Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works, Hey, brain
Speaker 1: Stuff Lauren vogelbamb here. Apple cider vinegar has been making
Speaker 1: these social media rounds as the weight loss cure to jure.
Speaker 1: Maybe you've seen videos of dr Oz touting the health
Speaker 1: benefits of apple cider vinegar, or of YouTubers claiming to
Speaker 1: have shed ten pounds of belly fat in just seven
Speaker 1: days by drinking apple cider vinegar cocktails before meals. Even
Speaker 1: if we know, the health claim sound too good to
Speaker 1: be true. For anyone who struggles with their health and
Speaker 1: body image as it relates to their body weight, it
Speaker 1: can be tempting to try any weight loss regimen that's
Speaker 1: so cheap, all natural, and seemingly effortless. So what's the deal?
Speaker 1: Can apple cider vinegar really help you lose weight? First?
Speaker 1: A quick explainer on apple cider vinegar versus other types
Speaker 1: of vinegar. The active ingredient in all vinegar is acetic acid.
Speaker 1: Most of the vinegars we commonly eat or cook with
Speaker 1: a white vinegar, red wine vinegar, balsamic, and apple cider
Speaker 1: contain between five and six percent acetic acid, though mild
Speaker 1: rice vinegar can be as low as two to four percent.
Speaker 1: When people talk about the health benefits of apple cider vinegar,
Speaker 1: they're really talking about the health benefits of having more
Speaker 1: acetic acid in your diet. You could consume any vinegar
Speaker 1: to get the same effect, but the relatively mild and
Speaker 1: sweet flavor of apple cider vinegar is more palatable barely
Speaker 1: when mixed into a beverage, which has boosted its popularity. Plus,
Speaker 1: there are several brands of raw, organic, unfiltered, and unpasteurized
Speaker 1: apple cider vinegar that have achieved a cult following for
Speaker 1: their purported health benefits. But what does the research say.
Speaker 1: We spoke with Deborah Murphy, a registered dietitian in Chicago,
Speaker 1: who says the current scientific research on the weight loss
Speaker 1: benefits of apple cider vinegar is limited, although there have
Speaker 1: been a handful of small studies that make a case
Speaker 1: for this health remedy. Several animal studies showed that doses
Speaker 1: of acetic acid seemed to suppress the accumulation of body
Speaker 1: fat in mice that were fed high fat diets. The
Speaker 1: biggest human study to date from fourteen followed the progress
Speaker 1: of a hundred and seventy five obese adults in Japan.
Speaker 1: Some of whom were given a beverage containing one or
Speaker 1: two tablespoons that's fifteen or thirty million liters of apple
Speaker 1: cider vinegar every day with their meals, and some who
Speaker 1: were not. After twelve weeks, the folks who drank a
Speaker 1: little vinegar every day lost two to four pounds that's
Speaker 1: one to two kilograms, compared to no statistical improvements in
Speaker 1: the group who did not drink the vinegar. Low and
Speaker 1: slow decreases in weight are definitely the safest and healthiest
Speaker 1: way to lose weight, but only losing two to four
Speaker 1: pounds over three months that's a third of a pound
Speaker 1: a week hardly qualifies as a secret weight loss cure,
Speaker 1: as some claim apple cider vinegar to be. Other much
Speaker 1: smaller studies have linked apple cider vinegar to slowing down
Speaker 1: gastric emptying, which is the time it takes for food
Speaker 1: to move from the stomach to these small intestine. In
Speaker 1: an experiment involving just ten people with type one diabetes,
Speaker 1: the folks who drank a little apple cider vinegar each
Speaker 1: day kept food in their stomach longer, and their stomach
Speaker 1: size also swelled more after eating a meal. Both of
Speaker 1: these findings support the idea that apple cider vinegar could
Speaker 1: help you feel fuller and stay fuller longer, although the
Speaker 1: scientific proof there is still modest, Murphy said, Unfortunately, there
Speaker 1: is still no single food that holds the secret to
Speaker 1: weight loss. Despite what many on the Internet may say
Speaker 1: about apple cider vinegar, the only way to achieve and
Speaker 1: sustain weight loss is the same thing you've likely heard
Speaker 1: a hundred times before. Eat healthy and move your body.
Speaker 1: Even if apple cider vinegar isn't the cure all it's
Speaker 1: sometimes cracked up to be, it can still be part
Speaker 1: of a healthy diet and lifestyle. There's even promising research
Speaker 1: underway about apple cider vinegar and insulin response. A small
Speaker 1: study did show that vinegar can significantly improve insulin sensitivity
Speaker 1: in diabetic and pre diabetic patients after a high carb meal.
Speaker 1: We also spoke with Cynthia Sass, a performance nutritionist based
Speaker 1: in New York and Los Angeles, who warns against drinking
Speaker 1: apple cider vinegar straight because the acetic acid can wear
Speaker 1: away tooth, enamel, and even burn the esophic guess. If
Speaker 1: you want to give apple cider vinegar beverages a try,
Speaker 1: Sauce recommends swirling two teaspoons. That's about nine millilaters of
Speaker 1: apple cider vinegar, plus a teaspoon about four point five
Speaker 1: millilaters of honey, and a cup of warm water once
Speaker 1: a day, but she says don't go overboard on the
Speaker 1: quantity or frequency. There's also no reason that apple cider
Speaker 1: vinegar has to be imbibed in order to access any
Speaker 1: potential health benefits. Murphy suggests working it into your existing recipes,
Speaker 1: making a vinegrette for your salads at Tanging cole Slaw,
Speaker 1: a marinade for chicken or fish, or adding some to
Speaker 1: sauteed greens to give them a punch. Today's episode was
Speaker 1: written by Dave Ruse and produced by Tyler Clay. For
Speaker 1: more on this and lots of other healthy topics, visit
Speaker 1: our home planet, how Stuff works dot com