This Is What Really Happens To Your Body When You Drink Tons Of Cider Vinegar

The list of purported benefits is as long as your arm. It fights diabetes. It’ll help you lose weight. It’ll lower your blood pressure. It’ll even make your skin glow as though you’d swallowed a table lamp, battling acne into the bargain. It can even cure cancer – or so they say.

But can ACV really be the panacea that some think it to be? Or is it just the latest snake oil, ineffective against any of the complaints that vinegar-sippers claim it helps with? Can there really be any benefit from sour fruit juice, or should it just be tipped away – or at least restricted to flavoring a salad?

Talking of salad, one of the claims made of ACV is that it’ll slay bacteria if you douse your green stuff with it. And if you swig it, it’ll rid you of soreness in your throat and make swollen veins disappear. It can cut your weight and help your heart stay healthy, and you can apparently use it to keep your hair free of dandruff as well!

One of the more extreme claims is that it can help in the fight against cancer. And some research projects have certainly shown that pouring vinegar directly onto cancer cells doesn’t do the cells any good. Mind you, it’s pretty hard to imagine how you could apply vinegar onto a cancer within the human body.

Less dramatically, ACV’s often used as to combat the common cold. The idea is that it might promote the production of alkalines in the body. These eradicate bacteria and viruses, which prefer acidic surroundings. A nice thought, but there’s no science to support the concept.

Whether ACV helps with a common cold or not, it is certainly acidic. It might not be the strongest vinegar given its light and fresh taste, but it’s still got that acid tang. That comes from acetic acid, the ingredient that makes all vinegar sour. In fact, the English word “vinegar” derives from the French vin aigre, simply translated as “sour wine.

Of course, ACV isn’t made from wine, and actually it’s not really made from apple cider, either. It’s created from apple juice by putting in some yeast. The latter ferments the liquid’s sugars, which produces alcohol. But you won’t get drunk on ACV! No, that’s because bacteria move in and break down the alcohol, converting it into acid.

Once the vinegar’s been made, it’s left containing strands of a substance known as “mother.” This is just the remnants of the bacteria – called acetobacter – and the yeast that created it. Some believe that the mother’s what produces all the health benefits of ACV. Sometimes, though, it’ll be filtered out of the ACV to leave a clearer product.

ACV can be utilized in all sorts of ways. It’s often employed in cooking and dressing salads, and it can be handy for bakery items as well. Sometimes it’ll be used as a preservative, such as when pickling. People don’t usually drink it neat, but they’ll throw a couple of teaspoons into tea or water.

Among those who talk up ACV is Kim Kardashian. The superstar posted about her love of the liquid on Instagram in May 2019. She wrote about an unfiltered and organic product called Bragg’s ACV and a book that the firm had published. Kim told her fans, “My grandma sent me this book, and this is her little health trick, so I’m going to start drinking it.”

Kim isn’t the only Kardashian who swears by ACV, either. No, sister Kourtney also indulges by having a tablespoon full as the day begins. She wrote on her website in 2018, “These habits have a ton of health benefits that affect everything from your skin to the way your body processes nutrients.” So much so that Kourtney has a further dose of ACV prior to dinner.

Actress Kate Walsh is another who enjoys ACV, as she told Us magazine in November 2018. She said, “I put lemon in it and apple cider vinegar in it. I have literally a half gallon jug sippy cup thing that has a built-in straw that I bring everywhere, and it’s my adult sippy cup.”

Diluting it with water doesn’t appeal to Hilary Duff, though. The former Disney star shared with the Well+Good website that she just whacks the stuff back neat. “I’ll just shoot it straight in the morning. People think it’s gross,” she admitted. “But I kind of like the taste.”

Neat ACV might appeal to Duff, but Bachelor in Paradise star Ashley Iaconetti likes its flavor to be somewhat masked. In October 2018 she informed Us, “I’ve been really trying to incorporate a lot more apple cider vinegar in smoothies.” And model Miranda Kerr said to Vogue magazine in 2016 that her favorite salad comes dressed with ACV.

Kerr seems to thrive on her ACV-doused salad, and Katy Perry’s another who puts her wellbeing down to the sour stuff. “I was drinking strange green juices and apple cider vinegar my whole childhood,” she informed the Self website in 2016. “My mom made sure that whatever was put into my body was good for my body. I really am glad for that, even though it was disgusting.”

And celebs don’t just swig the vinegar. Scarlett Johansson smears it on her face, as she discussed with Elle UK magazine in 2013. She said, “If your skin is problematic or you’re having a lot of breakouts, it’s really healing. It’s a little bit stinky but if you’re not sleeping over at your boyfriend’s, it’s really effective!”

ScarJo isn’t alone in thinking that ACV makes for a great skincare product. Some use it to battle acne. That’s because the acid in the vinegar might be effective in tackling Propionobacterium acnes – the microbe that causes the skin complaint. There could be something in it, too. Healthline referenced research in 2016 showing that another acidic lotion helped cut acne for most participants.

And it isn’t just faces that can benefit. Dipping your feet in a bowlful of water with a healthy sploosh of vinegar may be effective. Because it’s good at killing off microbes, the vinegar can rid feet of warts and help them smell sweeter. It can even help with athlete’s foot, since it offs fungi too. Take care, though: you don’t want to get acid into any cuts that you might have.

Health-food booster Paul Bragg claims there’s a use for ACV at the other end of your body, too. He says that it can keep your hair on! Yes, it’s supposed to contain enzymes and acids that are fatal to bottle bacillus. This tiny villain makes our hair too thin. If you want to give it a try, water it down to half-strength first, and use before shampooing.

With feet and head cared for, next up’s the rest of your body. Yes, you can use ACV as a deodorant, as it’ll kill the microbes that cause the pong. And if you have any left over after bathing yourself in the delicious scent of sour apples, you can also use it to wash your fruit in, ridding it of nasties. The same principle makes pickling a good way to keep veggies edible long after they would’ve turned bad if left alone.

The website Madhuram’s Eggless Cooking has an intriguing use for ACV. It claims that one tablespoon of the vinegar plus another of baking soda produce the same results as a single egg – meaning you can bake without restraint even if you’re vegan. And if you do eat eggs, ACV helps their shells stay uncracked if you boil them.

Outside of cooking, there are plenty of other ways to use ACV. You can replace some of the chemicals you might use in cleaning with it, for instance. It’ll take on the toughest of tasks, even ridding your tables of those white marks that can be so frustrating. And, of course, it’s perfect for cleaning your windows.

And if you are looking at cutting down on potentially harmful chemicals, weed killers might well be on the “to be replaced” list. You’re in luck here, too: ACV makes a potent herbicide. Simply blend a couple of cups of it with a half-cup of Epsom salt, and voila. Look out weeds! Be a little cautious, though: it’s powerful enough to take out the plants you actually want to grow as well.

But you might be asking yourself: “If this stuff can kill off bugs, can it really be all that healthy?” Well, science has some answers for us. Health guru Rachel Berman shared her view with Us magazine in May 2019, stating, “There aren’t any clear studies to substantiate these claims.” It’s not all negative, though.

ACV does have plenty of nutrients, generally the ones you’ll find in apple cider. Among them are vitamins, particularly B and C. Importantly, they also include polyphenols, which make your cells more durable. Damaged cells are a cause of cancer, so at a stretch you might even consider that this helps prevent cancer.

It’s a stretch, though. As we noted, vinegar can destroy cancer cells, but it isn’t possible to just soak tumors in ACV. A Chinese research project did show that esophageal cancer was lower in those who enjoyed a lot of vinegar. Mind you, that was vinegar made from rice, and doctors don’t advise you to try warding off cancer by gargling ACV.

Slightly more secure is ACV’s relationship with weight loss. Research conducted in 2012 discovered that women who enjoyed a cup of the sour stuff every day dropped more pounds than those who didn’t. Further studies have shown that ACV might diminish hunger. But the science may a bit too scanty to say definitively that the vinegar will lead to you dropping pounds.

Even so, a 2018 study showed the same kind of results. Those who drank ACV lost more weight on a calorie-restricted diet than people who didn’t. The amount consumed was a couple of tablespoons with dinner and lunch. They managed to cut their cholesterol as well. So perhaps there’s something in ACV as a weight-loss aid.

One way that ACV can certainly help cut the calories is if you use it instead of some of the less healthy dressings that we put on salads. Berman told Us, “[If] it replaces salad dressing that is high in artificial or highly processed ingredients, great!” And she suggested that diluted and flavored with the likes of cayenne pepper or lemon, you could very well drink it.

And if you’re putting it on your salad, you might well be getting any germs under control. A 2005 study concluded that when ACV and lemon juice together were added to lettuce that’d been contaminated with salmonella, the bacteria was cut to nothing. Mind you, while it might help with dodgy romaine, we wouldn’t advise trying it with raw chicken.

Berman agreed that ACV has more to offer. She said, “ACV does contain antioxidants and probiotics.” And it has plenty of vitamin C, which will boost your immune system and give blood vessels more durability. Research has even shown that it might assist some bacteria-beating cells. Yet dietician Samantha Cassetty noted on Today’s website in June 2020 that immune systems are too complex to have simple fixes.

Another area that ACV’s helpful in is controlling blood sugar. Multiple research projects have shown that it can cut blood sugar after you eat a lot of carbs. It achieves this by slowing the gut’s intake of the carbs. Berman cautions that this is true of “any kind of vinegar,” though, and that it “may interact with medications.”

This ability to lower blood sugar might make it useful in treating diabetes. But it isn’t enough simply to swig vinegar, and then you can bin your meds. It might help as an addition to your treatment, but not as a replacement. And it isn’t advised at all if you suffer from kidney problems.

So there do seem to be some real health benefits – but that doesn’t mean every claim is true. For instance, ACV isn’t any good at cutting high blood pressure. There’s a research project showing that vinegar-guzzling rats had lower blood pressure than rats who’d consumed none. Rats aren’t human beings, though, and that’s way too little evidence to throw away the blood pressure meds.

And if you do want to get some good out of ACV, you probably need the cloudy stuff. If it’s been filtered, it won’t have any of the “mother.” That’s the stuff that has most of the goodness in it, packed as it is with bacteria and enzymes. Plus filtering often involves pasteurization, which rids the vinegar of bacteria, good or bad.

There’s a downside to ACV, too. If you drink it neat, you’re risking the teeth’s enamel, which is liable to dissolve in the vinegar’s acid. That same acid makes it something to be avoided by those suffering from kidney conditions, since the damaged organs mightn’t cope well with the vinegar.

As we’ve mentioned, ACV isn’t a replacement for meds. And it also may interfere with some of them. For instance, drugs for cardiac conditions or diabetes may be affected. The same goes for laxatives or medication that reduces the amount of water in your body. There’s the potential for it to lower potassium, too, which is vital for the functioning of nerves and muscles.

It’s also not necessarily a good thing to try to use ACV to flush out toxins. As Berman explained to Us, “There’s a big red flag whenever a product claims to ‘detox’ your body – that’s what your organs like your liver and kidneys are for!” The message is that it’s a help to your body, not a replacement for the systems that work within it.

And that’s the answer to our question. Yes, ACV actually does have some benefits to your health. It also tastes good! At least, when you don’t drink it neat. It also has no calories, so it fits in any diet. As long as you don’t have kidney disease, it’ll probably do you some good – though it clearly isn’t a magical elixir after all.

ACV is an acquired taste, though, so we don’t blame you if it takes a while to get used to that tang. It’s acidic, like lemon water – which is also meant to be good for you. And while ACV isn’t quite the miracle cure a lot of folks claim it to be, lemon water will definitely have an impact on your body – according to those in the know, anyway.

As its name suggests, lemon water is a very simple combination of just two basic and easily attainable ingredients, and making it is as easy as pie. Simply pour a glass of clean, safe-to-drink H2O – tap water in most developed countries is fine – and then carefully squeeze about half the juice from the yellow-colored fruit into the liquid.

And as well as being easy to make, the drink is also relatively cheap – particularly if you live in a warm enough climate to grow and maintain your own lemon tree. That’s likely at least part of the reason why it’s such a popular thirst-quencher in Asia. But the effects of the sour concoction may account for its increasing ubiquity, too.

Yes, as we previously mentioned, drinking lemon water can have quite the dramatic impact on the human body. And while some of these changes are more or less immediate, others are reported to take hold after only a week of consuming the beverage several times a day.

So, what exactly does lemon water do to us? And what happens if you go the distance and incorporate this drink into your life for at least seven days? Well, content marketing guru Bill Widmer has revealed some of the things you can expect if you choose to take on the lemon water challenge.

In a piece for the website Lifehack, Widmer picked out some problems that the juicy concoction is alleged to flush away. And, apparently, one of these issues is tiredness. The expert wrote, “If reaching for a cup of coffee every few hours is becoming your norm, you should really consider drinking lemon water for a week to cleanse your system.”

Widmer even suggests forgoing your joe altogether, adding, “While the first two days are going to be a little tough due to caffeine withdrawal, by the end of the week you should start feeling a lot better than you have in a while. Stop reaching for your coffee mug and start squeezing lemons to get more energy in your day.”

The second thing Widmer covered was getting sick. He noted, “If a runny nose and constant cough occur every other week for you, lemon water can help! The natural vitamin C in lemons will help your immune system fight off viruses and bacteria. Drinking more water will also help cleanse your system and remove bad toxins from your bloodstream.”

And according to the marketing specialist, lemon water may even help you stick to that diet. “Thanks to lemon acid and pectin, infusing your water with this fruit will help your stomach feel fuller for longer periods of time,” he explained. “Pectin is a natural chemical found in many [types of] produce, so feel free to combine lemon with some water to give your stomach a little more substance to digest. You can have lemon water before any meal to keep you from feeling overly hungry.”

Even if you’re eating in moderation, though, you may still experience tummy troubles. Fortunately, lemon water can help those, too – or so Widmer has claimed, anyway. He explained, “Drinking lemon water for a week can cleanse your system of toxins and other harmful bacteria, and [it] also has a similar molecular structure to your stomach’s digestive juices. Lemon water will trick your liver into creating bile, which helps move food throughout your digestive tract. This is why any indigestion, bloating or gas is alleviated with the consistent consumption of this drink.”

The next item on Widmer’s list was the bane of many a teenager’s life: acne. He revealed, “Lemon produces antioxidants [that help] prevent your skin from breaking out. Additionally, lemon helps your body produce collagen, which is known to smooth out wrinkles in the skin and promote skin elasticity. Drink lemon water for a week, and you’ll see some major changes in your face!”

And if you want to get in shape, lemon water may be the key. How? Well, Widmer has clarified this, too, writing, “The acidic nature of lemon juice combined with the juice’s negative[ly] charged ions give your body a boost in energy. This energy boost means your metabolism will kick into higher gear. In addition to [giving you] a faster metabolism, the pectin will keep you fuller for longer periods of time – again helping you kick those detrimental eating habits.”

Finally, Widmer argued that lemon water helped with psychological issues – including mood swings. He expounded, “Lemon consumption has been found to reduce stress levels and improve moods. If you drink lemon water for a week, your improved energy levels will combine with the natural stress relief properties of lemon juice and result in optimum and controlled mood levels.”

So, if you’ve previously been on the fence about lemon water, those many supposed benefits may just encourage you to make the leap. But we shouldn’t just take Widmer’s word for it, as other folks have been doing some investigating of their own into the effects of the fruity beverage.

Nicole Yi knows better than many about this, too, as she once consumed lemon water for seven days straight. And in 2018 Popsugar’s former associate editor for fitness penned a piece for the site revealing what exactly she had experienced during her week-long experiment.

Yi began her article by writing, “With perks [such as] digestion aid, weight loss and kidney-stone prevention, lemon water sounds like a miracle elixir. So, when I found out that the benefits of lemon water actually weren’t all hype, I knew I had to put it to the test myself.”

Yi continued, “For one whole week, I added half a lemon sliced – any less won’t yield enough vitamin C – to my water and drank it from morning till night, refilling as needed throughout the day.” And while the journalist “didn’t wake up each morning with glowing skin and a flat belly as [she had] expected,” she did notice one unanticipated benefit.

Specifically, Yi observed, “During the week of my experiment, I was surprised to see how much more water I was drinking each day. Most of the time, my problem with plain old water is that it’s too boring to drink. But lemon added enough flavor to make things interesting, encouraging me to reach for my infused glass more and more.”

Yi found that her H2O intake close to doubled, in fact, going from around 20 to 32 ounces per day over the length of the challenge. However, she went on, “This little experiment also came with an unexpected side effect: I began to feel slightly nauseous in the mornings when I drank the lemon water on an empty stomach.”

Yi continued in her Popsugar column, “I don’t typically eat breakfast — mostly due to force of habit, not because of intermittent fasting — and I refused to give up my cup of coffee for this experiment. That plus lemon water on an empty stomach until lunch was a recipe for stomach irritation. This might be due to the acidity of the coffee and the alkalizing effect of the lemon, but I can’t be sure. While it wasn’t enough to keep me from continuing, I’d definitely line my tummy with some food before trying this again.”

Summarizing her experiment, Yi concluded, “I don’t recommend drinking lemon water all day, every day for an extended period of time for the sake of preserving your teeth enamel. But if you’re seeking an easy way to reset healthy habits, try starting your morning off with a warm glass of lemon water to replenish your body and give yourself a boost of vitamin C. And if you’re just as bad as hydrating, it may be worth infusing your water with different fruits to see if it makes a difference like it did for me.”

Freelance writer Gianluca Russo similarly took on the lemon water challenge, drinking a glass of the stuff every morning for a week after rising out of bed. He also noted his newfound habit’s apparent effects in a 2019 article for the website Insider. And it seems that Russo had only positive things to report.

Russo explained how the regimen had improved his skin, writing, “First off, upon the completion of my one-week lemon water challenge, I noticed my skin was almost flawless, [with] no breakouts, no excess oils [and] no new blemishes. I also found that, to the touch, my skin was much softer and appeared to be much brighter. Essentially, the lemon juice created a natural highlight on my face.”

Russo continued, “I also found that the lemon water helped with my breath. Having been cursed with bad breath, mornings have always been a particularly difficult time for me. However, I soon found that the lemon water improved this, [as] the fruit’s citric acid helps to break down and fight bacteria in the mouth.”

After the writer had completed his seven-day routine, though, his acne reportedly began to return – suggesting that maybe the lemon water had made a difference. Furthermore, he noted, “At the end of the week, I also found I was much less bloated. Lemons are a natural diuretic and help the body let go of any extra salt it’s hanging on to. In turn, this decreases bloating.”

And while Russo didn’t manage to spot any more immediately discernible health benefits, he did suggest that drinking water may have boosted his immune system, as he hadn’t felt ill during the experiment. Even so, he admitted, “I found each day that I became thirsty faster in the mornings. I also found that if I didn’t quench this thirst, a weird aftertaste was left in my mouth.”

But while such anecdotal evidence is all well and good, what do the experts say about the pros and cons of lemon water? Well, Jo Lewin is a registered nutritionist with the Association for Nutrition in England, meaning the subject is well in her wheelhouse. And she has given her thoughts on the matter in a piece written for BBC Good Food’s website.

Before analyzing the many claims that have been made about lemon water, however, Lewin outlined the basic facts about lemons themselves. She wrote, “Lemons and other citrus fruits are well known for their colorful pitted skins and tart, refreshing taste. Lemons contain citric acid and have a high vitamin C content.”

But consuming lemons for health reasons is not a new practice, as Lewin pointed out. She went on, “Lemons have been used for centuries and have been highly regarded in the past for treating scurvy – a now rare condition that can develop through lack of vitamin C. Vitamin C is often claimed to support the immune system; however, studies have been inconclusive.”

So, does getting a regular supply of vitamin C through lemon water prevent you from contracting a cold? Well, while Lewin cited a study that suggested this isn’t the case, this investigation nevertheless found that the vitamin “may shorten the duration of symptoms [as well as halve] the common cold risk in people exposed to short periods of extreme physical stress – for example, marathon runners.” Lewin added, “Lemons also contain protective antioxidants called flavonoids.”

The nutritionist also took a look at the supposed benefits of lemon water that have been touted by writers such as Widmer. “Headlines have linked drinking lemon water to many other health claims, including weight loss, improved digestion, ‘alkalizing’ effects on the body, improved skin and detoxification,” she wrote. However, Lewin went on, “The research, especially human studies, to support these health claims is minimal.”

It’s not all bad news for those convinced of lemon water’s advantages for health, though. As Lewin attested, “Some evidence has linked vitamin C and flavonoids to improvements in skin. Vitamin C is known to help the body produce collagen, which contributes to the integrity of skin.”

And although it contains naturally occurring sugars from the fruit, lemon water is viewed by Lewin as a good bet for quenching both thirst and hunger. She wrote, “It’s possible to mistake thirst for hunger, so if you have been advised to lose weight, try having a glass of lemon water first when you feel hungry to see if you’re really just thirsty. If you usually opt for fizzy or sugary drinks, lemon water would be a lower-calorie and lower-sugar alternative.”

Naturally, then, as lemon water is predominantly made up of H2O, it is also excellent for hydration. Lewin stated, “Dehydration is common and can present with headaches, dizziness and tiredness. It’s important to make sure that you consume enough fluid while exercising or in hot weather. The [British National Health Service] advises drinking six to eight glasses of fluid – ideally water – a day.”

Lewin additionally acknowledged the assertions that the beverage can assist with stomach issues, writing, “Some people find drinking a glass of lemon water, particularly first thing in the morning, aids digestion.” Yet she stopped short of suggesting that the drink was a miracle cure, saying instead that any positive findings to this end were “mainly subjective, and reports are anecdotal.”

Furthermore, Lewin questioned the legitimacy of the claims that lemon water should be consumed immediately upon rising. She opined, “The effects of lemon water will not change regardless of whether you drink it first thing in the morning or last thing at night. If you like the taste of lemon water, it could be a good choice for first thing in the morning, as we often wake up a little dehydrated – especially if you’ve had alcohol or salty food the night before.”

And the nutrition expert denied that lemon water assists in the detoxifying process. She revealed, “There is currently no evidence to suggest that lemon water has an alkalizing or detoxing effect on the body. The liver is responsible for eliminating toxins from everything we eat, drink and are exposed to in our environment, so no amount of lemon water is going to ‘detox’ our bodies. There is also no truth to the claims that lemon water balances pH levels.”

A number of these findings were backed up by Joe Leech, who in a May 2020 article for Medical News Today similarly questioned the veracity of some of the claims made about lemon water. Leech hinted, however, that the flavonoids in the fruit could potentially reduce inflammation, while lemon’s citrate may heal or prevent kidney stones.

Yet the writer was largely skeptical about some of the perceived benefits to consuming the drink, writing, “There are many other health claims surrounding lemon water, but most do not have any scientific evidence to support them.” He also refuted suggestions that lemon water could aid substantial weight loss, effectively alkalize the body, help fight cancer or, perhaps most bizarrely, raise IQ.

So, we’ve covered the potential positives to sipping lemon water, but are there any drawbacks we should know about? Well, perhaps just one. In her article for BBC Good Food, Lewin highlighted the consequences that long-term lemon water drinking could have on our teeth, explaining, “Fruit juices and acidic liquids can impact the enamel of teeth, so it is best to dilute concentrated lemon juice with water or drink through a straw.” Altogether, then, while lemon water is not quite the magic potion many would have us believe, it is a perfectly healthy and refreshing thirst-quencher that can be safely consumed as part of a balanced diet.