A daily teaspoon of apple cider vinegar could aid weight loss, a study suggests. The acidic liquid is made by fermenting apple juice and has been used for centuries as a traditional remedy for various ailments.
Researchers recruited 120 people aged 27-34 who were overweight or obese to test its potential as a weight loss aid.
Participants were divided into four groups and took either a 5, 10 or 15ml “dose” or a dummy drink first thing in the morning for three months.
Apple cider vinegar drinkers lost more weight, shedding on average 6-8kg, with those on the highest amount seeing the largest losses.
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The placebo group saw much smaller improvements, losing less than 1kg.
The study’s authors, led by Holy Spirit University of Kaslik in Lebanon, said the effects could be due to acetic acid in apple cider vinegar slowing the production of glucose and fat, and increasing fat breakdown.
Commenting on the findings, Professor Helen Truby, an expert in nutrition and dietetics at Australia’s University of Queensland, said more work was needed.
She added: “The results reported here are remarkable but would need to be reproduced in a more rigorously controlled environment before any confidence could be placed in their conclusions.
“It would be wonderful if a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar caused substantial weight loss, but with the complexity of obesity and its management that we grapple with, sometimes if something seems too good to be true – it often is.”
The study was published in the journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health.
