Drinking Apple Cider Vinegar Every Day Has An Unexpected Effect On Your Cholesterol

Your health-conscious friends have probably touted the benefits of apple cider vinegar for killing germs, relieving acid reflux, or getting the excess gunk out of their hair. Apple cider vinegar is made when you ferment crushed apples, and you only need a dash of apple cider vinegar to add a tangy punch to your salad. Curiously, you won't find a ton of nutrition in a tablespoon of apple cider, aside from electrolytes such as sodium, magnesium, and potassium.

With that said, that dash of apple cider vinegar in your drinking water or your salad might help lower your cholesterol. A 2021 meta-analysis in BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies combined the results of eight studies to conclude that apple cider vinegar lowered total cholesterol levels. Apple cider vinegar was particularly effective in people with type 2 diabetes when they consumed about 15 milliliters every day for at least eight weeks. Apple cider vinegar consumption also lowered their triglyceride levels.

The acetic acid in apple cider vinegar might be the key ingredient in lowering cholesterol, according to a 2014 review in Nutrition Reviews. Consuming apple cider vinegar could activate a protein that reduces the production of cholesterol in the liver. Apple cider vinegar might also help oxidize the high cholesterol in your food and lower your triglycerides. Furthermore, consuming foods and drinks with acetic acid encourages your body to excrete bile acids. Your liver uses cholesterol from your blood to make these bile acids, which lowers your blood cholesterol levels.

Apple cider vinegar might also play a role in lowering cholesterol levels by reducing the glycemic index in your foods. Low GI foods can increase your good (HDL) cholesterol and lower your bad (LDL) cholesterol. In addition, apple cider vinegar has polyphenols and flavonoids that could improve your HDL while reducing your LDL cholesterol levels. However, the 2021 meta-analysis in BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies didn't find that apple cider significantly targeted HDL or LDL cholesterol levels, only total cholesterol levels. Worth noting, though, is the finding that apple cider vinegar did improve HDL cholesterol in people who didn't have type 2 diabetes.

The 2014 review in Nutrition Reviews mentioned that some of the research on the cholesterol-lowering effect of apple cider vinegar could be attributed to weight loss. Apple cider vinegar might work at the level of your genes to reduce body fat. Apple cider vinegar might reduce the activity of genes in your liver that turn sugar into fat while boosting the genes that burn fat. Apple cider vinegar's effect on the glycemic index of your food might also make you feel more full without having to eat more.

Apple cider might be particularly helpful in improving the health of people who are overweight, according to a 2018 study in the Journal of Functional Foods. People who were overweight followed a calorie-restricted diet for 12 weeks, and half the people also drank 30 milliliters of apple cider vinegar a day. The apple cider vinegar group lost more weight and body fat while also reducing their appetite. They also lowered their total cholesterol levels and triglycerides and increased their HDL cholesterol.