Ever wondered how to lose weight with apple cider vinegar? Well, wonder no more! Here’s the low-down on the hows and why’s of apple cider vinegar weight loss!
What is apple cider vinegar?
First things first, what actually is apple cider vinegar? Apple cider vinegar is a vinegar made from – you guessed it! Apples.
Mixed with yeast, apple ferments into this naturally acidic liquid which has taken the health industry by storm.
It has a range of uses. It can be added to recipes, used as part of a salad dressing or used to pickle vegetables. Many people add apple cider vinegar to their diet to enable them to benefit from the many health benefits it brings – including promoting weight loss.
What are the health benefits of using apple cider vinegar
Apple cider vinegar offers lots of health benefits thanks to its active ingredient (acetic acid). This is a short-chain fatty acid which once it’s entered your body, dissolves into hydrogen and acetate.
The acetic acid contained in apple cider vinegar offers several health benefits, including:
- The lowering of blood sugar levels
- A decrease in insulin levels
- An increase in metabolism
- A reduction in fat storage in both the liver and around the belly area
- An increase in fat burning
- A natural appetite suppressing effect
- A slow-down of your rate of digestion – and better satiety levels as a result
Here’s what EHow has to say about the health benefits of apple cider vinegar:
Apple cider vinegar and weight loss
As you’ll notice, all of the health benefits above just so happen to be vital in the fight against obesity – which is why so many people use apple cider vinegar as part of a healthy diet to promote faster weight loss.
What are the benefits of using apple cider vinegar for weight loss?
It’s the combination of health benefits mentioned above which gives apple cider vinegar those magical weight loss boosting superpowers.
Lower blood sugar levels really do help you to lose weight more easily. This is because higher blood sugar levels lead to increased hunger levels – common in pre-diabetes. And we all know that being hungry all the time makes weight loss pretty much impossible. The same applies to insulin levels. To keep hunger at bay, insulin levels need to be under control. Spikes can cause an increase in hunger-hormones – and apple cider vinegar helps with this too.
It goes without saying that anything that helps to increase your metabolism will undoubtedly help to increase the amount of fat you burn throughout the day too. Apple cider vinegar has been shown to increase the amount of an enzyme known as AMPK. This enzyme is known to actually promote fat burning and actually helps to decrease fat and sugar production inside the liver – a win-win for fighting the war against excess fat storage.
In addition to all of this, the active ingredient acetate actually works as a natural appetite suppressant – targeting the control centers in your brain which regulate hunger.
As you can see, there’s plenty of science to back up the benefits of including apple cider vinegar as part of your weight loss plan.
What fat burning and weight loss results are possible with apple cider vinegar?
As with any kind of dietary supplement, you’re always going to get better results when you adjust your diet to ensure it’s giving you a calorie deficit. However, studies have shown that supplementing with apple cider vinegar can actually produce weight loss results even without making any changes to your diet.
In a 12 week Japanese study, 144 obese adults tried out the theory of apple cider vinegar promoting weight loss. They were all told to cut their alcohol intake, but other than that, not to change their diet at all. The results were pretty incredible – and it seems the more apple cider vinegar they consumed, the more weight they lost.
In the control group which took 15ml of apple cider vinegar each day, they lost on average 2.6 pounds over that 12 week period, while those who took 30ml per day lost an incredible 3.7 pounds. That may not sound like an awful lot when you consider it took 12 weeks to achieve, but it is a definite shift in the number on the scales, and remember, this took no dietary changes apart from cutting alcohol. Imagine what you could achieve with apple cider vinegar if your diet was altered too!
What are the other health benefits of apple cider vinegar?
The health benefits of apple cider vinegar don’t stop there. There are several other key benefits to consuming this special vinegar on a daily basis:
It helps with PCOS
PCOS sufferers have been known to restart their ovulation after starting to take apple cider vinegar. It’s thought that this effect happens due to the fact that their insulin sensitivity is vastly improved.
It kills viruses
All vinegar is great at killing viruses and bacteria in the stomach. Studies have even found that E.coli is no match for the bitter stuff, and 90% of bacteria is killed by it. Knowing this, you may just want to start using vinegar to clean your toilet too!
It balances your cholesterol levels
Apple cider vinegar has been found to actually boost good (HDL) cholesterol and decrease bad (LDL) cholesterol over time. A win-win for the health-conscious.
Are there any side effects?
A small amount of apple cider vinegar in your day-to-day diet isn’t likely to cause you too many issues. However, if you’re consuming more than 30ml on a daily basis, you may begin to notice some of the following:
In extreme quantities, it may cause osteoporosis
There was one reported case of a woman who consumed a huge amount of apple cider vinegar (250ml) each day for over 6 years, and doctors believe it may have caused her to develop osteoporosis at the young age of just 28. The theory is that her body lost a huge amount of potassium and the high acidity levels in her blood caused minerals to be leached from her bones. The message here is clear. It’s not healthy or natural to consume vast amounts of any kind of vinegar on a daily basis, and doing so will mess with your blood chemistry!
It may slow down the rate at which you digest your food
Apple cider vinegar has been shown to slow down the rate at which food leaves the stomach, which is great for satiety, but not so great if you already suffer from a condition known as ‘gastroparesis’. Gastroparesis is common in people with type 1 diabetes and affects the nerves in the stomach. Because the nerves are faulty, food stays in the stomach for longer than is normal, which can cause symptoms such as heartburn, indigestion, and nausea. Obviously, apple cider vinegar may make the problem worse, so it’s not recommended you take it if you suffer from this condition.
It could burn your esophagus
We all know acid indigestion hurts, right? Well apple cider vinegar, being made of acid, is going to have some effect on your throat if it sits in it for too long. This is the main reason why apple cider vinegar capsules are not recommended at all. If one dissolved in your throat, it could sit there for quite some time, and cause painful throat burns.
Your teeth may lose enamel
We’ve all heard that the acid in fruit juices can cause tooth decay – and the same reigns true for all types of vinegar.
The high levels of acid in vinegar will lead to a loss of minerals in your teeth if it comes into contact with them on a regular basis.
The best way to prevent this from becoming a problem for you is to not consume more than 30ml per day, and to always drink water following a meal containing apple cider vinegar.
Recognize these symptoms?
If any of these side effects become an issue for you, stop taking apple cider vinegar for a week and check whether your symptoms subside. If so, try slowly reintroducing the vinegar, but at a much lesser quantity than before. If you have further trouble, consult your doctor before taking apple cider vinegar again, and to ensure there are no other underlying health issues causing your symptoms instead.
How to add apple cider vinegar to your diet
There are several ways to incorporate apple cider vinegar into your daily diet, so there’s no need to feel like you have to consume an apple cider vinegar weight loss drink each day! In fact, we recommend that you don’t. Drinking apple cider vinegar in liquid form, even when diluted will increase the likelihood of you developing the side-effects mentioned above.
Instead, add apple cider vinegar to salads as a kind of dressing, or use it in recipes such as home-made mayonnaise. There are several apple cider vinegar weight loss recipes available online.
For the most benefit, you should try to purchase apple cider vinegar which is unfiltered and still contains ‘the mother’ – a cobweb-like substance which is created naturally as part of the fermentation process and actually contains the most health-giving properties out of any part of a bottle of apple cider vinegar. The mother is full of natural protein, acetic acid, and gut-healthy bacteria. Don’t buy clear, filtered, pasteurized apple cider vinegar – this type offer none of these extra health benefits.
We recommend you don’t consume more than 30ml of apple cider vinegar in any one day – taking more increases the risk of you suffering from the unpleasant side effects mentioned above.
Give apple cider vinegar a try!
It’s not difficult to adapt your diet to include a small amount of apple cider vinegar each day – and doing so may just help you to shift the pounds that little bit easier. What do you have to lose? Give it a try!
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