of course, we're
not talking about taste.
When it comes to cooking,
there's no uncertainty:
Apple cider vinegar is delicious.
I use it all the time when making
dressing, pickles, and sauces.
Yes, I cook.
I just don't walk away from meals
thinking I've just swallowed
some ultimate cure-all.
