2556: Apple Cider Vinegar - Does ACV Help You Lose Weight & Have Health Benefits? on Nutrition Advice

[00:00:00] Delicious meets nutritious in the snack that packs a real protein punch, Wonderful Pistachios.

[00:00:06] Each 1 ounce serving of Wonderful Pistachios has 6 grams of protein giving you over 10%

[00:00:11] of your daily value and making Wonderful Pistachios one of the highest protein nuts.

[00:00:16] But perhaps more than that, I love all of the flavors they have. Their sea salt and vinegar

[00:00:21] ones are my favorite when I'm craving that flavor but want to keep it healthy.

[00:00:25] But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Wonderful Pistachios come in a variety of flavors

[00:00:30] like Chili Roasted, Honey Roasted, Smokey BBQ and Jalapeno Lime, perfect for enjoying with family

[00:00:37] and friends or taking them with you on the go. Whether you're a pistachio purist who loves

[00:00:42] cracking open every nut or you prefer the convenience of no-shells pistachios, Wonderful

[00:00:48] Pistachios has got you covered. Grab Wonderful Pistachios and elevate your snacking game today.

[00:00:54] So fill up with a healthy snack when hunger strikes. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn

[00:01:00] more. That's WonderfulPistachios.com. Mom deserves the best and there's no better

[00:01:07] place to shop for Mother's Day than Whole Foods Market. They're your destination for

[00:01:11] unbeatable savings from premium gifts to show-stopping flowers and irresistible desserts.

[00:01:17] Start by saving 33% with Prime on all body care and candles then get a 15 stem bunch of

[00:01:23] tulips for just $9.99 each with Prime. Round out Mom's menu with festive rosé,

[00:01:28] irresistible berry chantilly cake and more special treats. Come celebrate Mother's Day at

[00:01:33] Whole Foods Market. It's another Q&A edition of Optimal Health Daily episode 2556 and I'm Dr.

[00:01:40] Neal Malik. Hey there, happy Friday and welcome to another Q&A edition of Optimal Health Daily.

[00:01:46] This is where I answer your health questions related to fitness, diet and nutrition and more.

[00:01:52] Let's keep this intro nice and short so we can jump right in and hear today's question

[00:01:56] as we optimize your life. Today's question came via email. Julia writes,

[00:02:06] I really like the podcast. What are your thoughts about apple cider vinegar?

[00:02:10] I use it when my stomach is upset. Does it help you lose weight?

[00:02:13] I just read an article that says it can help with weight loss.

[00:02:18] Thank you so much for taking the time to send in your question Julia and I'm so glad you

[00:02:21] enjoy the podcast. Now vinegar in its various forms, not necessarily apple cider vinegar but

[00:02:28] just plain vinegar has been used as a cure for many years and for several different ailments.

[00:02:34] Traditionally vinegar has been used to preserve food and to add flavor.

[00:02:38] Apple cider vinegar has also become popular more recently because as you mentioned there

[00:02:43] are studies linking its consumption to weight loss. But to better understand why vinegar was

[00:02:49] used to improve health conditions or as a cure we need to go back into the history of vinegar.

[00:02:56] Vinegar has been used to preserve or ferment foods for generations.

[00:03:00] This fermentation process especially when fermenting plant-based foods like

[00:03:04] kimchi or fermented cabbage leads to some beneficial compounds being produced like

[00:03:10] antioxidants and probiotics. Antioxidants are thought to be good for the body because they

[00:03:15] help destroy harmful compounds called free radicals. Probiotics are experiencing lots

[00:03:21] of attention now because of their potential to help improve gut health. Recent research is even

[00:03:27] suggesting that probiotics may be useful in preventing diabetes. Anyways, apple cider vinegar

[00:03:33] is also thought to contain antioxidants and probiotics. The theory is that the apple portion

[00:03:39] of the vinegar helps to increase these beneficial effects since fruit in general

[00:03:44] is a great source of nutrients. But do vinegars and apple cider vinegar in particular truly have

[00:03:50] any health benefits? There is some research on apple cider vinegar's effect on blood sugar.

[00:03:56] This research actually seems pretty promising. Specifically apple cider vinegar may in fact help

[00:04:02] lower blood sugar levels. When we think about diabetes it's basically a condition

[00:04:08] of having blood sugar that's too high. So if we can control blood sugar levels by consuming

[00:04:13] something that helps to lower it this would be a great thing. The theory behind why apple cider

[00:04:19] vinegar may help reduce blood sugar is because of its high content of acetic acid. This means

[00:04:25] it may block sugar from getting into the bloodstream. Normally whenever we eat or drink

[00:04:30] something other than water the body converts some or all of that food into sugar. This

[00:04:36] sugar then gets into our bloodstream where it travels to our brain, our muscles, our organs

[00:04:41] and so on where it can be used for energy or to get stored. If the sugar just stays in

[00:04:47] the bloodstream though and never gets to our brain and our muscles that often leads to

[00:04:52] more serious health problems. So again apple cider vinegar may block sugar from getting

[00:04:58] into the bloodstream in the first place and in turn may help those with diabetes.

[00:05:03] But I should mention that using apple cider vinegar to lower blood sugar is still considered

[00:05:08] controversial. It's promising but you probably won't see doctors recommending it to every patient.

[00:05:14] I would never recommend someone stop taking their diabetes medication just because they're

[00:05:18] drinking apple cider vinegar for example. We still need more studies to know whether

[00:05:22] it's truly beneficial. Also because those that have had diabetes for years often have kidney

[00:05:28] problems too we want to be cautious because the acids in apple cider vinegar could put

[00:05:34] the kidneys under some stress. Now what about this idea of apple cider vinegar providing probiotics?

[00:05:41] Well the trouble with this is we have gazillions of probiotics in our intestines right now.

[00:05:47] This is great because these are helpful bacteria. They keep our guts nice and healthy.

[00:05:52] They help kill bad bacteria, help our immune systems in general and help keep us regular.

[00:05:58] When we consume foods that have probiotics it's a very small amount, only really a fraction of what

[00:06:03] we find in our bodies. Plus some of those good probiotic bacteria never make it to the intestines

[00:06:10] maybe because of poor storage and handling of the food and our body's natural digestion

[00:06:15] processes. Many scientists argue that unless you're taking a very large dose of probiotics

[00:06:21] it may not really help improve our health. So we can't say that consuming apple cider vinegar

[00:06:28] will actually improve gut health or the immune system. Now what about weight loss? Let's finally

[00:06:34] talk about apple cider vinegar and weight loss. One of the most popular published studies

[00:06:40] on apple cider vinegar and weight loss was conducted in Japan. The researchers found that

[00:06:44] those that drank apple cider vinegar lost more weight than those that didn't. But here's

[00:06:49] what we may not realize. The trouble with this study is that once the study was over

[00:06:54] the participants gained all their weight back. So we really don't know that if by just being in

[00:07:00] the study those that participated were more motivated to lose weight or whether there was

[00:07:06] actually something about the apple cider vinegar that helped with weight loss. Since that study

[00:07:11] there have been others looking at apple cider vinegar's effect on weight loss. Some of these

[00:07:15] studies were well designed but conducted in the short term like over the course of just 12 weeks

[00:07:21] or maybe were performed in only younger people. You know those that can lose weight a bit more

[00:07:26] easily than the rest of us. So I would say that there's promise when it comes to apple

[00:07:30] cider vinegar and weight loss. We just need more studies to get a better understanding

[00:07:35] and whether it will work over the long term. The key is to weigh the risks and benefits.

[00:07:40] Will consuming apple cider vinegar regularly likely do you more good than harm? That's something

[00:07:47] to consider asking your doctor just to be sure. Now something I have yet to discuss is the fact

[00:07:52] that you actually don't want to drink apple cider vinegar or any vinegar for that matter

[00:07:57] straight. It's way too acidic. So how much should you use? First you want to buy the kind

[00:08:04] of apple cider vinegar that looks cloudy and has that giant blob floating around in it. That

[00:08:10] odd looking giant blob is supposedly like the tesseract of the apple cider vinegar or the cube

[00:08:16] if you're more of a Transformers fan. If you're totally lost because you're not as big of a nerd

[00:08:21] as I am, I'm basically trying to say that this giant blob is where all of the apple cider vinegar's

[00:08:27] power comes from. It's what contains those beneficial antioxidants and probiotics.

[00:08:33] The current recommendation is to drop one to two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar into a tall

[00:08:39] glass of water. Some recommend mixing apple cider vinegar with warm water specifically.

[00:08:45] Then you sip this mixture once or twice a day before meals. For those with a diagnosed condition

[00:08:51] like gastroparesis, this is where food takes an extra long time to leave the stomach,

[00:08:57] apple cider vinegar isn't recommended. So in your case Julia, you might want to let your

[00:09:02] doctor know that you use apple cider vinegar when you're experiencing stomach upset. They may

[00:09:07] need to rule out gastroparesis as a root cause before giving you the okay to continue using

[00:09:13] apple cider vinegar. All right, to sum up, apple cider vinegar is not the miracle cure-all.

[00:09:19] Instead, incorporating vinegar into our diets can be just one aspect of a nutritious and balanced

[00:09:25] diet. There's no need to go overboard and consuming it more than twice a day either

[00:09:30] because as we've learned from many nutrition studies, too much of a good thing can be a

[00:09:35] bad thing. When you're hiring, it feels amazing to finally close out a job search. But what if

[00:09:43] you could get rid of the search and just match? You can with Indeed. Indeed is your matching

[00:09:49] and hiring platform with over 350 million global monthly visitors and a matching engine

[00:09:56] that helps you find quality candidates fast. Ditch the busy work. Use Indeed for scheduling,

[00:10:02] screening and messaging. 93% of employers agree Indeed delivers the highest quality matches

[00:10:09] compared to other job sites. One of the things I love about Indeed is that it filters out

[00:10:14] incompatible applicants. So when you're hiring, the process is much faster and you only have to

[00:10:19] consider applicants that are already likely to be a great fit. And listeners of this show will

[00:10:25] get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com slash health.

[00:10:33] Just go to Indeed.com slash health right now and support our show by saying you heard about

[00:10:40] Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com slash health terms and conditions apply. Need to hire?

[00:10:47] You need Indeed. Hey, it's Ryan Renalton. I'm here with Keith, co-star of my upcoming film.

[00:10:52] If only in theaters May 17th. Do you want to tell people the big news? All right, I'll do.

[00:10:57] Sign up now and you'll get unlimited for $15 a month and six months of Paramount Plus essential

[00:11:02] plan on us. Mint mobile dot com slash switch upfront payment of $45 equivalent to $15 per

[00:11:07] month unlimited over 40 gigabytes per month face lower speeds videos at 480 P active mint customers

[00:11:11] by 531 24 get six months of Paramount Plus essential plan auto renews after six months

[00:11:15] offer ends May 31st 2024 separate Paramount Plus registration required terms and conditions

[00:11:18] apply if rated PG. Thank you again for taking the time to send in your question, Julia. Now,

[00:11:23] if you want your question answered right here on the show, you can email one into health

[00:11:28] at OLD podcast dot com or if you want your voice played on an episode, just come by our

[00:11:34] website by going to OLD podcast dot com slash ask right on that site. You can record straight

[00:11:42] from your computer's microphone or you can do it the old fashioned way and call in your

[00:11:46] question. The number is 161 I love OHD that's 1614 568 3643. All right, that'll do it for

[00:11:59] another Q and A edition of Optimal Health Daily. Thank you for listening and your continued

[00:12:04] support. I hope you have a great start to your weekend and I'll see you back here tomorrow

[00:12:08] where your optimal life awaits.