In the natural health world, apple cider vinegar is known as a cure-all, improving digestion, boosting immunity and helping in weight loss. While vinegar has been shown to help control cravings, it's not a miracle cure for obesity. In addition, it's not known whether taking it in pill form has the same effects. If you're struggling to cut weight and seeking alternative aids such as apple cider vinegar, consult your doctor first to know and discuss your options.

Apple Cider Vinegar and Weight Loss

When taken as part of a drink mixed with wheatgrass, alfalfa and fulvic acid, along with an oral supplement consisting of different herbs such as cat's claw and pau d'arco, apple cider vinegar helped a group of men and women drop more than 8 pounds in 21 days, according to 2013 study published in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine. The participants, however, were required to follow a reduced-calorie diet also, ranging from 1,200 to 1,800 calories daily.

Apple cider vinegar provides numerous benefits to the human body; it helps regulate blood sugar, keep food cravings in check, provides relief against constipation, improves heart health and helps in weight control. Apple cider vinegar contains malic acids, which remove clogs from arteries, organ tissues, and lymph nodes. Here are the ways by which apple cider vinegar helps in aiding weight loss.

It works as an appetite suppressor

Apple cider vinegar will help you eat less because it provides a feeling satiated sooner. Clinical studies have shown that individuals who eat meals along with substantial amount of apple cider vinegar will feel fuller within a short period of time than those who consume their meals without the apple cider vinegar.

Apple cider vinegar controls blood sugar levels

Another way by which apple cider vinegar helps to speed up weight loss is through the regulation of blood sugar levels. When your blood sugar levels become uncontrollable and unpredictable – it crashes, you will be forced to eat in-between meals; but when your blood sugar is stable, it is easier to stick with your regular meals that you consume only when your body needs it. Clinical studies have also shown how post-meal blood glucose levels are significantly lower in rats fed with apple cider vinegar. Controlling your blood sugar level is one of the major steps towards achieving long-term weight loss goals.

Vinegar and Hunger Control

While it's not quite definite if apple cider vinegar can help with weight loss, it may help you feel full quicker. Highly acidic vinegar taken with bread helped curve hunger in a small group of volunteers in a 2005 study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Part of the hunger control may be related to its ability to keep blood sugar levels stable. The researchers of this study revealed that the higher the acidity of the vinegar, the more it lowered blood sugar.

Another research published in 2005 in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found out that vinegar improved post-meal blood sugar and also noted that the participants took fewer calories. Neither of these tests report what type of vinegar was used, however. The pH of vinegar ranges from 2.4 to 3.4 and apple cider vinegar has a pH of 3.1, which means it is not the most acidic.

If supplementing your diet with apple cider vinegar helps you consume fewer calories, it may help you cut unwanted weight. One pound of fat contains 3,500 calories, and if you're eating 250 fewer calories a day by taking apple cider vinegar, you are going to lose 1/2 pound per week.

Apple cider vinegar helps prevent fat accumulation

Apple cider vinegar helps in increasing your body’s metabolic rates, and helps you burn fat faster. The organic acids and biological enzymes present in Apple Cider Vinegar makes it effective in speeding up metabolism. Apple cider vinegar also contains acetic acid, which is thought to increase fat burning by as much as 45%.

Apple cider vinegar controls insulin secretion

Insulin hormones have huge impact on fat storage in the body, and the hormone is also responsible for managing blood sugar levels in the body. Individuals suffering from diabetes don’t have sufficient Insulin to regulate their blood sugar levels, but with the inclusion of apple cider vinegar, blood sugar levels become controllable, therefore making the job of insulin secretion much easier.

Apple cider vinegar detoxifies the body

It is almost impossible to lose weight when toxins are allowed to build up in the body. Consuming apple cider vinegar regularly can help flush out toxins from the system, and this helps your body to absorb nutrients much better and faster. With apple cider vinegar, your bowel movements are increased and that will help in eliminating unwanted items.