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Apple-Cider Vinegar: Too Cheap to Be Trusted?
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Apple-Cider Vinegar: Too Cheap to Be Trusted?
In her latest piece, Jenna McCarthy examines the irony of the BMJ retracting an ACV weight loss study, while leaving far more dangerous, pharma-backed research untouched.
Last year, a team of Lebanese researchers rounded up 120 chubby teenagers and young adults, split them into groups, and handed out daily shots of apple cider vinegar (ACV) diluted in water, while a control group got placebo lactic acid water. Twelve weeks later, the vinegar group had smaller waists, lower BMI, improved cholesterol, and better blood sugar, while the placebo group got the satisfaction of knowing they were duped into chugging knockoff kombucha for science.
The BMJ just pulled an ACV weight-loss study for “methodological issues.” Translation: Heaven forbid fermented apple juice threaten the Ozempic empire.
Meanwhile, the journal keeps rubber-stamping pharma trials that later sprout black-box warnings and billion-dollar settlements. They wave off ACV as “weak evidence,” yet we’re still waiting for the first vinegar-related organ-failure scandal.
In other words: Salad dressing = dangerous. Injectables with a recall history = totally fine. Funny how “trust the science” gets louder when there’s a patent involved.
Have you ever tried ACV (or any pocket-change remedy) and felt it got unfairly labelled “snake oil”?
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9 Replies
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The full substack https://imahealth.substack.com/p/heres-a-thought-do-not-take-apple
imahealth.substack.com
Here's a Thought: Do Not Take Apple Cider Vinegar to Lose Weight (*Unless You Want to Lose Weight)
Jenna McCarthy examines the irony of the BMJ retracting an ACV weight loss study—while leaving far more dangerous, pharma-backed research untouched.
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It was almost 4 years ago when I started my lifestyle change which resulted in shedding 5 prescriptions. I took ACV straight a couple of ounces at a time. Later I used it in salad dressing of oil and vinegar.
These days I take a tablespoon in a glass of water. Joseph Mercola recommends against taking ACV straight because it can harm the enamel in the teeth.
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What exactly is the deal with apple cider vinegar? There are literally hundreds of different vinegars out in the world and the only one that seems to get any attention is ACV. Is there something unique about ACV versus any one of the other varieties? If there is a fruit or vegetable or grain that has sugar in it, it can be fermented and turned into alcohol and vinegar. I’ve started making my own vinegars from a variety of different fruits mainly for the unique flavors that are created. I’m wondering if I am also creating some medical benefits with this wide variety of vinegars. It is hard to extrapolate any meaningful information when the cohort has an N of one.
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No difference. As Jessie Inchauspe says, it’s all acetic acid and it all works just the same.
It’s a short chain fatty acid: Short-chain fatty acid – Wikipedia
“Derived from intestinal microbial fermentation of indigestible foods, SCFAs in human gut are acetic, propionic and butyric acid. They are the main energy source of colonocytes, making them crucial to gastrointestinal health.[1][2] SCFAs all possess varying degrees of water solubility, which distinguishes them from longer chain fatty acids that are immiscible.”
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You know, given that it’s a fundamental element in how our gut works, it’s laughable that Big Pharma is trying to trivialize its importance.
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Please consider this explanation for the BMJ retraction of the ACV study:
“The 2024 BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health clinical trial — which reported about a 9% reduction in body weight after 12 weeks of daily ACV in 120 overweight Lebanese participants — was retracted in September 2025 due to unreliable data, statistical irregularities, and lack of trial preregistration. The retraction does not disprove acetic acid’s potential metabolic effects; it only invalidates that particular dataset.”
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I was also curious about ACV’s effectiveness in weight loss. So, I posed the following question to http://www.Perplexity.ai:
“How about the following possible cause of weight loss caused by ACV? It merely, temporarily, reduces appetite. Its rich potential for boosting energy (ATP) triggers a feedback loop that sends signals to the brain and promotes more tolerance for mild hunger between meals.”
AI’s partial response was:
“Collectively, evidence supports a dual mechanism:
- Peripheral pathway – acetate slows gastric emptying,
enhances GLP‑1/PYY, and moderates post‑meal glucose, yielding sustained
satiety. - Central feedback pathway – acetate metabolism transiently
boosts hepatic ATP and modulates AMPK–acetyl‑CoA signaling, feeding back
to hypothalamic nuclei regulating hunger perception.
Click the following link to share the answer to my second question (about mid-page) about this topic:
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/i-am-wondering-how-apple-cider-V.JMqY45TNSQtBw91DeyYw#0
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Great conversation everyone. I like this bit about appetite suppressing. I take ACV every now and then, but didn’t really have a reason why. More a digestion ph balance thing. I’ll try it to see if it stops me grazing.
- Peripheral pathway – acetate slows gastric emptying,
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Dr Berg does a great youtube on ACV.
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