How does apple cider vinegar help with belly fat

How does apple cider vinegar help with belly fat

Apple cider vinegar has been used for its various medicinal properties for eons.

Image Credit: vonEisenstein/iStock/GettyImages

Trimming fat around your waistline has the potential not only to boost your self-confidence but also to reduce your risk for heart disease and diabetes. Belly fat can be stubborn, and consuming apple cider vinegar, along with diet and exercise, may help your efforts to shed the muffin top.

Tip

Although you can't target specific areas of your body for fat loss, using apple cider vinegar in conjunction with a healthy diet and regular exercise can help you lose fat all over, including belly fat.

Apple Cider Vinegar: Weight Loss

Acetic acid, one of the major components of apple cider vinegar, may help with weight loss because it may suppress fat accumulation. Consuming a daily dose of vinegar led to a lower body weight, waist circumference and abdominal fat mass, according to a 2009 study published in Bioscience, Biotechnology and Biochemistry.

The researchers hypothesized that the acetic acid was responsible for the change, but this does not mean apple cider vinegar is a magic bullet for burning fat. A healthy diet and exercise are the best ways to beat belly fat, and apple cider vinegar may give you a boost.

Apple Cider Vinegar: Belly Fat

Many health claims have been made about apple cider vinegar, but science does not back up all of them. One of the most well-studied properties of apple cider vinegar is its ability to improve insulin sensitivity. This is good news for diabetics, but it may also be helpful for those wanting to shed a few pounds. Insulin is a hormone that enables your body's cells to utilize energy from sugar in your bloodstream, but it is also a growth hormone.

When levels of insulin in your bloodstream are high — such as after consuming a high-carbohydrate meal — your body is more likely to store fat. If your body is resistant to insulin, it will produce more insulin in an attempt to reduce blood sugar levels. Consuming apple cider vinegar with a high-carbohydrate meal increases insulin sensitivity, according to a 2004 study published in Diabetes Care.

Apple Cider Vinegar Increases Satiety

The cornerstone of getting rid of belly fat and losing weight is to burn more calories than you take in. Cutting calories is often easier said than done, however. Apple cider vinegar may help you eat less by increasing your feelings of fullness after a meal. Subjects who consumed vinegar along with a bread meal reported increased satiety after the meal, according to a study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2005.

Another study published that year in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that when vinegar is consumed with a meal, calorie consumption throughout the rest of the day drops by 200 to 275 calories. Both studies used only small numbers of people, however, so the evidence is not conclusive.

Scientists aren't sure why apple cider vinegar may affect appetite — it could be related to increased insulin sensitivity, but it's also possible that the potent flavor kills appetite. If you consume a healthy, low-calorie diet full of fruits and vegetables, lean protein and whole grains, adding apple cider vinegar may help you resist the urge to overeat or snack between meals.

Apple Cider Vinegar Considerations

Apple cider vinegar is safe to consume every day, as side effects are extremely rare. In one case, a woman reported inflammation in her esophagus after consuming vinegar in an attempt to dislodge a piece of crab shell in her throat. Other extremely rare side effects are accidental aspiration of vinegar and high potassium levels with overly high daily doses.

Consult with your physician before you start any diet and exercise program. Be sure to dilute apple cider vinegar with water if you plan to drink it, or you can mix it with olive oil and use it as a zesty salad dressing.

How does apple cider vinegar help with belly fat

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People search for information on a wide variety of health topics in Google and other search engines. That’s no surprise.

But I was surprised to learn that "apple cider vinegar weight loss diet" (or sometimes called the apple cider vinegar detox) was among the fastest-rising health topic searches for Google in 2017. And then I found out that apple cider vinegar has been used medicinally for centuries!

Why the renewed interest? And, more importantly, does it work?

What is the apple cider vinegar diet?

Apple cider vinegar comes from apples that have been crushed, distilled, and then fermented. It can be consumed in small quantities or taken as a supplement. Its high levels of acetic acid, or perhaps other compounds, may be responsible for its supposed health benefits. Although recommendations for "dosing" vary, most are on the order of 1 to 2 teaspoons before or with meals.

What can the apple cider vinegar diet do for you?

For thousands of years, compounds containing vinegar have been used for their presumed healing properties. It was used to improve strength, for "detoxification," as an antibiotic, and even as a treatment for scurvy. While no one is using apple cider vinegar as an antibiotic anymore (at least, no one should be), it has been touted more recently for weight loss. What’s the evidence?

Studies in obese rats and mice suggest that acetic acid can prevent fat deposition and improve their metabolism. The most widely quoted study of humans is a 2009 trial of 175 people who consumed a drink containing 0, 1, or 2 tablespoons of vinegar each day. After three months, those who consumed vinegar had modest weight loss (2 to 4 pounds) and lower triglyceride levels than those who drank no vinegar. Another small study found that vinegar consumption promoted feeling fuller after eating, but that it did so by causing nausea. Neither of these studies (and none I could find in a medical literature search) specifically studied apple cider vinegar.  A more recent study randomly assigned 39 study subjects to follow a restricted calorie diet with apple cider vinegar or a restricted calorie diet without apple cider vinegar for 12 weeks.  While both groups lost weight, the apple cider vinegar group lost more.  As with many prior studies, this one was quite small and short-term.

In all, the scientific evidence that vinegar consumption (whether of the apple cider variety or not) is a reliable, long-term means of losing excess weight is not compelling. (On the other hand, a number of studies suggest that vinegar might prevent spikes in blood sugar in people with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes by blocking starch absorption — perhaps that’s a topic for another day.)  Even among proponents of apple cider vinegar for weight loss or other health benefits, it’s unclear when to drink apple cider vinegar (for example, whether there is particular time of day that might be best?) or how much apple cider vinegar per day is ideal.

Is there a downside to the apple cider vinegar diet?

For many natural remedies, there seems to be little risk, so a common approach is "why not try it?" However, for diets with high vinegar content, a few warnings are in order:

  • Vinegar should be diluted. Its high acidity can damage tooth enamel when sipped "straight" — consuming it as a component of vinaigrette salad dressing is a better way.
  • It has been reported to cause or worsen low potassium levels. That’s particularly important for people taking medications that can lower potassium (such as common diuretics taken to treat high blood pressure).
  • Vinegar can alter insulin levels. People with diabetes should be particularly cautious about a high vinegar diet.

So what?

If you are trying to lose weight, adding apple cider vinegar to your diet probably won’t do the trick. Of course, you’d never suspect that was the case by the way it’s been trending on Google health searches. But the popularity of diets frequently has little to do with actual evidence. If you read about a new diet (or other remedy) that sounds too good to be true, a healthy dose of skepticism is usually in order.

How long does apple cider vinegar take to lose belly fat?

According to a study published in the Journal of Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry, Apple Cider Vinegar can result in effective weight loss after three months (or 12 weeks). People in this study dropped an average of 4 pounds by consuming 1 to 2 tablespoons of diluted apple cider vinegar every day.

What drink burns belly fat overnight?

What Drink Burns Fat Overnight? Drinking turmeric milk, chamomile tea, cinnamon tea, green tea, protein shake, green veg smoothies, and fiber-rich juice helps you burn significant fat overnight.

How much weight can you lose drinking apple cider vinegar?

In another study published in the journal Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry, people lost an average of four pounds in 12 weeks after consuming one to two tablespoons of diluted apple cider vinegar daily. So it is true: Apple cider vinegar has helped study participants lose weight, according to research.

What does drinking apple cider vinegar do to your stomach?

Research suggests that consuming apple cider vinegar can slow the emptying of your stomach and hence prevent large spikes in blood sugar. It has also been shown to increase insulin sensitivity, which can lower your blood sugar ( 5 , 6 ).