Apple Cider Vinegar for Weight Loss: What the Evidence Really Says

23 October 2026

In 2024, a trial suggested that a little apple cider vinegar a day could help people lose weight. The claim travelled fast. In September 2025, the journal retracted it. The products kept selling, so we went back to the studies that still stand and read the labels on four best-sellers.

The short version: vinegar may modestly reduce the rise in blood sugar after some meals, and a few small studies show a little short-term weight loss. That isn't enough to call it a weight-loss treatment. Gummies and pills haven't been shown to do what liquid vinegar does. And you don't need to buy anything to try it.

Not sponsored. We picked every product ourselves. One link below is an affiliate link: we may earn a commission, at no cost to you. Products we don't recommend get no link.

The trial that was retracted

In March 2024, BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health published a trial from Lebanon. A hundred and twenty young people with overweight drank a small amount of apple cider vinegar in water every day for twelve weeks, and the paper reported weight loss at every dose.

Other researchers wrote to the journal questioning the statistics. The publisher's integrity team asked independent statisticians to check the work. They could not reproduce the results, found errors in the analysis and irregularities in the data, and the trial had not been registered before it began, which the publisher's rules require. BMJ Group retracted the paper in September 2025, said its results were unreliable, and asked journalists to stop citing it [1][2].

One complication. A review of ten vinegar trials, published in Nutrients on 19 September 2025, just days before the retraction was announced, includes that Lebanese trial and reports an average difference of about 7.45 kg in body weight [3]. That is far larger than the trials below. The paper doesn't let us tell how much the retracted trial affected that figure. So when someone says "the research shows vinegar melts fat", it's worth asking which research.

What the studies that still stand found

A promising result is not the same as a proven treatment.

• Japan, 2009. 155 adults with overweight drank one or two tablespoons (15 or 30 mL) of apple vinegar a day in a drink, for twelve weeks [4]. Compared with the placebo group, the one-tablespoon group ended about 1.6 kg lighter and the two-tablespoon group about 2.3 kg lighter. Four weeks after they stopped, their weight was moving back toward where it started. All five authors worked for a vinegar maker. That doesn't make the results wrong, but they need repeating by independent teams.
• Iran, 2018. 39 people all followed the same reduced-calorie diet; half also had a tablespoon of vinegar with lunch and with dinner [5]. The vinegar group lost about 4 kg, the diet-only group about 2.3 kg. A small study, and participants knew who was drinking vinegar, which can colour results.
• Blood sugar. The more consistent evidence is about blood sugar, not body fat. In several small studies, vinegar taken with a starchy meal reduced the rise in blood sugar afterwards [6][7]. These were mostly short experiments, and we don't yet know whether that leads to long-term health benefits.

Is apple cider vinegar special? Much of the research is about acetic acid, the sour part of any vinegar. We found no good trials showing that the cloudy "mother" in raw vinegar adds extra weight-loss benefit.

Four best-sellers, compared by acetic acid

A tablespoon of ordinary vinegar at about 5% acidity has roughly 750 mg of acetic acid. ConsumerLab's tests of bottled apple cider vinegars found about 714–882 mg per tablespoon [8]. We used that as a measuring stick. It compares what's inside, not what it does in your body.

Goli gummies. Two gummies list 1,000 mg of apple cider vinegar described as 5% acetic acid. If that holds in the finished gummy, that's about 50 mg. To reach one tablespoon's worth you'd need about 30 gummies, half the bottle, with around 60 g of added sugar. Even the label's maximum of six a day is about a fifth of that. Goli also sells a zero sugar version; we checked the original. If you enjoy them, that's your choice. Just don't mistake a tasty supplement for a proven treatment.

Horbäach capsules. The 2,400 mg on the front is vinegar powder, not acetic acid. The label doesn't state the acetic acid, though its warning mentions a high concentration. For comparison, an Arizona trial used a store-bought vinegar pill as its comparison because it contained only 45 mg of acetic acid [9].

Bragg capsules. The only label here that tells you the acetic acid: 750 mg in three capsules, which on paper matches a tablespoon of vinegar. But on paper isn't proof. Part of it comes from sodium diacetate, a salt form of acetic acid, and these capsules haven't been tested in trials to see whether they work like liquid vinegar. They also add a lot of vitamin D (150% of daily value) and zinc (118%), so check your multivitamin first. Worth considering only if you can't drink vinegar at all.

Plain liquid vinegar. The form the trials used, and the cheapest. You don't need Bragg, raw or organic: an ordinary food-grade vinegar with similar acidity is just as close to what researchers tested.

Cost to match one tablespoon's acetic acid: about 12¢ with liquid vinegar, about 53¢ with Bragg capsules, and about $7.49 with Goli gummies (if the label's 5% holds). That's what's inside, not proof of the same effect.

If you try it

• Studies have commonly used around a tablespoon a day, diluted in water, with food. That isn't an established medical dose, and more isn't better. A salad dressing is an easy option.
• Never drink it neat. Undiluted vinegar has injured people's throats [10].
• It's hard on teeth. In an Arizona trial, people drinking vinegar twice a day for eight weeks had higher tooth-erosion scores at their dental check [9]. A straw and a water rinse help, and wait before you brush.
• Skip it if acidic drinks give you reflux. Very large amounts over long periods have been linked to low potassium in case reports [11].
• If you take insulin or other medicine for blood sugar, talk to your doctor first.

Where to buy

This is an affiliate link: we earn a small commission if you buy, at no cost to you. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Any food-grade vinegar with similar acidity does the same job, including the one already in your kitchen.

• Bragg Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar, 32 oz: Amazon US

Watch the video

The retraction, the studies, every label and the comparison are in the video: Apple Cider Vinegar for Weight Loss: What the Evidence Really Says.

Sources

1. BMJ Group, "BMJ Group retracts trial on apple cider vinegar and weight loss", September 2025, bmjgroup.com
2. NutraIngredients, "Apple cider vinegar and weight loss study retracted", 1 October 2025
3. Castagna et al., Nutrients, 2025;17(18):3000, doi:10.3390/nu17183000
4. Kondo et al., Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry, 2009;73:1837, doi:10.1271/bbb.90231
5. Khezri et al., Journal of Functional Foods, 2018, as reported by Relias Media and ConscienHealth
6. Shishehbor et al., Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, 2017, doi:10.1016/j.diabres.2017.01.021
7. Hadi et al., BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, 2021, doi:10.1186/s12906-021-03351-w
8. ConsumerLab, apple cider vinegar testing, 19 March 2026
9. Anderson et al., Journal of Medicinal Food, 2021, doi:10.1089/jmf.2020.0108
10. Chang et al., Clinical Endoscopy, 2019, doi:10.5946/ce.2019.066
11. Lhotta et al., Nephron, 1998, doi:10.1159/000045180

Labels were read on 23 October 2026 (Goli and Horbäach on their Amazon listings; Bragg on bragg.com). Prices are Amazon US on 23 October 2026 and change often. Not medical advice.

Every claim above is sourced in the text. Prices are the ones shown on the date given. Nothing on Pink Popcorn is sponsored, and no brand sees a post before it goes out. How we check.