What up family. So I tend to get a lot questions about specific foods and their benefits (especially for gains or losing fat) and one of the most popular is: Does apple cider vinegar help you lose fat?

Now, we all know there’s really no “magic” food that can make you shed the pounds … but when we look at some of the research, it seems apple cider vinegar may actually have a weight loss edge to it.

Apple Cider Vinegar: Weight Loss Benefits

Before we get into apple cider vinegar’s benefits, it helps to know exactly what it is.

Apple cider vinegar is is a vinegar produced from the process of fermenting apples. In simple terms, a yeast turns the sugar in the apples into an alcohol, where a bacteria then turns the alcohol into acetic acid.

This acid, plus the probiotics and enzymes that round out apple cider, are responsible for most of its benefits.

Now, while there aren’t too many direct studies on apple cider vinegar and weight loss, one found that people who drank 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar experienced weight loss. The study was split into two groups: those who drank apple cider vinegar and those who didn’t. Those that did lost roughly 8.8 lbs in 12 weeks. On the flip side, those who didn’t lost just 5 lbs in the same time frame. [*]

Interestingly, one reason many people might see weight loss when drinking apple cider vinegar is due to the fact that it can help reduce blood sugar levels, which plays a role in weight gain. When our blood sugar is too high, excess sugars can easily be stored as fat, so avoiding this could theoretically help with weight loss.

Also, other studies show acetic acid, the main acid in apple cider vinegar, can help reduce fat storage and reduce food intake or appetite. [*]

And finally, the probiotics, or beneficial bacteria, found in apple cider vinegar can be another reason it could help with weight loss. A ton of studies have shown bacteria balance in our guts can play a huge role in our weight, and that introducing different “good” strains can result in fat loss. [*]

At the end of the day, apple cider vinegar isn’t a magic pill for losing weight … but it definitely has some good points of research backing that fact that it could help. Not to mention, there is also a ton of research showing it can help reduce inflammation (a major factor in so many diseases) and reduce cholesterol, along with other benefits, so it’s worth giving a try even just for that.

How to Take Apple Cider Vinegar

First things first, there’s a strict rule when it comes to buying the right apple cider vinegar: always look for a brand that contains the “mother” (you’ll see this mentioned on the label).

The mother often looks like stringy debris that settles to the bottom of the bottle, and when you shake it up it mixes in with the vinegar. This is the part that’s filled with the enzymes and compounds that give apple cider its benefits, and is an indicator that you’re getting a “true” apple cider vinegar.

Now, to take it, there is also another rule: don’t take it undiluted. Some people do this once in a while and have no problems, but constantly swallowing a strong acid straight could hurt your esophagus.

My general recommendation for starting with apple cider vinegar is to start a teaspoon at a time, diluted in a small glass of water, three times a day. Some of the people in these studies were taking up to 2 tablespoons per day, so you can aim to get in 1-2 tablespoons total per day by taking the teaspoons spaced out.

A little trick as well: you can also swap balsamic for apple cider vinegar in your salads for an extra dose!

Do you have any experience using apple cider vinegar? Share it with the fam below!